Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Started by glenn kangiser, January 30, 2005, 10:24:03 PM

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rick91351

It is okay Glenn.  You can come out of hiding.  We decided we were not going to press charges.

Ellen and I loaded up the fourwheelers and unloaded about thirty miles from the ranch on the road you washed out.  It was a great day, it was warm and nice and the sun was actually nice and warm except the last five miles then you were grabbing a coat.  The road really climbs there up to the high prairie.  About 8 to 10 inches of ice most every where.   They got the road passable.  We seen about 100 head of elk, one big bull.  One huge golden eagle

I put a good word in for you with a the State Attorney General.  He says he will most likely just let it pass.   8)

     
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

glenn kangiser

Thanks, Rick... mighty generous of you and the AG.   :)

Looks like another week with chances of rain coming up after a bit of sun.  Hope I don't soak you again.  Looks like a lot of our snow is being taken by you guys....   [waiting]
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glenn kangiser

Made a deal with a tree trimming company and the first load of chips arrived at the cul-de-sac yesterday.  Nice.... Natural soil amendment resources coming to me of their own will.  They needed a place to get rid of them... I needed more chips :)

Tons of giant worms down in the soil in the garden now due to previous additions of organic materials in the garden.

I was able to dig about 18 inches deep with a shovel between rows now.  I will fill that with more chips, compost and manure.  Also ... adding the pest control bait for slugs, snails and the pill bugs that ate my last crop of turnips.... [ouch]

Just finished fastening the battery down tight in the Bobcat and adding more digging teeth to the bucket so I can continue working on the storage area for steel and usable unnatural resources from the other place.  [noidea'
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Redoverfarm

Glenn be careful if you don't already know depending on the variety of chips they can actually kill plants if they are fresh.  Good after they have had an oppurtunity to lay/rot a bit.

glenn kangiser

I have been experimenting with them some, John.  Thanks for the warning.   I put a bunch of twiggy chips in horse manure then composted it.  About 1/3 chips in the manure.  These were not excessively composted but it did rot the leaves.  I also put EM on them though likely should have had more.

I also have some that are around 7 years old at the cul-de-sac where the new ones are being dumped.  I have used most of them.

I am sure you are right though.  In the hugelkultur info they said some plants would have a problem with the chips and some would not - after the second year apparently they are not much problem.  I understand they are ok to use between plants as mulch also.  In the ground they rob nitrogen from plants also if not well composted requiring added nitrogen such as possibly alfalfa, chicken manure, or possibly even commercial such as 21-0-0 (if that is not against your religion). :)
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rick91351

Pine and fir wood chips brake down a lot easier than hard woods of course.  Saw dust from a soft wood saw mill works very well for a soil addendum and is a favorite of nurserymen for heeling in trees.  However the absolute very best is wood shavings both fir and pine composted with manure and tilled into garden or farm ground.

My dad, that was his bread and butter, hauling wood byproducts from saw mills and planer mills.  Such as wood shavings, chips and bark to feed lots, dairies and chicken farms.  When I was a kid up through high school and maybe a year of collage in the summer.  I was with dad or driving one of his trucks, so I seen it pretty much first hand.  I knew most all the dairymen and feed lot operators back then.  They all swore by the shavings and manure on their fields.  You could see the difference in crops where the natural inputs were and commercial inputs.  Tillage is so much easier also with the natural addendum.       
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

glenn kangiser

That is the problem here Rick.  The natural ground is clay... clay makes adobe bricks .... clay with sand makes harder bricks.  Clay with wood chips and manure makes a soil that worms like and you can grow things in as well as hold about 5 times the moisture of the clay alone. 

Since I have been adding the manure and chips I have started getting a decent crop of corn and potatoes.  Before that ... not too good. Didn't have time to do anything with it last year.  Got around 40000 lbs of manure so far this year.   Hoping to continue to improve it as it looks like I will get more time off this year.

On another note.... I just got a nice big Eager Beaver today.  Sassy was with me of course....... :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Let's see.... now where was I .... [noidea'

OOHhhh Yesss...  [idea]



I was going to show you my Eager Beaver......  [waiting]







Finally... I have a trailer worthy of my abuse....

It should haul most of the heavy stuff I can throw at it... Blew a tire on it tonight but it is used and the tires were old and I didn't check the air in them with a gauge before I tried hauling another 20000 lb truck home on it.  Still moving my unnatural resources....   [frus]


Had to go to Plymouth near Placerville so stopped and had another look at the Kennedy Mine tailing wheels after eating at Teresa's.  [hungry]

That little person on the ground is Sassy.  The wheels are about 58 feet tall as I recall and were used as an Elevator to get tailings from the Kennedy Mine at Jackson over the hill to a containment pond after a law was passed about 1920 requiring mines to quit polluting streams.  They had to raise the tailings over 200 feet and used 4 wheels to elevate a massive amount daily.





