RealityPivots

Creating fences to protect gardens must have been part of the Agricultural Revolution.
You have time to think about such things while attending to the fact that deer will get down and squirm under fences if you leave a gap.
I’ve abandoned the maze defense.

While I dither, I dig. I’m leveling a spot next to the kitchen porch for a patio. I imagine a wall to the North as a windbreak and a roof of clear poly carbonate sheets keeping off rain and letting in sun. A concrete block nook three feet high and 20 feet long facing South to soak up heat and a pizza oven with steel pipe (another garage sale item) embedded that would heat the blocks during the winter. And a dance floor of course.

From The patio dig

I went running around the property stealing concrete blocks for the water tower that feeds the shower. The water pressure was spitting out a trickle that reached the middle of my chest. By doubling the number of blocks in each column I think I’ve increased the stability and I raised the height enough to reach my neck. Much better.

From raise high the water tank

Dare I?

In the past I made a pact with the gods that I would be satisfied with Enough if I just didn’t have to go to work day after fucking endless boring day at some job. Fair’s fair, I’ve never worked steadily and yet here I am alive and reasonably healthy.
So I’ve made my bed. I’ve still got Enough but I am getting Old and the other day my dental hygienist presented me with unpleasant reality. I must choose between a mouth filled with teeth crowned with gold and a trip to Buenos Aires.
Or, would I, gasp, be willing to sell the property on a reverse mortgage and gallivant on? Shedville IS me in the same way that tango is ME.
What is enough?

The Basilicum was pretty much of a bust. I discovered once again that I don’t really like to garden in a green house during the summer and the Basil starts didn’t do very well. The beans and squash seemed to have been helped to an early start however.
I trimmed up the dozen or so measly Basil plants the other day and got enough for my first attempt at Pesto. I put it on pasta and it was so good I ate way too much and woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache. I’m going to persevere but I’ll have to experiment with different recipes. I can’t be buying pine nuts at $43 per pound.
July was a productive month for lettuce, peas, and broccoli. I harvested the French shallots and they are drying in the barn. I’ve prepared their beds for winter with cover crops of clover and fava beans and a mulch of straw.
Conveniently the yellow shallots seem to be ready about a month later.

From fava beans

From shallots to bed

I was feeling annoyed at the mint plants Lisa planted that are taking over and blocking a path to the back woods but now there are some awesome flowers that are attracting bees.

From Bee on mint flower

Six goldfish are growing fat. How pleasant to sit by the side of the pond and watch them scarf up their food.

From goldfish

I plan to try some canning this fall. I saw a 23 quart pressure canner today at the store that I want to get. I have boxes of jars that I bought at a garage sale years ago. Candidates are beans and tomatoes. A friend has plums that I might make into chutney.
And a special thank you to the god of roses.

From rose2010

I started keeping track of the Gulf oil spill through a web site, The Oil Drum. It’s a great source for all things relating to Peak Oil. One of its contributors has become a favorite — Ugo Bardi. I’ve enjoyed a number of his posts but I just went bananas over “Peak Civilization”: The Fall of the Roman Empire. It is wise and readable. Two very different selections:

Namatianus lived at a time that was very close to the last gasp of the Empire. He found that, at some point, it wasn’t possible to live in Rome any longer. Everything was collapsing around him and he decided to take a boat and leave. He was born in Gallia, that we call “France” today, and apparently he had some properties there. So, that is where he headed for. That is the reason for the title “of his return”. He must have arrived there and survived for some time, because the document that he wrote about his travel has survived and we can still read it, even though the end is missing. So, Namatianus gives us this chilling report. Just read this excerpt:

“I have chosen the sea, since roads by land, if on the level, are flooded by rivers; if on higher ground, are beset with rocks. Since Tuscany and since the Aurelian highway, after suffering the outrages of Goths with fire or sword, can no longer control forest with homestead or river with bridge, it is better to entrust my sails to the wayward.”

Can you believe that? If there was a thing that the Romans had always been proud of were their roads. These roads had a military purpose, of course, but everybody could use them. A Roman Empire without roads is not the Roman Empire, it is something else altogether. Think of Los Angeles without highways. “Sic transit gloria mundi” , as the Romans would say; there goes the glory of the world. Namatianus tells us also of silted harbors, deserted cities, a landscape of ruins that he sees as he moves north along the Italian coast.

But what does Namatianus think of all this? Well, he sees the collapse all around him, but he can’t understand it. For him, the reasons of the fall of Rome are totally incomprehensible. He can only interpret what is going on as a temporary setback. Rome had hard times before but the Romans always rebounded and eventually triumphed over their enemies. It has always been like this, Rome will become powerful and rich again.

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Societies adapt to changes. Indeed, one characteristic of complex systems is of adapting to changing external conditions. It is called “homeostasis” and I tend to see it as the defining characteristic of a complex system (as opposed to simply complicated). So, in general, when you deal with complex systems, you should not think in terms of “cause and effect” but, rather, in terms of “forcing and feedback”. A forcing is something that comes from outside the system. A feedback is how the system reacts to a forcing, usually attaining some kind of homeostasis. Homeostasis, is a fundamental concept in system dynamics. Something acts on something else, but also that something else reacts. It is feedback. It may be positive (reinforcing) or negative (damping) and we speak of “feedback loops” which normally stabilize systems – within limits, of course.

I’ve been putting a fence around the garden at the West end of the property. Lisa started it but she has transferred herself and 97.5% of her attentions to the garden she’s making at her place in town.

How can you keep them down on the farm
After they’ve seen PeeTeeeee?

I finally faced facts and started weeding her space and preparing to plant. It has been a treat. She put down a thick layer of leaves and then put down some really rich black soil on top of that.
The deer have to be kept out so I’ve been digging holes, always fun when done at your own pace, and putting in posts. I had a heap of posts to choose from.

From WestGardenFence

The area under consideration continued to grow until I produced room for some fruit trees. It might not be sunny enough for fruit so maybe raspberries?
Facing south:

From WestGardenFence

I’m trying to figure out a way to keep the space near the Old Tool Shed easy to walk around in while stopping the deer. I understand they don’t like to enter into confined spaces. I try to confuse them with mazes that I can swivel through.

From WestGardenFence