Deerfield Diary

Final steps for Deerfield Diary

2011-10-04T18:39:00.008-04:00

After almost three years and 355 posts, Deerfield Diary is closing up shop. I hope you'll agree I have a good reason, which I will share with you at the end of this final post.

The new set of steps pictured here is the final project of the renovation of our wrap-around deck that I began almost a year ago. Son Lem helped on the project during a recent visit. As physicians go, he's not a bad carpenter.

Looking back over my receipts, I see that the project used 12 pounds of deck screws and 120 pieces of "2-by" lumber ranging in length from 8 feet to 20 feet. I'm glad it's finished.

What have I learned over the last three years?

I'm now able to identify most trees now by their bark. I've become fairly adept with a chainsaw. My John Deere four-wheel drive tractor is as familiar to me now as an old pair of slippers. My biggest disappointment has been my vegetable gardens. I have decided I don't have the patience to be a good gardener. If I work all day tilling and planting, I want to see something happen. Pronto. It doesn't work like that.

Our house, a victim of the violent hailstorm in April, is finally in good shape for the winter with a new roof, power-washed and freshly stained cypress siding and newly painted trim. The woodshed is full.

To those of you who know me, I'll call your attention to a piece I wrote recently for International Stuttering Awareness Day. You can find it here. I've had some good reaction from it. The ISAD online conference lasts all month and is visited by thousands of people from 40 or 50 countries.

And now to my reason for ending Deerfield Diary.

After six years and thousands of hours at the keyboard, I'm proud to announce that Random House/Delacorte has purchased my first novel and plans to publish it in the spring of 2013. It's a young-adult offering entitled "Paper Boy." (There's a good chance the title may change.)

The story takes place in Memphis in 1959 and involves an 11-year-old boy who has to take on his friend's paper route for a month. The boy has a debilitating stutter and can only tell his story pecking away on an old typewriter in his upstairs room. I'm as proud of the manuscript as anything I've ever done. It's taken me 65 years, but I've finally managed to tell my story in the way it should be told.

My editor at Random House wants a final revision done by the end of the year. I plan to start on another writing project as soon as I finish the revision. I will create a new website and possibly a new blog in advance of the publication of my book.

For these reasons, Deerfield Diary is ending its run.

Deerfield Diary has averaged about 35 unique visitors a day for the last few months. My thanks to all who have taken the time to read my scribblings.

Now, it's time to take the next step. It's always about the next step.

More creatures featured

2011-09-12T20:15:00.003-04:00

Neighbor Larry, chief correspondent for Deerfield Diary, keeps with the wildlife theme and reports that rabbits and hummingbirds are flourishing in his neck of the woods.

There are plenty of dogs in Deerfield, but most are too lazy to chase the rabbits. With coyotes on the decline and hawks preferring plentiful field mice, the bunnies are free to eat our flowers and vegetables. We had several that spent the summer under our back porch.

Larry is the second person we know to report an influx of hummingbirds these days. By the way, do you know what you call a group of hummingbirds? A group is called a "charm of hummingbirds."

Isn't that charming?

A new creature in Deerfield

2011-09-08T13:33:00.003-04:00

Diary readers know that I like to feature all the creatures that I spot in Deerfield. Our latest creature feature -- the common bat.

I spotted this little guy or girl several weeks ago hanging under the eave of the overhang on our retreat. He seems to have adopted this spot as his permanent home. I don't know much about bats, except they are great consumers of mosquitos. I hope this one eats his fill because we have more than enough to go around.

If you need me, I'll be here for the next six months

2011-08-30T18:47:00.005-04:00

Our home in Deerfield is surrounded by gigantic poplar, elm, locust, hackberry, hickory, white oak and persimmon trees. Some of the trees are 36 inches in diameter.

The storms of the spring and summer had me in a tizzy. I would watch the tree tops bending, almost touching the house. We could hear trees crashing in the forest. A limb from a hickory tree came crashing down once, barely missing the renovated deck.

Instead of worrying, it was time to do something about it. I called in a tree service and the crew spent two days this week taking down trees near the house that were capable of causing problems. All the crews did was take the trees down. I will be doing all the cleanup.

I'll be cutting off all the limbs and will leave the trunks in 12-foot lengths. I'm hoping to find someone who will come and get the trunks for sawmill wood. I will burn the tops and limbs. If my tractor can't move the trunks, I'll call on my neighbor with the big tractor to help.

If I'm lucky, I should be done by next spring.

Hidden beauty, hidden disaster

2011-08-29T19:12:00.003-04:00

This cross-cut of a 20-inch American elm trunk has a beautiful pattern until you realize that the tree was actually rotting from the inside with Dutch elm disease. Some estimates say 90 per cent of all the elm trees in East Tennessee have been infected with the disease.

We have a few more elms at Deerfield, but this is the last one near the house. It had to go. Thanks to the April hail storm, we are getting a new roof next week. The last thing we needed was a tree crashing through it.

An embarrassment of gourds

2011-08-20T09:02:00.005-04:00

Here's my gourd story, and I'm sticking to it.

In my post from April 18, I was all a twitter about the prospect of growing my spring garden from seeds and not from starter plants.

I purchased three seed flats and carefully planted several types of squash, cucumber, pepper and other delectables. I decided to try one little batch of a gourd seed mix. I carefully marked each section of the flat with its seed type. I faithfully watered and soon found the seeds bursting forth with small shoots. Once or twice I watered a little too much, but I was fairly certain that the seeds didn't "float" out of their assigned cubicles. I planted the small shoots and waited.

All summer the vines grew in resplendent glory. Yep. You guessed it.

Where I thought I had several types of cucumbers, I had gourds. Where I thought I had butternut squash, I had gourds. Where I thought I had acorn squash, I had gourds. Gourds to the left. Gourds to the right. Out of my gourd.

For the record, I got zero cucumbers and a handful of zucchini. A few yellow squash did manage to survive the gourd attack.

The photo is a sampling of my gourd harvest. Anyone have any good gourd recipes out there?

'What is It?' answered

2011-08-18T17:12:00.004-04:00

Lynn Ray Lewis, good friend and editor extraordinaire, came to the rescue by finding a close cousin to my creature at www.butterfliesandmoths.org. It appears this larva is that of a spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Thanks, Lynn Ray. We can all rest easy now.

We play the 'What is it?' game again

2011-08-18T10:25:00.004-04:00

I found this little fellow (or gal) on the front porch recently. I want to say it's the maturing larva of a butterfly, but as sure as I do some expert will tell me what a dunce I am.

So, as we agree that I'm a dunce, does anyone know what it is?

Antidote for the Dog Days of Summer

2011-07-27T17:05:00.004-04:00

After three hours of sawing, splitting and stacking firewood in the 96-degree heat, Willie and I couldn't stand it anymore. We headed for a dip in the Tennessee River.

Willie has been a river dog since he was six-months old when he took to the river like a duck to water. A clumsy duck for sure. What Willie lacks in style points, he certainly makes up in exuberance. Each dive from the bank lands him a little farther out in the river. He swims back to the bank, gags and coughs and then flings himself into the river for some more.

The locals on the bank always say they like my "pit bull." If they only knew. Willie is about as much a pit bull as I'm a spokesperson for the Hair Club for Men. The only danger around Willie is being licked to death. However, he does get a little testy if you take his spot on the couch.

Mama Coon prepares dinner for her little ones

2011-07-14T19:32:00.002-04:00

In my post of July 8 I noted how we had seen Papa Coon and Mama Coon, so Baby Coons couldn't be too far behind.

They're here.

Every afternoon Mama Coon climbs down from her poplar tree with her two babies trailing behind here. Mama climbs up in the small maple tree and shakes the sunflower seeds out of the bird feeder. The babies nibble away as the black oil sunflower seeds shower down on them. Mama occasionally slips in a seed or two for herself.

We haven't seen Papa Coon lately. He's probably out playing golf while Mama Coon takes care of things.

Speaking of golf, I have to get back to ESPN's around-the-clock-coverage of The British Open.

Have I found my horticultural calling?

2011-07-13T08:29:00.002-04:00

Readers of this blog know of my dubious exploits concerning my vegetable garden. I plan, dig, sweat, amend, sow and harvest with less than optimal results. It seems I get excited about the photos of luscious vegetables on the seed packets, and what sprouts forth in my garden always pales in comparison. I tend not to weed, spray and fertilize.

This spring I was trying to smooth out a rough hillside and decided I needed to plant something to keep down erosion. I bought a $5 bag of wildflower seed, broadcast it by hand over the tilled earth and immediately forgot about it.

We have been blessed this summer with all manner of wildflowers. Betty gathered these in the photo to take to a friend.

This may be the solution to my gardening needs. Till, sow and forget.

The great escape

2011-07-12T07:19:00.005-04:00

We were careful not to disturb the small cocoon plastered on the window of our front door. Luckily, it was on the side of a double door that we did not have to open.

For almost a month we kept watch as the milky green caterpillar spun a tight capsule around itself. It did not succumb to the stormy winds that blew. It escaped the beaks of the numerous small birds that flit around Deerfield. Its tight body-wrap clearly displayed its antennae.

We wanted to see our butterfly-to-be friend spread its wings, but we woke this morning to find the cocoon empty.

Our butterfly bushes in our front yard are filled each day with the beautiful winged creatures. We trust that our former tenant is among them.

Wearing out their welcome -- again

2011-07-08T09:31:00.002-04:00

Our raccoon family in Deerfield is being bothersome once more. We don't mind them cleaning out the bird feeder so much. We don't even mind them making Willie bounce off the living room windows.

Last night, however, they broke the hummingbird feeder which is about the 6th one they have trashed over the years. We have a mama and papa coon (mama is pictured), so probably we'll see baby coons before too long.

We like to live and let live, but I also have a live trap. I don't like to break up a family, but if they get too aggressive they may find themselves taking a trip to a park about five miles away. Fair warning.