Meanwhile back at the ranch... we have been getting quite a few rather small but ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse hydroponics system. These were from plants rescued from the garden last fall and put into the NFT hydroponics solution.  Not working on them anywhere near as much as I should but they are still producing. :)





"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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new stratos

The trailer looks heavy enough by itself to pop tyres!

The wood chips may be an issue because some species will acidify the soil - tannin used to be got from Oak chips, for instance. Those will work great for surface mulch, but possibly not so well mixed straight in to the soil when fresh (unless your crop likes acid soils, of course).


glenn kangiser

Hmmm Chris, it is relatively heavy but.... I don't think I will damage it easily... OK ... I did smack the lights into the rocks on the side of the driveway because the lights stick out the side of the trailer like the ears on the side of Obama's head..... [waiting].



With the pointed ramp at the back there is not a good place for the lights but I am working on a cutout to mount them in.  Maybe in the next day or two - can't keep installing new lights every time I go up the driveway.... [ouch]

I think possibly the chips may keep the soil enough more workable that it will counteract the acidity problem.  Guess I could check PH and correct if needed.  I read that the pine is about twice as bad as the hardwoods.  With our clay soil in a few days it is bricks so I need to do something.  It is improving and I am composting the chips some too.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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rick91351

#3485
Quote from: glenn kangiser on March 28, 2012, 01:47:43 AM
the lights stick out the side of the trailer like the ears on the side of Obama's head..... [waiting].

rofl  Oh OH!  You said a baddy.  You did not make any friends with our other friends!!  (HI!! Other friends that watch and guard the internet!)

Quote from: glenn kangiser on March 28, 2012, 01:47:43 AM
With the pointed ramp at the back there is not a good place for the lights but I am working on a cutout to mount them in. [ouch]

That is a definitely a trade off with that design however with your skill and craftiness with a torch, grinder and a wielder, Ye Shall Overcome.....

Quote from: glenn kangiser on March 28, 2012, 01:47:43 AM
I think possibly the chips may keep the soil enough more workable that it will counteract the acidity problem.  Guess I could check PH and correct if needed.  I read that the pine is about twice as bad as the hardwoods.  With our clay soil in a few days it is bricks so I need to do something.  It is improving and I am composting the chips some too.

I think doing nothing would be the worse course of action as far as the soil.  Straw works but needs a lot of nitrogen to brake it down, then it actually does very little after that point to add humus to the soil.

Yep would not argue pine and fir chips are less desirable than like the cottonwoods or maple and ash tree verities.  However like I stated before chips would be my last choice between real sawdust, wood shavings and chips.  Does that make them bad?  No!  My reasoning is it takes so long for them to brake down.  Yet that is not a bad thing because they do hold moisture the longest of the three.  They work very well for hugelkultur beds and do amend the soil. 

However with the closing of most all west coast saw mills and planer mills where byproducts of this nature were available to most people.  It sort of leaves wood chips.  Myself I think you will do a lot more good doing what you are doing.   [cool]  Than doing nothing.....

To often we do nothing in this day and age when we hear there is a problem with this or that.  Rather than understanding what the problem.  Strange it is often times not a real problem but a scale of diminishing returns.  Or finding ways around it, by adding nitrogen - manure you will aid in the decomposing of the wood chips and gives the soil a great boost.  After all your real goal is not adding wood chips, so much as making your soil more humus or more grow-able.  Clay soils I agree are very hard to work with.  However they can be altered.... 
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

glenn kangiser

Sorry about the comment about those ears guys.... I was just having a hard time thinking about a way to describe my lights sticking out the side of my trailer so far they were getting slapped of by the rocks and trees standing along my driveway.  With 40% grades, I can only make it so wide..... [waiting]

Actually thinking about it.... those ears have bothered me ever since the first time I saw them.... How can I be sorry for wishing there was something I could do to help the poor fellow out... but I suppose we all have our problems and I guess he is lucky that is his worst one, eh? ...  :)

I agree on the chips, sawdust etc, Rick.  My sawmill makes pretty fine sawdust and it goes over the edge so after rearranging my unnatural resources I may get to it.  It ranges from 10yo to fresh.

Sand and clay simply form layers of sand and clay if laid out without working or a bath tub full of quicksand if put into an excavation in the clay.  Sand clay and straw make cob which shrinks dries to sandstone and leaves no air for the roots. 

Manure alone is a bit better but can still get rather wet, slimy and anaerobic by itself.  The wood chips, sawdust, clay and even added sand with the organics make garden soil that things will grow in.  It is something that I did not understand much until learning of hydroponics... Plants want their roots to be able to breathe --- compacted soil around roots prevents rapid growth.  Getting air to them will greatly improve them.  Wet clay will smother them. 

