Blog 2015.

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Cabinet Shop
Custom Classic Construction, Inc.
Since 1985

 

   cabinets4u@built-incabinets.com

 Welcome to our journal/open diary

  On these  pages we will share our thoughts, new ideas, frustrations and information with you.

Basically a personal view of us & our business

PREVIOUS YEARS

Click on a year below for older posts

2014

       2013      2012      2011       2010      2009      2008     2007      2006      2005

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, 

and to the Republic for which it stands, 

one Nation under God, 

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

 

 

 

November 25th

The shop is slow so on October 26th Jim decided to take some of this down time to  build a CNC machine.

CNC .... Computer Numerical Control

This means a computer converts the design produced by Computer Aided Design software (CAD), into numbers. The numbers can be considered to be the coordinates of a graph and they control the movement of the cutter.

Here are some photos of his progress.

The framework for the table:

Reinforcement bracing of the Gantry

 

Router will travel on the Gantry rail via a set of bearings that will be powered by small motors

 

A little closer look at the details. 

 

Motors on the X Y and Z axis mounted to threaded rod will pull and push the router across the board.

 

 

Dust collection:

 The air created from the router spinning is exhausted out the holes while the fine dust is contained with the brush and extracted via the PVC pipe.

 

Inserts every 4" X 4" for hold downs.

 

Mounted on a roll around cart.

 

Space is very precious in our shop so the CNC table is mounted so the table pivots to allow us to roll it  through the doors into the back room when not in use.

Lower the table. Still working out the details of how the leg supports will be fastened.

 

 

 

The monitor is mounted via a piano hinge to fold it back making the overall width of the unit ??" wide 

 

Still have the doors to make for the lower section but very close to completed.

First sample program  "The Roadrunner"

 

 

 

 

 November 17th  

Woke up to an outside temperature of 28 degrees. The soil temp in the center bed ( at 12 " down )was 54 degrees 

The last two Tomato plants with my "normal" pruning throughout the season:
I picked the few remaining tomatoes and pulled the plants.

As an experiment:
In mid July I started to let  one  plant develop some sucker growth at the top thinking it might help shield the tomatoes from the cold and condensation that drips from the bows when the outside temperatures really start to drop over night.

 

Not only are the leaves a bright green It is loaded with a mix of fruit and flowers so we will see just how long we can keep it going:

 

 

I picked enough to make Tomato soup

 

I also harvested  a few small eggplant, 18  jalapenos, some Cayenne peppers ( for more jelly) and a handful of smaller sweet peppers that were ready for the freezer.

 

So far the shorter days and cold night have not hurt the pepper plants
 We still have Parsnips in the ground, Rhubarb Chard, Cabbage, lettuce, herbs and tobacco plants also that are doing quite well.

One last Pansy hanging on. Raggedy but still beautiful.

 

 

Oct 4th

Harvest is about done and the pantry, root cellar and freezer are almost full.

In the freezer:( so far )
Basil;
 using the ice cube trays for a thermos ( about 1 Tab per) I blend minced basil with olive oil I have a gallon baggie full of these.
Carrots 48.... 2 cup bags (out of 2- 5' X 5' beds)
Beets 10..... 2 cup bags 
Sweet Peppers: 24  Stuffed peppers
                      30  2- cup bags of sliced
                      16  1- cup bags of diced
Jalapenos: 1....1- gallon baggie tops removed

All of the pepper are still producing I expect I will double what I have in the freeze and make at least 3 more batches of pepper jelly.

Corn: I did not plant any this year but I did buy 2 dozen removed from the cob and froze it, It will become corn chowder this winter.

Eggplant:  10 bags with enough  breaded Planks for Eggplant Parmesan
               8 bags  each with 2- med eggplant diced and blanched for Eggplant Casserole
Wax beans:  14 - 2 cup bags


Dehydrated Tomatoes, cuttings from all the herbs, Cayenne and Thai peppers, onions and Apple slices.



Root Cellar:

19-Buttercup Squash ( off of ONE plant )

50 lbs Potatoes out of one 5' X 5" bed52 Garlic Bulbs
65 lbs Onions

 

 

 

24 pints  Wickles ( I make a Bread and Butter style pickle and then add whole Cayenne peppers to the jars).
Dill Pickles:
               6..... quarts of spears
              15..... pints of chips
Tomatoes:
16... 1/2 pints Tomato Paste
18.....   quarts    Tomato Puree
12........ pints      Pizza Sauce

Chili sauce:

6- pints

Ketchup:

12 - pints


Pickled Beets
 10- Pints

Hot Pepper Jelly:
  24- 1/2 pints
  12 -  pints

Apple pie Filling

21 -Quarts

Apple Sauce

12- pints

Our 3 apple trees yielded ( what we can safely reach at our age) 
9 - 5 gallon buckets of apples
I forgot to take a before picture.
This is what is left after making the pints of apple sauce, the quarts of apple pie filling, 3 pans of Apple crisp, two batches of apple fritters and one apple cake.