Willie is a winner

2011-07-08T07:40:00.005-04:00

I was reading a recent issue of Garden & Gun magazine when I came across one of their photo contests with the subject of "dogs being dogs." I thought of the above photo of Willie I took a couple of years ago as he busted through the screen door on the back porch for the umpteenth time.

I sent the photo in and promptly forgot about it. Lo and behold, Willie was the winner. You can see him here in all his screen-busting glory.

Willie got a new Garden & Gun collar in the mail yesterday and I got a new cap as our prizes. I wish the magazine had just sent a new 50-foot roll of screen because he continues to go right through them.

Vawter House update

2011-06-22T14:50:00.004-04:00

Several readers have asked how the renovation of the Vawter House in McKenzie, Tenn., is coming. I can report that it will be ready by July 4th as planned.

I drove a 26-foot Penske van filled with eight rooms of furniture to McKenzie last week. All the furniture is in place and pictures are up on the wall. I finished the kitchen trim and the kitchen and bathroom are ready for the final painting. Aunt Judy is putting the final touches on the farmhouse in anticipation for the family reunion on July 4th.

The photos show the front of the seven-bedroom house and the dining room.

It's been a lot of work, but enjoyable. The memories just keep multiplying.

Synchronicity in Deerfield

2011-06-14T05:36:00.003-04:00

If you know much about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you know that much is made of the synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus) that appear every June in the Elkmont region of the park.

Two years ago we journeyed with some friends into the Park to try to catch one of the buses that carried you into Elkmont, supposedly the only place in the Smokies (and the world) to view the lightning bugs. Even though we got there several hours before dark, the parking lot was jammed with bug-watchers. A park ranger waved us away. That left a bad taste in my mouth.

Last night I was walking through my back field to my neighbor's house just before dark and lo and behold I was flashed in unison by hundreds of Deerfield's very own fireflies. I noticed immediately that these fireflies had a brighter luminescence than your average run-of-the-mill firefly. When I looked out across the field, there seemed to be several distinct groups of the fireflies, but there was no doubt that they were timing their flashes.

Here's what the Park literature says about the bugs:

Synchronous fireflies are beetles. They take from one to two years to mature from larvae, but will live as adults for only about 21 days. The males fly and flash and the usually stationary females respond with a flash. Peak flashing for synchronous fireflies in the park is normally within a two-week period in mid-June.

No one is sure why the fireflies flash synchronously. Competition between males may be one reason: they all want to be the first to flash. Or perhaps if the males all flash together they have a better chance of being noticed, and the females can make better comparisons. The fireflies do not always flash in unison. They may flash in waves across hillsides, and at other times will flash randomly. Synchrony occurs in short bursts that end with abrupt periods of darkness.

Skeptic that I am, I always wondered how the fireflies managed to stay cloistered in one little area of the Smokies. Now we know their secret.

Welcome to Deerfield, little lanterns. May your 21 days on this earth be pleasant and bright.

'Coon's-eye view

2011-06-08T08:10:00.004-04:00

Folks often ask us if it isn't a little lonely living in the woods on a one-lane road in the middle of 10 acres. Not so much.
It turns out we have at least one pair of eyes on us most of the time.

A large raccoon has taken up residence in a large poplar tree at the side of our yard. From that perch it can see when we fill our bird-feeders. Give it about a half an hour and its eases down the tree from its 60-foot perch and helps himself to the black-oil sunflower seed.

Feeding techniques are varied. Sometimes it unscrews the top of the rusty bird feeder (with much less difficulty than some of us.) Or it jumps on and jostles the seed to the ground. Or if Mr. Coon is really hungry, it can upend in the feeder in the fork of a branch and just let the seed pour on the ground.

If we happen to interrupt dinner, it slinks back up the tree to its post and watches us until the coast is clear.

We once tried to outsmart the non-birds (raccoons, turkey, squirrel) with ropes, pulleys and fancy feeders. Now we just set a place for everybody. Live and let live. As Betty says, they were here first.

Friends and family beware: SQUASH ATTACK

2011-06-02T20:01:00.004-04:00

The wind and hail can batter my berries and strip my fruit trees. The sun and unrelenting heat can cook my tomatoes and boil my corn, but nothing -- absolutely nothing -- will stand in the way of summer squash.

I grew my squash plants from seed this year, thinking most wouldn't make it. They all did. I didn't plant all of them, but everyone that I did plant is bursting forth with yellow squash.

Fair warning. If you see me coming with a sack in my hand, turn and run for your life.

"Jack and the Beanstalk" should be rewritten as "Jack and the Squash Plant." I'm certain that squash is related to kudzu.

Then. Just when you think it's safe to go out in the garden -- ZUCCHINI.

Our latest visitor

2011-05-23T11:43:00.003-04:00

Pulling into my driveway this morning, I looked up ahead and thought I had another short limb down from a tree. Then it moved on me.

Closer inspection revealed an unusually large snapping turtle. I estimate it weighed 10-12 pounds. When I picked it up, it disproved the axiom "as slow as a turtle." In a lightning move, it flexed its neck and grazed one of my fingers.

Read what Wikipedia says: "The common snapping turtle is not an ideal pet. Its neck is very flexible, and the turtle can bite its handler even if picked up by the sides of its shell. The turtle can amputate a finger with its powerful jaws." Remind me to consult Wikipedia before picking up live animals.

When I scratched one side of its back with a stick, it would tilt to that side, and then do the same thing on the other side. Betty got a video of the "turtle dance," but I'm too much of a turtle brain to figure out how to upload it on this site.

When we finally got out of its way, the turtle moseyed on down the drive and then slid into Deerfield Creek.

A pox on our house

2011-05-13T15:17:00.005-04:00

In South Louisiana cypress siding is used on homes because of its indestructibility. The siding might look as if it was put up yesterday but can be more than 100 years old.

While cypress stands up well against moisture and bug infestation, it's no match for the hail storm we had two weeks ago. You can see in the photo that it looks as if someone dabbed a brush in white paint and stippled our house.

I guess I know now what I'll be doing this fall.

The cleanup continues

2011-05-12T07:14:00.000-04:00

This is the storm debris gathered from one small corner in the woods in front of our house. The woods in back of our house was littered with pieces of vinyl, roofing materials and small pits of paper, including old receipts and what looked to be somebody's homework.

So, instead of the dog-ate-my-homework excuse, try "the tornado blew it away."

Two weeks to remember

2011-05-10T16:02:00.003-04:00

When I left for the Vawter House renovation on April 25, Prince William was happily single, Osama Bin Laden was merrily clicking away on his remote and my blueberry bushes were full of leaves, blooms and small berries.

You know what happened to the Prince and Osama, so take a look at the photo of one of the blueberry bushes -- stripped to the bone by the massive hail storm and high winds. We also had several thousand dollars worth of damage to the house, but we are better off than many of our neighbors. Certainly, I shouldn't complain after what happened in Alabama and the flooding in Memphis. It will take a while, but we will get everything shipshape here.

Renovation of the Vawter House was, in a word, intense. While battling a flooded cellar, my cousins and I were able to finish all the rooms in the house that will have furniture. We only lack the kitchen, bathroom and main hall, and those rooms are 75% complete. We worked mostly 15-hour days, but enjoyed the challenge.

It was good to get back to Deerfield, even if my freshly graveled driveway was a series of fresh ruts caused by storm water rushing off the hill.

And so, they headed west

2011-04-22T14:44:00.003-04:00

In the best tradition of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath, Willie and I have loaded up every cubic inch of Aunt Judy's van and we're headed for the Vawter House in West Tennessee for two weeks of carpentry, painting and who knows what.

Several Vawter cousins are scheduled to meet me there. I'm curious to see how much work we get done, however, probably not as curious as Aunt Judy.

The van contains 75 gallons of paint, all my carpentry tools, ladders, scaffolding, 25 pounds of dog food, a blowup bed and my banjo. There's a bunch of other stuff which I won't need, unless, of course, I forgot to pack it.

This is the final push to get the house ready for the July 4th unveiling. After we complete the trim work and painting, the carpet installers and floor refinishers will come in to finish it off.

So, Deerfield Diary will be dark for a couple of weeks. Wish me luck and tight mitered corners.

Noble experiment -- vegetables from seeds

2011-04-18T06:51:00.003-04:00

Most master gardeners -- a group in which I definitely do not include myself -- like to start their spring vegetables by planting seeds indoors instead of buying plants already started by a professional nursery.

I attempted seed germination this spring and made a few discoveries:

• Squash is a piece of cake. Even I can grow squash from seed.
• Don't even think about brussels sprouts. The seeds germinate in five days, shoot up like a rocket and then wither in one day.
• Tomato plants did surprisingly well, but they need to be transplanted into larger pots before they are moved to the garden.
• Peppers seem to be the hardest vegetable to start from seed.

The spring garden is mostly planted now, including sweet corn, okra, beets, early turnips, cucumber as well as my seeds starts. I'm also planting a fence row of gourds. Does anybody have an gourd recipes?

A crop of one

2011-04-14T20:23:00.003-04:00

For the past month, ever since the redbud trees started budding, I've been searching Deerfield for morel mushrooms. After a good crop in 2009, last year was a bust. I thought the delectables would make another appearance this year. I found one. That's right. One. It's pictured above.

Even at the going rate of $50 a pound, one morel mushroom is not worth getting out the frying pan for. I'm going to cut it up and sprinkle it on my prime morel real estate in hopes we can have a real crop next year.

Did Vincent van Gogh come through Louisville?

2011-04-14T20:10:00.003-04:00

On Louisville Road on the way to Deerfield you pass five open fields that can give unsuspecting drivers a start. The fields are full of canola blooms.

Canola is a new crop for East Tennessee with more and more of the yellow fields appearing each year. You certainly don't mistake the fields for soybeans or switchgrass. North Dakota once produced almost all the canola oil in the United States, but folks in the south are getting in on the act. Wikipedia says "canola" is short for CANadian Oil, Low Acid.

