My city farm

Unfortunately, the boiler started leaking. Before winter, I flushed my secondary hot water heat exchanger and decided to buy a second one to replace it in case of contamination or breakdown. I was offered a more powerful used one. When it arrived, the lower pipe was bent, and I couldn't install it. They replaced it with a new one. I don't know how I installed it back then, but unfortunately, it started leaking from that lower pipe. Today, I couldn't install it until the retaining clip engaged, so I had to replace the old one. After I installed everything, water leaked from the pump valve when I started it. GPT chat advised me to tap on it to activate the valve and stop the water flow)))))). Thank goodness this happened when I was home and there was no frost. The large heat exchanger worked, but unfortunately, not for long. It was probably misaligned.

The weather is changing again, frosts are expected, which means there will be more shelling. It's snowing, and I still love this beauty. It will snow until morning, and I need to clear the snow from the panels and clear the ditch to prevent flooding again. I need to figure out how to organize it properly; maybe I'll lay down some plastic and some large stones on top.

It's snowing again, so I'm prepared to clear the snow away from the house. The brush and handle passed the test of heavy snow. Conclusions: the handle should be strong and flexible, and the brush at the end should be relatively heavy, as it also acts as a support point. It's a good thing I didn't experiment with different handles for the pool; I think they would have withstood the load.

Hi Bogdan and family (incl. dog).
I found you here through the Daily-ish. It was an interesting read, to read all your posts. I understand you are in a difficult situation there in Ukraine. Good to see how resilient you are.
Hope and pray for the best.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Bogdan and family (incl. dog).
I found you here through the Daily-ish. It was an interesting read, to read all your posts. I understand you are in a difficult situation there in Ukraine. Good to see how resilient you are.
Hope and pray for the best.

Thanks Inge, everything is fine, the severe frosts have passed, the snow is starting to melt and soon it will smell like spring.

It's such a strange feeling, a few calm days. No frost, no floods, no critical situations, and for some reason this calm is very depressing. It happens, you have to go light a fire in the stove and know that this state will end and everything will be okay.

bogdan smith wrote:It's such a strange feeling, a few calm days. No frost, no floods, no critical situations, and for some reason this calm is very depressing. It happens, you have to go light a fire in the stove and know that this state will end and everything will be okay.

My hunch was right, it was really loud last night. It means there will be a few quiet days, I need to get myself together and get to work.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. I sorted through the remaining firewood, and I'm happy with the remaining supply. This year I burned more gas than usual, but thanks to the stove being connected to the main heating system, the house was very warm, despite the severe frosts compared to previous years. The most dangerous time is over, and now, thanks to the remaining firewood, I'll be saving gas. I have an old Vaillant turbocharged boiler, and I tried to turn it on more often during cold weather, since turbocharged boilers often suffer from burst heat exchangers. I used a thermostat, and the boiler turned on at temperatures below 18°C. The thermostat was located in the coldest place in the house, in the hallway, but after I installed the stove there, this place became the warmest. Now I'll turn off the boiler at night, turn it on for two hours in the morning, and then I'll use the stove and air conditioners for heating.  Incidentally, in the summer and fall, when I had excess solar energy, I placed an infrared heater near the firewood and dried the wood as well. It was certainly very hot on the veranda, but because I insulated that wall, it didn't affect the temperature in the house, and at night, with the veranda door open, it cooled down. This has yielded results, as I can see from the wood burning, and I've also reduced the amount of time I spend cleaning the chimney. I'll continue this experiment this year.

I'm glad you are a good problem solver and that spring has arrived for you.

Young apricots are planted on hills, the roots are bare at the top, I don't prune the apricots, but bend them down. Now I've decided to do the same with small apricots and see what the result will be. This year there was a lot of snow, and thanks to the hills, the tree is not flooded.

I couldn't figure out what was bothering me. I went to the electric meter and heard the circuit breaker sparking. I was without power for several days in the winter because of this problem, and again. The electrician probably didn't tighten the contacts properly when he replaced it, or it failed because of blackouts. It's good that there's plenty of sun, so I can wait for a replacement.

There's a lot of sun now, the snow has started to melt heavily, and the reeds have helped my chickens again; now they have a dry place outside.

Riona Abhainn wrote:I'm glad you are a good problem solver and that spring has arrived for you.

Thanks for the kind words. It may sound strange, but all these everyday problems actually help you stay sane. Rockets and drones are flying, and you're sitting there wondering how to insulate a battery or repair a gas boiler. In any case, it's cheaper than antidepressants. Spring has already arrived, and it's time to get ready for winter.

I continue to tie up trees, apricots, and cherries. The last photo shows a fully formed apricot tree that doesn't need pruning or tying—just cut the ropes that were used to tie the branches last year. Last year, it survived the spring frosts well, didn't get any rot, and produced a good harvest. We'll see how it overwinters.

These two photos show the difference: in the first one, the trees are planted on hills and are not flooded, while in the second photo, it's a traditional planting and the tree is in a puddle of water.

My dog is sick, and today I cried for the first time in a long time. The dog has trouble walking and keeps falling, but it's good that there's a place where she can go for a walk.

I'm so sorry your dog is not feeling good.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:I'm so sorry your dog is not feeling good.

Thank you for the kind words, Joylin. The vets gave a bad prognosis because the dog is already 12 years old, but today I found a good vet who has already saved my animals. We did tests and he said that it was a viral disease that affected coordination, and not problems with the spine and brain, as other doctors said, and there is a good chance that my friend will recover. I really want this and believe that she will recover.