Wood chips, organics and manure is a pretty complete slow feed fertilizer.  Yes - extra nitrogen is necessary to keep the decomposing wood from robbing the plants.  Some plants may have a problem with volatiles as it is decomposing - many do not.  Experiment and change crops over time.

Pill bugs - sow bugs - snails - slugs will like the moist environment so a bait such as Sluggo PLUS, Cory's Pest Control or similar will draw them out from the veggies safely.  I have a list of the safe ones somewhere for those who want more info.  Plain Sluggo and others will not kill pill bugs and earwigs - must be the PLUS.   :)

Almost forgot... had a dream last night.. maybe this morning... [idea]

I dreamed I was checking the roots of my plants to see why they were not growing well and as I pulled them from the ground each one had a banana slug and about four smaller slugs chewing away on the roots.  I was systematically sticking each one of them just above the shoulders with a twig and letting the juice run out of them for eating on my plants.... no saving the plants I guess... just vengeance... sweet revenge... die you nasty little sucker... [waiting]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Redoverfarm

Yes Glenn trailer lights can be a real PIA.  I usually just buy the cheap one's at Harbor Freight because I know their life is short lived.  You need to put "ear muffs" on them.   ;)  Taking either 6" box tubing or 4-5" round pipe make a housing for them to set in so they take the brunt of the close calls. 

glenn kangiser






I don't know any of us former truck drivers that claim to be so good we won't smack a light once in a while - especially on a tilt bed trailer that swings wide at the back.... hmm






Around here, John I think the only solution is to pull them off and get them mounted internally. [idea]






Many times you only have a few inches to spare to a bank with rocks along the road, a tree,  or the great wall of China in my back yard.  Blind siding a trailer around that wall generally has a bit of a backing by feel factor to it.... [waiting]








Let's see... I wonder if these things will come off the side..... [noidea'











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glenn kangiser

Didn't do much yesterday but finally....Finally, got lights on my Beaver........    :o







Spike likes them too.....






I put a piece of 5/8 rebar across the top  for protection as well as a bit of grip for equipment tracks but still leaving good view of the light.  I cut the bracket tight to the light with the shear on the Ironworker so I could have the light as far to the back as possible.  The light is sitting at about a 70 degree angle or so  to bring it back also.  Looked good in the dark last night.  [noidea' 


Continuing bringing up artifacts from the other place.  My Ingeco engine rescued from the bushes by an old mine about 25 years ago. Some miner had converted this one to an air compressor.  I have the changed head and maybe some day will convert it back to an engine..... or just look at it.



Cute huh?........   :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Redoverfarm

That will be fun digging the mud out of those holes when you back into the bank.   [waiting]  Shame you couldn't put some extruded screen over them.

glenn kangiser

...and of course I will back into the bank. [waiting]

Whitlock and I were also talking about that last night.

Maybe a screen on top, another rebar across the back and screen on the bottom - I think I have some fairly open expanded metal screen.  I can still leave the access hole on the top to change the light and there is also one underneath toward the front where the bottom support plate stops and the wires go through. :)
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ben2go

A friend of mine has an old hit n miss kind of like that one.We run it from time to time.It has a lot of power to be the size it is.It came from an old oil well out in Texas.

glenn kangiser

Cool, Ben.  I have several oil field engines.  A pretty complete Ajax - and a partial one for parts plus others.  About 4320 lbs each for a complete Ajax.



I have a lot of stuff to reorganize as I get it moved up here from the other place.  Will try to get some pix as I get it straightened out.  :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Sassy

#3494
Glenn & I went out to dinner for teppanyaki with my brothers & sister & their spouses.



l-r:  Lee & Doug (brother)  Nathan & Debbie (sister)  Donna & Scott (brother)  me & Glenn

The waitress was kind enough to take a group picture of us  :)

http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free


glenn kangiser

I see she forgot to mention I had Alligator and Lobster. [hungry]

I mean...... Crimoney... I couldn't go in there wearing an Australian hat and not try the Alligator... or should that have been Crocodile?  [noidea'
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glenn kangiser

Pardon my coolness but just got the Samsung Note International version N7000 I think it is.  Had to try it out at breakfast . :)
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glenn kangiser

It is a cell phone as well as tablet so while ultimately cool using as a tablet it is about the size of a small loaf of bread so when you answer the phone on it you may get a few sideways looks from the uncool ones.  ....

Like why is that guy talking to that loaf of bread.  [waiting]
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PEG688

Quote from: glenn kangiser on April 01, 2012, 01:42:28 PM


Pardon my coolness but just got the Samsung Note International version N7000 I think it is. 


Had to try it out at breakfast . :)


Was it tasty? 
When in doubt , build it stout with something you know about .

glenn kangiser

I should have known.... ummm ...yessss, Love it with ketchup..... [waiting]


Dang it, PEG... I meant I was using it while eating breakfast.... [ouch]


http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxynote/note/story.html?type=find


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkZz2pr69DY




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