I did a final harvest of okra, Santaka peppers and peppadews. I offered all or any of the okra to Morgan/Joyce and they took some. I blanched and froze the remainder.
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| Blanched and ready for the freezer |
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Saturday, September 22, 2018: Ants, okra, peppers
Matt (pest guy) showed up this morning. I showed him where the ants were coming and going around the windows in the bay. Matt laid some bait along the trails the ants were taking and they really seemed to like the bait. Supposedly, the ants will take the bait back to their home and "share" it with their comrades which should eliminate the colony.
I did a final harvest of okra, Santaka peppers and peppadews. I offered all or any of the okra to Morgan/Joyce and they took some. I blanched and froze the remainder.
I seeded a couple of Santaka and Peppadews for next year's plantings. The others went to the freezer after stemming. This is our first exposure to the Peppadews. We planted some in 2016, and they did grow. Unfortunately they were "buried" in amid the tomatoes so we did not get to harvest any. I have four plants this year with literally hundreds of peppers on them. When ripe, they are supposed to be bright red with paper-thin skins. The ones I picked are red, but whether they are ripe or not, I don't know. Joyce (east neighbor) said she would pick some for me while I'm gone and freeze them.
I did a final harvest of okra, Santaka peppers and peppadews. I offered all or any of the okra to Morgan/Joyce and they took some. I blanched and froze the remainder.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Friday, September 21, 2018: Inside Fish Outside
Getting ready to leave town for a month on my European river cruise. I had decided to return the six koi/goldfish to the pond that I had in the two vases inside. Today I did that along with putting the remaining moss balls into the pond. The pond fish will not be fed until I return in late October...assuming the temperature is still above 50F. I flushed out the two vases and will probably repopulate when I return home or maybe in the Spring.
Tomorrow I will do my last harvesting of okra, bell peppers and peppadew before leaving town. I will share the okra with the neighbors and blanch/freeze the rest. I have not harvested any peppadew peppers yet, but several are getting ripe and I will pluck them and freeze whole. I may try removing the seeds from a couple for next year's planting.
Tomorrow I will do my last harvesting of okra, bell peppers and peppadew before leaving town. I will share the okra with the neighbors and blanch/freeze the rest. I have not harvested any peppadew peppers yet, but several are getting ripe and I will pluck them and freeze whole. I may try removing the seeds from a couple for next year's planting.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Wendnesday, September 19, 2018: Still ants, icemaker dead koi, carrots, door keys, chimney
Still seeing ants coming and going around the bay windows. Rottler guy is supposed to be here Saturday morning.
Icemaker is making a lot of ice.
Yesterday I received the new Hudson valve for the pond. I installed it and put it into service. It seemed to work throughout the afternoon. This morning I noticed the pond level was running a bit high. I expected to find the skimmer screens fouled. I cleaned the mesh and the net. The mesh was fairly fouled and, while the net was not very fouled, it did have a couple of small koi bodies in it. This raises the death toll from earlier this week to three. I put everything back together. About a hour or so later, I noticed from upstairs that the pond level was very high and froth was starting to accumulate on the surface. I found the new valve had stuck open. I shut off the water, exercised the valve and allowed the level to fall. I then put the valve back into service and will watch it closely over the next couple of days.
If I am not comfortable with the new valve working properly, I might, as a safety precaution, put the irrigation timer on the hose to the valve so that water can only flow for a limited amount of time each day, maybe one hour per day. If the valve fails and water flows continuously while I am gone, there is no doubt in my mind that all the koi will expire.
I picked up a 2# chuck roast at the store today and dug up seven carrots out of the garden. There are still about a dozen more in the garden for use this Fall. Tonight I will try using the Instant Pot to prepare the roast and carrots.
A couple of weeks ago, I got locked out of the garage (when the garage door power lock failed). Since the keys to the garage (and house) were in the garage, I had to borrow keys from our east neighbor who was luckily home. Hence, I bought a key locker to hide outside with a key to the house inside. I placed it in the breaker box behind the AC units on the east side of the house. I put a little Master combination padlock on the box. The combination is in our password spreadsheet.
It does not look like either the chimney repair guy or Mike will get here before I leave town. I sent an email to the chimney guy telling him where the chimney cap is (outside the basement entry door) and where to find the key to the padlock on the northwest gate. I included pics of both.
Icemaker is making a lot of ice.
Yesterday I received the new Hudson valve for the pond. I installed it and put it into service. It seemed to work throughout the afternoon. This morning I noticed the pond level was running a bit high. I expected to find the skimmer screens fouled. I cleaned the mesh and the net. The mesh was fairly fouled and, while the net was not very fouled, it did have a couple of small koi bodies in it. This raises the death toll from earlier this week to three. I put everything back together. About a hour or so later, I noticed from upstairs that the pond level was very high and froth was starting to accumulate on the surface. I found the new valve had stuck open. I shut off the water, exercised the valve and allowed the level to fall. I then put the valve back into service and will watch it closely over the next couple of days.
