Garden Notes: August 2024

Rainfall

• 1st: 0.03"
• 8th: 0.37" (Debby)
• 9th: 0.11"
• 11th: 0.59"
• 13th: 0.02"
• 16th: 0.2"
• 17th: 0.06"
• 18th: 0.01"
• 29th: 0.58
• 30th: 0.06"
• Total: 2.06 inches

 Temperature

• range of nighttime lows: 58 to 72°F (14.5 to 22°C)
• range of daytime highs: 82 to 95°F (27.7 to 35°C)

Weather Notes

• first half of the month gave us hot, humid, August-like weather
• second half of August was mostly cooler, dryer, September-like

Garden Notes

• Schedule
• mornings - pick
• afternoons - preserve
• Not a bountiful year for fruit, I'm afraid. Between loss of our fig trees, poor production, and stiff competition from the birds and squirrels, we ate most of it fresh, although this month I'll be processing pears, which seem to do reliably well.
• Problems
  • Pickleworm in the cucumbers. They've been struggling anyway, and the worm hasn't helped. No pickles for preserving this year, but we do get baby cukes for salads every couple of days.
  • Large wasp nest in the muscadine vines. Right under the eave of the house!
  • Groundhog! And an extremely tricksy one at that. It's resisted all the baits Dan has tried in our live animal trap, and continues to do its damage in the garden and orchard.
  • Not enough rain.
  • And, of course, the fig trees dying. I really miss our fresh August figs!
• In summary, it hasn't been a great year for gardening. Mostly I harvest handfuls, but at least we're eating well. 

Planted

I don't usually plant in August because the heat and scanty rain aren't conducive for growing. I feel like I'm taking a chance by planting early this year, due to our cooler temps!

• carrots
• beets
• lettuce

Harvested

• green beans
• slicing tomatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• daikon leaves
• chicory leaves
• lambs quarter
• okra
• summer squash
• basil
• cucumber
• oregano
• thyme
• pears
• muscadines
• elderberries
• sweet peppers
• yamberries
• Egyptian walking onions

Preserved

• pizza sauce, canned
• pear sauce, dehydrated
• green beans, canned
• muscadines, frozen
• summer squash, canned
• elderberries, frozen

Photos

We didn't get many apples, but I made sure we got a pie!

Pear production hasn't been great either, but I did dehyerate some
pear sauce. I also tried dyeing with pear leaves! My results here.

I had some old (2020?) Jing okra seed and planted it along with
my usual Clemson spineless. I was surprised so much came up!

It's a pretty plant and adds interest to both garden and picking
 bucket. It doesn't retain it's red color with cooking, however.

Early August salad: cherry tomatoes, cucumber, baby green beans, 
a variety of greens: lambs quarter, daikon leaves, chicory, goat feta.

Late August salad: by the time the greens fizzled out, I started harvesting
summer squash. Laying also picked up so I could add hard boiled eggs.

Tatume summer squash (I think!). My garden planting didn't make it, but this
was from seed I tossed out in the pasture, where the plants are producing.

Based on the shape, however, I'm thinking this might be baby sweet potato
squash. No matter. We love it sauteed with onion and fresh herbs, or roasted.

The yamberries produced well.

These are a starchy vegetable, good roasted or tossed into soup.

Our prettiest pepper so far. Fresh grated goat mozzarella on the left,
fresh pizza sauce in the jar, and Egyptian walking onions on the right.

We started the month with a fresh apple pie and ended it with a fresh pear pie.

Your turn!

Garden Notes: August 2024 © August 2024

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Greenhouse: Getting Ready to Finish the Interior

Our summer is too hot for greenhouse growing, so except for a tomatoeless volunteer test cherry tomato plant, not much has been happening there. One of Dan's rainwater tanks started to leak, but we delayed repair until later. I will mention that between the solar vent fan and the shade cloth, we're avoided the greenhouse effect, but it's still too hot in there for plants to be happy. But we never planned to use it in summer, so except for the tank leak, it's all good. 

What's left to do is build some benches and the floor. For that, I think Dan wants to put down stone.First though, we agreed the framing should be painted. Last week, we had some deliciously October-like temps, which was perfect for working in the greenhouse. While Dan worked on his stove project, I got started on the painting. 

We're back in a summer warming trend, so it will likely be awhile before I finish. But it's nice to see it starting to look fresh and bright. It's nice to make even a little more progress toward finally getting it done. 

