Two weeks ago, I climbed on my good extension ladder and using a L O N G pole and synthetic sheep's wool window washer-thing and a hose w/ a nozzle attached, cleaned dust and bird droppings from the PV array. The panels are visibly cleaner and since our big construction projects are done (for now at least) less dust will be flying around. Clean panels make for better power generation.
I received the soil analysis back from Twiss Labs. As I suspected, the soil in our main garden area is woefully deficient in Nitrogen. At a pH of 6.6 it's also a bit alkaline for some of the vegetables we've planted. Today I broadcast about 2 pounds of ammonium sulfate on our 320 sq ft garden. As instructed on the package, I then watered the fertilizer into the soil. As I type this Angel is giving the plants another drink.
Hopefully this will do the trick. We've had some spinach and some other greens but everything seems to be growing slowly.
The soil analysis indicated that we have plenty of organic material (that's good news, considering all the back-breaking work I did last summer). Phosphorous, potassium, and trace minerals are good too. Next year I'll emphasize organic supplements, but for now I decided to kick start the particular element that was lacking.
Since elemental sulphur is indicated as a way to lower the pH of the soil, I'm also hoping the application of ammonium sulfate may make the soil slightly more acidic as well. We'll see, won't we.
Our summer visitor dance card is filling up, which is exciting and fun. We have someone staying with us now (an old friend of Angel's) and have a near constant stream of friends and relatives staying in our guest quarters in the carriage house through mid September. Given all the changes in the past year, Angel and I are grateful for friends who have been able to make the trek up here to the 48th parallel.
The air is still, and the sky is blue and bright. It is just shy of 8:00PM.
Press On.
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