Pizza cutters

Donated to PaFS auction and brought in $30 each.

Well protected little chestnut

I planted two tiny American Chestnut seedings this morning. I got the seeds early this spring from The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). Originally got 4 seeds, but only 2 successfully germinated. One seeding is about 6 inches tall, the other is a runt, only 2 inches tall. Each has a hardware cloth screen to discourage rodents and then a welded wire cage to protect from deer browsing. Oak stakes and zip ties hold everything together. The seedlings are out in our meadow in an area we had cold season grasses planted but we are going to expand our tree and shrub plantings in that area, so the Chestnuts are the first pioneers in this plot. When I prepared the holes for planting I removed 2 5-gallon buckets of rocks so I added some peat moss and potting soil to the existing soil. Our rock wall is more than halfway from the driveway intersection to the bottom of the walnut grove. It's 12-15" tall in most places.

Chestnut pins

Here are a few pictures of my latest project. The larger of the two resulted in a single pin, while the smaller log section ended up as two junior sized pins.

I ended up turning 3 full sized pins and two junior sized pins.  The diameters of the barrels of the rolling pins were dictated by imperfections in the log sections, so although I would have preferred to make the 3 full sized pins all with the diameter of the largest pin, the subsequent pins have progressively smaller barrel diameters.  The junior pins were a result of a smaller diameter log section that has a curve in it, so the final diameters of the smaller pins were smaller that I intended, but they seem to be in proportion to their smaller sizes.

Who are the lucky bakers?

This will make thin, flat dog cookies

I had a log of a small American Chestnut tree that had died in our forest a while ago, so I cut a 20 inch section of that log to turn as a spindle for a rolling pin.  The log was about 4 inches in diameter and after removing the bark and surface imperfections, the barrel of the rolling pin was just a little over 2 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long.  I put two horizontal cuts on both ends of the barrel and then formed two handles each about 4 inches long.  The handles are circular at the center with tapering sides.  I used the band saw to cut off the ends of the rolling pin as there wasn't enough room for parting off the two ends.  While on the lathe I sanded the rolling pin up to 400 grit.  I then coated it with walnut oil.  Some buffing with white diamond buffing compound and the rolling pin will be finished. 

Cherry bowl with lid and chestnut handle

With two cherry blanks, 6" x 2" and 6" x 3", I decided to turn a bowl with the larger blank and a lid for the bowl with the smaller blank.  These blanks were from Got Wood?  They were green wood, covered in paraffin like the other blanks from this site. 
To start off, I used the drill press to put a 2 1/8 inch hole about 3/8 inches deep in both blanks on the sides that would eventually be the insides of the bowl and top.  These holes would be used on the scroll chuck in an expansion mode.

First order of business was to true up the blanks and remove the paraffin from the sides.  On the tailstock side I cut a tenon that would be used to reverse the blank and mount the blanks in a compression mode.  After turning the tenons, I also shaped the outsides of the bowl and lid.
Once they were reversed on the lathe, I hollowed out the insides of the bowl and lid.  To fit the lid, I placed a sloping  cut on the edge of the bowl, sloping down toward the center of the bowl.  For the lid, I placed a similar sloping cut so that the lid would sit inside the bowl.  I made sure that the diameters of both blanks were the same so that the lid would not over- or under-lap the bowl edge.  I used my triangular carbide tip to cut 4 grooves in the outside of the bowl near the lip. 

The bottom of the bowl has a simple foot and I turned off the tenon by mounting the bowl in a jam chuck.  After hollowing out the insides of the lid, I did the same for the lid top surface, reversing it into a jam chuck and turning off the tenon, but leaving a stair-step pattern in the top of the bowl.  Both bowl and top were sanded and finished with walnut oil. 

A 2 inch thick blank is a bit narrow for turning a proper handle on the top, so I used a regular 3/8 inch drill bit to put a hole in the center of the top.  I had a cut down a 4 inch diameter chestnut log that was standing dead in our forest, so I cut a 5 inch long section from that log and turned it like a spindle.  I used a spindle gouge to turn a circular ball and then turned a tenon on one end and parted off the tip of the ball.  The tenon was a little bit over 1/8 inch in diameter, so I had to do some sanding to get it to fit into the hole in the top of the bowl.  Once I had a good, solid fit, I put yellow glue (Titebond) in the hole and along the outside of the tenon and then pressed the ball handle firmly into the hole.

