Wow, it just occurred to me that it has been over a month since the last post… alot has been going on during the past 5 weeks. Here’s a quick run-down of the highlights:

Trip to Portland. It was business and the weather was crummy but it’s always a nice place to visit. Beervana, they call it. I made stops at a few brewpubs: Bridgeport, Rogue, Lucky Labrador and sipped other fine hoppy treats when possible. Reading the newspaper, it seems that Portland has a thriving farmers market; I also noticed a story about some transplants from North Carolina that have opened a biscuits and gravy eatery. Apparently one could not find that particular delicacy before… I, for one, am glad that problem has been fixed.

Speaking of NC, it was good to see some Mt. Pleasant boys… my buddy Scott M. made it into the City to hang out and his wife gave birth to a little girl the day I left. The Avett Bros sold out the Crystal Ballroom and, as always, put on a hell of a show.

1st Annual Backyard Chicken Grill. Layers are probably best suited for the pot. Live and learn, eh? A group of good friends helped us enjoy a couple of the yardbirds and some homebrew. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some cornish birdss next year. Mmm, tasty.

More garden planting. Here’s the current inventory of what’s in the ground and growing: garlic (2 types), arugala, spinach, lettuce (assortment), carrots (2 types), tomatoes (2 types), peppers (4 types), cilantro, basil, thyme, chard, potatoes (2 types), green beans, lima beans (2 types), onions, ground cherry, blueberries, raspberry, currant, rosemary, and finally, hops (6 types). Still some more left to do…

1st day at the Asheville City Market. A great bunch of people. We had a lot of fun and just about broke even. We’ll chalk it up as a success. We’re looking forward to getting to know the other vendors and, hopefully, documenting a bit of what they do to bring their goods to market. We’re back on June 14th.

Camping trip to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest / Slickrock Wilderness. Short car camping trip with many hours of rainfall. We still got a bunch of photos and had a great time.

Rain-fed, solar-powered garden irrigation system. I’ve been getting really tired of filling up the watering can from the rain barrel and hauling it around. It takes several trips each watering session. I got a little carried away with the idea of adding a pump to the rain barrel and ended up spending entirely too much on the system but I couldn’t let it go once to the idea evolved. Here’s the quick sketch of the frankenstein system that I rigged together yesterday: 5 watt solar panel (designed to charge an automatic gate opener) wired to a 12v lawn mower battery with a charge controller connected to a 12v DC to 120v AC inverter to which a 350 GPH transfer pump is attached that sucks water out of the barrel and pushes it through a series of soaker hoses to some thirsty plants. No more carrying water all over the place, I can just flip the switch. I’m considering taking it to the next step and adding a timer and float switch combination. Then I wouldn’t even have to think about it. The garden would water itself.

Last, but certainly not least , Honour’s Birthday!
I picked up an absolutely amazing carrot cake from Short Street Cakes