Drone

I haven't had much of a reason to write about an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), colloquially known as a drone.  Nevertheless, they're becoming more common at outdoor events like ball games, car shows, church picnics, Kermiss and Belgian Days.  Photographing large events from a couple hundred feet is easy and still something of a novelty.  They also have practical uses in agriculture, wildfire response, search and rescue and such.

So I purchased one; basically for fun.  

It's a DJI Neo, a small drone that I will use for photography and scouting that doesn't require a pilot license.  Over the weekend the winds died-back enough for me to get some flight time under my belt.  

I previously was restricted to flying the dang thing in the house and up and down the staircase.  That's OK for figuring out the preflight checklist and the joystick controllers; but it's really an outdoor toy.

The firmware on my little drone automatically limits my altitude to 120 meters: just under 400 feet.  Because I’m a rank amateur and don’t have a pilot’s license that’s my limit.  Which is fine because the lowest-flying aircraft around here is air ambulance Eagle III which generally comes screaming over the house at about 600 to 1000 feet.  The altitude restriction is designed to keep hobbyists out of trouble.

 

Anyway, this ingenious quadcopter might be the answer to some (certainly not all) photography limitations.  One being altitude.  As the forest has grown up around the west side of the house it has become more difficult to catch an easy sunset photo.

 

No longer.

 

As a trial run I flew my drone up to max altitude and took some photos. 

 

View North

View South - Farm in center is exactly a mile distant

 

Including my first sunset.  If you look carefully there is a little band of blue on the horizon. That is Green Bay. 

 

 

I have a sliver-sized view of the water at a fraction of the price of the real estate and property taxes!

 

This mechanical, digital, aerial technology is going to be fun.  Wouldn't it be in cool to catch the northern lights at altitude?  Or view a shallow coastal shipwreck from above?  Falls colors?  And outdoor events?  I suppose if I really get sucked-into the possibilities I might just jump thru the hoops and get certified for more sophisticated flight opportunities; and naturally, spring for a larger, better-equipped aircraft.

 

Stay-tuned..... 

 

 

The Garden Chronicles

My new raised beds are working out as intended; basically saving my back and saving me from gardening on my hands and knees (note the chair).

Everything is crowded, but my vegetables and herbs seem to be happy over-all.  The intention is to grow a seasonal supply of household produce on a rotational basis.  If I need something in particular or a large quantity of something there are plenty of local farm markets.

Today I harvested spinach and radishes and replanted radishes.

For some odd reason the lettuces I planted several weeks ago did not germinate so I replanted them a week ago.  They're a cool season crop so I cannot blame it on the unseasonable cool weather we've been experiencing.

We've even gotten a couple of opportunities to nibble on a handful of cherry tomatoes already.

Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

How To Build A Raised Garden - Chapter Three

With the final assemble of the two raised bed planting boxes site prep was next.  A trip to Home Depot snared a couple of rolls of Vigoro 3 ft. x 50 ft. WeedBlock Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric with Microfunnels.  The product is designed to channel water away; yet maintain some semblance of moisture.  We'll see.  Like I said previously, this raised bed gardening is a learning curve.

My site was not level and was going to require some earthmoving to level it out.  It was with some trepidation that I went to start the tractor; which fired in the first crank.  Whew!  We had a couple of yards of soil on hand but moving it was going to require the use of the loader.  There was additional soil amendments and mulch - all of which are better hauled with a loader.  More on that episode momentarily.

As best I could I transferred dirt from here to there, leveled it out and stapled-down a layer of weed barrier.  

Following that, I carefully lined both planters with a layer of weed barrier fastening it with stainless steel staples.  A further nod to extending the life of the cedar by means of delaying immediate dirt to wood contact.  We'll see.

The Missus and I placed the boxes in position, shimmed them with treated wood blocks and added three inches (give or take) of untreated, natural wood mulch.

This was followed by a thick layer of additional soil from our stash.  At which point a high pressure hydraulic hose blew on the loader.

This added a day of delay in the project as I had to remove the culprit hose, make a trip to Sturgeon Bay to get a replacement fabricated and install it.  

