On the other hand, Wave Hill in Wilton bakes wonderful bread. They have a clever business model. Make one thing, and make it well. They sell to a number of independent markets and also at many of the local farmers markets throughout Connecticut.

I love the wooden racks they use for efficient stacking of the bread.

And I just learning to use my new camera lens was trying to figure out how to control depth of field on my digital camera. Turns out exactly the same way I would have done so on my film camera. The following photos provide great justification for planting a perennial garden. They aren’t perfect, but add a tripod and slightly better control of the focus area and depth of field and it will only get better.

From my previous posts you may know that the Wilton Town Forest is a mixed eastern hardwood forest with the majority of the canopy bio-mass in American beech. The balance of the canopy is comprised of Hickory, Red and White Oak species (which I’m not particularly good at identifying without a dichotomous key) and a strong representations of black birch and the facultative wet Red maples as well as Sugar maples. The sub-canopy is an interesting mix of Witch hazel, Dogwoods, Mountain Laurel, and the Pinkster Bloom Rhododendron.

For whatever reason, the stage of autumn defoliation made it easy to pick out the American chestnut – and it turns out the Forest is full of them! I didn’t take my camera – a mistake I will not soon repeat – so I can’t show the details I am about to describe. Please accept these most boring descriptions from a seasoned yet hopefully humble observer of all things in the woods – especially chestnut. The chestnut in the forest is very slow growing on account of the dense canopy. They are clinging to a tenuous existence. However this creates some interesting morphological features not found in the orchard chestnut, or other trees typically visited in recent clearcuts or alongside the roads. The trees are small, and appear to grow quite slowly. Trunk dbh rarely exceeds a few inches. There is little evidence of blight infection on the trunks and I did not see evidence of cryphonectria blooms. I’m not sure why. The density of American chestnut trees, plus the considerable population of other members of the fagaceae family should mean blight is prevalent. Back to morphology – the leaves of many of the trees were quite small – eight inches in length and up to a maximum of about twelve, but with the bulk in the smaller size. The petioles were small or non-existent (see photo below). Bud angle was acute and twig stems were reddish-brown. The leaves were canoe shaped, and hairless top and bottom. Leaves were of a dull appearance and the hooks American in shape. The most interesting morphological feature was the trunk which was more gray than I typically see in northern CT. One of the trunks, of about two inches DBH had pronounced fissures – an atypical feature here in CT for a tree so small. They also have less of an apically dominant character than trees in open sunlight – perhaps simply because they are so far below the closed canopy.

I stopped counting at one hundred trees. But I’m sure the quantity was many times that number. They were found mostly on the flank to the east of the river, some even uncharacteristically in what I would have guessed might have been poorly drained areas. There were many Mountain Laurel present in the same areas, a good indicator for chestnut. It is quite encouraging to know that this part of Fairfield County has such densities of remnants. Below is a scan of leaves with a closeup. I also provide this link [1.3mb] to a large quality scan for those of you interested in looking for pubescence. I am sending off a collection of leaves to Professor Fenny Dane at Auburn University for cpDNA and nuclear DNA Testing, and will include this sample.

Now for the really exciting report. While hiking on the orange trail just north of the section where it hugs the stream where a tumble would surely result in a broken leg or neck (recent trail upgrade) I heard a whoosh of magnificent dimension and looked up to see some type of raptor crash through the canopy and land in the top of an Oak fifty yards to the northeast and slightly uphill. My daughters (seven and nine) and I quietly walked off the trail and toward the area hoping to see more. The creature was content to make a continuous sound, not unlike a threatened squirrel. My nine year old with her super sharp ears triangulated the sound and pointed to the top of a large oak. And I was surprised to look up into what looked like a giant gray flaky bees nest – only to have a pair of giant black eyes let me know my motions were equally being observed. Sitting sixty feet above the forest floor, the owl was clearly enormous, perhaps thirty inches tall in perched position – with perhaps a girth of thirty six inches – much larger than any of the local owls outlined by CT Audubon. We lay on our backs in the leaf litter and watched him, as he watched us for twenty minutes. Had I brought my camera, it would have been trivial to take a clear photo. Getting chilled, we got moving and took the blue trail loop all the way north, and then cut back along the mid trail past the campsite back toward the stream crossing. Sure enough the enormous owl was still there, though this time apparently sound asleep. We bid adieu and made our way home.

So this weekend seemed the ideal time to make the second gate. I already had the basic design – that is the dimensions were fixed by the relative opening of the arbor. What was flexible was the actual construction process and design. I decided to loosely follow the design used previously
but to eliminate one of the rails, as that had proven exceptionally difficult to construct. The design therefore would be a simple superimposition of a cross on an X. The / would be the diagonal providing the structural integrity to the design.