Whatever the name, van Gogh would have certainly loved the palette.

Bird in hand is worth two in drawer or gazebo

2011-04-08T10:12:00.006-04:00

Now that the birds in Deerfield have stopped trying to peck their way into our houses, they are content to merely wreak havoc on the porch.

Photo at right is the handiwork of a wren that is determined to build a nest in the drawer of a lamp table on the front porch. She goes in through the handle. If we put the drawer in backwards, she just goes in the back door. We have cleaned her out at least three times. Bottom photo is an interloper in the top of Neighbor Larry's gazebo.

Spring is certainly for the birds.

A notorious fake in the compost bin

2011-04-06T08:28:00.005-04:00

Imagine my surprise when I dug into the bowels of my compost bin to find a bright and shiny SunChips bag. This is the famous "WORLD's FIRST 100% COMPOSTABLE CHIP PACKAGE" by Frito Lay.

I remember buying the bag of chips last summer thinking I could help "green the world, one bag at a time" as the package states. I bought only the one bag because when you went to close it the sound was similar to firecrackers going off in your hand. This feature made it very difficult to have those midnight snacks without anyone hearing it.

I dutifully tore up the bag and proudly placed it in my compost bucket. Last October after only a few months on the market Frito Lay announced the bag was being discontinued due to the irritating noise it made.

So, this bag rested in my compost bin for a least nine months and then came out as shiny as a new nickel. (I took a photo of the bag only after rinsing off some of the debris.) This is the same compost pile, mind you, that reduced hundreds of coffee filters, hard-as-rock decorative gourds and even a few misplaced chicken bones to a crumbly humus.

I hope the Frito Lay marketing genius who came up with this "green" concept is made to stand in the corner -- a corner filled with to the ceiling with rich black compost, no less.

Grand opening is a thing of beauty

2011-04-06T07:39:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I unveiled a masterpiece -- my compost bin.

After 12 months of carrying coffee grounds, kitchen refuse, dead leaves and grass clippings a couple of hundred yards down the hill, I pulled the front planks from the bin to reveal all the putrid glory.

I estimate I filled the bin to overflowing at least 10 times during the year. As you can see, the contents continued to settle resulting in a rich and heavy compost that had to be the envy of every worm's eye.

Transferring the weighty compost to the garden was a physical and well as an olfactory challenge. I left a little in the bottom of the well to jump-start next year's batch.

With apologies to Joyce Kilmer, I offer this poem:

I think no one can ever match
A pile as rancid as my batch.
Perfumes may smell good on you
But only I can make a PUUUUUUUUU!

Let's hear it for the dogwoods

2011-04-05T13:07:00.005-04:00

This is the is the prettiest spring for dogwood trees since we've been here at Deerfield. Somehow the blooms survived last night's hard rains and high winds. A glance out through the woods in the mornings and your first thought is there might have been a freak snowfall.

The redbud trees are also resplendent, and that means it's time for delicious morel mushrooms, but I've not found a single one. I'll not be going to the store to pay $50.00 a pound for them either.

If you look closely at the bottom photo, you'll see Willie the white boxer at his usual post at the window. You won't see any squirrels or rabbits because Willie is calmly seated and not slamming into the window trying to get at them.

Craftsman-style door for 10 cents on the dollar

2011-04-03T14:02:00.006-04:00

I thought that a craftsman-style wooden door would look nice on the Vawter House, my grandparents' old farmhouse in McKenzie, Tenn.

I started looking through catalogs and at online door sites. The doors I liked were $2,500 to $3,000, certainly not in keeping with the farmhouse mentality. I came upon an idea.

I went to Knox Rail Salvage and bought a solid wood six-panel door made out of Douglas fir. It was a plain Jane with no glass. I cut out the top two panels, framed in three small windows and added small corbels. I found some antique "bubble glass," cut it to size and fitted it. I finished the door with three coats of stain and three coats of polyurethane.

We got our front door for 10 cents on the dollar -- or less.

The brass plaque says:

The Vawter House
Vilas V. Vawter Sr.
Carrie DePriest Vawter

Our Amish friends installed it last week. Thanks to Cousin Amy for the photo.

The door will be a fitting welcome to friends and family.

Later this month I will install a wooden screen door. As I hang it, I'm sure I will hear Mamaw asking us to keep the door closed so the flies won't get in.

Treasure behind the paneling

2011-03-31T09:25:00.004-04:00

While the renovators were tearing out the cheap paneling in the rooms of the Vawter House, we came across a special wallpaper that sent me soaring back more than 50 years.

While most of the interior walls in my grandparent's house were of non-descript painted plaster, the walls in the living and dining rooms were special. I remember staring at the pale green and pink wallpaper that was almost dreamlike. On a rainy day (we were always outside in good weather), the colonial scenes of horse-drawn carriages and women in big hats would prompt stories to begin whirring in my head. The man and the woman in the scene were courting and ready to get in the carriage and ride away. The church, courthouse and plantation home looked exactly right. The trees in the scene reminded me of the huge oak trees in my grandparents' front yard. I guess this kind of daydreaming is what kids did before video games -- and TV.

A close inspection of the wallpaper would tell you that the vertical seams didn't precisely match. I'm sure my grandfather hung it and he was more into practicality than aesthetics.

I cut out a section of the brittle wallpaper, mounted it on plywood and framed it from some of the original dark-pine moulding in the house. This cutout will hang on one of the new walls in the Vawter House.

I'm told that through the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation a person can find the origin of just about wallpaper. It might be interesting to research the history, but to me the wallpaper is simply what dreams are made of.

Mr. Wolfe, we're going home again

2011-03-16T05:27:00.008-04:00

In the late 1930s when Thomas Wolfe of Asheville, N.C., was finishing up his novel "You Can't Go Home Again," my paternal grandparents were building a new home in McKenzie, Tennessee.

Vilas V. Vawter Sr. and Carrie DePriest Vawter had been forced to make the move to the small town in West Tennessee because the Vawter family farm near Milan, Tennessee, had been taken over by the Department of Defense in order to build the massive Milan Arsenal, a World War II munitions stockpile. My grandfather was one of the last holdouts, but he eventually took his compensation and purchased 120 acres in Carroll County. The farmhouse, sitting on one of the highest points in the county, consisted of three rooms. With little more than a hammer and a handsaw, Vilas Sr. immediately began turning the small single- story house into a seven-bedroom two-story home where he and Carrie would would raise their seven children.

The children -- Vilas Jr., Bobby, Billy, Betty Jane, Carolyn, Nancy and Judy -- would begat 15 first cousins. Every summer in the 1950s and 60s, Vawter cousins would descend on the farm from all over the United States. The huge farmhouse, the hay-filled barn and the fields of cotton, corn and soybean were a place of magic for us. Granddaddy plowed the fields with several of us always on the tractor. We helped chase the cattle and hogs that invariably broke through the barbed-wire fencing. The only baths were on Saturday nights and always three or more in the tub. Gender was irrelevant.

Vilas Sr. died in 1967 at age 78 after a tractor accident. Carrie sold the farm and then the house in 1974. She died in 1983 at age 91.

For more than 40 years the farmhouse was lost to the Vawter family. Some of us would occasionally drive by the house on the Old Paris Highway and vicariously relive "back in the day."

In 2009 on a trip back to McKenzie, Aunt Judy noticed that the old farmhouse was for sale. She pondered. After the death of her husband, Bill, in 2010, Judy's mind was made up. She wrote a check for the house and put a sizeable chunk of money in the McKenzie bank for the home's renovation.

Aunt Nancy, still a resident of McKenzie, knew all the good craftspeople in town, including a wonderful Amish carpenter. I signed on as the unofficial, absentee and ersatz general contractor. While the cosmetics were in sad shape, the bones of the house (all sawmill red oak) were as solid as they were 75 years ago. I defy anybody to drive a nail into a joist or rafter. The house will be there long after the present generations are gone.

To date this is what has been done to the Vawter House:

• New green metal roof.
• New electrical service and wiring.
• New windows and screens.
• All new siding, fascia and soffits.
• New kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances.
• New central heat and air conditioning.
• New ceilings.
• New tongue & groove walls in most rooms.
• Reframed back porch.
• New bath. (That's right, seven bedrooms and one bath. The Vawters have always been a close family!)

Along about the first week in May, all the Vawter cousins will gather for 10 days of painting, general cleaning and final trim work. In June floors will be refinished, new carpeting will be laid in the bedrooms and new lighting will be installed. Judy has gathered furniture from near and far to furnish the house.

On July 4th the entire Vawter family and many friends will celebrate the renovation of Vawter House with a family reunion. Over that weekend we will tell and retell the hundreds (thousands?) of family stories. We're hoping that Cousin Jill Holland, who just happens to be the new mayor of McKenzie, will proclaim the day as Vawter Day in McKenzie. We will take part in the city's parade and the Vawter Family Bluegrass Band will play.

As readers of Deerfield Diary know, I rarely post anything that doesn't have a direct connection to my own family's home in Deerfield in Louisville, Tenn., but on further consideration, the Vawter House in McKenzie house has everything to do with Deerfield. I vowed in my retirement to try to recapture some of the rural magic of McKenzie, to ramble around on a tractor, to plant, to build and to remember. It all started in McKenzie in the big old white house that was cold in the winter, hot in the summer but always filled with laughter and love.

In many ways, Thomas Wolfe was right. It is difficult to go home again, but then he never met the Vawter family.

(Painting of the Vawter House is by my late aunt, Betty Jane Vawter Harris.)

Where is Alfred Hitchcock when you need him?

2011-03-13T21:30:00.005-04:00

Remember Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" where Robert Taylor and Tippi Hedren get pecked to death by a flock of maniacal birds?

Well, we're being attacked in Deerfield -- by bluebirds and cardinals no less!

My neighbor Larry was the first victim a few days ago. A bluebird slammed and pecked an upstairs window for several days. Larry finally caught it and brought it over to our house to show me the culprit. He let it go and it found the nearest tree. Larry was hoping it would move on. Not. The bird is back at Larry's house trying to break in again.

