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I probably should have known better. But so many weeks of mild weather lulled me into complacency. Each weekend I thought, I should empty the rain barrels. But the forecast for the week would be warm and I’d think, eh, I’ll do it next weekend. The last two days we did not get above freezing and Bookman went out this morning to drain the barrels. Too late. Both of them are frozen solid. How could that be? How could 55 gallons of water freeze solid in two days? Well it did. We were hoping for some melt today but the high only made it to 33F/.5C. However, the forecast for the next few days says nights below freezing but days above. So. We opened the hose valves on the barrels for the water to drain should it melt. I hope it melts. Then we can tip the barrels upside down to keep snow out of them and set them up again in spring. Hopefully this one freeze won’t spilt the barrels. Plastic, even when it is thick, is surprisingly fragile when it freezes.
During the week I noticed the butterfly weed pods split open. I have one in the front yard and have never seen it do this, probably because by late summer it gets hidden by the taller purple coneflowers. At first I thought it was milkweed and for the life of me could not remember milkweed growing there at all. I was beginning to doubt my memory when I looked up butterfly weed on the internet and discovered, yes, it does have pods that burst open and looks remarkably like milkweed. I also discovered that the plants really like sandy soil which explains why it is doing so well where I planted it in the back garden, the soil in its bed is pretty sandy. This is a happy stroke of luck. I have a chicken garden that is full of sand buried beneath woodchips and leaves. Some of those seeds are going to get scattered along the sandy margins this week. Come spring I just have to remember where they got planted so if they actually sprout, I won’t accidentally pull them up thinking they are a random unwanted weed.
Speaking of the chickens, Bookman and I went out to work on the coop this afternoon. While our bodies were warmly layered, our hands were not. Work gloves are not insulated and one cannot build in mittens. So we got two rafter support beams up before our hands were so numb we could no longer feel them. Barring any surprise “warm” days or December/January thaws, our coop building is done until spring. We didn’t get as much done as I had hoped, but we made pretty good progress considering we have never done anything like this before. If we don’t get the rafters attached before spring, that will be first on the agenda. Then the fun with plywood and foam insulation begins. We bought a jigsaw in preparation for cutting holes in the plywood sheets for windows, doors and vents. Fun times ahead for spring!
Will you be surprised to know I am already thinking about what to plant in the garden next year? That early seed catalog I got? I’ve paged through it all and marked it all up. I’m planning on trying a new to me green bean in the garden, a variety called “masai” that I have heard is tasty and has a very high yield. I also just read a Mother Earth News article about turnips and learned there are small turnips about the size of a golfball that are mostly Japanese varieties that can be eaten fresh, even sliced up like water chestnuts and used in stir fries for a bit of crunch. This has made me far more excited than I should be. After two years of not having much success with parsnips, I have decided to toss those out and plant more turnips which I do have success with. So next year I’ll plant the big late season turnips and the small early season ones too.
And then of course I am planning what to grow on the green roof of the chicken coop. I decided to have a purple/blue and orange color scheme. All the plants have to be drought tolerant and low growing. So far I have decided on blue fescue grass, pussytoes, pasque flower and catmint (not a cat-attracting variety!). Next autumn I will plant spring blooming bulbs of Siberian squill, grape hyacinth, and orange species tulips. The roof is 10 feet/3 m long and about 2.5 feet/.8 m from peak to edge. I am planting both sides of it so have lots of area to play with and all winter to imagine and plan. If you could see me as I type this, I have the biggest, dopiest grin on my face.
I am still reading Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I am reading it little bits at a time and I hope, as the gardening posts become few and far between for a while, you won’t mind me updating you on my progress through this beautiful book and the occasional quote. This one is from the chapter called “Seeing:”
It is possible, in deep space, to sail on solar wind. Light, be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret to seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff.
Isn’t that a beautiful image?
Biking
Biking on the trainer is going great. Zwift added a bunch of workouts a couple weeks ago and I thought I would give one of them a try. I chose an intervals workout that was 60 minutes long. The workout Zwift gives me is based on my FTP (functional threshold power). I expected it would be hard, but holy Lance Armstrong Batman! After the first two intervals I was sucking wind so bad I could not get my watts up to where they were supposed to be. The screen kept flashing “More Power” in big read letters. I yelled at my legs like Captain Kirk to Scottie, “Give me more power!” And my legs yelled back, “I’m givin’ ye all she’s got Cap’n!” And then the five minute interval would be over and “Fail!” would flash up on the screen in big red letters. To my credit I didn’t give up. I failed interval after interval right up to the end. I am apparently not the only one who is having problems because this week a new workout was added: 6-week ftp for beginners. Ha! As the name implies, it is a six-week workout training to improve ftp. I have decided to embark on that in January.