Crisis averted.

On top of the first layer of soil went ten total bags of organic raised bed soil.  And don't get me started about what I found in that "organic" blend - shredded plastic, bits of debris, and sorta whatnot and nonsense including a stainless steel bolt.  Sheesh. 

An additional bag of composed manure was added over all.

Then everything was dressed with more natural wood mulch which I'm happy with as there's no mud to my gardening experience.

Nevertheless, we did have delivered three yards of "fancy" wood mulch for general landscaping purposes this summer and some of that might find its way to the raised bed project.  Time will tell.

Anyway, be sure to check back periodically for updates on what's growing, harvested, cooked, consumed or preserved.

This old man is looking forward to no longer raising vegetables on his hands and knees.

Praise the Lord and Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

Speaking of which; I've got a solid-running rototiller that I'm willing to part with for not a lot of money it it goes to a good home.  If you're interested you know where to find me....

How To Build A Raised Garden - Chapter Two

As a building material cedar is naturally rot-resistant.  I switched to cedar for bird box construction and properly sealed have had excellent results for something that is subject to the elements 24/7, year-in and year-out.  The only exception is a half-dozen pine-constructed boxes that I literally (and liberally) soaked in Thompson's Waterseal wood preservative decades ago.  They're persisting despite being held-together with galvanized nails because as a preservative Thompson's mummifies your wood.  But I digress.

For my raised beds I thought best to treat the cedar before assembly and some research on the interweb let me to the choice of this product.

It is technically a deck stain, but is labeled as nontoxic when used for growing foodstuffs.  You can have it tinted in any number of colors, but I chose to go with clear untinted and the result was a mat (non-glossy) finish that really enhanced the natural elements of the cedar while hopefully extending the life expectancy of the planter.

It dries fast and earlier this month as the weather began to warm I dragged a couple of ancient sawbucks over to the granary lean-to and set-up  to stain/seal the boards and corner assemblies with two to three coats of product.  

It took three to four days and just about the time I was more than half-way thru the can this happened.

I wouldn't ordinarily cry over spilled stain but at $78 a gallon this was a near disaster.

Fortunately, and with the help of the missus, the spilled product on the surface of the boards was scraped back into the can and anything on the lean-to floor was sopped-up with a brush and applied to the boards.  Dirt and all.  I'd like to think it adds character; besides, it's a planter after all.  Disaster averted.

After the sealant was dry assembly followed.

 

And after assembly I touched-up any scrapes, scuffs and edges with more the sealant/stain.

I added handles on each end to facilitate moving the boxes to their final resting spot so as to not stress any of the fittings.

It occurred to me that with the addition of two additional handles on the long sides of the box I would be half-way to a coffin.  All that would be needed would be a bottom and a lid.  This notion has morbid possibilities so I'll leave it at the raised box planter stage of the discussion.

Tomorrow I'll share installation and planting material tips.   

How To Build A Raised Garden - Chapter One

I'm an old man and after more than three decades of working crappy Door County dirt I am done gardening on my hands and knees.  

At the close of last season we tilled and sowed the garden adjacent to the machine shed into pollinator plants and for us anyway permanently put it to pasture.  My plan was to install two to three raised beds in the front yard above the rock wall.  That way I could still scratch my gardening itch, give my back and knees a break and if I wanted to freeze or can a large quantity of anything there's plenty of ways to source vegetables from a local grower or farm market.

After researching designs and availability of material locally I decided-upon a box roughly three by six feet and sixteen inches in height.  Western red cedar deck boards closely resembling the material used in fashioning bird boxes.  Whilst bird box boards are planed smooth on one side and rough-sawn on the opposite surface the deck boards are planed smooth on all surfaces with rounded edges.  They're also thicker (one inch), closer-grained and seemingly have more knots.  More character I like to say.  

Sure, I could have simply used green-treated lumber but I figured on something easier on the eyes yet durable.  Oddly-enough, materials were cheaper sourced from Amazon Prime than anywhere else locally.

