Retire?

"What's good living to be old if I can't be having fun.".......my response to an email. 

 The reason I am saying this is that "DonnerBlitzen" just emailed me and was concerned that I was taking time off because I'm exhausting myself creating my homestead farm. Well, to tell it truthfully, I am exhausted, but NOT because of the farm. And bit can be attributed to my age, a bit to the busy aspects of my life, a bit because I don't like to slow down. Now for the spoiler......the reason for taking the past two weeks off from the blog is that my mother got hurt. I was devoting much of my precious time to taking care of her needs.....visiting, talking with doctors and nurse, meeting with with a myriad of social worker types, filing out forms, acquiring documents, meeting with PT people, attempting to have mom moved closer to where I live, dealing with medical insurances and money, etc. In this day and age when things should be electronic and digital, way too many offices still are dealing with paper and in-person meetings thus causing me mucho hours of work. Many of these official offices are 1 1/2 to 2 hours away, which means many hours wasted driving. Not that I'm whining or am expecting pity. This is just a bump in life, a hurdle to be dealt with. 

But lets get back to DonnerBlitzen's suggestion that I take it easy, sell the farm, move into an apartment, and retire. DB told me that I could put the farm sale money into a diversified retirement fund, and live in an apartment where I could save even more money for retirement. Then I'd have more time to relax, take it easy. 

Thanks for the advice, but no thanks. That's not for me! Having spent many hours these past days in hospitals and extended care facilities, I have zero interest in amassing every extra penny that I can just to put it into a retirement fund so that I can live as long as possible in some care facility sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a diaper as I drool onto a bib. Not for me! I'd rather die while shoveling a truckload of mulch or manure. 

And that fat retirement fund? I fully intend to be poor. Yes. How's that for a shocker. Poor as in no investment retirement fund managed by some fiscal business entity someplace. I'd rather use my money to have this farm.

On top of that, I plan to enjoy every week and have fun. What's good getting old if I don't have fun? So what's fun to me?.......

...growing a new vegetable I haven't tried before. Next on my addenda is amaranth. 

...raising livestock I haven't had before, like my pigs. Boy, I'm learning lots about pigs. 

...devising new ways to use old pallets. I'm fiddling with some right now to make a new chicken pen. 

...making creative trellises......and funky crazy yard art. 

...creating a secret garden, a place to express my artistic side. 

...experimenting how to prepare some new veggie I've never seen before. 

And it's not only farming that I classify as having fun. 

...creating my own home and learning building techniques along the way.

...beachcombing.

...exploring new beaches and snorkeling.

...spending time with friends.

...exploring the other Hawaiian islands.

...making blocks for my block printing efforts.

...seeing places outside of Hawaii.

Plus there are dozens a little 'funs" I do every day....I live! 

...check on my orchids and rejoice with awe if I find one blooming.

...work on making friends with my donkeys.

...hand feed my chickens some grain out of my hand.

...watch the rabbits enjoy cucumbers or pipinolas.

...spread some bird seed and watch the wild birds.

...look for the little things growing and living, like tiny mushrooms, dwarf plants in corners here and there, interesting looking bugs, little lizards.

I aim live each and every day. 

Yes, I see no fun in living as long as possible when that living has no fun. I believe in quality of life, not quantity. And no, I won't change my mind on this. Possibly due to my veterinary experiences, I've decided that life is all about enjoying it. Quality over quantity. 

So here I sit, listening to a cane toad singing down in the front field. While I'm not fond of hosting a big cane toad, that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy hearing it sing. As it sings I'm aware that a barn owl is cruising over the pasture hunting mice. Seeing our resident owl at work is a joy. Glancing skyward I see stars......or at other times a full moon.  I still love gazing at a full moon even if it means that sleeping may be difficult due to its brightness. How beautiful it is. With a full moon, our half grown kittens are active. I'll entice them indoors and offer them fresh catnip mice toys. Yes, it's fun watching them play. 

Every day there are good things around me and fun & enjoyment to be had. Even on "bad days" I can look for and  find good stuff. I'll never fit the stereotype of the old lady sitting in her rocking chair watching the world go by. Nor do I hope to die wealthy. 

Pipinola Refrigerator Pickles

One of my favorite uses for pipinolas is to make refrigerator pickles out of the leftover pickle juice from a store bought jar of tasty pickles. I've read that it's safe enough to reuse pickle juice once. So it is a great way for me to make easy, easy pickled veggies. 

