Kilo and Gambol paired

(Yesterday Paul chopped up the compost pile near the chicken coop.  It was 4 feet tall;  now it's a smooth bed of brown soil. It doesn't get hot enough to kill the weed seeds so we'll be selective in where we place it.)

I mowed some areas around the fruit trees and down the path to the mound of dirt left where the forest pinches in to make the meadow’s narrowest point.  I did some scraping around with the front bucket to smooth down the mound a bit.  Also tried to cut some of the nasty sticker bushes with the tiny pink flowers.   

When I finished mowing, I drove 5 buckets of our own compost in the ATV down to find and fill the holes on our paths. (We are tired of overextending our knees and twisting our ankles as we fall into these once rock filled holes.) I found 2 near the flagpole and one down where the fruit trees end.  I overfilled each hole with a full bucket of compost and left 2 full buckets out in the path for later hole repair.

On our second walk this afternoon I hooked up Gambol with Kilo on the dual lead and they walked/trotted together from the far turn on Shannon Curl all the way to the house.  A couple of times they got the lead mixed up on their front feet, so I had to tell them to “wait” and get them untangled, and then they were off again.  Gambol did a great job of pacing Kilo along and keeping him on the path. 

Weekend

Yesterday, a beautiful, cool clear spring day, Paul finished clearing the aspen stumps and composting the remaining spruces in the walnut grove. That's 10 loads of compost in 2 weeks.  We also cleared another load of rocks for the wall.
Thunderstorms last night kept Buddy pacing for a while.
Today dawned misty, low 40's, with visibility a mile or less so we bottled some Imperial Baltic Porter in the bathtub downstairs.  That made for easy cleanup. The beer will be ready to drink in 3 weeks. (The small sample tasted good already.)
About 4:00 PM, Gambol, who keeps a vigilant eye on the forest for interlopers, alerted us to 3 wild turkeys about 100 feet from the house, the first of the year.
Paul planted a persimmon tree in the orchard as an experiment.  Apparently one persimmon will produce some seedless fruit but 2 will produce more per tree with seeds.

Aspens: done

We killed the last standing aspens below the toy shed today, even the one that might have fallen on the shed in a wind storm.  Just the stumps are left. Now let's hope they had enough mojo in them to send up sprouts.
Then we emptied the 8th load (in 8 days) of compost.  Between these jobs the dogs, of course, whined that they hadn't been out in 2 weeeeeks, Mom.  Dad neeeeveeeeer takes us out when you're at work.  Ha!

Reading: 25The Crossroads Cafe**** Deborah Smith  Obsession with physical beauty and food as caregiver themes; "The Lard cooks in mysterious ways." " Everything in life leads us where we are supposed to go.  It's not always easy to see our destination in the middle of the journey."
Geronimo Breach ***Russell Blake  Albert Ross is a malingering misanthrope - a boozing, chain smoking philanderer; shifty, lazy, cowardly, going to fat, & more prone to doing the wrong thing than any man alive. His purgatorial existence working for the State Department in Panama gets shattered when a routine errand becomes a race against the clock, battling adversaries for whom no price is too high to protect a secret that could topple the world order. As the body count climbs in a struggle without rules, Al must face his own demons, as well as the myriad very real ones intent upon destroying him. The unexpectedly shattering conclusion of this richly drawn thriller is both topical & chillingly plausible, making for a roller-coaster action/adventure. (Kindle review) 

Winter is coming closer

Lots of clean-up jobs were accomplished this weekend in great weather: turn over the compost pile so the chickens can work on the seeds, plant more 'sang, pick up sticks for kindling, mow a trail in the walnut grove for winter walking.