The approach to the corners was the same. I used three-eighths inch by eight inch galvanized machine bolts (four total), one for each corner. The below photo shows a closeup of the above design detail and details the method of hanging screening, and the mortise hole for the screw on the bottom. Each of the machine bolt heads was countersunk in a hole the size of the galvanized washer. It was amazing how much faster the process went the second time around. The key to success was creating flat and square rabbeted receivers for the ends of the stiles that could receive the rails. Bolt holes and mortise holes for the nuts were done by eye with simple measurements. They luckily came out correctly.

I decided to hang the screening on a perimeter wire of polyethelene using simple black zip ties. The polyethelene was run through galvanized staples, tensioned (by attaching temporaily to the gate and swinging it) and secured using a nicopress fitting much as I secured the tensioned wire for the fence. The thought was that this would facilitate replacement – simply replace the zip ties. It was easy to make and created a neat job. I would recommend this approach for those with extra polyethelene and a handy nicopress tool (or large pliers) for swaging.

The wife seems to like the appearance of the gate.

Chard is a wonderful crop. It requires little room and keeps producing for a very long time. I used a ten inch between row separation, and thinned the plants to about every five inches in each row.

I think the density was pretty good, though it should be possible to close it up a bit if only chard is planted in the raised bed. I suspect rows of six inches thinned to six inches would provide a higher density and still promote good growth. The challenges we faced were with the adjacent Rutabaga and Horseradish. Both have leaves that spread considerably and cover the chard. The best solution is to have a chard only raised bed.

Decision – invest in the best chard seed available and plant a row of each type – perhaps two rows of the bright lites in a raised bed. Chard is not without its issues. Like some of the other large leaved plants such as Rutabaga, the Chard is vulnerable to snails and slugs. Both can be controlled organically by simply visiting early in the morning and removing the pests by hand. Failure to remove can result in an infestation and some pretty unattractive leaves.

Speaking of Rutabaga – this was a complete failure. The plants grew fast and with lovely foliage, but the roots simply never developed. Again, perhaps a situation where the type of fertilizer accentuated the leaf growth to the detriment of the tuber development. By the time I started harvesting, the tubers were tough and some even rotten. A great disappointment.

Clearly the most problematic crop is the horseradish. I would love to get it out of the raised bed but the root is probably ill suited to most of the ground in the area of the garden – which is wet. I love fresh horseradish but don’t like the impact it has on the other crops.

The garden site had been chosen by a previous owner and had the advantage of being out of the way, and fairly wet. In fact, the soils become hydric at a depth of eighteen inches below the surface. These conditions actually prove very good for growing a wide range of vegetables. Tomato, squash – almost all above ground vegetables thrive in these conditions. The benefit is that they require very little water.

I changed that by planning a new garden that would eventually move all the plantings to raised beds. This was to be an incremental change. That is, we would keep the existing garden and place in raised beds to evaluate the performance. By virtually all measures the new raised beds proved successful. At an average of sixteen inches high, they were accessible without bending, easy to weed and water, and easy to harvest. Part way through the summer I installed drip irrigation with headers that allow metering the water to various crops. This worked somewhat effectively. One issue was that I terminated several of the runs by wrapping them around a thin stake and using a zip tie to essentially cut off water flow. On many of the hose ends this failed when after exposed to UV degradation the hoses deteriorated at this point. In the future they should be terminated with wooden dowels or plugs that don’t stress the drip lines. Alternatively, I would recommend using pvc tube and simply drilling holes to allow the water to drip out. At $2.29 cents per ten foot length, this is a very cost effective solution.

We built two raised beds twelve feet long by four feet wide. The beds were built from two levels of two by twelve and were dug into the hillside so that the most exposed they could be was twenty three inches. With the “high” end exposed twenty three inches, the low end was perhaps eight inches above ground, with a continuum between.

The soil mix ws a combination of about one fifth vermiculite, one fifth perlite, one fifth peat moss, and the balance equal parts soil and compost. It came out more organic and lighter than I had anticipated. The low clay content made it less able to hold moisture and possibly nutrients (cations). I amended the soil with small quantities of slow release organic fertilizer. Clearly this mix would not be suitable for any of the squash family, but it was suspected it would prove very suitable for the leafy greens and legumes.

One of the early crops was radishes which grew fabulous foliage and horrific root systems. I was unable to tell if this was due to the weather, the soil or some combination. Irrespective, we decided that no one save I liked radishes of any sort, and that this crop would not be repeated. We planted several varieties of beets – both red and golden. These were fantastic, both the tops and tubers.