It was a hard day and I didn't want to do anything, but I had to! While the dog was sleeping, I was making seedlings in snails made from insulation. I liked this method last year.

This year there were severe frosts and bright sunshine at the same time, and my bamboo turned from bright green to yellow. This is a good test of its strength, and it already experienced such frosts in 2020, but then there were no such prolonged frosts.

bogdan smith wrote:My dog is sick, and today I cried for the first time in a long time. The dog has trouble walking and keeps falling, but it's good that there's a place where she can go for a walk.

Thank God, my dog is starting to recover and is already walking well. The vet prescribed the right medication and she is doing much better.

I'm so glad your dog is feeling better and recovering.  I think she is a good friend to you.  A dog can be like a combination of a best friend and a small child to take care of and they bring a lot of companionship in hard times to so many people.  Glad things are going well with your trees.

Riona Abhainn wrote:I'm so glad your dog is feeling better and recovering.  I think she is a good friend to you.  A dog can be like a combination of a best friend and a small child to take care of and they bring a lot of companionship in hard times to so many people.  Glad things are going well with your trees.

Thank you so much, Riona, for your kind words. My dog has fully recovered, and I'm so happy about that. It was a very tough winter, and I'm glad we all made it into spring without any losses, because my dog is also a member of my team. The most important thing is that spring has arrived, and it's time to prepare for winter.

I tidied up and slightly remodeled the workshop; winter will be coming soon and I need to make it comfortable to work.

planted pears on the hills

So far, the best hens during my experimentation period are Greenshills, which lay blue eggs. Unfortunately, Marans lay poorly; maybe the situation will change in the summer.

Its so fun when hens lay colourful eggs.  I hope you end up with happy pear trees that make lots of pears.

raised beds have been prepared

Apple storage boxes will be temporarily converted into cucumber growing boxes.

Last year I trimmed the catalpa back to a short length, and now I'm going to shape it into an arch. I made boxes out of oak planks, into which I planted several varieties of giant lagenaria, which I'll let grow like vines up the catalpa and toward the house using taut ropes. I'll also plant tall varieties of tomatoes in the boxes.

bogdan smith wrote:spring, I noticed that if you don't cut tree branches but bend them down, the amount of fruit increases and you don't need to cut the branches

you mean the number of fruit increases?  because people prune to increase the size of the individual fruit.  and to prevent fruit drop.  and for shape, structure, and disease prevention.  it’s not just about what happens on one year because a boom year is usually followed with a less year.

if you have a an electric meat smoker that uses real wood chips to add flavor, you should save the prunings of your fruit trees for that purpose

bogdan smith wrote:

Riona Abhainn wrote:I'm glad you are a good problem solver and that spring has arrived for you.

Thanks for the kind words. It may sound strange, but all these everyday problems actually help you stay sane. Rockets and drones are flying, and you're sitting there wondering how to insulate a battery or repair a gas boiler. In any case, it's cheaper than antidepressants. Spring has already arrived, and it's time to get ready for winter.

Whoa… you live in Ukraine or in Iran?  Or you are talking about the firework rockets and the camera drones?  stay safe either way, and God Bless

The fence was made of planks; these boards dried well, and I replaced them with oak scraps, which I use as firewood. In the bomb shelter, I used plastic deck chairs as beds, but they break and are uncomfortable. I made sturdy loungers from fence boards, hung additional lamps, made a toolbox, and installed doors to separate the warm room for the bomb shelter from the cold room for the food storage.

Trevor McDonald wrote:

bogdan smith wrote:

Riona Abhainn wrote:I'm glad you are a good problem solver and that spring has arrived for you.

Thanks for the kind words. It may sound strange, but all these everyday problems actually help you stay sane. Rockets and drones are flying, and you're sitting there wondering how to insulate a battery or repair a gas boiler. In any case, it's cheaper than antidepressants. Spring has already arrived, and it's time to get ready for winter.

Whoa… you live in Ukraine or in Iran?  Or you are talking about the firework rockets and the camera drones?  stay safe either way, and God Bless

Thank you, I live in Ukraine

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Trevor McDonald wrote:

bogdan smith wrote:spring, I noticed that if you don't cut tree branches but bend them down, the amount of fruit increases and you don't need to cut the branches

you mean the number of fruit increases?  because people prune to increase the size of the individual fruit.  and to prevent fruit drop.  and for shape, structure, and disease prevention.  it’s not just about what happens on one year because a boom year is usually followed with a less year.

if you have a an electric meat smoker that uses real wood chips to add flavor, you should save the prunings of your fruit trees for that purpose

I haven't given up pruning trees, but it's now more labor-intensive than traditional pruning. My main goal isn't to prune, but to bend tree branches. The more we prune, the more energy the tree expends on recovery. At one point, I noticed old pear and apple trees in villages that hadn't been pruned; their branches were bent under the weight of their fruit, and these trees were very heavy. I also noticed that tree roots are constantly visible in the forest and read about hardening trees by exposing their roots. I'm now planting trees on hills where they have bare roots. Tomorrow, I'll take photos of apple and apricot trees with bent branches; they've produced some very good and interesting results. Regarding stimulating yield through pruning, if a tree needs a rest, let it rest. Last year I didn't have any apples, but this year I expect a good harvest.  Regarding smoking, I used to have a smoker and looked for barrels, but I've given up on smoked products and made a raised bed out of the barrel. I use the trimmed branches as the base for the raised beds.