Because the cherry blanks were processed green, the bowl and top may move and check as they dry out.  To avoid these problems I have placed the bowl and lid into a plastic bag, surrounded by the wood chips that were removed from the blanks while I turned them.  While they were green, their moisture content did not seem to be very high, so they may dry out rather quickly in the bag.  I am hoping the bowl and lid do not move much during drying, or the lid will not sit nicely on top of the bowl.

Chestnut boxes

Paul's first boxes on the lathe.  The chestnut is dead wood from stump sprouts harvested near our camping site.  It's naturally dried.

They are sitting on a chestnut tree cookie from a different tree.
I think it was Pooh who needed useful pots to put things in.  That's just what these are. 

Holly and more

 After a trip to Wheatfield Nursery in Centre Hall, we planted 6 pots of switch grass: 4 with red/green leaves (Panicum virgatum 'Ruby Ribbons' #2 pot); 2 with green/blue leaves (Panicum virgatum 'Haense Hermes' in a #3 pot and 'Northwind' in #2 pot).  It took us 90 minutes to dig the holes in the ground--mostly driveway rocks and hard, compacted clay from construction.  We used pick axes and chipped out a layer of rock at a time. We mixed some sifted, rock free top soil with compost and used that mixture to plant the grass clumps.  It was a hard day's work, but the result along the patio rock wall is what we were hoping--an accent of the wall's curve.

The other plantings from yesterday, the 3 winterberry  (Ilex verticullata 'Raritan Chief' and 2 'Winter Red' all in #5 pots) and 2 clematis ('Multi Blue' and 'Henryi'--white) around the main entry are looking like they survived the transplant process.
Jennifer told us we didn't have nearly enough basil so we also planted a bunch of basil plants in the herb rock garden alongside the main entry. Next step if we can keep the chickens out of the basil beds: basil and garlic scape pesto for the freezer.
We have enjoyed to cool summer weather; we've been sleeping with the windows open and a blanket.  The blueberries aren't as happy.  So far we've had a handful.  Last June 28 blog entry showed a colander full.
Our Ameracaners are about 5 weeks old. They can now fly up to the roost bars but don't very often. I open the door to their tractor but they seem to prefer the security of home except after dinner when they venture across the trail in a mob.  The old girls dance right in and chow down on the starter crumbles, while the littlest girls cower in the far corner.  No one seems to miss the rooster. The black maran's back isn't as red as it was but she still doesn't have any feathers.
We found Colorado Potato beetle larvae on the plants today.  Bt works but so does popping them between thumb and finger; they spray red though, so point your hand carefully.
The 2 chestnuts that we planted in 2007 are growing well.  One is 15' tall and 2" dbi; the other about 2/3 that.  We cleared out competing red maples and some aspen to help the taller one along;  the other is north of the coop and is shaded by big oaks.  It isn't crowded so there not much we can do to prod its growth.

Reading Hybrid ** Brian O'Grady. Story had potential if it had been written by Stephen King.  Terrorists engineer a virus and attempt to release it in the US.   Victims become violent but some people survive and are able to reach into people's minds and control them.  The book needs some editing work to be more than moderately readable.  I think that's a problem with many of the kindle freebies.