This afternoon Betty was in the kitchen when the dogs started going crazy which usually means a squirrel or a 'coon is in the vicinity. This time, however, it was a female cardinal attacking a transom window on the west side of the house. It persisted all afternoon and was still at it just before sundown.

I don't know what's going on, but I have some theories:

1. The birds see a reflection and immediately want to fight the "other bird."

2. Spring has the birds a little crazy with the "birds and bees" thing going on.

3. The birds are trying to get inside to find a clock because daylight savings time has them so confused.

If you see the two birds in the photos above, tell them to go peck on somebody their own size.

Just one pile after another

2011-02-21T18:33:00.005-05:00

If you happened to be in the International Space Station in the last 24 hours and looked down in the area of Louisville, Tenn., you may have seen one of my wood piles burning.

All fall and winter I piled wood debris from land clearing in several huge piles. We burned the biggest one today. My neighbor and I kept feeding the fire all day with the front loaders on our tractors. If the fire is large, it gets kind of tricky. You want to stop your front wheels just before they hit the burning coals and then flip your load on to the top of the pile. Then you put the tractor in reverse and back out as quick as you can. I only "smoked" my front tires once or twice.

Native Americans use to burn fields and wood piles regularly to serve as fertilizer for their corn and maize. They also thought the smoke was a gift to the spirits. I have four more huge gifts for the spirits.

New plan for the vegetable garden

2011-02-19T18:49:00.002-05:00

Readers of this blog know that my garden plot is cursed with terrible soil. Half the garden is red clay and the other half is pure muck. No other word for it.

I have tried to amend the soil with compost, new top soil and peat without much luck. My new plan is raised beds.

I dig down about 12 inches with my tractor scoop and clean out a 4 X 10 foot section. (I know. It looks like a freshly dug grave, but I'm not ready to go just yet.) I fill back in with rotted mulch, leaves, compost and new top soil. I'll till all this and hope to end up with about a 6-inch raised bed. That will be 18 inches of new soil.

I'll surround the beds with compacted tree chips to try to keep the grass down.

We shall see.

So that's why they call it a Blazer?

2011-01-31T12:36:00.007-05:00

So, I was taking the garbage down to the road late Sunday afternoon. I noticed a little smoke coming from the hood of my beloved Hoopty, an '89 Chevy Blazer.

I opened the hood to find flames shooting from the back of the engine. I had some drop-clothes in the back so I soaked them in some nearby standing water and threw them on the engine. I thought I had it about out, but then the fire flared again and all I could do was call 911. About twenty minutes later (a little long if you ask me since the fire station is only three miles away), the Louisville Fire Department came and put out the fire.

I had a good set of tools in the back seat in a plastic tool box. The tools are now permanently encased in a mound of hard plastic.

Nothing else was hurt, except my pride, and no injuries occurred. Betty says no more Hoopties for me.

Happy Birthday, Willie

2011-01-25T13:12:00.004-05:00

Our white boxer, Willie, is 5 years old today. He came to live with us when we bought Deerfield in 2006.

I understand the photo above can be seen on several screen-savers across the country. It was taken in 2007. Willie never met a screen door he couldn't go through. See the steel mesh attached to the door. He eventually went through that also. I now have installed 1/2-inch plywood on the bottom of our four screen doors on the back porch. He hasn't gone through the plywood -- yet.

The bottom photo shows how Willie celebrates momentous occasions. Every day is a momentous occasion to Willie.

On the trail of Deerfield's original inhabitants

2011-01-23T19:42:00.006-05:00

At the end of Deerfield Drive is a 100-acre tract of land owned by an East Tennessee lumber company. Attempts have been made to develop the land, but so far the rugged terrain has thwarted the efforts. Legend has it that somewhere on the hills or in the valleys of this land is one of the largest Indian burial mounds in East Tennessee.

Suffering from cabin fever, Neighbor Larry and I set out on this sunny Sunday afternoon to see if we could find the mysterious mound. Armed with a compass and a good topography map of the region given to me by my son, we began our hunt.

Walking this area anytime but the dead of winter is impossible. The fallen trees and thick brush make the land almost impassable in the other three seasons.

After going up and down and round and round, we noticed on the topo map a ridge peak called Tomb Ridge. We located the landmass and at the highest elevation we noticed a distinct "bump" in the ridge. The "bump" was flat on top. Upon closer inspection we noticed that on this promontory grew the only pine trees in the area. This means the area had once been cleared of the large hardwood trees like poplar, oak and hickory. The fast-growing pine trees were able to move in and take over.

I had read where Indians chose the highest peak in an area so their deceased would be closer to the spirits in the sky.

We decided that we had found the Indian burial mound. We don't know for a fact that we did, but it was a pleasant way to spend a sunny January afternoon.

TOP PHOTO: Larry looks up at a massive shagbark hickory not too far from Tomb Ridge.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Larry, almost in exact center of photo, stands just below the peak of what we think is Deerfield's Indian burial mound. (Double-click on the photo for a better view.)

Convening at the Ladybug Hotel

2011-01-21T07:35:00.004-05:00

Neighbor Larry's woodshed again has yielded an interesting phenomenon involving ladybugs.

He uncovered this scrum of the little ladies trying to keep warm in the bowels of his woodpile. I thought all the ladybugs in Deerfield were spending the winter in our house.

Ladybug trivia: How can you tell the difference between boy ladybugs and girl ladybugs? Answer: Girl ladybugs are usually larger . . . and smarter, my wife would add.

Usually when I offer a post on ladybugs I hear from someone in Australia who informs me that the insect is called a "ladybird" in the land from down under.

"Bug" or "bird", these little beauties are having a tough winter in East Tennessee. Temperature tonight may hit the teens again. Huddle up, buttercup!

Trumpet vine may have sounded its last note

2011-01-15T09:26:00.007-05:00

As you come up our driveway and just before you round the curve to go up the switchback to our house, there sits our small red barn and a large trumpet vine intertwined around a cedar tree stump and what once was a large birdhouse.

I assume the previous owners of the property had built the birdhouse on the stump. As trumpet vines go, it's one of the largest ones I've seen with the base measuring about 2-inches in diameter. The flowers (small photo from summer ) are numerous and bright.

As you can see, the cedar stump has rotted away and the birdhouse is in shambles. As soon as the snow melts (maybe about May 15), I'm going to get rid of the stump and the birdhouse. I'll try to save the trumpet vine but it may have tooted its last note.

Nelly belly snow gauge

2011-01-10T09:32:00.004-05:00

Nelly, our Boston terrier, has become Deerfield's official snow gauge.

Nelly's legs measure 5 inches. We calculate the space between her belly and the top of the snow and that's how we get our snowfall amount. At 9 a.m. we have 4.5 inches of snow and it's still coming. More on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday.

As you can see by Nelly's demeanor in the photo, she is not overly thrilled with her snow gauge duties. Willie, our white boxer, is excused from snow duties because he just disappears. He can always be found hunkered up against the stove.

Hibernating -- duplex style

2011-01-09T14:13:00.003-05:00

Hibernating bugs are not uncommon, but it's rare to see two types packing it in for winter in so close a proximity.

Neighbor Larry has a massive woodshed and the cold weather in Deerfield has him foraging deep into the inside of the shed. He found a stick of wood with these two types of bugs covering it. He snapped this photo for me.

The bugs on the left are ladybugs, obviously, but it took a little research on the Internet and in my bug book to find that the species on the right is a boxelder bug. (I know, as soon as I identify something on this blog there will be a dozen entomologists telling me I'm wrong.) So, until I'm chastised, I'm calling it a boxelder bug.

The boxelder bug is also known as the maple bug. It's like the ladybug in that it really doesn't do any harm. It can be a nuisance in the summer trying to get in the house, but in the winter it lays low and just tries to keep from freezing -- just like the rest of us in Deerfield.

Ready or not, Happy 2011

2010-12-31T19:12:00.001-05:00

White Christmas, for sure!

2010-12-25T10:44:00.003-05:00

The snow started in earnest about 8:30 a.m. Not blizzard like, but a steady fall. The ground was covered in less than an hour, and we had an official white Christmas.

Lem and Alice, visiting from Minnesota, took Willie and Nellie for a walk. Our dogs, Southern born and bred, get a little crazy in the snow. We heard on the news that the Twin Cities got six inches yesterday which makes 33 inches for the month.

Our few inches isn't much compared to our northern neighbors, but pretty just the same. Atlanta had it's first white Christmas since sometime in the 1800s.

OK, we've had our white Christmas. Now . . . it can stop.

Our friend, Slick

2010-12-16T14:57:00.005-05:00

It’s often said that dogs take on the personalities of their masters.

Take Willie, for example, my white boxer. Everyone who knows Willie would agree that he’s impetuous, impatient and always looking for his next meal, not at all unlike yours truly.

Slick, accordingly, was the image of his master, Larry. Calm, genuinely inquisitive but always measured. A medium-sized black Labrador, Slick walked many miles over the years in Deerfield with Larry at a steady gait. Willie and I would occasionally join Larry and Slick on a walk with Willie invariably wrapping all four of us up in his leash while he dragged us down the road. Slick would remain unperturbed.

Slick, like Willie, was a housedog, but he was occasionally allowed to stretch his legs and roam Deerfield on his own. One of Slick’s favorite pastimes was to jump in Deerfield Creek and wallow in the mud shallows, usually right after Larry or daughter Angela had given him a bath. Slick would high-tail it home, clamor on the front porch, anxious to show the family his refreshing mud-bath treatment.

There are other black Labs in Deerfield, but the friendly Slick could not be mistaken. He had a crook at the end of his tail that almost did a 90-degree turn. You always had the feeling that Slick was pointing at something.

Dogs in Deerfield have lots of acres to call home, so most are protective of their large territories. Slick was the only dog that had carte blanche everywhere. Dogfights are not that uncommon in Deerfield, but Slick always kept his head and was welcome everywhere.

