Today I winterized the irrigation system. This entailed removal of the back flow preventer and installation of a special adapter which permits one to hook up a line from an air compressor. I am disappointed that the guy who installed the system never bothered to teach us how to winterize it. I did the research to find out. Our irrigation system is a Rain Bird. They recommend using an air compressor that puts up 10-25 cfm of volume at no more than 40 psig. Our little compressor is rated for 2.6 cfm at 90 psig. At 40 psig, this flow rate is 3.5 cfm. A compressor able to deliver the volume rate recommended would cost thousands. Anyway, before starting, I ran each of the thirteen zones and documented on our map the location of each head in each zone. We have 13 independent zones with a total of 75 spray heads and two soaker hoses. Each zone was blown with air twice until no water was visible out of the heads. Have not winterized the water lines out to the garage. While night time temperatures have dropped below freezing a couple of times, we are not expecting a real freeze within the next couple of weeks.
Earlier this week I brought in all the tender plants we have had in pots around the backyard. Also I installed the "kayak" storage system in the garage. We don't have a kayak, but we do have a car top carrier. I have suspended the carrier right above the Audi. This not only gets it off the floor, but will also make it so much easier to mount the carrier on the car. I also hung a drawer storage rack.
We still have okra and pepper plants yielding fruit and some green tomatoes. The leeks are about 1" diameter and we are planning to harvest them to make a vichyssoise before too long. The pond water is still above 50F, so we are still feeding the fish.
