Belated post from Philadelphia

'tis hard to believe two weeks have passed since we last updated, but when we look at the pictures of the garden, (especially the willamette hop) it's quite clear. I guess I'll start with the most recent and work backwards. I finally bought a jack (I won't be borrowing yours anymore, pa) and a set of jackstands to go with it. I went with three ton capacity for everything, because I don't know what vehicle I'll be driving next, and I'd rather buy something overbuilt once than buy underbuilt now and end up buying twice. Sadly, the American-made jacks cost far more than my current car is worth so we just went to advance auto for these:


The jack is monstrous! Not quite as big as the ones we used on the HMMWVs, but still beefy. Speaking of beefy metal devices, when I got back from drill I decided that life was too short to bottle wines with cheap plastic corkers, so I bought an Italian Floor Corker. I've checked craigslist for months to no avail, so I finally picked up this sweet machine:


Not only does it work better and easier than a cheap corker, it can handle Belgian beer bottles and champagne bottles as well. Moreover, it will last forever. I used one of these when I worked at Amberg Wine Cellars to bottle off waste and unsaleable wine for, um, the use of employees. It looked like it had been around for decades and would be around for many more. Another thing I've wanted since Afghanistan but haven't been able to justify the expense is a banjo. With a little help from Sarah I finally did:


It came Friday, and I can sort of play Cripple Creek. With much hesitation and peculiar noise-making, but nonetheless I'm glad to do be doing this. It's intimidating to try and learn to play an instrument, especially with no musical background, with a great pianist in the house. Maybe a banjo and piano band is the next big thing!

Let's see, what else have we done? Sarah was out of the trailer the other day and I managed to bottle my last batch of cider. I think I'm actually caught up now (not quite like you, dad, but still pretty good). I've got a 5 gallon keg nearly filled, but it's quite acidic, and needs some time to age. I think by the end of the summer it will be fantastic. Which is great because we also ordered a new (larger) freezer and a love temperature controller, which to explain to everyone other than Uncle John and my Dad means I'll have a keezer (keg + freezer) next week! This is critical, as we have the major portion of a keg of European Pilsner, which desperately needs to be chilled before consumption. Thus far we've mixed it half and half with the black lager, which gives a sort of black and tan that tastes like a Marzen and doesn't need the refrigeration as much.

Oh, and I started using the bottle filler for bottling (thanks Dad!). That combined with the bottle tree and air compression-siphon really takes the chore out of bottling.


And a sincere "thank you!" to everyone for all the bottles. I've got several gallons of wine that are fast getting ready for the bottle, and now I have the bottles, the corks, and the corker. So thanks to you, we'll be ready for them. I probably have 5 or 6 cases worth de-labelled and washed. John and Judy, the last batch of cider wouldn't haven't been bottled without your liter flip-tops, thank you so much. We'll have to get together when it's ready to drink. It's amazing to be able to spend money once, and increase your standard of living and save money thereafter for evermore!

One project I whipped up when Sarah was working at the school was a loo. I bought this book, the Humanure Handbook last year, and since then every time I've used a regular toilet I've felt regret. What a waste! We soil our drinking water to dispose of something that is incredibly biologically valuable. So finally, we're done exporting our organic matter:


I'm not done yet, I still have to do some final sanding, finish it, and put on the hinges, but it's useable, and as soon as I get some kind of power sander I'll finish it up.

(Sarah takes over)
Mick put in the second row of trellis in the vineyard, using the gravel our neighbor Dave dumped for us. It is really starting to look officially like a vineyard! and we can't wait until the grapes finally are tall enough to reach the wire. It will probably be within the next couple of weeks.


At the end of each trellis the wire is attached to earth anchors, which (it looked to me) were really hard to "screw" into the earth. But it looks great and the wires seem to be holding well.



Our scarlet runner beans have been coming up, so Mick put the trellis in. He told me it would be a post set at either end of the plot, with a rope stretched between them and ropes hanging down from that for the beans to grow up. This is what he came up with instead.


Doesn't it look amazing?

And of course, no post is complete without including the animals! The other day they were together merrily munching away at the grass