Showing posts with label boiler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boiler. Show all posts

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Homesteading: planting the farm

a little more demo and hole digging had to happen before the new plants were delivered.

taking out one of many chokecherries

trying to dig holes where the wall of shrubbery was the day before.

more brush removal


soil left over from starting the raised veggie beds

plant delivery with a fancy crane



new plant locations: two new pears flank the assembled fire pit (our old boiler). on the left is a d'anjou pear, on the right is a red bartlett.

d'anjou

red bartlett

two highbush blueberry bushes (in soil amended with peat even though we have pretty acidic soil)- on the left is patriot, on the right is chippewa.

wee hollyhock seedlings look on from inside

the veggie garden


some things are already up! sugar snap peas, onions, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, scallions...in the front right bed are plants transplanted from ithaca- walking onion, chives, sage, thyme and garlic planted last fall from our friends in ithaca.


a stanley plum


the ornamental onion bed


summer sweet clethra

Amelanchier laevis, serviceberry, or shadbush



serviceberry 'autumn brilliance'


the old boiler. though no pictures were taken during its assembly know this: just the middle section weighs hundreds of pounds! we couldn't take any pictures because we were both on duty the whole time. think pulley system with a winch and ladder, plus a car jack, 2x4s and bricks.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Cleaning Out the Museum Archives

This was an important day. We had started to try to organize the basement. It was and is going to be an ongoing battle. However, on this day Tim tackled two areas of the basement that had previously been boarded up for a preserve cellar and coal bins. Taking out a few wooden walls really opened up the basement and allowed for organization and storage space...along with a few more basement discoveries....

PRESERVE CELLAR
ancient crates moved into the sunlight.

Red Label Golden Kernel Bantam Corn from S.S. Pierce company in Boston.


South facing window into the preserves archive.

the cellar wall coming down and letting in light.


Blue Diamond hood River Pears.

The priceless preserves.

Spring Water?




lock from 1914

the uncovered preserves:
Rhubarb, no sugar?, 1943; Cherries, 1942; Applesauce, 8/43; Watermelon Pickle 9/69

Apple Sauce Cinnamin 8/42; Rhubarb, 1943; -; Beans 8/20/43, Rinse + cook


Pear Harlequin Mincemeat, 10/23/43; Cherries, 1939 (the oldest jar); Spanish Pickle, 10/63

Jar originally filled with Mrs. Chapin's Mayonnaise from Boston, Mass.

Ball Sure Seal Jar; Double Safety Jar, and Mrs. Chapins

Watermelon Pickle, 9/69; Garden Special, 10/58; Chili Sauce, 9/77; Spanish Pickle, 10/63


Atlas EZ Seal jar with green beans.


COAL BINS
the new boiler and hot water heater are in one bin, old house windows in another...




...and the wall comes down


one of the old storm windows, with one pane able to open.


usable space!


in pencil, and initially gone unnoticed, there are dates with amounts of coal burned and comments on severity of the winter.




old box for a seventeen inch flat TV, that apparently came with a handle for transportation...


the Lyfords were the owners of the house before the previous owners.


Directions for using our old boiler and others...