Last week, and just in-time, I installed two of them and on Wednesday planted the first with various vegetable seeds and some potted sugar snap peas and a trellis.  Two days ago the tomatoes, peppers and herbs were plugged-in.  After 48 hours all the plants are looking happier to be freed of their pots.

There's room for one more box, or a half-sized box, if needed.  I figure I'll give it a go for one growing season at a minimum before engaging in further expansion.

Raised bed gardening like this is new to me and likely has a learning curve.  Stay-tuned for a couple of further installments on the build and installation and harvest as the season progresses. 

 

 

   

Can't Beet This Treat!

Growing-up on the northwest side of Milwaukee my dad and I raised beets in the garden out behind the garage.  He counted on my help with their care - weeding, thinning and finally the harvest and pickling.  Roasted beets are good - pickled beets are better.  Dad never met a pickled beet he didn't like.  Same for my mother-in-law.  She's almost a hundred years old and most visits with her include a pint of home-grown pickled beets.  Come to think of it - all of the old timers in the family like pickled beets.  Me too.

 

If you really want to trip down memory lane after you've graciously dined-upon your pickled beets DO NOT discard the remaining contents of the jar.  Instead, go to your fridge where, if you're like me, you generally keep a stash of hard-cooked eggs in the shell.  Peel as many that will fit in the jar and place them in the reserved beet brine returning it to the fridge.  Let them set for a couple days.  Et voilà!  You will have perfectly purple pickled eggs.  Yummy!

If you’re looking for an extra-special treat cut some of the tender-young beet tops early in the season. Soak in cold water to remove any grit, rinse and drain. Sautéed beet tops are not only delicious - they're chock-full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. They are also Gluten-Free. 

Anyway, in the early days of the Door County garden I suffered a stretch of years that my beets failed.  They either germinated and died or never germinated.  Sometimes the deer ate the delicious beet tops.  Sowing your crop at regular intervals results in continued production while avoiding an overwhelming harvest. If you like pickled veggies here's a step-by-step guide to pickling your own beets.  They're a terrific side any time of year – especially when entertaining during the holidays and awesome on a toasted peanut butter sandwich. Enjoy!

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Pickled Beets
A bunch of garden beets
2 large sweet onions – peeled and sliced on the larger size
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 T whole allspice
1 ½ t canning salt
3 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups water
 

Hose-off your beets on the grass. 

 

Trim-off the tops leaving a couple of inches of stem and the tap root. Reserve the tops from the smaller beets for sautéing greens. 

 

  

Soak the beets in a sink-full of cold water to remove the remaining grit. Transfer them to a pot of boiling water and cook about an hour - give or take - until tender.  Add your beets to the pot beginning with the largest first.  

 

 

At five minute intervals progressively add more beets from largest to smallest with the last of them added at the 30 minute mark.  This way they will all be cooked-thru at the same time. Transfer the cooked beets to a sink-full of cold water to cool.  Combine everything else except the onions in a non-reactive pot and bring the brine to a slow boil.  Simmer 15 minutes. 

 

Returning to the sink slice-off the beet tops and tap roots allowing the skin to slip-off.  Set aside your whole beets. Keeping the residue of beet tops, skins and roots in the sink makes clean-up a snap.  Slice the beets with a mandolin and pack into pint jars.  

 

 

Apportion your sliced raw onion as you fill.    Remove the cinnamon from the pot and ladle the hot brine over the contents of the jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space.  Add lids and rings and process pints 30 minutes in a boiling water bath.   This batch yielded sixteen pints - I doubled the brine recipe and still came-up short and had to mix a 1/3 size batch to fill the last four jars.  

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Pro Tip - Use non-reactive cookware. When canning - cleanliness is right up there with Godliness. A dishwasher will sterilize your jars on the ‘Sanitize’ cycle. Boil water in a Pyrex measuring cup for sterilizing your lids. Make sure your lids have 'popped' before storing the pasteurized jars in your bunker.