About 18 months ago a large cancerous tumor appeared on one of Slick’s rear legs. Larry took him to the veterinarian to have it removed. Slick improved, regained most of his strength, but earlier this year a growth sprouted on the other rear leg. Over the last few months Larry and Slick made trip after trip to the veterinarian. He grew weaker by the day. Larry said last week that he came to realize that what he was doing was more for himself and the family than for Slick.

The beautiful photo above of Slick in front of the living room stove was taken in October 2009 by Larry and Marilou’s son, Jeffrey. Slick’s peaceful eyes say more than many of us can convey in a lifetime of words.

In a freezing rain, Larry took Slick on his last walk this morning before the final trip to the veterinarian. I’m glad I got to pat him. We will miss Slick greatly and wish him a place where the stoves are warm.

'Ice flowers' are back with a vengeance

2010-12-07T11:47:00.002-05:00

In January of this year I wrote about the "ice flowers" or "frost flowers" that pop up in Deerfield after the first extra-hard freeze. This latest numbing freeze has brought them out again.

The "flowers" occur when the cold causes the sap in small woody plants to ooze out of the stem. The sap then freezes and expands. There's a good explanation of the phenomenon in Wikipedia. Some spots around here look like a box of Kleenex has exploded.

There's much to be said for these flowers. They don't have to be fertilized or tended to, and then they go away on the first warm day.

Finally, a full deck

2010-11-14T14:00:00.006-05:00

After about 200 hours of work, 1,600 board feet of lumber and 27 pounds of screws, the deck rebuild is finally finished. I knew the task was going to be lengthy, but I didn't know how much it would test my short attention span.

I had a few hours of help on the front end coming up with a design and some good help on the back end from neighbor Larry who designed the bench structure. The middle, for better or worse, was all mine.

In my post of October 25, the photo shows that the original deck was built on a radius with California redwood. Going back with redwood was impractical, so the challenge was to turn a "round" deck into a deck with angles and make it look like it belonged there. If I do say so myself, the feat was accomplished. In my mind, the angles of the deck actually match the house better than the radius.

I will wait until late spring or early summer to stain the deck. The yard from which I purchased the treated lumber receives their material straight from the treatment vats. The wood is so wet that it oozes green stuff when a screw goes into it.

So, one of my biggest construction projects is complete. Now, I'll start planning my retaining wall.

First loaf of persimmon bread

2010-11-01T11:07:00.003-04:00

B rose to the call and baked our first loaf of persimmon bread. It's much like pumpkin bread, but to my taste, is a little more tart. I can eat persimmon puree with a spoon. I would never attempt that with pumpkin-bread makings.

I'll have at least one more good harvest of persimmons to fill our freezer for the winter.

(Food styling for photos is an art. My attempt was meager, but an attempt nonetheless.)

Persimmon plans

2010-10-27T11:53:00.003-04:00

My son, never one to let me get away with anything, asked me what I was going to do with my embarrassment of persimmon riches.

Well, the first ten pounds went to a friend who has her own plans for her batch. I harvested another five pounds this morning and turned them into a persimmon puree (at right in photo). As best I can tell, five pounds of fruit yields about five cups of puree. One story on the internet said you should peel the persimmons before freezing them because the skin contained tannins. There's no way I'm peeling persimmons, so my wife suggested using a food mill (at left in photo) and it worked beautifully (after she showed me what a food mill was.)

The puree is so sweet it can be eaten with a spoon. I'm not worried about tannins. In the past two weeks I'm sure I've eaten several pounds of raw persimmons right of the ground with no ill effects.

I'll freeze the puree in plastic bags and we should have some good persimmon bread during the holidays. Now, son, pester your mother about making persimmon bread.

Bumper crop of persimmons this year

2010-10-26T09:53:00.004-04:00

Deerfield persimmons are plentiful and sweet in 2010. The three trees in our front yard -- each at least 75-feet tall -- shower persimmons on us every time the wind blows. When I get serious about harvesting I just go out and bump the tree with my tractor. (Note to self: Wear a hat next time, dummy.)

On Sept. 14, 2009, my diary entry told the story of the Legend of the Persimmon Seed. For some reason that entry leads all the Deerfield Diary posts in the number of page views. Folks out there just seem to be interested in persimmons.

For all you city slickers out there, a warning. Never take a bite out of a green persimmon. You have never before puckered like you will pucker with a bite of an unripe persimmon in your mouth.

All hands on deck for a major fall project

2010-10-25T10:08:00.004-04:00

The photo above is one reason I've been dilatory of late in making posts to the Deerfield Diary.

We have a deck that surrounds the part of our house that the architect chose to call "the retreat." The deck is more than 600 square feet and is (was) made out of California redwood. California redwood is great if it stays in California. When the wood is placed in the humidity of the South, it gives up eventually and rots.

The deck is only 17 years old and I thought I could get by with replacing some boards, but a closer inspection told me that what I needed to do was rip out all the decking and start all over. Thankfully, most of the substructure that is made out of treated pine is in good shape. The tear-out of the decking filled up a 10-foot trailer three times. The tear-out was made additionally challenging because the structure was put together with galvanized ring-shanked nails. I had to use a four-foot crowbar, a cat's paw, a metal-cutting grinder and a chainsaw.

As you can see in the photo, the deck was designed with a radius. If redwood is kerf cut it can be bent into smooth curves. Unfortunately, kerf-cutting decreases the life-span of redwood even further. It only made sense to go back with pressure-treated decking. Unlike most decks, the flooring of this deck uses 2-inch lumber instead of the normal 1-inch. Every piece of decking must be cut on a unique angle. My one class in geometry in 1962 is being severely taxed. I've been working on the deck off and on for a month and I hope to finish before cold weather arrives for good.

The eternal struggle

2010-10-25T09:53:00.003-04:00

Our place in Deerfield, depending on your viewpoint, is blessed or cursed with intense vegetation growth. Clear a spot, turn around, look back and the new growth has taken over once again.

About the only way get ahead of the undergrowth is to bring in a serious machine. The one above is an ASV Forestry Mulcher which essentially is a stump grinder on steroids. It can do in a day what would take me six months to do by hand. The beauty of it is that it does not tear up the ground like a dozer would. Root systems remain to hold the soil in place and prevent washouts.

I had the mulcher in several weeks ago to clear about four acres on the summit that overlooks our property. If I don't start bush-hogging the area next spring, the brush will be back with a vengeance and I will be back where I started. My neighbor, who took the photo of the mulcher, likes to call it the Battle of Vawter Mountain.

More happiness for bluebirds

2010-10-25T09:39:00.005-04:00

Several times a year our Boston terrier alerts us to commotions in the woodstove where we usually will find a bluebird trapped in the soot and ashes.

While cleaning out the flue this year I added some hardware cloth (screen mesh) to the flue cap to keep out our feathered friends.

If the bluebirds are happy, we're happy.

Fun with fungi

2010-09-22T13:56:00.003-04:00

I continue to be amazed on walks through the woods at the many different types of fungi. A dead limb may fall to the ground and just rot away, or it may host fungi with beautiful colors and shapes.

I'm reminded of the morel mushroom. You will never get one to grow where you wish it to grow. Morels pop up when and where they choose.

If I see a fungi-laden piece of wood, instead of putting it on the burn pile, I let it lay in hopes it will surprise me again with a new pattern on another day.

The woodshed is full . . .

2010-09-21T18:14:00.002-04:00

. . . and all is right with the world.

However, all is not right with the Tennessee Valley Authority. We are going to be hit with another 12 percent rate increase this year, and I've heard my utility company say repeatedly that TVA is just passing along its additional cost of generating electricity as a fuel surcharge.

Bull feathers.

What TVA is passing along is the billion dollars it spent mitigating its gigantic coal ash spill on Dec. 23, 2008. East Tennesseans don't need to go to the Gulf of Mexico. We have our own BP right here in the form of TVA. At least the CEO of BP lost his job over the travesty. As far as I know, the TVA chairman got a pat on the back. You're doing a great job, Brownie.

Enough editorializing. I best go see about my kindling box.

A bountiful harvest of sunflowers

2010-09-14T09:22:00.004-04:00

While my vegetable gardening skills leave much to be desired, I did hit a home run this season with sunflowers. I think just about every seed I planted blossomed into a full sunflower head. As you can see, the heads filled up the front-end loader on my tractor.

Many people say that harvesting the seeds is a chore, but the secret is waiting until the back of the head turns black. At that point, the seeds almost fall out on their own.

We will store the seeds and feed the birds all winter with our largesse. Unfortunately, the 'coons and squirrels will probably get more than there fair share.

A plague of frogs on our house

2010-08-13T15:29:00.004-04:00

Actually, it was just one tiny little tree frog trying to escape the frog-strangling rain we had Wednesday night. The little guy just showed up on the glass pane in our front door. I would like to say that my photo captured him in the brilliant moonlight, but that's just the reflection of the flash.

Report card for summer garden

2010-08-13T14:57:00.005-04:00

It's time for a play-by-play critique of my summer garden:

Tomatos -- B -- Plenty for the season, but plants had too much bottom growth. Should have pruned better.
Onions -- C -- Tasty and green onion but never matured.
Turnips -- B minus -- Not bad in early summer, but a little on the small side..
Radishes -- B -- Tasty, even a little too tart.
Yellow squash -- B -- All the plants made it through the summer.
Zucchini -- C -- Plants not very productive, but fruit was good.
Cucumbers -- A plus -- If U.S. went to a cucumber-based economy, I would be rich!
Bush beans -- F -- Learned my lesson.
Sweet corn -- B -- Ears weren't very pretty, but they had a good taste.
Okra -- F -- didn't make.
Sweet peppers -- C -- Small and few, but good taste.
Hot peppers -- C -- Okay, but what do you do with them?
Cantaloupe -- F -- no shows.
Watermelons -- D minus -- small and bland tasting.
Pumpkins -- D minus -- not any better than watermelons.
Raspberries -- B -- enough for a pie or two and tasty.
Blackberries -- D -- only a very few.
Muscadines -- C -- still coming in but not productive.
Sunflowers -- A -- birds (and coons and squirrels) will have full tummies this winter.