Now I hear ya......what's a pipinola? It's a vine veggie that goes by plenty of different names around the tropics, with chayote being the most familiar one on the mainland USA. It's kind of like a squashy thing, and can be used like a summer squash in many dishes. I like to use them in soups, stews, and stir fries. And they make a darn good mock apple pie. 

Back to pickles. I opt to use the larger, older pipinolas for pickles. Why? Because the young tender skinned ones are preferable for cooking or raw use because their rind is so tender that it can be eaten. The rind and seed capsule of the older ones are tough, thus needs to be cut away and discarded (to the livestock feed pot). 

Above, two large pips, washed and ready for action. 

Aboveboard I've cut off the rind, cut the pipinola in half, and cut out the tough seed capsule. 

Next, I slice the pipinola into thin slices, about 1/8" thick.

Finally I gently pack the pieces into a clean jar, add pickle juice to cover all the pieces, then store the jar in the frig. After one week I often start stealing pieces out of the jar, but they are better if I wait three weeks before eating. 

What is Soil pH?

Jerry has asked, "What is pH? Why do you test for pH?"

For a non-chemistry major, the simplest definition for pH is to say it measures the reactive ions in a solution. It allows someone to classify a solution as acidic or basic, that is, how far off of neutral (non-reactive) it is. I'm sure that went over plenty of heads, but I don't know what else to say. But other than a definition, I'll talk about how pH affects my soil. 

Where I lived on the mainland, my soils were always slightly acidic, which most plants thrived in. Garden areas received a sprinkling of granular lime each spring or fall and it was sufficient to keep a happy veggie garden. I never really thought much about pH. 

Things are quite different where I'm now living.....and actually trying to eke out a self reliant existence. When I started out my homestead, my soil was acidic, around 5.4 to 6. Since I live down wind from an active volcano, I get a nice dose of acid rain on a fairly regular basis. Plus I get daily light deposits of acidic volcanic ash, what housekeepers call gritty dust. On top of that, soil in my area is calcium deficient, so there is no calcium buffer for this acidity.

Besides acidic rain and ash affecting my soil, I also add various soil amendments as I attempt to make my gardens more productive. These amendments have an effect in soil pH. Composts and manures tend to acidify. Coral, shells and bone tend to do the opposite.

By the way, the amount of rainfall has an effect of pH too. Lots of rain leeches out calcium, leading toward acidic soil. Since I live in a location with normally 80" of annual rain which often comes in heavy downpours, I sometimes see a problem with leeching. 

So why is pH important to me, why care? The level of the pH has a direct bearing upon which nutrients and minerals are available to the root zone -- to the soil microbes and plant roots. I could have the best combo of nutrients & minerals but they won't do any good if the can't be utilized. In soils that are overly acidic or alkaline, nutients and minerals are not available to soil organisms. 

My goal is to keep my soil pH close to 6.5 to 6.8. Most vegetables like that range. I use coral sand, burnt coral chunks that have been hammered into small pieces, plus burnt bone that has been hammered into finer pieces. And wood ash. Only the wood ash adjusts pH quickly. The others work slowly, but are very important for adding much needed calcium and other minerals. I rely upon the coral and bone as my primary pH controls, with wood ash being used for quickly (meaning 2-4 weeks) needed measures. Besides, wood ash also is a good source of potassium in addition to having some calcium and other trace elements. Wood ash is a good fit for "sandy" type soils like mine. 

I currently produce or gather all of my soil additives. But when I lived in NJ, I used pulverized and granular lime for addressing pH issues. Of course, they were purchased at a store. But old farmers would tell of times when seashells and oyster shells were used to help condition the soil. Some recalled their fathers crushing the shells under the wheels of a truck before spreading them in the fields. Others remember the shells being burnt first. When hiking around the back areas of NJ beside and through old farm fields, it was not uncommon to see seashell pieces sticking out of the ground. Here in Hawaii I don't see the abundant seashells that I saw on the beeches of New Jersey. Thus shells are not common enough here for me to make a special trip to gather them up for garden use. But if I see them, I'll add them to my collection bucket. 

pH Soil Test - Homestyle

I've been fielding numerous email questions about soil, with the number one about a home test for pH. I find that home testing is simple. And because of our acidic rain here, due to the erupting volcano, plus the fact that I add soil amendments between each crop, I test soil pH frequently. How frequent? For right now, between each crop. Once I start cutting back on soil building amendments, then I'll probably slow down to 2-3 times a year. Both the volcanic acid rain and the biomass soil additives (compost, mulch, manures) contribute to acidification of the soil. 