 

Northern Lights

In spite of all it's shortcomings one of the redeeming virtues of Facebook is its Groups.  Whether it is smoked meats, brick oven cooking, hunting and fishing, history, sports or your high school class the Groups deliver good stuff regularly.  Last evening a couple of alerts crossed the screen of my hand-held device and outdoors I went.  It was a good time to look north to the Big Dipper.  

 

Northern Lights, people.

 

Got myself outside for a dose of the Aurora Borealis.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's corona.

As a consequence of a strong geomagnetic storm that occurred over the weekend last evening was a terrific opportunity to view the aurora borealis - the northern lights - in Canada and northern United States.

We might get some more tonight.

Meanwhile, I suggest you do two things.  If you have a Facebook account or access to the interweb join some northern lights groups and sign-up for alerts for your geolocation.  Secondly, use your device.  While the northern lights may be visible to the naked eye your device will bring them to life.  The extended exposure and built-in filters will bring to life wavelengths not visible to the naked eye.  Same for the use of a photo-editing tool which will allow you to manipulate aperture, exposure and other elements after the fact.

Fingers-crossed for clear skies. 

Milestone

Some of you readers know that we've been hosting a Snapshot Wisconsin camera here at The Platz. 

This project utilizes volunteers to help identify and count the animals recorded on these trail cameras. 

Crowdsourcing the data of where and when each photo was taken will hopefully lend further understanding of wildlife population distributions across Wisconsin and how these distributions change over time. Snapshot Wisconsin is a consistent mechanism to monitor all types of wildlife throughout the year.   

Wisconsin started as a pilot program in only two counties in 2016 but expanded statewide in 2018. Today, there are 1,894 volunteers, monitoring over 2,069 trail cameras across the state. Furthermore, the Snapshot program receives approximately 45,000 photos per day from all these cameras. Just stop and think about how incredible that is!

The Bushnell Snapshot camera we host was deployed at the end of October 2018 and had to be replaced after a critter damaged its motion detector several years ago.  The location has not changed in eight years.  

Snapshot Wisconsin recently reached an important milestone - 

100 Million Photos Collected! 

100 million photos collected is no small feat, and the volunteer hours which made it all possible cannot be overstated. These photos have provided critical data to help inform countless wildlife management decisions, provided educational opportunities for students across the state and engaged thousands of volunteers in community science. To celebrate this achievement, the Snapshot Team put together a photo collection featuring one trail camera image from each county in Wisconsin. 

Go to this link to learn more as you scroll to explore our state, county by county, through the lens of the Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera project.  This story map you will be redirected-to is best viewed on a desktop browser or tablet. 

Fun Fact:  The photo featured for Door County was taken by the camera we host. 

November Night Sky

This year's annual Leonid meteor shower peaks tomorrow and Saturday evening across the US.  It will coincide with a five-day old crescent moon that sets before midnight.  

In recent years the number of meteors have been declining and are not expected to improve for a couple of years.  Nevertheless, there is much more going on in the night sky.  Jupiter is visible all evening and Venus rises early.  

The constellation Leo and its radiant (see illustration) will rise in the eastern horizon around midnight and will be highest above the horizon just before dawn.

The meteors originate when the orbital path of the earth collides with the debris left behind by
comets. These bits and pieces of comet detritus enter the earth’s atmosphere with the resulting vaporization creating the streaks of light we call meteors.  

The debris associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle results in this November display. Like other meteor showers, this one will be best viewed after midnight. Turn your gaze toward the
constellation Leo the Lion, where the shooting stars appear to emanate.

Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, dots a backwards question mark of stars known as the Sickle. If you trace all the “shooting stars” from the Leonid meteor shower backward, they appear to radiate from this area of the sky.  A dark rural location with minimal light pollution provides for optimal viewing opportunities.

Tempel-Tuttle is a periodic visitor that will return in 2031.  it is worthy of mention that the Leonids can be stunning on rare occasions. With the reappearance of Tempel-Tuttle every 33 years the debris left in its wake can result in meteors up to a rate of 1000 an hour!  2001 was a very good November and 1966 was breathtaking.

The best time for observation is just before dawn although the shower is active beginning November 6 thru December 2.  It is observable for a couple of weeks either side of the peak viewing dates. 