The single row we planted will become two three or even four rows next year. Beets can be grown at a fairly high density in the raised beds so the recommendation is for about six inches on center for the rows and three to four inches within the row. Both red beets and golden found their way into one of my favorite Indian dishes shorvedar chukander. We had enough beets to prepare this several times and it was a great success each time.

BEETROOT WITH ONIONS (SHORVEDAR CHUKANDER)
350g raw beetroot (without stems/leaves)
4 tbs veg oil
1 tsp whole cumin seed
1 clove garlic finely chopped
100g onion peeled & coarsely chopped
1 tsp plain flour
1/8th to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
225g tomatoes peeled & finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 pint water

Peel beetroot and cut into wedges (e.g a medium beetroot 5cm long into 6 wedges). Heat oil over mediim flame, sizzle cumin for 5 secs add garlic and stir fry, then add onion and stir fry for 2 mins. Add flour and cayenne and fry for another minute. Then add tomatoes, beetroot, salt and water – bring to simmer, cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 mins or until beetroot are tender. Remove lid, return heat to medium, and cook uncovered for 7 mins, or until sauce has thickened slightly. (Dish can be made ahead and then reheated)

I simply loved this dish with its vivid red sauce thickened with onion, beet and flour.

I also planted a row of carrots and this too was a great flop. The carrots never developed the length I anticipated and the subsequent late harvest did nothing to enhance their flavor. They unfortunately, for the most part, ended up in the compost. Carrots are definitely out! We planted corn, a dozen plants some of which had multiple stems. This too was a complete bust. None of the ears had the amount of pollination I expect from corn, and the number of ears was an abysmal total of two dozen. I had read that one can use corn as a trellis for climbing beans and planted my wax and french green beans around the base of the corn. The idea is that since beans are legumes they will add nitrogen to the soil and the planting will be complimentary. The beans worked great! The production was almost continuous from mid July onward. But they never climbed the corn, and it was a nightmare trying to pick the beans in the tangle at the base of the corn. The verdict – can the corn and the wax beans … keep the french green beans but put them on a proper trellis.

Speaking of trellis’. We built a wire trellis using the polypropylene material used to hold up the fencing. Basically we bolted rough lumber to the raised bed and then drilled a hole for the wire and knotted it with a back knot, and then stapled it taught to the edge of the raised bed. This was used for the sweet pea to climb.

The only issue was that the season was so wet and cold … and we started the peas so late that they didn’t get a good jump on the season. The wife thinks we can do better by using the trellis for beans or chinese snap peas. The key lesson learned is that the trellis could support perhaps twice as many plants. I also think horizontal string wrapped around each trellis wire would make weaving the plants up the trellis much easier.

Building boats in wood has been around probably since the first man decided that something that floated provided a great way to get out on the water. Of course a log is anything but a stable platform. However, the wood sawn from the log (or bark peeled from the tree) can be used as framing or planking that creates the shape envisioned by the designer. Experimenting with shape allowed man to create boats with different properties – some designs more hydro-dynamically efficient, and more stable, than others.

As knowledge about stability and hydrodynamics grew, man sought a way to apply the theoretical to the practical and validate theory. Twentieth century man discovered that strip built boats made a great way to build quickly and test out new shapes in watercraft. That’s wood stripping of kayaks and canoes of course. Today, with computer programs to assist with designs, calculate stability, and even create form templates, almost anyone can design their own kayak and canoe and use striping techniques to build it. The Blue Heron Web-Site and Forums are a great place to learn about how others design and build Kayaks worldwide today, and get sage advice from experienced builders worldwide.

Wood stripping traditionally – and I use that term loosely as the practice has been around in its current form for many decades – has been done by stapling the strips onto forms while the adhesives cured. This probably derived from the practice of stapling layers of veneer – another common boatbuilding technique typically used in larger craft especially sailboats (with which I’m familiar). Or maybe it just derived because it makes sense as an easy and fast way to attach strips to a form. I don’t know the origins. But the fact is, staples used for attaching strips have benefits, but also serious drawbacks. The key objection is that staples are a pain to adjust if a strip goes in improperly, they are a pain to remove, and once removed, create an aesthetic problem by leaving small holes in the wood.

There are several alternatives to staples. Some strippers use fast setting glues, some use clamps that can be attached to the forms. A relatively novel approach I viewed recently on the Blue Heron Forums is using clips and rubber bands. The advantages include fast attachment, easy adjustment, and speedy removal. The big benefits are aesthetic (no holes) and reusability – a big factor for those of us trying to live as green as we can (and still strip boats).

The following design was made known to me by a fellow from Australia named Rick Went who published the use in the Blue Heron Kayak Forums. Rick has generously made his design available to strippers, and even better, made the completed product available at cost. Se also how the use originated here and here . Silverio from Portugal supplied the original threads and they show images of building both a kayak and a surfboard. One couldn’t hope for a finer aesthetic execution than performed by Silverio.