Reading: As the Crow Dies ****Ken Caspar Vietnam took his legs. A murderer took his father. Somehow, Jason Crow has to take a stand. Jason Crow comes home to Texas on clumsy, prosthetic legs, struggling with his lost dreams and the pitying curiosity of friends and strangers. But there's no time for him to brood, because his father has just been shot to death. In the process he uncovers family secrets that shake him to his core. While fighting his own insecurity as a double amputee, Jason must challenge forces capable of destroying him and those he loves to pursue the person who robbed him of his greatest hero: His dad.  (Kindle summary)

Garlic in the ground

Garlic bulbs (Rosewood, German Extra Hardy, and Brown Vesper) from Wegrowgarlic.com are planted in two of the raised beds.  There is room for some shallots ( Dutch Yellow) from  easytogrowbulbs.com.  I spread a new load of compost  over the garlic beds and some of the other beds.
Since it is going to be wet and rainy here for a couple of days I put down a coat of fertilizer on the compost, as the compost tends to eat up nitrogen as it decomposes.  I cut down the old asparagus ferns and will have to do some weeding before I put down some fertilizer and compost to mound up over
the asparagus plants.  If the mounds are tall enough, next spring we will be able to harvest some white asparagus spears before they color up (purple or green).

Reading The Samurai Strategy ****Thomas Hoover Only a bit farfetched and written in 1988 so lots of the technology on which this was based was out of date, but a good read: A high-finance, high-tech thriller of Wall Street, murder, currency manipulation. A mysterious Japanese industrialist begins a massive 'hedging' in the US markets. Two weeks later, in Japan’s Inland Sea, divers working for him "recover" the Imperial Sword, given to Japan's first Emperor by the Sun Goddess. Can a lone American lawyer stop him from bringing down the US? (Kindle summary enhanced)

Big compost

After a long delay in delivery, probably due to the availability of compost at the University Area Joint Authority in July, Maxwell Trucking brought  20 cubic yards of compost yesterday morning. The driver drove the truck out into the meadow to dump the compost in the middle of the area where we had the bare mineral soil from our house's excavation. Eventually we plan to have the compost spread out over the mineral soil and then disked or plowed to mix it together. Based on the productivity of our backyard garden where we have used the compost to supplement the bare soil there, mixing in the compost should really improve the meadow especially where we had spread the mineral soil.

Compost and the end of the garden

Paul cleaned up the last remnants of the vegetable garden then turned over the compost piles with the bushhog. They are flat now and fill in several low spots in the chicken garden. They spent the afternoon scratching in the new dirt. I watched one eat a snail, shell and all: escargot without the butter and garlic (yum!)
Although we had only a couple of tomatoes, 7 pumpkins are generous-sized winter chicken toys. Green peppers have done well as has the basil although the chickens have enjoyed at least as much as we have. Stevia was fun to try but I didn't put any up. Onions had a bumper crop; maybe that's because the chickens don't prefer them.
Snow is forecast for the higher elevations next weekend.

Compost

Compost facility is the University Area Joint Authority, 1576 Spring Valley Road State College, PA 16801

814 238-5361

Fax 238-1531

uaja@uaja.com

Kitty Lapps

Another birthday event for Shannon: the Kitty Lapps that we rescued from Arlington, Va before Lady Terra moved north, and that the Baron lovingly composted and coddled, have bloomed at The Barony.
Although today was very windy (gusts to 35 mph) and 85 degrees, we planted and composted 10 Arbor Day spruce near the Toy Shed to soften that forest edge, and a few DCNR apples. Prince Smiley-face's spruce is at home in the upper meadow line. The middle tree line in the meadow doesn't have as many holes as we thought. We did have to trim some of last year's cicada damage off, but most of the trees (apple, hawthorn, walnut, dogwood) made it through last year's winter.
We gave Gambol his Saturday morning rawhide to keep him busy until 0800. This one is the size Chicago Baron likes. Gambol hardly knows what to do with it; he can hardly get his mouth around it. Success!

Hummers are back!

The birds, not the vehicles. We put up the feeders this afternoon and one showed up at dinner time. I always expect them for Shannon's birthday.
The Baron brought home his 3rd truckload of compost today. He planted 25 more asparagus plants. Most of the purple variety didn't make it through the winter so he wanted to fill in the holes.
I went to TSC for grain and came home with 6 chicks--3 male and female Golden Comet. It was an impulse purchase so I didn't know that they are sex linked and that I could have had 6 pullets if I had chosen all darker chicks. Instead I got 3 dark and 3 light. Anyway, they are good layers and hearty birds that can take our winter. We'll have at least 3 chicken dinners next winter.

