THE U-Pick GARDEN will be closing August 20th. This will be the last year the garden will be open to the public. Next year I'll be operating as a CSA, supplying about 20 regular customers with weekly boxes. Thank you for your support over the last 8 years, but it's time to try something new.

To get a copy of my book, "How To Grow Vegetables In Sitka, Alaska" just give me a call....The books are $20 plus tax. If you live out of town and want me to mail you a copy, you can mail a check for $25.60 to:

Lori Adams
P O Box 6021
Sitka, Alaska
99835


Down To Earth U-Pick Garden is located at 2103 Sawmill Creek Road in Sitka, Alaska. It is open usually from mid-June through late August. Hours are Monday-Saturday 12:00 to 6:30. On Farmer's Market Saturdays I am not open until 2:00. Children are welcome but may not run through the garden or chase the ducks. If you have any questions you can contact me, Lori Adams, at 907-747-6108 or 907-738-2241. My email address is downtoearthupick@gmail.com

Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Boat Work Is Over.......

For me it is, anyways......but for poor Mr. Adams - it never ends!  The groceries are on board, the bunks have clean bedding, the paperwork is in order (I think and hope), and last week we hauled the boat out of the water for annual maintenance. Fortunately, Ron and my father-in-law Lyle helped with the haulout this year, so I didn't have to work as hard as I usually do.


Check out who's running the haulout yard now....


It's Carl !!!! He was on the swim team and went to school with Levi....What is the world coming too?
Would you let this kid pick up your boat?


YES!! We would!!  Carl is an alright guy.....very competent and good to work with. Thanks, Carl!

My official duty during the haulout this year, besides meals, was to help dry and mask the waterline for painting.


Now, you may think that is an easy job, but if you've ever hauled out a boat in Sitka during the month of April, you'd understand how difficult it can actually be. It almost ALWAYS rains or snows on us, which makes painting a real challenge. 

First, we dry a short section with a towel, then we dry the same section completely with a hairdryer (while still holding the towel in place to catch more rainwater as it runs down the side of the boat), then we run a line of masking tape about 3 inches above the area to be painted. We put a crease in the masking tape lengthwise so it's stuck to the boat along the top edge, but not along the bottom edge. The creased tape then forces the water to run and drip off the edge of the tape into the air, leaving the boat dry.


(In case you attribute this ingenious technique to me as my own idea.....it's not....I saw another woman do this in the yard years ago and it blew my mind, so we have just copied her amazing idea ever since.) Once the tape is channeling the water away from the boat we can dry the hull more fully with the hairdryer and apply paint. The hull dries quickly because it's fiberglass...if it was wood it would take much longer.

It's interesting to note that our hairdryer has never actually been used on our hair.......


Now that the boat work is done I'm all about planting the garden........There's tons to do, but that's okay....I'd rather work in the garden for a week than one day doing boat work.


Posted by at

3 comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)