Greenhouse: Getting Ready to Finish the Interior 

© Aug 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Masonry Heater Project

Last time, I explained a bit about masonry stoves, how they work, and how they've evolved over the centuries (Masonry Heaters: A Bit of a History). Our stove design is based on the wisdom and experience of the latest technology.

The two main components of the stove are the thermal mass and the firebox. Typically, the thermal mass is built as a bench (often used for seating) or as a "bell" (big hollow box). We have no place in our living room for a bench, so a bell will reside in the alcove Dan built for our soapstone woodstove years ago. 

Above the brick the walls are cement board, with a specific air gap between the alcove walls and the walls behind. The vents at the top of the alcove serve to vent warm air. This is the ready-made space we have for the new stove. 

For the firebox, we chose what's called a double shoebox designed by Peter van den Berg. It's useful for smaller spaces, like we've got. Here's a cutaway . . .

Photo credit: Batchrocket.eu

The entire unit is referred to as the core. Here's Dan's dried-in practice build on the front porch.

The sides are firebrick and the tops are ceramic fiber board. 

So what makes this firebox more efficient? And how does it work without filling the house with smoke because of the retained exhaust pathway? The answers are in the way it's designed. 

The narrow opening at the back of the firebox is called the port. By slowing the escape of the heat and smoke from the firebox, it forces the exhaust gases to be burned. It's these gases that deposit soot in the chimney as they cool on their way out. In this design, the gases and ash are converted to heat energy before they exit the firebox. So the fire burns more completely and more cleanly. It's the same principle as the catalytic combustor on our soapstone stove. You can read a more detailed explanation at Peter van den Berg's website, here. 

Besides cleaner, safer smoke, people report a decrease in wood fuel consumption by up to 75-80%. What's not to like about that?

It must be noted that the dimensions of the design are important: firebox, port, thermal mass, and chimney must all be sized properly. A sizing chart can be found at Peter's website. 

The other question is, given the convoluted chimney path, how do we get enough draft to direct the smoke out the chimney instead of into the room? The answer is with two air intakes. 

The first is in the firebox door.

Photo credit: Firespeaking.com. This is the door we
purchased and which you will see in future blog posts.

The second is the secondary air tube.

We ordered ours from Dragon Technology.

It fits in the channel in the firebox, 

 . . . and will be under the door. It delivers continuous fresh air to the port in the back of the firebox, supplying steady oxygen to keep the fire hot enough to burn the exhaust gases. It will be cut to fit after the core is built in the bell and the door installed. 

Progress so far has been building the bell. Following are a few photos I took over the past several weeks. 

If you look carefully, you can see where the chimney will exit the bell. It's placed low in the bell where the coolest air is.  

We're going to re-use the chimney pipe from the soapstone stove.

The sides are being constructed first because the space is tight and Dan needs working room for the top of the heater. The core will be added after that. 

The other question was about cleaning out the bell. For that, a clean-out door will be added later (something like this), roughly where I made the red square below, next to the chimney flue. 

We'll access it from the adjacent bedroom (where my big floor loom now resides. Photos at that link). 

Dan cleans out our chimneys every autumn with a chimney brush, and then uses his shop vac to vacuum out any residue that falls to the bottom. Even with our soapstone stove there has been very little soot build-up. The clean-out door is large enough to accommodate the nozzle and hose of the shop vac. The fire box, of course, is swept out with a whisk broom. 

Continued here ⇢ Progress on the Thermal Mass

Masonry Heater Project © August 2024

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Masonry Heaters: A Bit of a History

Comments on my Summer Project List Progress post expressed an interest in our masonry heat stove project. In the US (Canada too?) we are probably more familiar with either fireplaces or what we call a wood stove, which is a cast iron box with a chimney sticking out the top. Masonry type heaters, on the other hand, is more popular in other parts of the world.

The technology for this method of heating is quite ancient. Wikipedia reckons there were forerunners of it as early as 5000 BC. The gist of the masonry stove is that they are designed to retain heat for as long as possible. This is basically accomplished by two things. One is an indirect pathway for the heat and smoke. The second is a thermal mass, which is basically something to retain the heat so that it radiates slowly to the house. Commonly, it's an empty box. Something like this . . .

Lucien Clem, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Because it retains and radiates heat so well, a masonry heater typically only needs a fire twice a day. You can see how this would save on wood. There are many styles to accomplish this, and following are some examples.