The test I do involves test strips and/or pH paper. For the bare minimalists out there, you could use a mixture made from red cabbage that would give you a rough acid vs base result. Or for the techie oriented gardener, there are pH probes. I have a probe but I found that it needed cleaning between use for a reasonably accurate reading....and quite frankly, I never seemed to have ultra fine sandpaper on hand when I needed it. Usually I couldn't find the sandpaper because someone used it (sigh...usually me)......that is, IF I could find where I last misplaced the pH probe! I've done that plenty of times. In fact, right now I havent the foggiest idea where the dang thing is. For some reason that's beyond me, I always keep the pH testing strips & paper in my medical kit. Thus I can always find them. Yeah, I equate test strips with medical testing, thus the reason I find them in my veterinary supplies. Hey, I do what works, regardless of how silly it seems to others.

So for my home tests I need...

...pH test strips or paper. I buy them online. 

...distilled water. 

...soil sample. 

...Test strips & paper. While not the most accurate testing equipment, they are plenty accurate enough for gardening. I just need a general idea what the pH is. 

...Why distilled water? Because my catchment water comes from acidic rain. I adjust the pH of the catchment water using baking soda once a month, so on any particular day heaven only knows what the water pH actually is. By using the same gallon bottle of distilled water over a stretch of time, my test results at least are relative to each other. This gives me a better idea of the trends going on in my gardening and soil amendment efforts. 

...The sample. Getting a soil sample is simple as long as I follow a few rules. Clear off the top couple inches of soil which is primarily mulch. This upper section is not where the plants roots are. I'm targeting the plant root zone. Once I'm down to the root area, I'll simply take a scoopful and put it into a clean cup or jar. 

Next I'll add water, enough to cover the soil with the intent of having a layer of water atop the soil once the soil particles settle out. I don't have a centrifuge, so I need to either rely upon gravity to settle the soil particles or drip the soil slurry through a coffee filter.  I've often toyed with the idea of making a bicycle tire centrifuge, but haven't gotten around to it yet. If I actually had a bicycle, it would be simple, but alas I don't have one.  Maybe I could just put the soil/water mixture jar in a sling and swing it around my head for a bit. But I haven't tried that yet either. So I use the lazy gravity method by letting it drip through a piece of napkin, paper towel, coffee filter, or scrap of cloth in order to clarify the water. The only reason I want the water to clear is so that the soil particles don't interfere with my being able to see the color on the test strip/paper. Without filtering or settling out the silt in some fashion, the muddiness interferes with the color on the test strip/paper. 

(I normally don't use a coffee filter, because I'm a scrooge and filters cost money.)

Once I see some reasonably clear water, I'll dip my test strip into it and read the results. I could use an eyedropper, pipette, or even a spoon the collect that water and use it to wet the test strip/ paper. Just alternative options, but I usually just make a quick dip. 

Reading the test strip or paper is simple because they come with a color chart. Just match up the colors then read the chart. Bingo. 

I used to use a swimming pool test kit, but I found a problem..........

....As the above test shows, my soils' pH is often BELOW the test strips capability. On the above strip, the pH is the second colored square down. This test produced a barely yellowish result because the pH is actually below 6.4. How much below I couldn't tell. Thus this test kit won't do for my soils. 

Since I didn't know how much lower the pH was, I decided to use a more broad range pH test that I had on hand. I needed to know if this soil was still in the 6 range, or if it had slipped into the 5's or worse. So here's the next result......

The chart indicated that the pH is 6-ish. The color was strong enough to tell me that it wasn't slipping down in the 5 range. 

But for my routine testing, I don't use either of the above kits. While these two each have their place, I strongly prefer using these.......

............strips:

............paper:

The strips and paper seem to give me consistent results and are within the range most useful to me. So I took a strip and tested my sample. In the photo below, it's the strip on the left. The results indicate this soil sample is at 6.1. ......... It was the clear amber but a trace of color change was taking place but not strongly enough to darken the entire color patch to make it 6.2. But as I've said, I don't need a real accurate result, so to say the soil is 6.0 to 6.2 range is accurate enough. 

The strip on the right is another soil sample from a different garden bed. You can see that there was a stronger color change. This bed has been consistently testing at 6.4-ish. 