Eggs and things

We were filling the RTV with composted horse manure from the Penn State mushroom farm that was delivered about 2 weeks ago to our compost area by the side of the house. Suddenly eggs were falling our of the compost as it dropped from the tractor: 1" by 1.25", very leathery, bumpy, most had some discoloration, a few were folded over or collapsed. One was cracked and dripping so we pried it open, thinking what ever was in it wasn't going to make it anyway. Snake! We eventually found over 20 eggs and reburied them in a compost nest up the hill a bit. No wonder the snake had been hanging around our hill. We found a small snake, 36" long and maybe 1.25" diameter, tangled in the blueberry netting, too late to save it.

As we reburied the snake eggs we found an interesting nest of the Baldfaced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata. It's a mound of dirt,8" high, covered by a paper nest. The entry is at the dirt line. Wasps are black and white and about 3/4" long.


Chicklets will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. They stayed outside last night til almost dark and about 70 degrees. (We went to the PFHT picnic and then stopped in Harrisburg for an Appalachian Brewery dinner.) They were huddled up against the wall, tight together. Their feet were cold and not one gave me any trouble about getting caught for the tub.
When I let them out this morning, downy feathers flew all over the place. The girls raced around as if they'd never been outside before, even without their usual blueberry breakfast. Maybe I was late getting them out. Maybe they are just getting cramped in their tub. They are definitely growing real feathers. They have pantaloons and their ears are visible now.
A couple can fly up to the roost. We held a grasshoppers so they have to be on the perch to get it; no problemo! Those who know the trick haven't figured out how to stay on the perch while they eat. Instead they fly down to show off their treat and are immediately mobbed. Birdbrain?


When I open their door, I am mobbed by a half dozen chicks who want blueberries, or whatever else I'm serving, or, if nothing is available, they'd like to jump out and find their own. I've let a few do that; one followed me around between my feet pecking at bugs I kicked up. They don't like to be far from their sisters however. Most are a bit more wary and let the others mob the door.

They use the tube-drinker easily so that's what we use in the tub. We gave them some potato peelings, Swiss Chard hunks and egg plant peelings. Potatoes were OK, but blueberries and grasshoppers are better.

Tonight bedtime was a little more difficult than last night. It's lighter and a little warmer. Most came right in with blueberry treats. The last one, apparently doesn't like blueberries or maybe she doesn't like to be stepped on to get one. She was peeping mournfully just out of grabbing range. Finally I let the bird who kept flying out of the tub to my knee call the lone star in the tractor. She came in when her sister told her to.
The Baron is still conducting his war against the groundhogs on our property, and so far this year he has taken 8 of them with his .22 rifle. Still with all that we know there are at least 4 more groundhogs running around on the meadow right now. The battle continues. It's Sunday so he won't shoot, and they seem to know it.

Tube forest

The Mothers' Day compost pile is about 2/3 gone. We've planted and mulched with it and can hear the happy plants singing. We haven't gotten the transport bill for this pile but are wondering if we should order another truck load. Father's Day is just around the corner.

The locusts that we put in last year are now tubed with the new mesh tubes that let more air and wind into the tree so they don't grow as fast but grow stronger while still being protected from the deer. They still need to be sprayed for weeds and mulched. We bought the tubes and bamboo stakes from BenMeadows, a forestry resources catalog, as much like Lowes as Walmart is like Neiman Marcus. Just the line of tubes may make an effective snow fence.


This is the new black walnut plantation in the lower back meadow. There's not much room to plant more. The Baron promised to take a year off next year from ordering more seedlings from Penn Nursery. Even if the price is irresistible, bundles of 100 is too many trees to plant.

