All the Ones

Tomorrow is a once-in-100 years occurrence with the date of 11.11.11. According to the Stuff website the last time it happened in 1911, Kansas City had a sudden temperature drop from 24°C in the morning to -12°C by evening, and to a lesser extent in other US states. It was known as the Great Blue Norther and hopefully it won't happen again tomorrow. It's son Jeff's birthday but his 31 years is trumped by Andrew Fearon of Whangaparoa who turns 11. It's also the 93rd anniversary of Armistice Day with 1 minute's silence at 11am on 11.11.11.

I've had a 'woody' week with two more trailerloads of firewood delivered plus a large kamahi that blew down a couple of months ago. My neighbour chainsawed it into rings and I've spent the afternoon splitting it with my new Fiskars axe. This axe is a cross between an axe and a splitter and it's worked a treat on the kamahi.

Two more trailerloads of firewood

Chopped kamahi with still a few rounds to go on the left

I bought a time and tide clock off TradeMe recently; the first one didn't work but Cruising Electronics gave great customer service and replaced it promptly plus arranged freight to return the faulty one. Thanks guys. It's great to know what the tides are doing and all I have to do is find a permanent spot for it once I've decided where pictures and mirrors will go.

Time and tide clock - the red hand moves clockwise but at a
different rate to the time hands. It was 1hr to low tide at 7.30pm

My veges are growing really well in potting mix considering the hail we had last week. I picked my first spinach and silverbeet of the season and the mesclun seeds I sowed last week have already germinated. I'm trying a new-fangled gadget called Aqua-Shield - see the pink 'thing' below.

Aqua-Shield - a plastic surround with a difference

It's a double-skinned self-standing plastic surround split into individual tubes which you fill with water. According to the packet you can add 1 month to the growing season - solar energy warms up the water in the UV-treated plastic and provides a wee hot house for the plants inside. I'll keep you posted on how my silverbeet seedlings fare in this environment.

I'm still pondering on whether to get a tunnel house. One of my biggest problems is not knowing how to garden in a tunnel house so I can't visualise how to fit everything in. I've found a lovely wide tunnel house but I'm not sure if it will fit between the house, garage and water tank. My gut feeling is to make my own frame and get some wide plastic to stretch over it; a magic wand would come in so useful here!! I'll have to do something before deer and possums turn up for midnight feasts.

How about this idea for a small garden with a difference...

Save your large tins for me!!!

Enough rambling for now. Happy 11.11.11 everyone!