For garden beds that I have been using for a while, I tend to use the pH paper. I find that it's quick and simple to use, plus it's cheap. I can get a lot of tests out of a roll. The down side is that the roll can get ruined easily if I'm not careful. Dropping it into a puddle is not advisable. And forgetting to put it back into my pocket, thus leaving it outside to be rained on is also not a good idea. 

(Above-  I tear off a short strip of paper off the roll, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.) 

The above test indicates a pH around the 6.0 and 6.2 range. **** Important----- notice that I hold the paper so that gravity lets it hang down vertically. Once the paper gets wet it is very limp. With people who are having problems using pH paper, it is often because they try to hold the paper upright or horizontal, rather than letting it hang. 

Once I know the current pH status, I can guess-imate how much coral sand, crushed bone, and wood ash to till in. It's only a guess, a gut feeling acquired from months/years of doing this. The soil that tested around 6.0 will get a heavier sprinkling of wood ash than the one that tested at 6.4. Both will get a dusting of coral sand and a moderate addition of bone. That's along with two inches of compost and a light layer of rabbit manure. 

Soil Sediment Test Interpretation

Soil sediment -now what......

Ok, now that I told you how I do a basic rough soil sediment test, what do I do with the results? 

First of all, this home test just gives a basic rough idea, it doesn't examine the soil particles under a microscope, so I don't know exactly what my soil looks like. But I don't see the need to be that precise. Nothing is all that precise in my gardening anyway. And besides, I'm not an obsessive-compulsive.

Why forego a more precise laboratory test? Foremost, the plants seem to be growing ok. I'm not seeing significant "sick" soil anymore. And since much of my homesteading approach keeps the idea of frugality in mind, why spend the money if I don't have to. 

People often ask me what type of soil I have. Before I learned about soil sediment testing, I had no idea. I was aware that some areas on the farm drained well, some got mucky after a rain, others didn't drain, and yet some soils wouldn't even accept rainwater (hydrophobic soil). I started looking into some beginners soil science and discovered basic soil components......sand, silt, clay, organic material. Im no soil genius. I'm still learning about soil. But I have been introduced to the soil triangle, which I'll try to explain.  

The triangle charts, below, help me interpret my test results. Using a soil triangle chart, I was able to figure out what kinds of soil structures I was dealing with and it gave me a foundation to work from for amending my soil where needed. Here what the triangle chart looks like, you can find all sorts of variations on the web........

So how to use this chart? 

1-  Lets say my soil sediment test showed me that I had 60% sand. So I'll circle the number 60 on the bottom of the triangle. You can see two tan lines going up into the triangle to the left and to the right of the number 60. I will use a marking pen and draw over those two lines, going from the number 60 out to the sides of the triangle, 

2-Now, lets say the soil test showed that I had 30% silt. Now I look for the number 30 on the right side of the triangle, the one labelled "percent SILT". There are two tan lines eminating from the number 30, one horizontal and one going down to the left. Using the marking pen, I will highlight those two lines, again out t the triangle sides. 

3- The last soil component is clay, and my test says 10%. So I circle the number 10 on the left hand side iof the triangle, the side that says "percent CLAY". Using the the marking pen, I will highlight the tan lines  running from the number 10, one going horizontal and one going down to the right.

4- Now I will look to see where all three highlighted lines intersect. In this case of 60% sand, 30% silt, and 10% clay, the lines intersect in the "sandy loam" zone. So that's what my soil would be classified as. 

This next soil triangle has a shaded area which notes the more preferred soil types for veggie gardens, while the yellow area is less desirable. 

This photo was provided by a person explaining how to use the triangle. Regretfully I don't know his real name in order to give him credit for the picture, 

In the actual test I did the other day, my soil sample values were.....

     73% sand

     16% silt

     11% clay

By using the triangle that puts this sample in the "loamy sand" category. But it also shows that the soil composition is outside of the grey "preferred" area. So this garden bed still needs some work. In actual day-to-day use, this bed is productive, but only because I've been working with it. Veggies grow fine but only if I watch the moisture level carefully. The soil drains very readily and dries out quickly. Between crops I will continue to add amendments : compost, manures, biochar, and till in old mulch. Since this garden bed started out as 95% sand, 5% silt, and unmeasurable amount of clay, it's structure is improving. When I started out growing in this soil, the plants were small, starved for moisture and nutrients, and their roots too warm. I had started with beans and they were a pathetic lot. But now beans growing in this soil look good and yield well. 