On the gypsy moth front, on an inspection tour close to the house tonight we saw lots of 3/4" caterpillars in the inverted V. We've had 4 great days of eating weather so perhaps they've feasted on Bt and have exploding guts although ultra violet rays from the sun reduce the activity of the material to less than half after 48 hours and it can take 10 days to kill substantial numbers. Ours seem to be at the right size. Tim Cole suggested that the weather has been good for a collapse.

Other news from the Barony includes the gas and oil leasing companies that are courting Centre County. We are looking to pool our acres to get a better negotiation. For now we are watching Natural Gas Lease Forum to see what is happening around our area.

Sunday, May. 25, 2008
NATURAL GAS RUSH
Anne Danahy and Jennifer Thomas- Centre Daily Times
Snow Shoe Township resident Don Morgan thought $200 an acre for gas rights to his 48-acre property sounded like a good deal, especially compared with the $3.50 an acre he gets each year under a soon-to-expire lease.


A natural gas well is drilled last week along State Line Road north of Snow Shoe. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, 4,183 wells were drilled in the state in 2006, up from from 1,354 in 2000.


Then he heard about other landowners getting offers of $600, $800 and even $2,500 an acre in some places.


“I don’t feel like I was ripped off, but you feel like you got left out,” said Morgan. “I did what I thought was the right thing at the time.”


He’s one of many Pennsylvania residents flooded with offers from gas companies combing the state in hopes of tapping into gas reserves.


Natural gas is a hot commodity. Demand is climbing for energy — particularly clean-burning energy that doesn’t have to be imported — and natural gas prices have increased sharply, if not steadily.


And recent research opened the door to the possibility that an area stretching from southern New York through western Pennsylvania and into Ohio and West Virginia contains vast amounts of natural gas in a layer of rock known as the Marcellus shale.


It’s led to something of a “gas rush.”


According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, a record-setting 7,297 gas and oil drilling permits were processed in 2006, a 21 percent increase over 2005. The number of wells drilled climbed from 1,354 in 2000 to 4,183 in 2006.


Specialists with Cooperative Extension have been holding meetings across the state in an effort to let landowners know what factors they should consider before signing away their gas rights. Tom Murphy, Lycoming County Cooperative Extension educator, said about 13,000 people have participated in the seminars so far. He said interest has been growing as companies are looking at drilling into the Marcellus shale.


State College-based Rex Energy is snapping up natural gas rights to properties in northern Centre County and Clearfield counties in hopes of capitalizing on that, said CEO Ben Hulburt.


“This has the potential to really change Pennsylvania’s economy in the next several decades,” he said, positioning the state as a leader nationwide in natural gas.


Hulburt said Rex has leases signed for 20,000 acres, a figure he hopes to double by year’s end, with $60 million dedicated to leasing acreage in the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania


What makes the find so interesting to companies is that it taps into a new well of natural gas that previously had been inaccessible, he said.


Companies had previously relied on natural gas that had seeped up into sandstone layers above the shale. Sandstone is permeable and easier to tap, he said.


But new technology is available that fractures the shale with a substance such as water, and frees the natural gas from the ground, Hulburt said


“It’s these cracks, these fractures that allow the gas to flow,” he said.


The shale in Centre and Clinton counties is between 100 and 150 feet thick, while in other areas it can be as much as 250 feet thick, he said.


He said Rex has drilled two vertical test wells into Marcellus to about 8,000 feet. He expects the Marcellus wells to cost about $4 million compared to about $200,000 for shallow wells. Rex could drill between 30 and 40 wells a year if it pans out.


“We’re very pleased with them,” he said, adding that the company is not commenting beyond that at this time.


Letters for leasing


Hulburt is not alone in his search for natural gas locally.


Many landowners in the Snow Shoe area received a letter in May from a Minnesota company inviting them to consider leasing their oil and gas rights.


“Your participation will enable you to share in the profits of this venture,” reads the letter from Western Land Services Inc.


Congressman John Peterson also thinks natural gas drilling is set to become a bright spot in the local economy amid a growing global energy crunch.


