Some Photos from this Spring

A Luna Moth paid a visit and hung out clinging to the cabin one day. They are common visitors this time of year.

The second photo is our granddaughter helping water the garden. The garlic is taller than she is.

Burning Brush

Owning rural property is a lot of work if you want to take care of it and keep it nice. Even suburban property owners know the amount of work it takes to keep lawns and gardens looking good.

Dragonwood is essentially a woodlot with a pond and a one acre clearing. It is a constant battle to keep the forest from trying to reclaim the clearing. Small trees and brush have to be cut back from the edge of the clearing and from around the pond every year.

We pile the brush in the clearing and burn it when conditions are safe and the risk of the fire getting out of control are minimal. Here in the northeast we are essentially in a northern rain forest so growth is fast, but most years we have adequate rainfall to make burning safe.

Larger trees, anything about 2 inches in diameter or bigger are cut up for firewood. Junk species (Poplar, Hemlock, etc) we use for campfires, but the hardwoods (Maple, Black Cherry and Beech) are saved for the wood stove.

Each weekend I try to bring some wood home for heating during the winter. Today I have two spindly standing dead Black Cherry trees. These trees have no value as timber but will make excellent firewood. They are a good 40 feet tall but not very big around or straight. Disease or shade out killed them and they have now dried completely out and await the chain saw. I love these finds as the wood needs no drying time and clearing them is all part of good wood lot management. Free heat is a beautiful thing!

Cabin

People are always curious about the cabin. Here is a shot I took yesterday from the bridge.

Stained Glass Window

This window was custom made for the cabin by an artist friend. We really enjoy it and I plan to try my hand at making a window or two some day.

Shoveling the roof

Every year about this time we have to think about how much snow weight we have on the roofs of our buildings. It can really add up and sadly we lose a few more old barns every year. Porch roofs, garages, and out buildings often collapse under the weight of the accumulated lake effect snow. Sometimes even houses and commercial buildings come down and mobile homes seem to be especially vulnerable.

The cabin at Dragonwood is one that I make sure we shovel at least once every year about mid-winter. The weatherman is calling for a warm up and the chance for rain. Although I have seen deeper snow on the cabin roof, if it rains, we would be flirting with disaster. The cabin is over built in many respects, but when you take 2 - 3 feet of densely compacted snow and add a couple of inches of rain into the mix, that adds up to a tremendous amount of weight.

I'm glad to have my son home to help this year!

Planting Garlic

Fall is Garlic planting time. This year we were a little later than we like. Columbus day or thereabout is optimal time, but as long as the ground is still workable you can plant. This year we planted about 50 German White Hard Neck cloves which should yield about 50 nice large bulbs late next July or early August. The cloves were soaked in fish emulsion fertilizer and water before planting. A little smelly but an extra boost for the garlic.

Two tricks to growing garlic are to clip them before they flower. The plant will send out a flowering shoot called a scape. The scape will make a loop and then a second loop. Once the second loop is visable it's time to clip them off before they go to flower. This results in bigger bulbs. These scapes are also edible and provide excellent garlic flavor in cooking, though less pungent than an actual clove. We just chop them up and use as you would use garlic in cooking.

The second point to remember, garlic prefers fairly arid conditions. Do not over water them. In fact in this area we don't water them at all. The rainfall we get in the course of a normal growing season is more than enough. Garlic prefers soil with good drainage and organic matter. A little sand mixed into a good compost mix is an ideal amendment to your soil. A little fish emulsion fertilizer a couple of times during the growing season is all you need to produce fantastic results.

OFF THE GRID

Dragonwood is completely off the electrical grid and I expect to keep it that way. We enjoy Dragonwood as an escape from the rat race, so why run up more electric bills and higher taxes for an improved lot, not to mention further contributing to the degradation of our planets resources.

We do have a gasoline generator, although it is seldom used. When it is, we usually use it to run power tools. This is a fairly recent addition and in fact most everything at Dragonwood was built with a chain saw and hand tools. My friend J can attest to that. Debe and I, along with our son Kevin II and our friends Dick and J built everything. Our pal Jeremy is helping wire the cabin so that we can tie into the generator, a bank of batteries, an inverter and the solar panels we hope to add this summer. Most that have helped have done so out of friendship a few cold beers and some burgers on the grill.

Dragonwood does have a decent propane grill that serves as our kitchen, along with a couple of five day coolers and a large table made from recycled materials. We have propane lanterns and a rechargeable electric lantern. Additionally we have several old fashioned oil lamps and numerous Tiki torches. The Tiki torches not only provide light but make for a festive atmosphere and the citronella oil helps battle the mosquitos.

Dragonwood has a dug well, however we bring our drinking water with us or visit a nearby public spring with our one and five gallon containers.

A pit privy also known as an out house behind the shed serves us well for our requirements in the sanitation department. The out house is always stocked with lime, TP and baby wipes. The lime helps compost the waste while virtually eliminating any odor issues.

We have a shower stall built for outside use during the summer. We heat water on the grill and you'd think you were staying at the Ritz.

Life is Good at Dragonwood!