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Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 6, 2020 at 6:03pm

And...here is a picture of the garden, ready to plant!  After a few hours of light watering, the weed barrier cloth and straw mulch is nicely bedded in!

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 6, 2020 at 4:29pm

Here are some pictures of "the barn," the '81 Ford F-100, the chicken brooder, the chicks, the garden (before and after adding the weed barrier cloth and straw mulch), the plants that are going in tomorrow, our RV on its platform...and some random pictures of our property taken today.

Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 5, 2020 at 4:01pm

The 20X30 garden is tilled!  Actually, it is tilled twice.


First I tilled it...then I spread the fertilizer, lime, manure, and peat moss...and then tilled it again!


That was the easy part.  I also hoed the garden into 9 rows, 30 feet long.  


Whew that was a lot of work!  I'm not used to physical labor like that anymore, and took it slow and easy.  And now it is done!


Right now I'm watering it in with a sprinkler...and tomorrow, I'll be planting the seedlings!


The baby chicks are doing great!  I only put the brooder in the pen with them at night now, and use the heat lamp during the day.  Otherwise the silly little things spend most of their time huddled up under the brooder.  


Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 4, 2020 at 4:47pm

The fire ants are killed for the season, the baby chicks are doing great, and I marked out the perimeters of the 20X30 first garden we are putting in with Patti's help!


I also have the fertilizer, 5 bags of Black Cow manure, 3 bags of pelletized lime, and a bag of peat moss on hand to mix into the soil.  


Tomorrow morning I get to try out the Troy-Bilt roto tiller for the first time!  


We also acquired a cheap spreader to put everything down on the garden evenly.  And I got some rubber boots from Tractor Supply...lol! 


Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 2, 2020 at 8:43am

Yep.  The one we are getting is rear tine, with big drive wheels.  

Kev

Comment by Russell E Johnson on April 1, 2020 at 8:02pm

Rear tine tillers are the way to go. If I were to ever get a tiller again, it would be a rear tine one. 

Comment by Kevin F Smith on April 1, 2020 at 6:04pm

We have the same lawn folks coming over on Friday or Saturday to treat the property for fire ants...again, they quoted us a great price.


Although we are waiting for the check to clear from selling the business, we still have a nice little nest egg set aside...so I'm going to pick up a Troy-Bilt roto tiller from Tractor Supply on Friday.  Gotta get this garden started!


This is the exact tiller we decided to buy after a lot of research and looking at reviews.  Made in the USA!!!   https://www.troybilt.com/en_US/tillers/super-bronco-crt-garden-till...


Once the check clears, the lawn tractor we buy is also probably going to be a Troy-Bilt...and also from Tractor Supply, since they seem to have the best prices around here.


Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on March 31, 2020 at 4:05pm

I had a local lawn service guy and his son come over to the property this morning at 9am, and they did an amazing job at a very reasonable price!  Very nice people!


I'll be buying my own lawn tractor, string trimmer, and roto-tiller soon...just waiting on the check to clear my bank.  Because of the large dollar amount, they put a 9 day hold on it...but that is fine.  We're all set on food and whatnot, and sheltering in place, so we aren't in any hurry to spend any more money...lol!


Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on March 30, 2020 at 9:39pm

WE ARE HOME!!!


471 miles, and it was dark when we pulled in, but we are home!


Home sweet home!!!


Kev

Comment by Kevin F Smith on March 29, 2020 at 8:56pm

We made it all the way to the Flying J in Pearl, Mississippi.  400 uneventful miles.


When we got here, I discovered that the relay that allows the engine to charge the coach batteries while driving had somehow opened again, and the batteries were only at 12.2 volts on arrival.  And it was getting dark, so solar wasn't an option.  We also discovered that the fridge decided to stop running on propane.  Nothing is melted, but it is getting warmer out, and we still have at least a long day of driving before we get home!  Our fridge and freezer are fully stocked, so it would be a tragedy if the food went bad.


It is a good thing we bought that 2200 watt Honda inverter/generator back in Carolina last year!  I locked it to a rear wheel with a cable lock, started it up, and it is now running the inverter to charge the coach batteries all the way back up, and the fridge (set to high so it will get as cold as it can get).  That should keep the food cold/frozen until we get home...and fully charge back up the coach batteries.  If I can't get the relay to work in the morning, I'll just turn on the solar panels for the trip home to charge the batteries as we drive.  As far as the fridge goes, it is on the same breaker as the converter.  Which means I can't run the fridge off the inverter without having the converter/charger on at the same time (which at best would cause a huge voltage drop as it tries to charge the batteries off the batteries...and at worst could backfeed to my alternator and kill it...so I'm not going to take any chances).  Before our next trip, I'll be adding another breaker to the breaker panel, so the fridge and the converter will have their own breakers.  I'll also troubleshoot and repair the fridge, to make sure it will run off of propane!


Only 471 miles to go, and we'll be home!!!


Kev

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