30 cu yds of compost

What a wonderful Mother's Day present! We had 30 cu yds delivered by BIG truck and put a dent in the pile this weekend. Besides continuing to plant the butternut walnuts, we cleaned up some of last year's plantings by cleaning out the tubes (when will the mesh tubes arrive?), weeding and putting a couple of buckets as mulch around them. All the black walnuts and from this year, all the hybrid poplar, some of the apples are done but we still have a long way to go. As we went we found crabs or hawthorns and dogwoods that we didn't plant but that are in a good location, so we helped them along too. The chestnuts and elm from last year in the biergarten are looking good with a layer of compost mulch. We found a couple of little elms and a hemlock by my former summer kitchen that squirrels must have planted in the rocks.
The Baron used his big machine skills to fill the RTV as I watched the steam pour out of the pile. It was hot stuff so we were careful not to let the compost touch the tree trunks. With any luck the heat and ammonia will kill the weeds and keep the deer away from our precious saplings.
We also planted sweet peppers and tomatoes with the compost as well as some dill and parsley in addition to mulching the forsythia, lilacs and choke cherries at the top of the hill. Enough for today.

Summer 2005

The trees and meadow looked healthy and welcoming to the Baroness when she arrived on June 15 for some much needed recuperation after a long (and last) year in 6th grade. The only sadness was that the Loyal Pooch was no longer her champion protector.

June 24, 2005
The bear is back! This time we have pictures. He lounged around on the septic path for 20 minutes, scarfing up some cracked corn. The Baroness called to him from the deck, but he didn't look up or seem to care at all. He lifted his leg like a dog and mosied off to better pickings. If he had been in another place, he'd have surely been mistaken for a Newfoundland dog.

In July while the Baron was in residence, living room furniture was delivered. This made the Reading Hour (no TV, remember) much more comfortable. We had a little problem with the sofa but Caperella's(814) 355-4857) took it back to reupholster both arms. It's dry and hot this year so we enjoy the geothermal AC. We also made several improvements to make the Barony more livable, like hangers in the bathroom, closet, and garage as well as paint under the deck to protect the wood supports. We have a laptop, but only dial-up for now, but at least we are connected.

We've seen deer in the meadow, and we've seen lots of evidence, browse and scat, of deer in the woods, but today we watched 2 fawn nurse, rather roughly, for several minutes. They were at the top of the Lower Jennifer Trail; then loped away across the septic path and into the forest, seemingly carefree.

Wahoo! Toys. After much research and discussion with R, the Baron decided on Kubota at Dotterers in St. College. The RTV is a worksite model, diesel, 4-wheel drive, with a roof and hydrolic lift in the back. That will make it nice to unload rocks and dirt. Big Orange. The tractor is an L2800 with a Bushhog mower behind. Bigger Orange. The Baron only was able to drive his Toys for 3 days before he had to return to the prairie. The Baroness will take good care of them and give them plenty of exercise.

August 14
Lady Terra had to inspect the Toys so she came to visit for a weekend.

For Father's Day this year the Ladies suggested building the Ernst Memorial Bier Garten. We have lots of chestnut (oaks) and here is the rock. We have the Bier. Next, we need a bench. The Baroness went to a meeting of the Woodland Owners of Centre County at the Walizer's Chestnut Tree Farm to learn if The Barony might one day support chestnuts as it probably did before 1920.

With the Toys and 6 cu yds of compost that R arranged to have delivered, the Baroness got to work. First, a soil test, then lots of lime and fertilizer. A trip to College Garden's sale table and to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's native plant sale were next on the list. The Baroness moved rocks to form a shade garden for iris and lilies of the valley (to be imported from NE). On the east hill she planted 2 bayberries, 2 bleeding hearts, 4 asters, 2 monarda, 1 lavender, 2 blueberries, 2 hummulo stachys, 2 New Jersey Tea, 4 budelaria, a mountain mint, and 2 columbine. Deer apparently don't prefer fragrant plants; we'll see. The plan is to plant a few things at a time and see what makes it.

Summer 2005
-- Season-to-Date Statistics --
Average High Temperature: 82.18 Rank (1=Warmest, 110=Coldest: 17
Average Low Temperature : 63.78 Rank (1=Coldest, 110=Warmest) : 110
Mean SUMMER Temperature : 72.98 Departure (109-Year) : 3.64
Total Rain or Liquid Equivalent : 7.85 Rank (1=Wettest, 110=Driest) : 99
Total Snow and/or Ice Pellets : 0.0 Rank (1=Snowiest, 110=Least) : 110
Total Heating Degree-Days : 21 Total Cooling Degree-Days : 779