Oct 31st

Happy Halloween!

The theme 

Back on the farm

 

 

 

Sept 18th

Some new photos of "The Kids"

On our morning walk:

 

Ready for an afternoon session of "Catch 'n Fetch:

 

 

Ruby

 

 

Jasper:

 

 

 

Sept 2nd

In memory of Fergus we wanted to make a donation to Glen Highland Farms.

 Instead of just a receipt for a donation these two touch our hearts immediately and came home with us that day  (Friday August 21st.) 

They have lived together since they were born and at 6 years old they are inseparable. 

Ruby

Jasper

 

July 20th

 

The greenhouse is doing great!

Harvested the garlic

Cole slaw is on the menu for tonight

I finally found a head lettuce that will grow for us in the greenhouse.

Splitting and stacking the Firewood is almost done

 

 

July 10th

I used our Key limes to make a pie, I found there were lots of seeds and was 2 tablespoons short of the 6 ozs needed so I cheated and added the juice from a store bought lime to complete the recipe.

 

July 7th

Since I am the only one that eats them I only planted 5 wax bean seeds.

4 bush zucchini 

 

Cucumbers always do well.

There are 3 Straight Eights and 3 Picklebush sharing the A frame

On the other A frame I planted 3 Buttercup Squash seeds  and 3 Butternut seeds but only one plant survived It was the Buttercup and it is just starting to set fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

July 6, 2015

With the assistance of Dr. Roger Blankfein a very understanding and compassionate man our boy passed away today. His battle from the effects of  lymes is over. 

This photo was taken May 30th

                                                                           Fergus

                                                      August 28, 1999 - July 6, 2015

                                                                               RIP 

Here are a few of our  favorite photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 4 th

First tomato of the season

 

June 24th

 

We are starting to harvest every couple of days our beets and carrots 

 

The Candy Onions are starting to bulb up

 

Won't be long before the cabbage is big enough to pull

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 31st 

Well the month has flown by but we did get the little Tractor shed garden rake out.

 

Walkway laid and  6 hills of squash planted

 

Now I just need some time to weed it.

May 19th

I think I will refer to this as one of those : Quality vs Quantity times

A total of 6 limes remained on the bush. No I just have to time the harvest. I think the size is right and if what I read is correct when they just start to lighten up a tiny bit it is time to pick them. too light and they WILL be bitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 5th

Next step to this project  is to cut the tubes so they are all at the same height then capped with masonry mesh with 1/4" X 1/4" holes to keep critters from making their home inside the tubes
I will add those photos when we get it done. Still researching a remote senor.

While we take a few minutes from that project we completed the next project for this year in the high tunnel and that was to dig all the walkways down 3" below the raised beds






lay down fabric 



and refill with pea stone.



Then start all over again on the south side



NO more weeding the walkways. That will free up hours of our time this year.

 

We are glad we are almost done! It has been an exhausting project. Hind sight this could of been simple if we had done it BEFORE we erected the high tunnel A back hoe would of make quick work of it.

Pea stone pile is just about gone





This is what it looks like today:
 Garlic




Cole Crop I thought wasn't going to make it.
There are  heads forming on the cabbage and the broccoli is starting to create Florets and my little paper moths are working 100%




Second planting of Spinach





Now I am off to rake out all that nice dirt we removed from the high tunnel and making a pumpkin/squash bed in back of the Tractor shed.

 

 

April 30th

After the dirt was back into the beds and leveled off  I went ahead and planted the rest of the Tomato plants.
We ran to the box store and picked up the supplies we would need to get the system running. That included a 90 degree elbow a 2 ft and a 7 ft piece of 8" round galvanized ducting.
Then all we could do is wait for the delivery of the high Pressure In-line Duct booster Fan.

The fan arrived on schedule.
 Jim went to work on it right away. He cut the hole into the box to accept the 90 degree elbow, mounted the fan, duct work and a temporary lead cord to test out the system.







It is working.
 For the time being we will  unplug it at night. It will be interesting to see if the tomatoes I just planted catch up with the ones I planted 2 weeks ago. 

Jim is now researching for a remote thermostat with a few sensors  that maybe will work in conjunction our external thermostat for the outside exhaust fan

 

 

April 27th

We  installed the second row of tubing



and anchored it like we did with the bottom row



and added more stone bringing us up to about 18" of pea stone




After a short break



We rolled out a layer of woven permeable fabric creating a barrier between the stone and our topsoil.





Now it was time to shovel the topsoil back into the bed.