At the moment my riding plan is to add 5 miles/8 km to my Saturday ride each week through the end of the year. Have I mentioned this yet? Sorry if I am repeating myself. Anyway, by doing that I will be putting in a 100 mile/161 km ride on January 3rd. Yesterday I did 70 miles/112.7 km. I’ve done that far on Astrid outdoors but that included rest stops. Yesterday my only rest was a quick bathroom break. My legs were tired but my rear end was a bit sore. A hot shower never felt so good. Everything is feeling just fine today, but then I haven’t gotten on the trainer yet. That will be the real test.
That I think all of this is a whole lot of fun is utterly amazing to me. If this time last year you would have told me about this I would have called you crazy. Now it seems I am the crazy one.
I’ve not heard of FTP but it sounds very strenuous. You must have astonishing will power to keep going for,the whole programme.
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BookerTalk, FTP is a measure of fitness and is the maximum power you can produce over a certain period of time. Basically, it is how long you can go all out before falling off your bike into a sweaty, exhausted heap. It is a useful tool for training and when riding/racing it helps you gauge how much effort you can expend before your legs ad lungs will give out. If it weren’t for the computer training program telling me all this, I would have no idea what to do 🙂
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Parsnips are one of the few vegetables I don’t like. But that’s based on a long ago decision. I should try them again. I love, love the little species tulips that you’re planning to plant on your chicken roof. They’re adorable and gorgeous!
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Joan, I like parsnips especially in a root soup, they kind of have a sweet earthy/nutty flavor. But I have only ever gotten one normal size parsnip from my garden and all the rest have been no fatter than my thumb. Since I also like turnips quite a lot, I’ve decided it’s just best to go with what likes my garden best and rely on local farmers to provide me with the rest 🙂
Aren’t species tulips great? They are perennial too unlike the tall Dutch kind that stop blooming after five years or so. I have several different colors of the species tulips that have been growing and slowly multiplying in my front yard for about 15 years. They are such cheery little flowers!
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Couldn’t help laughing at the Captain Kirk stuff! Amazing quote from the Anne Dillard – you are right that it is a book so rich that its best read a paragraph at a time. Those Japanese turnips sound rather nice!
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Ian, as I was panting and groaning during the worst of it my husband kept trying to be helpful by waking over and covering up “more power!” with his hand as if that would somehow distract me. It did make me laugh, or rather choke, since I didn’t have quite enough oxygen to produce a real laugh!
Annie Dillard is amazing. I keep wondering why I waited so long to read her. I am very excited about the prospect of Japanese turnips.
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How long does it take you to ride that distance when you do it indoors? Is it harder inside or out? At least you don’t have to worry about traffic training indoors. I have been trying to vary my gym work out a little and some days (I try for at least once a week) I ride a stationary bike–it is a nice way of freeing up my hands to hold a book. You guys did a great job on the chicken coop! Do you have any idea when you might actually have some chickens? (Or am I getting way ahead of things?). And wow, a whole frozen ice barrel–we’re going to have a mild day tomorrow but maybe you won’t be able to partake of the nice weather. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and a few sunny days.
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Danielle, It took me 3 hours and 50 minutes on Saturday to do the 70 miles. It doesn’t take as long indoors as it does outdoors because I don’t have to stop at intersections and traffic lights and there is definitely no gorgeous scenery I have to stop and admire. When I did 70 miles outdoors in September/October it took me about 4 hours and 50 minutes.
We’ll be getting the chicks in early March. They will only be a few days old and will live indoors until they are fully feathered, about two months. So in February we will have to set up temporary cage and heat lamp for them. I am anticipating so baby chicken videos 🙂
We got close to 40 yesterday but it wasn’t enough to melt the barrels. There was a little melting but they are still pretty frozen!
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Haha, Stefanie, your training story made me laugh BUT your bike riding plan reminded me of an audiobook I’m listening to, in a very ad hoc way. It’s called Cadence by English born classical musician-radio announcer, Emma Ayres who rode her bike (Vita I think she calls it) from Paris to Beijing (as I recollect – we are only in Pakistan at present). A fascinating book – and she reads it herself.
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whisperinggums, glad you enjoyed the story. It was so ridiculous at the time as frustrating as it was I had to laugh. Ooh, a cycling travel book! It is not published in the US! Ack! Will have to see what I can do to get my hands on a copy. Perhaps interlibrary loan will help me out. I know someone 😉
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I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t enjoyed this book – though if you’re not a music expert in the technical sense (i.e. keys and strings and notes) some parts you just “ride” over but they aren’t long sections, just mysterious to non-players like me.
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The technicalities of music escape me. I can’t even play an instrument, not from lack of desire. My parents weren’t music people and ignored my pleas to learn an instrument and when you get to be an adult music lessons are expensive and the time to practice hard to come by. I always think that maybe one day when I retire I might learn to play a fiddle/violin. But, should I be able to get my hands on the book, I will keep your advice in mind!
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