Spring biomass hauling
We nearly never work on
the weekends, but a passable driveway means all bets are off.
Despite weeks of dry weather, the extremely wet winter means we can't
drive the truck in, yet the golf cart floats over the mud as long as
it's not overloaded. So I spent two delightful hours hauling in
biomass.
All winter, 80 bales
of straw have been
sitting out at our parking area, waiting for a ride to the core
homestead area. The bales that had been in contact with the
ground began to rot, which is actually a plus since partially
decomposed straw is a perfect mulch around seedlings, and we have lots
of spring seedlings in need of mulch. I offloaded little piles of
straw here and there throughout the garden for use within the next two
or three weeks.
As I unloaded biomass, I was
thinking ahead to the late April and early May garden. The
tomatoes I started inside on March 16 now have two true leaves, which
means I either need to repot them or set them out. Even though
our frost-free date is a solid month in the future, the ten day
forecast has no lows below 43, so I'm hardening the tomatoes off for
planting around April 23 (if the weather stays warm).
Which is all a long way
of telling you that Mark's buckets
of horse manure already have designated spots in the garden.
The buckets in the photo above represent future tomato homes in the
forest garden, and the rest of the manure is earmarked for broccoli and
potatoes.
Everything was going
swimmingly until my inherent ability to break things finally kicked
in. On golf cart load six, I piled on the bales of straw and went
to turn the key to head home...only to discover that the key was
gone! Even though it seems highly improbable, my best guess is
that the straw bale I'd heaved into the front seat somehow plucked the
key from the dashboard. (No one else was present, and I went
through my pockets on the off chance I'd decided it was a good idea to
take the key out of the ignition then forgotten about it.)
I sifted through the
loose straw on the floor of the golf cart and even tore that bale apart
in search of the key, but it was like looking for a needle in a
haystack (or, rather, a key in a 
straw
stack) --- no dice. The good news is that all Club Car golf carts
manufactured after 1983 use the same key, so I was able to order two
online for $11 (shipping included). The bad news is, we're going
to have to wait until the spare keys show up before we haul in the rest
of the straw, the IBC tanks, chicken waterer construction materials, and
extra cardboard.
Still, I can't find it
in me to be unhappy since I now have enough biomass to get me through
until May. Mark said the other day that some women like men who treat
them like dirt and I corrected him gently. "No, honey, we like
men who treat us to dirt --- in other words, who
give us lots of biomass!" I'm one contented woman.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
If you are in the habit of storing stuff in the front seat, you might break off the key in the cilinder.
A switch, located out of the way or protected with a cover would suit the purpose just as well, and won't get lost.