I'm not sure if I will plant a fall garden. I should spend my time improving the soil for next year. And . . . it's only 13 weeks until the average first frost.

Construction complete --Hurrah!

2010-08-13T14:29:00.006-04:00

In July I told you about a construction project at our house to repair the built-in gutters on our back porch. Gutters would seem to be a simple repair, but not when they are built-in.

The galvanized gutters on our front and back porches are 7-inches deep and are constructed out of metal that is 24-inches wide. The downspouts run through the large support columns on each end of the porch. The metal on our back gutters had failed and had been leaking into the soffit and facia. The caused damage to the 6 X 12-inch header running 40 feet across the porch. The construction crew actually had to jack up the porch, build a temporary wall and then replace the header. It was major construction. Each piece of the new galvanized gutter had five bends to it. This type of gutter is used commercially but is rarely seen in residential construction.

Happily, we are back together and better than before. I had them replace the 2 X 3-inch galvanized downspouts with 4-inch PVC pipe. This also resulted in a new trench and outflow pipe to the side yard. The photo above was taken a couple of weeks ago right after the header had been replaced.

I spent two weeks doing the final trim work, screen replacement and painting.

Let it rain.

It's nice to have a neighbor with an apple tree

2010-08-02T19:09:00.004-04:00

Our neighbor, Angela, is staying with us for a few days, so we decided to lighten the limbs of her family's apple tree. Angela, 14, not only furnished the apples but she made and rolled the crust which turned out pretty enough to be in a magazine. Angela said she learned to make pie crust in the Girl Scouts. I told her I learned how to eat apple pie in the Cub Scouts.

This is a good year for apples in Deerfield. The deer are filling their bellies at all the orchards. They even got a few little apples from my puny trees.

Hail to the lowly cucumber

2010-07-20T10:52:00.004-04:00

My garden has produced an embarrassment of cucumbers this year. Friends and family have been inundated with my cucumbers for almost a month now.

One friend, a recipient of my cucumber largesse, said he gained a new appreciation for cukes after reading on the internet about them.

Here, then, are a dozen reasons to appreciate cucumbers:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day. Just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, folic acid, Vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers can provide that quick pick-me-up that lasts for hours.

 3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive away garden pests.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes. The phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite.

6. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers were used for centuries by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

7.  Have an important meeting and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe. Its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

8. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

9.  Stressed out and don't have time for a massage or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water. The chemicals and nutrients will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress.

10. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath.

11. Looking for a green way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean. Not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks.

12. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the ink. Also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls.

So, no dissing of cucumbers around here.

An eye-opening encounter

2010-07-13T08:30:00.005-04:00

All forms of wildlife are abundant in Deerfield, but an animal we have not seen much of, thank goodness, is the skunk.

I was walking Willie shortly after daybreak this morning when he pulled at his leash and stood on his back legs. I turned to see a skunk at the base of a tree about eight feet away. With 75-pound Willie trying to attack, the skunk did an amazing thing. He started coming straight at us.

Willie was straining at collar and wanting more, and I was wanting much less. I finally managed to turn Willie around into a retreat. Only then did the skunk amble back into the woods.

A little research on the Internet informed me that Mephitis mephitis will often make a frontal attack against a dog to lure it forward, and then turn tail and spray it. Willie would be a prime candidate for such a bait-and-switch attack. He always jumps first and asks questions later.

My theory is that the strong storms and rain we had during the night pushed our striped-friend into unfamiliar territory. I'm glad Willie didn't get showered. His aroma is strong enough without any outside contributions.

After I got Willie back in the house, I began sawing up the fairly large trees that had fallen across the driveway during the storm. I could tell about the long black snake's tail I saw slithering out of the barn when I opened it to get the chainsaw, but I have a feeling I will be seeing it another day and that's another story.

This is how we do bathroom additions in Deerfield

2010-07-12T10:18:00.005-04:00

In last Wednesday's blog, I noted that a crew was coming to start a major construction project involving the built-in gutters along the back of our house. I predicted that the start of the project would end the drought. We've not had a measurable rain in more than a month.

The crew arrived at 7:30 a.m. The deluge started at 7:35 a.m., so everything is right on schedule.

As you can see from the photo, the crew brought their portable potty with them and stationed it next to the garage. The flowers at the side are my decorator's touch. Like the green color palette?

The sunflower also rises

2010-07-10T20:35:00.003-04:00

About a week ago I had sunflower stalks measuring almost 10-feet high -- but no sunflowers. I was beginning to think I had planted some type of infertile seed.

Almost over night the sunflower heads began to pop out. The honey bees must have been anxiously awaiting the flowers. The swarm over the flowers all day.

We hope to dry the heads and use the seeds to feed birds this winter.

Scorched earth

2010-07-07T19:41:00.004-04:00

Deerfield has not had a measurable rain in more than 30 days. The ground is cracking beneath our feet like in some big-budget disaster movie.

I tried to keep the vegetable garden going, but when the first water bill showed a 400% increase over the average, I shut off the spigot. I'll keep the tomatoes watered, but that's it.

I know, however, that it will start raining on Monday morning. That's when the construction crew comes in to fix our built-in gutters on the back porch. They are scheduled to be here all week, so I'm sure that's how long it will rain. I may try to wash my car Monday just to make sure we get the rain.

Calling all arachnologists

2010-06-28T09:33:00.003-04:00

I was greeted in the garage early this morning by a spider larger than any I had ever seen outside of a tarantula exhibit at the zoo.

I photographed this big dude twice and noticed when the flash went off the second time that something protruded from its back side (top photo) that looked like a threatening stinger. It may have just been "spider juice" for web-making purposes. I didn't get close enough to inspect it carefully.

My research on the Internet tells me it probably was a wolf spider, a type of a garden spider. They can grow to 4 inches from tip to tip of the legs. That's exactly the measurement I got from this one (a rough measurement to be sure.) Wolf spiders usually hunt at night and stay away from humans. They bite but the toxin is not particularly harmful to humans.

I don't like to kill creatures of any kind, but I was getting ready to rummage around the garage and wasn't looking forward to having this dude drop down on me. I dispatched it.

I hope its brothers and sisters got the message.

Gertrude Stein, where are you when I need you?

2010-06-22T16:00:00.005-04:00

The oft-misquoted Gertrude Stein wrote: "Rose is a rose is a rose."

I counter that when you're transplanting a rose in the 98-degree heat, Rose is not a rose is not a rose. It's a strength sapping monster.

It all began when my daughter and son-in-law informed me that they were having a new patio built and their beautiful Knockout rose was going to be yanked out and taken to the dump.

I jumped on it like a duck on a June bug. Three hours later the rose has been transplanted in our front yard and I'm 10 pounds lighter due to dehydration.

My gardening book says you should not transplant anything when the temperature is over 75 degrees. I only missed it by 23 degrees. That's how I usually roll.

I had help digging out the rose bush, but still it took a good 30 minutes with three of us working at it. When I got home I had to dig a 4-foot in diameter hole about 2-feet deep. With the drought on top of my red clay soil, I should have used a jackhammer instead of a shovel.

In the cool of the evening (that's a joke) we will prune the rose severely so the roots won't have so many leaves to feed while they are settling in. I'll let you know if it lives.

First tomato of season (trust me)

2010-06-21T20:32:00.003-04:00

I harvested the first Better Boy tomato today, June 21. It was fully ripened on the vine. I was going to take a photo, but before I could get my camera Betty already had it in a salad.

This is the 12th straight day with temperatures over 90. We only had 11 all of last summer.

For whom the bells toll

2010-06-19T19:53:00.003-04:00

I have only four bell pepper plants, but they seem to be producing a good number of the sweet bells. I thought the bugs were getting to them a few weeks ago, but the insects must have moved on. The plants look healthy now.

The other peppers are banana peppers. I don't know what to do with them, but they are nice to look at.

First official raspberry harvest

2010-06-19T19:42:00.002-04:00

Last year when I was deciding what kind of fruit trees and berries to plant, my mentor at the farm & garden store declared that "anybody can grow brambles."

I countered that he had not met an "anybody" like me, a would-be gardener with no patience and the touch of a lumberjack.

It turns out that Gabe was right. Even I can grow raspberries. This is the first full growth season, and I should get at least this many more from my eight raspberry canes.

My blackberries should be almost as healthy. They should be ready around July 4th. I have the thornless type of blackberries, which is quite a change from my raspberries. I spent about 15 minutes gathering these berries and another 15 minutes picking the tiny sharp thorns out of my hands.

Such is the life of a bramble grower.

Cucumber explosion

2010-06-10T12:11:00.005-04:00

This is what happens when it rains for a couple of days and you don't harvest your cucumbers. I had to throw away about a half-dozen that were approaching football size.

We can't eat enough salads for all of our cucumbers, so we like to eat them on sandwiches for lunch. We spread a bed of cream cheese on a pita-type bread and pile on a bunch of sliced cucumbers. Makes a very nice meal.

Just got off the turnip truck

2010-06-10T12:06:00.003-04:00

The cooler weather and rain have encouraged my crop of purple-top turnips to come on strong. I should have turnips for at least another three or four weeks.

I think turnips are best harvested when they are about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. I won't bother harvesting any greens until I sow another crop in the fall.

All I need now is a skillet of cornbread.

Reader request

2010-06-06T19:24:00.005-04:00

A faithful reader (son in Minnesota) requested photos of the garden, probably to make sure I didn't buy the produce at Kroger that was pictured in an earlier post. So, here it is.

Photo at left is inside the fenced garden. Foreground is cantaloupe, then zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Photo below, from left to right, are sunflowers, onions, radishes and turnips.