 

 

 

April 25th

We clean up the edges and ordered the pea stone 

While we waited for the stone to arrive on Friday we finished up the preparation of the beds.




Jim secured  the side boards  to hold the boards plumb while we filled the stone and soil 




 




Robbie arrived as planned and quickly did the math, we would need 4.25 cubic yards so he dumped part of the load in front of the greenhouse and the rest we put behind the tractor shed for rest of the center bed. ( hopefully this fall)

 







Let the digging begin.




We wanted to secure the tubes  as we installed them so they wouldn't shift we pored  buckets  of stone to anchor them to start.



and then brought it in by the garden cart. Jim figures he moved more than 54 cart fulls at over 200 lbs a load .
That's a lot of stone. I  might of done 12 



When we  originally designed the beds we left "JUST enough" room to maneuver our cart



First layer is done!

 

 

 

April 19th


Well as per normal we are never content with "close enough".

 The more Jim thought about it the depth he felt we should go deeper.
 It only made sense the more stone for the heat sink the better so we are down to almost 26" at the west end  of the hole This is the end of the high tunnel that gets hit with the big winds, It is also the way we enter so we keep the drive plowed right up to it which will allow the cold to settle deeper into the earth. 

This past winter we were told by a site foreman for one of the home builders we subcontract to that the frost reached down over 5 ft this winter which meant they stop punching holes for foundations for over almost 3 months. 

With that said we are going to use 1"  Styrofoam insulation  the full depth on all sides.

 




Jim pre-planned for the remainder of the center bed and added the holes on the opposite side to accept the pipe. It will be covered with a piece of pine board until then.

First layer:



Top layer: 


Now Jim is researching for the inline duct fan and rheostat while we wait for the stone to arrive.







April 7th 


Garlic was planted the end of October




The first bed of Spinach I planted The end of November



Rhubarb's temporary home
I planted a couple of crowns that were given to me last year in the high tunnel. They will be moved this fall into its permanent home behind the Tractor shed.




 The cold definitely delayed the germination process but the seeds are now starting to sprout. .






The tomatoes were moved this week into 8 oz cups and will stay there until I can get them in the ground.








That cold snap got Jim thinking again.
When we put the high tunnel up  our goal was to grow year round. Heating with a convention furnace was not an option for us. 

We had to consider other options.

We looked at 55 gallon drums painted black and filled with water but  we felt that took up too much room. 

We researched rocket stoves and really like how they work We already heat the house and shop 100% of time with wood so adding another stove to tend to might just be too much to handle so again  we haven't ruled it out but not sure if that is our solution

What we are planning on doing is using pea stone  for absorbing heat taken from the ceiling via a inline fan and blow it through drain tile warming the ground from below the length of the center bed which is 5ft wide by 36 feet long. 
We decided to tackle half of it this spring. No point in doing the entire length to find out we have to redo it a different way.

We spent 6 hours on Easter Sunday  and Jim spent an additional 3 hours on Monday. We shoveled the topsoil out saving it to put back in later and then using a grub hoe, snow shovel and our garden cart we  hauled the crappy, stone laden native clay out and dumped it in a low spot that needed filling.

 

 




We hope to go down 24" We are at 21 now.





It may not look like much but our bodies can confirm it was a lot of work moving it all by hand.
We figure so far we have moved 5 yards. 



 

March 26th

On March 3rd during the Waxing Moon  I planted seeds for Scallions, Mesclun mix, another bed of Spinach , we can never have too much Spinach( The Spinach seeds I planted in the fall are up and doing great) and Igloo lettuce.

 

Planted the Cole seedlings ( Red Cabbage Wakefield Cabbage Waltham Broccoli Snowball Cauliflower) 

 Don't they look great?

 Unfortunately I don't think they are going to survive even though they were covered every night.

  With temperatures dipping into the single digits  all this past week they are looking very stressed so I have replanted a new flat to insure we have a good Cole crop this year.

Between March 9th and the 13th (Waning Moon for root crops) I planted the seeds for the Carrots, Beets, radishes and sweet onions

The Seedling rack this morning:

From left to right Sweet Onions Peppers ( Cayenne, Sweet Red, Jingle bell Orange, Jalapeno and Thai ) along with Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, eggplant, cilantro and a couple of Igloo Lettuce) Next tray has Marigolds, Nasturtiums, geraniums and early tomatoes and the last tray on the right is the replanted Cole seeds

 

 

Bottom row Tomato Seedlings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb 20th 

The Bluebirds returned  or were blown north by a huge Nor'easter that rolled in here on the 19th-20th. 

 

January 4th

The two Myers lemons seeds I planted in the spring of 2014 are doing well

 

 

The Key Lime Tree is loaded with the most wonderfully fragrant flowers I am hoping it will set fruit.