Still, there were several reasons I felt a need to create a design for my own purposes. Australia uses metric sizes and the strips are typically milled to a fractionally smaller size than those in the United States. Plus I just enjoy designing three dimensional objects, and this was an opportunity to leverage Google Sketchup’s ability to out put to a CNC type file (dwg, stl, etc).

Finally, here are the dimensions of the acrylic clip derived by using an illustration program in my initial mockup.

This year we discussed making a larger or at least more manageable garden. Key consensus point was creating an area inside the fence to facilitate weeding without actually having to walk on the plants or compact the soil. I had been reading about raised beds and the wonderful advantages they afforded – and had decided to create raised beds. We also wanted to build a compost and have that accessible to the garden. So the new design had raised beds in an essentially east-west orientation, with two and a half foot spacing between and outside the raised beds to allow access with a wheelbarrow and provide room to access the beds to work. There is a fair amount of grade change for the chosen site, so we realized the beds would be quite high at one end and close to the ground at the other. We laid out a fence plan with gates providing through access. We hired Scott Jenkins to install red cedar (Juniperus virginianum) posts and I drilled in receiving holes for horizontal braces. The idea behind the fence is using a Benners Garden fence (five foot high) with additional line above if required to exclude deer.

As a member of the CT Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation I’d had the opportunity to install or observe several Benners Garden fence installations using both the standard Salem and the Northern CT Land Trust Swann Farm, but then also some hybrid systems such as at the Guilford Orchard. Subsequently, I have a fair understanding of the process and pitfalls, and had some specific ideas of the problem areas to avoid. One of the issues I’d encountered was sagging fencing. It is very difficult to get the fencing tight, and if there is any topography that has to be followed, the fence needs to be adjusted to follow the contours. I had come to the conclusion that the best way to install the fence was to actually hang it from a tensioned wire. With the tension, I was concerned about the posts being able to resist the compressive loads and remain upright – so this became a big consideration. Yet the garden is too small to created braced corner posts without bracing essentially the entire garden. After thinking about it, I decided that would in fact be the best solution.

So the plan is to the fence framework is in tension with the actual fencing material hung from a nylon monofilament wire. The monofilament is fairly thick and when stretched tight could produce a fair amount of pressure. I’m guessing close to 100# or more, but will report back once installed. The horizontal braces are in compression preventing the collapse of the corners under the tension. To keep it looking rustic, I purchased rough sawn two by fours (actual dimensions 2.5 inches by 4). They were inexpensive and should weather to a dull grey color. I installed them by drilling receiving mortises with a forstner bit, and then cutting tenons on the ends of each brace. This proved somewhat, though not excessively labor intensive. Red cedar has an exceptionally variable toughness and I was glad to be done with the drilling. This required the AC powered holeshooter. The tenons were cut by drawing the receiving mortise diameter on the butt ends with a simple hole jig and then cutting with a jigsaw and sharp chisel.

The arbor braces the fence and provides a firm support for the proposed gates, preventing sagging. The arbors are not in the compression circuit but are designed with assistance from Architect Malcolm Goodspeed to resist both compression and tension.

One unknown is how the fencing will wrap. Based on the topography, I believe two of the corners will wrap without tucking, and two will require tucking. The uphill theoretically should require tucking at bottom and the bottom-most post would require tucking at top. I’ll report back.

It didn’t appear to have any male catkins – but the presence of wires might make pollination difficult if not impossible. It is located right next to telegraph pole 2330, and about one-quarter of a mile south of the West Redding Train Station.

In relatively modern times, with the advent of film photography, the Magic Lantern became a popular way to tell stories and moral tales. Inevitably, the advance in developing series based Magic Lantern shows led to the motion picture with the new technology gradually gaining favor. The Magic Lantern, while a cultural treasure, is now a collectors item and special event rather than mainstream entertainment.

Still, the Magic Lantern can be used where film cannot. I was reminded of this yesterday when opening my mail upon returning home. I had a package, a gift, from friend Terry Borton of the Magic Lantern Show. Terry knew of my interest in the American chestnut and provided this most unusual Magic Lantern slide used for scientific lectures. He very graciously provided me this beautiful slide of what is labelled Castanea vesca. L Var Amer. Chestnut. The top reads Stereoptician Preparations of Woods, by Romeyn B. Hough, B.A., Lowville, NY. In this case the slide is in fact a very thin slice of chestnut – something not possible with film.

The above image is a photograph of the slide showing the detail present on the slide fixture. The below is a transparency scan which shows the actual image as it might have appeared projected on the wall of a classroom. Terry Borton informs me that there may have been slides for twenty five or so species and that these were likely used in a classroom environment for teaching.