If I am not comfortable with the new valve working properly, I might, as a safety precaution, put the irrigation timer on the hose to the valve so that water can only flow for a limited amount of time each day, maybe one hour per day. If the valve fails and water flows continuously while I am gone, there is no doubt in my mind that all the koi will expire.
I picked up a 2# chuck roast at the store today and dug up seven carrots out of the garden. There are still about a dozen more in the garden for use this Fall. Tonight I will try using the Instant Pot to prepare the roast and carrots.
A couple of weeks ago, I got locked out of the garage (when the garage door power lock failed). Since the keys to the garage (and house) were in the garage, I had to borrow keys from our east neighbor who was luckily home. Hence, I bought a key locker to hide outside with a key to the house inside. I placed it in the breaker box behind the AC units on the east side of the house. I put a little Master combination padlock on the box. The combination is in our password spreadsheet.
It does not look like either the chimney repair guy or Mike will get here before I leave town. I sent an email to the chimney guy telling him where the chimney cap is (outside the basement entry door) and where to find the key to the padlock on the northwest gate. I included pics of both.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018: Ants, icemaker and Acalypha hispida (chenille plant) Update
On June 8, 2018 I attended a propagation class at the MoBot. One of the plantings I brought home was a Acalypha hispida (chenille plant). I re-potted it into a 1-liter air pot and took it down to stay with Laura during my Iceland trip in July. I was very impressed when I got back that it seemed to be doing very well. When I got back home on August 9, the plant was 10" tall. Today, it is 12" tall and I decided to transfer it to a larger (3 gallon) air pot. I will take it down to Houston when I start my next European trip next week.
I have frequently been seeing ants crawling up the outside of the bay and disappearing beneath the window frames. Where they are going after that, I don't know. I have not seen any inside the sunroom except for occasionally on the bar. I have been shooting the ants with Raid, but they seem to come back almost daily now. Today, I called Matt at Rottler and asked if he could come out before I left town on Sunday. He said he would be here Saturday morning.
Bruce (icemaker technician) replaced the control board on the U-Line icemaker. The control board cost $389.22 including labor and tax. Hopefully, that will correct the problem. Bruce said the same board is used in virtually all U-Line appliances and he just has to put the correct code in for the board to know what it is used for. As for whether or not this type of failure is "normal", he said it is unpredictable. He could see not apparent damage to the board he removed. The warranty on the new board is 90 days!
I have frequently been seeing ants crawling up the outside of the bay and disappearing beneath the window frames. Where they are going after that, I don't know. I have not seen any inside the sunroom except for occasionally on the bar. I have been shooting the ants with Raid, but they seem to come back almost daily now. Today, I called Matt at Rottler and asked if he could come out before I left town on Sunday. He said he would be here Saturday morning.
Bruce (icemaker technician) replaced the control board on the U-Line icemaker. The control board cost $389.22 including labor and tax. Hopefully, that will correct the problem. Bruce said the same board is used in virtually all U-Line appliances and he just has to put the correct code in for the board to know what it is used for. As for whether or not this type of failure is "normal", he said it is unpredictable. He could see not apparent damage to the board he removed. The warranty on the new board is 90 days!
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018; Peppers and dead koi
Yesterday I harvested, seeded, sliced and froze the garden's bell peppers. I ended up with about a gallon bag of sliced peppers.
Today, I fed the pond fish as usual this morning. They all seemed happy. Late this afternoon I glanced outside and noticed the pond had froth on the top and the level was very high. I figured the pump inlet screen was plugged again. I went out and found the level control device (Hudson Valve) had failed and water had been pouring into the pond for who knows how long. I also noticed all the fish were huddled up in one corner of the pond. That seemed unusual. I turned off the water and took removed the valve. It had literally fallen apart. I installed it originally in July of 2016 so it lasted 2-1/2 to 3 seasons. I ordered an new one and it should arrive on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I also notice that my largest koi lay dead on the bottom of the pond. I don't know if the utility water had done him in or not. There may be others on the bottom, but with the foamy water, I could not see any. This one was so large (12" nose to fin), he really stood out on the bottom. Just to be play it safe, I put some detox in the pond to try to counteract the chemicals in the utility water. I was in the habit of doing this every month, but kind of fell behind this season.
Today, I fed the pond fish as usual this morning. They all seemed happy. Late this afternoon I glanced outside and noticed the pond had froth on the top and the level was very high. I figured the pump inlet screen was plugged again. I went out and found the level control device (Hudson Valve) had failed and water had been pouring into the pond for who knows how long. I also noticed all the fish were huddled up in one corner of the pond. That seemed unusual. I turned off the water and took removed the valve. It had literally fallen apart. I installed it originally in July of 2016 so it lasted 2-1/2 to 3 seasons. I ordered an new one and it should arrive on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I also notice that my largest koi lay dead on the bottom of the pond. I don't know if the utility water had done him in or not. There may be others on the bottom, but with the foamy water, I could not see any. This one was so large (12" nose to fin), he really stood out on the bottom. Just to be play it safe, I put some detox in the pond to try to counteract the chemicals in the utility water. I was in the habit of doing this every month, but kind of fell behind this season.
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