The photos were taken today right after a nice rain of about 45 minutes. It was needed badly.

Life is a (small) bowl of cherries

2010-06-04T20:56:00.002-04:00

Our surviving Early Richmond cherry tree gave us enough cherries in the second year for a couple of quarts of cherry ice cream. The cherries are small, but tart.

Top photo shows a closeup of the fruit. The tree, shown in the bottom photo, stands about five-feet tall.

I had to replace a twin cherry tree that didn't make it through the first year. I'm hoping it will come around for it's sophomore season.

The apple and pear trees just up the hill from the cherry trees are not fairing as well. Even though I put garlic spikes on the limbs, deer still like to chew off the ends of the branches. Also, some gnawing animal is attacking the bark at ground level.

If the fruit trees make it until the fall, I think I will transplant them to an open spot closer to the vegetable garden. It may be open enough there that the deer won't be so bold. I don't think I'm going to be building anymore 8-foot deer fencing.

A passing grade for this year's garden

2010-06-04T20:37:00.006-04:00

Although a river of clay runs through it (see earlier post), our vegetable garden is furnishing us with a modicum of produce this year.

We will have plenty of radish, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet peppers, yellow squash, turnip greens and sunflowers. The sweet corn is about 4-feet high and there might even be a watermelon or two in the offing.

We are hurting for water at the moment, so I've been doing a little drip irrigation early in the mornings.

I think my 8-foot fence has solved the deer problem, but if the drought persists the coons and squirrels will start eating the tomatoes for hydration. Also, as soon as the sweet corn tassels, coons will gather from all over the county. A family of coons can take out a row of sweet corn in a single night.

The only real solution to the clay is to dig it all out this year with the tractor and replace it with new top soil. I'm thinking of a new book: The $300 Tomato.

Dolphins in Deerfield

2010-05-24T16:06:00.006-04:00

The dolphins have landed!

In 2004 my neighbor Larry was traveling in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and saw a stone carving that he just had to have. Vietnamese craftsman had sculpted the three dolphins from a solid slab of rock. He bought it on the spot and made arrangements to have it shipped to the U.S. After several months it made its way across the Pacific to the West Coast. Another few months and it had arrived in Knoxville at a warehouse.

Larry had the stone carving brought to his garage where it rested for five years in its heavy-duty crate. In a post last year, I told you about Larry building a mongo gazebo at the side of his house. The floor joists of the gazebo rest on a massive concrete column, the perfect resting place for a dolphin sculpture that weighs more than a 1,000 pounds.

Getting the sculpture from the garage was an engineering feat to say the least. A commercial Bobcat that was on the premise doing some driveway work was commandeered to move the stone to the edge of the gazebo. Today, Larry and I used an engine hoist and a tractor to position the carving in the middle of the gazebo.

The dolphins at last are in their final resting place. Did I ever tell you about the 1,000-pound eagle carving with wings spread that we put in Larry's Africa room?

A special hike -- 40 years later

2010-05-07T16:29:00.007-04:00

While I usually keep my diary posts strictly related to the goings on at Deerfield, I occasionally take the liberty for personal tidbits. This is one.

On April 27 the temperature in the lower elevations of the Smokies was a balmy 50 degrees with a light rain. The three of us -- my son, Lem; his girlfriend, Alice; and yours truly -- started the ascent to Mt. LeConte at around 11 a.m. Two hours later, the temperature was in the 30s and it was either hailing or sleeting. We couldn't decide which. When we reached the top of Mt. LeConte (6,800-feet elevation), the temperature was 22 degrees and we were hiking in four inches of snow. This is on April 27, mind you, in Tennessee.

Thankfully, Lem and Alice, veterans of Minnesota winters, had talked me into buying a pair of rain pants in Gatlinburg before we left. Lem and Alice made the 10.5 mile hike (roundtrip) in their open Keen sandals. I kept referring to the snow as a "blizzard," and Alice kept snickering. Four inches is merely a light dusting if you grew up in Wisconsin like Alice.

We were one of the first groups to arrive at LeConte Lodge. A propane stove awaited us. (The propane is brought up to the lodge by helicopter. The food and supplies are brought up by llama teams.) We enjoyed a hot dinner of beef tips, vegetarian meatloaf and hot vegetables. We played Scrabble by kerosene lamp in the meeting room and listened to stories from those who had made the climb as many as a dozen times. We heard about the guy who carried his 94-year-old mother up the mountain on a chair strapped to his back.

Alice woke early the next morning to retrieve face-washing water in a bucket. She announced that she was going to jog about a mile or so to the other side of the mountain in the snow in her sandals to catch the sunrise. Lem and I, hardy souls that we are, cheered her on and went to the toasty dining hall for a cup of coffee. We enjoyed the beautiful photos she brought back.

Despite the snow, sleet and/or hail, freezing temperatures and slick mountain trails, the hike was glorious. This was my second journey to LeConte, having hiked it as a student at UT. The first hike in 1970 was magnificent, but 40 years and good company have a way of multiplying the enjoyment exponentially.

Going for a whole muffin this year

2010-05-07T16:14:00.004-04:00

When my first crop of blueberries came in last year, Betty commented that we probably could get at least a half a muffin from the harvest. While my eight bushes look a little scrawny, they did survive the tough winter and they have a lot of blooms.

I remember hiking on on Charlie's Bunion last year in the Smokies and seeing blueberry bushes more than 6-feet tall. They probably had never seen the first pinch of fertilizer, compost or iron soil supplement.

Here's hoping for a full muffin this year.

'Even YOU can grow brambles'

2010-05-07T16:03:00.004-04:00

When I was planning my first plantings at Deerfield, I consulted with my friend Gabe at one of the Knoxville garden stores. He forgets in one day more than I will ever know about horticulture. We discussed apple, pear and cherry trees. We discussed the different kinds of grapes. When I mentioned I might like to try blackberries and raspberries, his famous quote was: "Even you can grow brambles."

Gabe appears to be correct.

My thornless blackberries make up the top row (photo above) and and the next row are my raspberries. This is the second year for both and they are full of blooms. I hope the deer appreciate the lack of thorns.

Draining the earth

2010-05-07T15:51:00.004-04:00

Since my neighbor was going to rent a Ditch Witch to do some rerouting of water in preparation for his new driveway, I decided to get it on the action and try to drain some perpetual wet spots that haunt my precious flat land. As you might have guessed, flat land is at a premium in the hills of East Tennessee.

I put in about 125 feet of 4-inch perforated tubing on a bed of gravel and then covered the black tubing with gravel. In the photo, not all the tubing is covered yet.

When I dug down about a foot, the trenches filled with water. I had to hook my truck winch to the Ditch Witch in order to dig through the muck. It's the first time I have ever Ditch Witched. To those who run one of those ugly beasts for a living, I salute you. I got the Witch back to the rental place as fast as I could.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda

2010-05-07T15:43:00.003-04:00

Because almost half of my garden plot was virtually impossible to till and plant, I tilled a 15 X 40 foot patch of land just south of my fenced garden. The soil is perfect. I planted radishes, okra, turnips, onions and sunflowers and it all seems to be doing fine. I added not one cup of organic matter to the soil.

If I could just move my fence 30 feet to the south, I would have a good garden. Close, but no cigar . . . or bush beans for that matter.

Bad spot for a garden plot

2010-05-07T15:24:00.004-04:00

In several posts last year I related how I carefully went about picking a spot for our vegetable garden. I had the soiled analyzed and was told the only thing wrong was that it needed more organic matter. I proceeded to haul almost a hundred cart loads of leaves and clippings into the site. The 32 X 40 foot plot is surrounded by an 8-foot deer fence and the bottom 4 feet is covered with chicken wire.

The problem is that a swath of the nastiest clay and gooiest muck I have ever seen runs through the middle of the garden. The highest part of the garden (top photo) seems OK, but the middle third (bottom photo) is better suited for earthenware pottery than plants.

My plan of action now is to watch my vegetables die this summer, and then in the fall take my tractor scoop and remove the top 18-inches of soil. I will replace it with new topsoil.

If I were to calculate the money and time I've spent on my ill-fated garden, I could never eat another home-grown tomato. Every time I get the hoe and start chopping up dirt clods, I get this feeling that the Deerfield wildlife are snickering in the woods. Or it may just be that giant sucking sound of my boot trapped in the muck.

Egress and ingress

2010-05-07T15:13:00.003-04:00

I finally got around to installing a dog door from our backyard onto the porch. Our two dogs, Willie and NellyBelle, could always go out the screen door, but they had difficulty coming back in.

Nelly (the Boston Terrier) learned to use the door quickly. It took her about a day to teach Willie, the white boxer. Willie is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he makes up for it with his charming personality. He got out of obedience school with a GED.

Now, my task is to fix the other three screen doors on the porch that Willie has gone through a various times. A flimsy screen door is no match when Willie sees something on the other side that interests him.

Welcome back, Cecil Brunner

2010-05-07T15:05:00.003-04:00

Last year in several posts, I related how I pruned our 12-foot high Cecile Brunner climbing rose and promptly killed it.

I also told how we planted a new one in its spot and were hoping for the best. Wonder of wonders. Our Cecile Brunner (above photo) is only a year old and it is healthy and budding like crazy.

If you remember, the rose is planted near our septic tank. Some formulas never change.

New posts coming your way

2010-05-07T14:59:00.002-04:00

I hereby and forthwith repent from my slovenly ways. I plan on barraging Deerfield Diary readers today with a host of new posts. Hang on.

Oh, my aching back

2010-04-24T18:39:00.004-04:00

It seems all I've offered so far this year is a bunch of excuses for not getting much accomplished. So here's another one: I've been severely down in the back since March 28.

After several sessions with my primary care doctor and then a spine specialist, it appears I had a severe lumbar strain. The way my back was hurting, I thought sure I would need an operation, but all I'm facing is new some stretching exercises.