This one is a typical Eurpoean Kachelofen (tiled stove). Usually these are quite huge and ornate.

CC BY 2.0, Werner Kratz, via Wikimedia Commons

Here's a modern version, without tiles.

CC BY-SA 3.0, Alex South, via Wikimedia Commons

In ancient China, the masonry heater was called a Kang, with the thermal mass fashioned like a large platform. This artist's sketch was made in 1851.

Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

It was used for heat, cooking, sitting, and comfortable sleeping, like this modern version in a Chinese hostel. 

Yoshi Canopus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A modern adaptation of the masonry principles is the Rocket Mass Heater, where the thermal mass becomes an area for seating.

Derrick Parker, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lots of interesting examples at permies.com.

The innards of the RMH are a bit different, although the principles of heat retention and thermal mass are the same.

Source: Rocket Mass Heaters by Ianto Evans and Lesile Jackson. Click to enlarge

As you can see, a different path for the smoke and heat, but it accomplishes the same heat retention. An improvement on this design is the firebox/riser, with it's swirly smoke path. This burns the wood gases like a catalytic combustor, which in turn creates more heat and cleaner smoke. 

One more example, of a modern masonry stove that combines features.

Waroomniet, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It combines thermal mass with a bench/single bed, plus an oven! Some of them include cooktops.

Credit: Ernie and Erica Wisner. This one appears to
incorporate the Kang style bed for its thermal mass.

The design Dan is using is one of the many recent adaptations of the masonry stove  principles. More on that soon.

Masonry Heaters: A Bit of a History © Aug 2024

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Summer Project List Progress

In the early summer, I posted an informal summer project list. Nowadays, these lists are typically short and sweet because our main projects (infrastructure) are already complete. Our daily patterns are mostly set by the rhythm of our seasonal routines. Even so, we like to do a seasonal evaluation and make a to-do list which includes less essential projects. And periodically that evaluation needs to be evaluated, which is what we have here. 

Something I've already blogged about is the new African keyhole garden. But in case you missed it . . .

Growing volunteer lambs quarter and cherry tomatoes

Dan enjoys building these and is asking about where to put another one. 

Something that wasn't on his list was adding another rain water collection tank. We've got quite a bit growing in the front yard, and last month's dry spell got us wishing we had more irrigation water there. The key with a gravity rainwater system is having pressure. The front yard is our highest elevation, so we can't bring water up from the other tanks which are lower. Unless we want to install a pump! But this will help tremendously.

He also sectioned off part of the buck pasture and welded a gate with bed rails and a cattle panel.

Doesn't get any more economical than that!

Dan's big project this summer is one that's been on his project list for several years - getting started on the masonry stove. 

We've lived with a conventional wood heater for, gosh, almost 25 years. While we love wood heat, we also understand the inefficiencies of these in terms of heat retention and the amount of wood required. The appeal of a masonry stove is efficiency. 

How can masonry stoves be more energy efficient? It's in the design. Wood stoves typically have the chimney at the top of the stove, so most of the heat goes up and out the chimney along with the smoke! A masonry heater has a thermal mass which holds the heat for hours after the fire has gone out. Combine that with a firebox designed to burn the wood gases and a chimney flue at the bottom instead of the top, and the result is an efficient, non-polluting stove that requires less firewood for more heat. What's not to like about that? 

I have more photos of this project, but I need to sort and optimize them. Then I'll share them wotj you in another blog post.

On my project list is repainting the barn, but the rain and forecast for rain hasn't let this happen yet. Most of my time is taken up with seasonal chores anyway: picking, preserving, and cheesemaking. One thing about preserving and making cheese is the wait times in between steps. I need to stick close for when it's time to do those steps, but this gives me time to do other things. One of those things was to experiment with pokeberries as dye.

I found Carol Leigh's recipe for non-fading pokeberry dye last summer and started to collect and freeze pokeberries. I managed to get about a gallon and a half, or so last summer. Last month, I gave it a go. You can see more photos and read how I did it at my fiber journal. 

As you can see, it's been a productive summer so far. August remains hot and humid (what else is new?), but we're able to pace ourselves comfortably. Even so, we're looking forward to autumn and cooler weather. Isn't everybody?

Anybody else making progress on their summer projects? Or maybe you get the summer project free! Do let us know, either way.

Summer Project List Progress © August 2024

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com