February #18.2: Dawn of the cold
This winter has been brutal, and unpredictable. January was exceptionally cold for my liking, and the amount of snow would have to go back almost a decade to find a match. But not for long! The last week of February broke some records again, and the gods of global warming have been summoned.
It took me a while to write this very short update because I recently took a small trip to Valencia. Nice city, though I mismanaged the timing a little bit; we landed directly into a warzone during the infamous Fallas festival. Loud bangs and firecrackers were not on the list of 10 things to do in Valencia. To be honest, up until this weekend, I had no idea what the Fallas festival was. Now I know, and I hate it.
the fixation
Since I did some maintenance in my garden in the first half of February, I could use the second half to plan and fix things. Mostly my shed.
While the interior of my shed is in relatively good shape, the outer shell could use some love. As you can see, the decking on the facade is all warped and crumbling down. Last year, I tried replacing it in one spot that's heavily exposed to the sun as an experiment, and this year, I plan to replace all outer walls with new plywood sheets.
It survived the winter nicely and didn't budge, so the decision was made. It's 4mm-thick plywood, replacing a 4mm-thick HDF board. Everything is soaked in an outdoor-grade stain. I don't trust it to survive on its own, so I will probably apply a single coat of stain every 5 years or so.
Next on the list is the roof. The roof material itself is fine, but there is a leak somewhere, and it's covered in moss in some places. It has been painted once in the past 20 years and could use a repaint. But mostly I want to fix the leak. There is just one minor detail: the roof is asbestos, and while our grandparents were inhaling it and pretending it was fine, I am not a huge fan of cancer, and I have to take that into account when treating it. But first, let's remove those branches.
Much better.
These branches were scratching the panels and casting a shadow. While the shadow is mostly annoying because it allows moss to grow, the scratching could scrape the asbestos and make it airborne. I sprayed the entire roof with a strong moss-killer and let it sit. While the moss-killer was doing its job, shocking, I know, I inspected the rest of the roof for leaks. And I found one. And it's not good.
This leak is old. It's been there since the last time the roof was painted. And it sat there, soaking up water, freezing, and delaminating. The damage is serious. It doesn't go all the way through, fortunately, but it's unacceptable.
NOTE: Here, I have to emphasize that handling asbestos is a really bad idea. Asbestos is a well-documented carcinogen; handle it with the utmost caution, never work on dry asbestos manually, always wear a respirator, and collect all loose pieces in a separate bag. You can't throw this in the common trash. Handling large amounts of it is also illegal.
But I have a safe solution in mind to restore the rooftop to its former glory! I will apply a penetration coat for fibre-cement rooftops, then glue and cover the damaged area with roofing textile and a breathable sealant, finishing with another layer of sealant on top. I will basically rebuild the missing material. But that has to wait for now, because the moss-killer still has some moss to kill first.
the spicy stock
I decided to postpone sowing my annuum peppers until the last week of February. I don't trust the weather anymore, and I don't want to lose peppers just because I rushed the schedule and the world decided to flip me off. It's a bit of a tight schedule because it will overlap with my tomato sowing, but I hope it will be worth the time.
I germinated all the seeds in a wet towel; this way, I can pick the most vigorous seeds and test the germination rate, especially of the hydroponic pepper seeds.
Here are some links for the peppers I'm growing this season.
The Habaneros are taking off nicely. Still a little pale, but I think this is just a trait of the variety or the environment. I gave them some food, and I'm confident they have everything they need. I guess the look is a small price to pay for vigorous growth. They are still a little taco-ish because, my fault, I was blasting them with more light than I should have. They will soon move out of the BROR into a cooler environment, because I will need that space for the new peppers. And in less than a month, for tomatoes!
Thanks to the warmer weather, the greenhouse veggies have finally pushed out some true leaves. The second batch of radishes is finally poking through, and the Pak Choi, yes, I learned the correct name, is getting some volume. I was a little worried because they were very leggy at first.
Speaking of the greenhouse, I occasionally water the soil with mildly acidic water (pH around 6–6.5) to lower the pH to the desired levels. I want to reach 6.5–6.8 by mid-May for my peppers. Spinach, radishes, and kohlrabi don't care that much at pH 7.0–7.2, so it's not an issue right now.
I have to say, making these updates more frequent and shorter was a really good idea. I am mentioning a certain person here. You are mentioned.
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