“I think Pennsylvania will become an energy state. A major energy state,” he said.


It comes at a time when more than 62 percent of homes are heated with natural gas, and prices are expected to climb another 40 to 50 percent in the next year, he added.


Natural gas is used in everything including plastics, fertilizer and the production of ethanol, he said. And 17 percent of natural gas used in the U.S. is still being imported.


Peterson said Pennsylvania is poised to be the largest natural gas producer in the nation. “This is not a short term thing,” he said. “The industry thinks it’s for real.”


The discovery comes at a time when new potential supplies are declining. “The natural gas market in the U.S. gets tighter and tighter every year to find more natural gas,” Hulburt said.


The Marcellus discovery could change that and shift away from shallow drilling.


North Coast Energy, an Akron, Ohio, subsidiary of Exco Resources Inc., started drilling a well in Burnside Township in April in hopes of tapping into those reserves.


President Wendy Straatmann said the project will cost between $4 million and $5 million. It’s a slow process and North Coast likely won’t know whether it’s successful until late this year.


Straatmann said the drilling area is about 4.5 acres, but she sees the size of the area known as a drilling pad shrinking over time as businesses learn how to make them smaller.


“It costs us money to make them big,” she said. “It’s in our best interest to make them as small as we can.”


Once the well is complete, most of the site will be reclaimed with grasses and apple trees.


That’s little consolation to Dan Hall, of Snow Shoe.


The mineral rights to his property — like that of many property owners in that area — were sold before his dad bought the property, which he now owns with his brother and two sisters.


Two years ago, there were two wells on this property. Now there are five, two of which are less than 1,000 feet apart.


The past several years have been an ongoing battle with the gas companies that came onto his land to drill and left him with a patchwork of roads criss-crossing his woods and wells taking up about five acres of his land.


He’s been working toward a settlement with the gas company, but each time there’s an ownership change it seems further away, he said.


“It’s just really frustrating,” Hall said.


He urged those who still own their rights to be cautious in selling those rights.


“You’ll make a lot of money, but you’re basically selling your soul, I think,” Hall said.


Get it in writing, make sure documents outline what control you’ll have of the land and how they’ll leave the property, he said. Being involved from day one will help determine where roads, wells and lines will be located.


“They’ll promise you the world,” he said.


Problems with drilling


Rodney Preslovich, chairman of Snow Shoe Township Board of Supervisors, said widespread drilling has created problems for the township.


“We get a lot of complaints,” Preslovich said. “When the gas wells go in there, the upkeep of the roads is terrible.”


The Snow Shoe Borough Water Authority had problems too. In November 2005, the water level in one of its wells dropped, and it went from pumping 300 gallons per minute to about 225. The state Department of Environmental Protection found that the change was caused by drilling by Great Lakes Energy Partners LLC, now known as Range Resources-Appalachia LLC.


Range Resources denies causing the problem but has signed an agreement to notify the DEP and the authority before drilling within a mile of the well protection area. Authority President Gary Fox said he thinks that should be part of the standard regulations.


Fox said the company also agreed to pay about $40,000 to the authority to cover the estimated cost of addressing the water level.


Shane Barnyak spent almost a year negotiating the leasing rights for his 28 acres in Burnside Township about eight years ago, making sure addenda to protect his country lifestyle were added.


But he’s still learning the ins and outs. He declined to say what he was paid per acre for the lease. He has one well on his property, which pays him a 12.5 percent of royalty as per law.


“Hindsight is 20-20,” he said “We learned a lot in the meantime. We may have been able to do better.”


That’s what Cooperative Extension is trying to help property owners accomplish with the gas drilling workshops. Murphy said one of the most common questions landowners have is what should be added to a lease to make it more favorable to the property owner. Options include shortening a lease from 10 years to 5 years or taking out a clause that automatically extends a lease.


A lawyer can help a landowner with those negotiations.


Barnyak said it’s important to understand the consequences of owning a piece of land when someone else owns the gas rights.


“They have the right to go pursue that gas and oil,” he said.

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