As a testament to how far behind I am, I share the photo of 15 truck loads of wood-chips that have been sitting by our driveway for a month. I plan to use them for garden paths and trails through the woods. The wood-chips were free of charge from a tree-trimming crew in the area. They were happy not to have to haul the chips a long way.

A word of caution about green wood-chips: Never use them as mulch or compost. It takes many years for the chips to decompose.

There's much to be done around Deerfield, but I'll take one more week off before I start back-breaking tasks. Wish me good luck.

The tree in the fork conundrum

2010-03-22T17:06:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in my post of Dec. 23 of last year, we had a large tree fall in our backyard that wedged itself completely in the fork of a sumac tree. The middle of the fallen tree was almost 8 feet off the ground. I cut away the limbs and tried to budge the trunk with my tractor scoop to no avail. I decided it prudent to call in some help.

My neighbor happens to have an engineering degree from Cornell in addition to a very large chainsaw. After analyzing the situation, Larry decided to take the bull by the horns and just cut the trunk in the middle. He sawed a deep V on the top of the trunk and then cut from underneath. When the two pieces fell the ground shook. We wrapped a logging chain around the end still in the tree and pulled it out.

I'm still trying to find out what type of tree it is. The wood is extremely dense and heavy without much grain. The worst thing is that the ugly sumacs are still standing, reading to catch the next tree in its trap.

The first day of spring usually means . . .

2010-03-21T18:36:00.004-04:00

. . . an empty woodshed.

Take a look back to my post of Nov. 6, 2009, where I was excited about my full woodshed. If my calculations are correct, the shed holds about 1.4 cords of wood. With only the one wood stove going, I estimate we saved about $500 on the electric bill this winter, not to mention all the calories burned off in cutting, splitting and hauling the wood.

If you look to the right of this post, you'll see one of my favorite proverbs on the subject of "enlightenment." So, one of the first projects for this spring is to chop wood.

Emerging in 2010 with Pre-Emergence

2010-03-09T18:41:00.004-05:00

The is the first year I've worried about weeds in the lawn around the house since I was glad to have anything green after I beat back the encroaching forest.

The first week of March is a good time to apply a pre-emergent herbicide with fertilizer. Here's a tip: Scotts is a good brand, but something like Lesco has the same makeup and is about $20 a bag cheaper. If you wait too much longer, a pre-emergent won't do any good. It must get into the ground before the weeds start growing. In about six weeks I'll have to apply another round of herbicide, this time without the fertilizer.

I also took the opportunity to spread 10-10-10 on the grass I planted in the fall on the lower level. I always mix 10-10-10 with a little agricultural lime. I spread it fairly lightly because this is the grass I don't want to spend a lot of time mowing.

We're supposed to have several days of rain. If so, good timing.

The exuberance of a warm day

2010-03-07T09:38:00.002-05:00

Willie the white boxer enjoys the first warm day of the year sleeping on the back porch stoop. Due to the lack of pigmentation in the hair and skin, white boxers need to be kept out of the sun in the summer months. They can get a sunburn just like humans. On a sunny day in March, however, it's hard to keep cold-natured Willie out of the warm sun.

Turkey vultures descending upon us

2010-02-22T08:31:00.004-05:00

When I was growing up in West Tennessee, we called them "buzzards." The more common name is "turkey vulture." Whatever we choose to call them, they are descending on us in record numbers.

In West Tennessee we would only see them soaring gracefully hundreds of feet in the air. Rarely could they be seen on the ground or nesting. Recently I drove by a huge poplar tree on the Pellissippi Parkway that had 25 or 30 of the giant birds nesting in it.

Another spotting is more outrageous. Driving on Topside Road last week, I saw two vultures in the middle of the road working on a roadkill possum. One was dragging the carcass to the shoulder of the road and the other was pushing with it's beak. They hopped to the side of the road as I approached, so I pulled off. The two birds immediately jumped back on their meal and continued their pulling and pushing. Another car passed and they retreated again. I pulled out and started on my way. In my rearview mirror I could see them still hard at work.

I emailed my friend and outdoorsman extraordinaire Sam Venable. He said the only thing they he could think for the influx of vultures is that the unusual amounts of snow in the North this winter may be driving the birds south.

So maybe they will be on the way once they devour all they can in these parts. Just like a certain football coach we know.

Pruning cane plants

2010-02-21T07:55:00.007-05:00

The mistake that most of us make with plants that grow from canes is pruning them too early or late, and then not pruning them with enough vigor.

February is the best time to prune plants such as the butterfly bush, and you need to take the plants almost all the way to the ground. I used this method with all our butterfly bushes last year. They all turned out full and healthy.

Photo on left is bush before I pruned it yesterday, and at right is the stub of the plant.

Organic Matter R Us

2010-02-20T14:36:00.005-05:00

Today's 50-degree weather sent me into a leaf-raking frenzy. I added about a dozen cart loads of dead leaves onto my garden plot. I had already added about 50 cart loads in the fall, plus 40 or so gallons of ashes. I have high hopes when I turn over the ground in the spring that I will finally have enough organic matter in my soil.

In the past I've made the mistake of turning the ground in the late fall, but I learned that a garden should lay fallow and unturned through the winter. The microbes and bacteria work better if the soil is undisturbed.

For reasons I have read but don't understand, hard winter freezes are good for the soil, according to the UT Agricultural Extension Service. It has something to do with the way the ground heaves during freezes and thaws. With all the organic matter and certainly more hard freezes than normal, I'm hoping for a bountiful garden this year. Hope springs eternal . . . and so forth.

My apologies to Deerfield Diary readers

2010-02-16T09:21:00.002-05:00

I've been lazy the past few weeks, but I'll blame my lack of posts on the miserable winter weather, some out-of-town trips and installing a new computer system.. I have some future posts in mind, so I'll tease you a little. They include:

* Why the influx of turkey vultures/buzzards?
* First prunings of the season
* Last firewood of the season
* The miracle of trickle-charging
* Screen-door repair ad infinitum

The fruit tree and berry catalogs are flooding in, so spring can't be too far off.

Wildlife on the move

2010-01-31T17:22:00.003-05:00

The recent snow makes for an interesting stroll down our quarter-mile driveway.

All sorts of wildlife leave their tracks, and it's fun to try to sort out what and where they were headed.

It's easy to spot the tracks from deer hooves (photo), and with a little examination you can tell where they crossed the creek because the hooves are much deeper when they jump. Rabbit tracks are also easy to identify with their small but elongated mark.

Squirrels, coons, groundhogs and skunks are a different matter. Their tracks are small and inconsistent. Incidentally, we smelled our first skunk in Deerfield last night. We have never seen one around here although we have an idea that the skunks are responsible for raiding the many yellow jacket hives in Deerfield.

Anticipating a heavy snow

2010-01-28T07:59:00.002-05:00

The top portion of our dog run in the backyard is a giant mess of mud and weeds, but I'm hoping to add some grass with the help of the approaching winter storm.

I sowed about 20 pounds of grass seed on the plot yesterday. I was told by my late father-in-law that the best time to plant grass seed is just before a heavy snow. The snow pack drills the seed down to an appropriate level which lets the seed germinate in the spring. The grass is healthier because it grows from a natural depth.

That's the way its supposed to work. We'll see in the spring.

There's a story behind the gazing ball in the photo, but we'll save that for another day.

Woodstove focus group

2010-01-19T09:07:00.003-05:00

Those of you who read my dissertation last week on Woodstove Economics will be interested in a focus group I conducted with the two respondents seen in photo at right.

Both respondents said they didn't give a flip about the economics, just keep a fire going in the stove and push their beds up as close as possible.

At least, I think that's what they would have said if we could have roused them.

Who was that crazy man running in the woods?

2010-01-16T16:49:00.003-05:00

It wasn't the 55-degree weather that called me out to the woods. Nor the bright sunshine, although it was the first we've seen in weeks. It was the call of the pileated woodpecker that beckoned me.

Two of the giant woodpeckers live in separate dead trees at the back of our property, but they usually roam far afield. Yesterday afternoon one of the woodpeckers teased me by coming near our front porch. I put my long lens on my camera and stepped outside. It immediately retreated about 50 yards. I followed. It retreated again. I followed. This went on for a good 30 minutes in which time I had walked most of my wooded acres.

The cagey bird would never let me get close enough even for a telephoto shot. The photo above is from my post of Jan. 6, 2009. If you ever get close enough to study a pileated, do so. They are as tall (17 inches) as a red-shouldered hawk and slice through the woods like a missile.

The call of the pileated is akin to what an effeminate rooster might sound like. When they bang on dead trees for bugs it can sound almost like carpenters framing a house.

I did get some needed exercise chasing the rascal. How about a new reality show for TV: Are you smarter than a woodpecker?

Woodstove economics

2010-01-15T08:56:00.003-05:00

As I wheelbarrow loads of firewood in from the woodshed all hours of the day and night, I pause to wonder if all this trudging through the snow and freezing temperatures can be worth it.

I got out my receipts book for an analysis of three years of electricity bills. We have three heat pumps to heat the house. The first winter I used the woodstove very little. The second winter a smidgen. This winter I have tried to keep the stove going 24/7, although I have missed a few hours here and there.

Here are my findings:

I estimate that during the four months of the coldest weather (Nov.-Feb.) I save $125 per month with the woodstove. That's $500 each winter. I also save a little on the months on the either side of winter, but I'm throwing that in to the mix. For this savings I have to keep the stove fired up continuously.

But the $500 yearly savings is not the only value of the woodstove. In addition to the heat, I get:

* Much needed cleanup of the woods around the house.
* Plenty of good exercise.
* Time to engage in solving the problems of mankind while cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking wood.

Annie Dillard, author of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," says a woodstove warms you twice.

My neighbor utilizes two strategically placed woodstoves in his house. He has not turned on his heat pumps for two winters.

My conclusion has to be that all the muss if worth the fuss. I just have to keep telling myself this as I go out to get a load of wood when the temperature is 11 degrees.