Dealing With Winter Conditions
Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and enjoyed Christmas with family and friends. After spending a few days on the island with fellow islanders Kristy and Bob from Rockport, Barnacle and I made the trek to the mainland Christmas morning to be with the family. It was a very nice visit and the return trip included some of Mom’s wonderful chicken dressing. . . oh my goodness!
Well thus far it has been a fairly mild winter, but at least a few inches of rain has fallen over the past month. Compared to the previous ten months or so, that little bit of rain has seemed like a flood. My rain tanks are at about 800 gallons right now, with a portion of that still being well water that I had to add this past summer during the extended drought. I prefer entirely fresh rain water for my inside house use, so a few more inches of rain should put me there.
The tides have been staying very low the past few weeks, a typical winter occurrence when the northers start blowing in every week or so. There have been several times that I would not have been able to leave the island if I needed to do so, as the low tides prohibit me from navigating the narrow inlet that connects the bay to my lagoon and house. As I knock on the wooden kitchen table, I have yet to encounter a time that an emergency required me to leave the island and I was not able to do so because of low tides. Of course, prayer plays a huge part in that good fortune also.
Within the next few weeks I’ll start my tomato seeds for my spring planting. I’ll plant seeds from about six different varieties, with ten Big Zac plants grown specifically to produce huge tomatoes, my goal being a three pounder. Having a small hot house is ideal for getting my seeds and plants started in winter, and I have 12 volt gro-lites set up to help the seedlings become strong before planting them in the raised beds 6-8 weeks later. I’ll plant a few squash, peppers and potatoes also, but tomatoes started from seed are my spring planting passion.
Well I am without chickens for the time being. All of them turned older than three years and basically stopped laying, except for an occasional egg here and there. I’ll do some maintenance to the pen and coop area, and in April I’ll get fifty new ones, at about five weeks old, and be back in the chicken and egg business. I’m looking forward to getting started with the new batch; I enjoy having them around.
My sister, Darla, flew in from California last week, and she and the family, along with her friend Kathy, came to the island for the day. The weather was beautiful to drive the island and enjoy the beach, and we topped it off with a nice lunch that included homemade lemon ice cream that I made using sweet Meyer lemons. I’m telling you right now, Blue Bell does not hold a candle to the creamy, wonderful taste this ice cream had. Good stuff! For at least a day, Darla enjoyed a nice reprieve from her job as a prison guard at San Quentin Prison in San Francisco. . . who in their right mind would want to have that job?
Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone have a great day and think about getting some tomato plants started in a few weeks.