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear viewing conditions and early rising if you have to get out of bed to pee.....

 

Wassup In The October Night Sky

It has been clouded-over yesterday evening and tonight so no viewing of the Hunters Moon.  At least here anyway.

If you could see it this is what it would look like.  From Friday evening.  The bright 'star' to the left of the moon is planet Jupiter...

Wassup In The October Night Sky

In our part of the northern hemisphere the full moon appearance following the Harvest Moon is  generally known as the Hunter’s Moon.  Its appearance is typically in October - although it can also reveal itself in early November.  

2019 Hunters Moon

Before European settlement Native Americans knew it as that time of year when people would hunt deer and other animals to lay-up stores of food for the winter. The Anishinaabe people knew it as the Falling Leaves Moon while the fall bird migration led the Cree to refer to it as the Migrating Moon  With the arrival of frosts it has also been called the Ice Moon or Freezing Moon.  

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear, viewing conditions.....

 

Wassup In The October Night Sky

Technically, the pre-dawn sky, so you'll have to drag your butt out of bed before sunrise for this one.

Tomorrow morning Venus will achieve its greatest separation wet of the sun during October's morning appearance.  You cannot possibly miss this very bright planet above the eastern horizon before sunrise.

If you have a good pair of binoculars, or better yet, a telescope; Venus will appear as a waxing disc.  See the inset in the image below.

Good luck and clear skies...

Chis Vaughan/Starry Night

 

Wassup In The October Night Sky

The Orionid meteor shower featured in this post originates in the debris left behind by Halley's Comet.  Halley completes a circumnavigation of our sun every 76 years or thereabouts.  It last visited us in 1986 and will return in 2061.  Nevertheless, the dust trail left behind in its path does not disappear and is intercepted every year in late October.

As particulate matter from the debris trail enters our atmosphere it burns-up producing the Orionid meteor shower.  The orbit of the earth is opposite that of the debris (Retrograde is the Word Of The Day) resulting in fast-moving shooting stars.  We also collide with the debris once-again in May which results in the Eta Aquariids meteor show.  Halley is responsible for two meteor shows a year.

The overall duration of this shower is from September 26 to November 22 and is scheduled to peak on the evenings of October 20 and 21 with the best opportunities after midnight and before dawn.

The radiant for the Orionids originates from the constellation Orion the Hunter so fix yourself a cuppa hot cocoa or a glass of Merlot and keep your fingers-crossed for good viewing conditions. 

09.15.23 Orion

Wassup In The October Night Sky

Tonight and tomorrow you have an opportunity to observe some stuff in the night sky without having to stay up late or drag your sleepy butt out of bed in the early morning hours.

beginning the evening and continuing on Tuesday the thin waxing crescent moon will hang in the evening sky close to the horizon after the sun sets.  The bright red star Antares will be very near the moon.

If you're lucky you might be able to view the constellation Scorpius in the twilight.  And possibly the elusive glow of earthshine.  Earthshine is the dim glow of reflected light from earth shining on the dark side of the moon.

 

Wassup In The October Night Sky

For astronomers a new moon means there is no moon to view - the opposite of a full moon.  The moon is between the earth and the sun and is not in a position to reflect light.  It blends-into the night sky.

There is a new moon tonight.

That means extra dark skies for your star-gazing pleasure.

Fingers-crossed for clear and dark skies....

Solar Eclipse On Tap

For the first time in eleven years, on Saturday, October 14, an annular eclipse will cross North, Central and South America.  For everyone across this region a partial solar eclipse of varying degrees will be viewable.

An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon is relatively small in the sky and does not completely cover the sun.  Within the range of annularity (word of the day) which is about 118 to 137 miles wide is called the ring of fire. 

NASA Image

That path will stretch from Oregon, central New Mexico and southern Texas.  It will then cross the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia and Brazil.

The point of greatest eclipse where a ring of fire will be viewable for five minutes will occur off the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Pro Tip - Never look directly at a solar eclipse.  The only safe way to look directly at the sun is through special-purpose solar filters or handheld solar viewers.