I've been asked a few times.....why bother with the testing. Why not simply dig in a lot of compost. Well, that's one way to try doing it. But my soil structure varies from location to location. Some areas are very gritty and sandy, while others are mucky. Thus I don't think the approach of one-size-fits-all would give the best overall success. By doing this simple test, I can learn what soil components a particular garden bed needs. By amending the soil, I can come up with a bed that retains moisture at an optimum level while still draining, and holds nutrients so that they don't rapidly leech away. Excessive clay is not one of my problems, I learned via these tests. 

Soil Sediment Home Test

Sediment or tilth test. Why? So that I can evaluate the effect of my garden amendments, Since soil structure has a bearing upon soil moisture & nutrient retention, I am aiming for soil that is desirable for the type of plants I am growing. 

Home test, why? I could always just send a soil sample off to a lab, but why? I don't need super accuracy, nor do I need to give my hard earned cash to a lab several times a year. A low tech home test is just fine for my purposes. Besides, I test each garden bed at least once a year, so that's a lot of tests. 

What I need.....sool sample, straight sided, flat bottomed clear jar, ruler, dish soap, calculator if I'm not up to snuff about using my brain to do the math that day.

Collect sample

First, choose a representative soil sample. Should be from the plant root zone. Since my garden soil is mixed well the top six inches but often has a mulch cover, I will scrap away the mulch and the top 2-3 inches of dirt, then take my soil sample. 

Amount.....enough to full my jar by 1/3. I'll spread the soil sample out onto a flat plate or tray to dry. Once dry, I'll crush and soil clumps and put the soil through a sieve or colinder. I want to remove any pebbles, roots, etc. 

Next I'll put the soil into my large jar. As I said, I'll fill the jar 1/3 of the way. Then if I have it on hand I'll add a heaping teaspoon of dry automatic dishwasher soap. This helps get the soil particles wet and separated, but with my soil type I haven't found it to make much difference. Now I'll fill the jar with water within an inch or so of the top, put the lid in tight, and give it a good shake to get all the soil wet and suspended. I'll take care to make sure nothing is left stuck to the bottom or sides. Then the jar gets set on a flat surface so that things can settle. 

Layers will now develop. Coarse sand settles first and within the first minute. At no more than two minutes I use a marker to note the top of this sand layer. 

The sandy layer will look coarser than the silt and clay layers. 

Silt is the next layer to settle out. This will take about an hour to form. It will be a different colored layer. Most people say that their silt layer is darker than the sand layer, but here my sand comes from dark lavas, so my sand layer is darkly colored. At one hour I will mark the line of the top of the silt layer. 

Clay is the slowest of the soil particles to settle out. Heavy clay layer will settle out in a day, finer clay in two days. Some people say to allow clay to settle for a week but I haven't found that to make a significant difference on my home tests. I suppose it matters if ones soil had lots of fine clay, but mine doesn't. 

I use a tongue depressor to mark my layers, but you don't have to. I just happen to have thousands of the little buggahs in hand, so they are handy. I will then measure the depth of sand, silt, and clay, as well as the total soil depth in the jar. These measurements are used to calculate the percentage of each soil component.

For example, the jar above shows 2 1/4 (2.25) inches of sand, 1/2 (0.5) inch of silt, and 1/3 (0.33) inches of clay, for a total of --------3.08 inches. Divide each particle depth by the total soil depth to get the percentages:

2.25 divided by 3.08 = 0.73 or 73% sand 

0.5 divided by 3.08 = 0.16 or 16% silt

0.33 divided by 3.08 = 0.107 or 11% clay. (I rounded to the nearest whole number)

Name That Lamb - Done

Ok, the names suggestions have come in. Several people came up with eureka and euphoria, but both of those names have already been used. I only use a name once, so even if they are good ones, the name gets retired. Two folks suggested eugenics, but hubby has a severe revulsion to using that even though the nickname of Genny would be cute. So here's the list this time around: 

You know who

U haul

U turn

Eulampis

Eulayla

Euphemia

Uberty
Ukulele
Ujimyia
Ulema

Eulachon

Eukaryotes 

Yukon Girl

Utahraptor

I've decided upon Utahraptor. Oh yes, I must be crazy. But the reason is that I just happen to have given a utahraptor model toy to a friend recently, thus the suggestion coming from a stranger who didnt know that must be fortuitous. 

So the little lamb gets dubbed the horrifying name ... Utahraptor. We've started calling her Rappy already.