Green Dragon's 2021 Grow

[GreenDragon]

Well, I think that we can all agree that 2020 has been something of a dumpster fire. The fact that I didn't grow a single tobacco plant (the wife commandeered all my beds) may or may not have contributed to the global disaster - not enough data points to draw a conclusion.

One positive thing that came out of this year (kind of) is that working from home for a year has forced me to acknowledge how much I hate the current house I'm in. We've been in this house for 15 years... we were only supposed to stay in it for 2 to 3. Because... well, reasons. However, I finally had enough and as my youngest kiddo is graduating high school this year, I was able to finally talk the wife into moving. Wow, what a roller coaster that has been! The Austin area housing market is INSANE. Apparently everyone currently living in California, Washington State, and New York are moving to Austin right now (some big tech companies are moving their headquarters here). That is jacking the prices of housing through the roof (ba da ba bing!). And there are very few houses on the market due to a shortage. I'll spare you the long version, but eventually, we were able to successfully bid on a house. We're moving in two weeks.

When we decided to move the wife and I came up with a list of wishes for the new house. Included among them were a larger kitchen (we both love to cook), a covered outdoor area so I can enjoy a pipe/cigar in any type of weather, and a larger yard so we can both garden, and several others. (I really wanted to buy something with 2-3 acers in the countryside, but in the current environment you would have to be a millionaire, so that idea died quickly.) Well, our new house has everything we wanted, with just one fly in the ointment; our larger back yard is pretty much taken up with a pool and a large oak tree. So, for this year's grow I have a few options:
1) Cut down the Oak tree
2) Grow in Pots
3) Grow in the front flower bed as "ornamental flowers" (beware the HOA busybodies!)
4) Rent space in a community garden (wife's option; all the rentable plots are anti tobacco).

Personally I suspect the tree may have Oak Wilt disease and need to be taken out... but we will see after we move in.

Anyway, for this year I plan to grow two cigar fillers, a flue cured, an air cured, and an oriental. Will be shopping for seeds soon.

Happy new year and I hope everyone's 2021 grow will be successful! I mean, come on, anything has to be better than this year!

Steve

 

[deluxestogie]

Closely spaced (~12") Prilep 66-9/7, in a tidy garden bed is a beautiful thing to behold, when they blossom. Hummingbirds, bumblebees--it's really attractive.

Best wishes with your new house.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

The other option would fill the pool with dirt and grow there
Beware of the wife’s reaction anyway...

pier

 

[Charly]

I am happy you found a new house and wish you a good 2021 crop.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I say cut down the tree. Your property is supposed to serve you, not the aesthetic whim of someone who doesn't even live there.

Good luck this year.

 

[plantdude]

Moving is always an adventure. Good luck in the new home.

The other option would fill the pool with dirt and grow there

By this time next year you will probably be wishing you took @Alpine advice

 

[MadFarmer]

Moving is always an adventure. Good luck in the new home.



By this time next year you will probably be wishing you took @Alpine advice

Neighbors down the street filled their pool two summers ago, you'd never know it had been there.

 

[GreenDragon]

It's been an interesting week. I received my seeds from @skychaser a few days ago (thank you again!) and they were immediately boxed up for the move. I wound up ordering the following:
Orientals: Prilep 66-9/7 & Japan 8,
Maryland: Catterton,
Dark Air: Madole
Bright Leaf: Cherry Red & Helena
Cigar: Dom. Rep. Olor, Little Cuba, & Perfeu Brazil
Now just have to make a space to grow them.

Speaking of the move, we pretty much have the whole house packed up and are just waiting to close.


And Finally, like clockwork we are currently receiving our annual winter storm. Always happens the second week of January. The weather channel says it's raining here.

 

[deluxestogie]

Your first photo is the rough equivalent of the number and sizes of empty boxes (Ship to Home from Walmart/Amazon) that I spent 90 minutes breaking down this morning. (No doleful dog.) An entire trunk load.

Good thing you know the Texas snow clockwork, and scheduled your move to avoid it.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

She's not happy because some of her favorite napping spots are covered in boxes. They are not real sure what is going on, but they can sense the elevated stress levels in the house. When I woke up this morning both dogs and a cat had snuck onto the bed and were piled on top of me. Let me tell you, when an 90 lb. Labrador lays across your chest, it is no joke! I was very warm though, just couldn't breath LOL.

 

[deluxestogie]

They are not real sure what is going on

Memory is geographic. Their home has already gone away.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

She's not happy because some of her favorite napping spots are covered in boxes. They are not real sure what is going on, but they can sense the elevated stress levels in the house. When I woke up this morning both dogs and a cat had snuck onto the bed and were piled on top of me. Let me tell you, when an 90 lb. Labrador lays across your chest, it is no joke! I was very warm though, just couldn't breath LOL.

Get ready to have your cat declawed. When we moved our cat was so pissed off that it started ripping up the stained wood door moldings and wood furniture and peeing on our belongings. It hated us with a passion for at least three years, especially after the declawing as we couldn’t let it outside any more because it could no longer climb trees to get away from dogs or coyotes. It was tearing up the whole house. The dogs were fine but the cat went bat shat crazy. The cat lived to 15 years old but I don’t think it ever did forgive us. Good luck.

 

[GreenDragon]

Get ready to have your cat declawed. When we moved our cat was so pissed off that it started ripping up the stained wood door moldings and wood furniture and peeing on our belongings. It hated us with a passion for at least three years, especially after the declawing as we couldn’t let it outside any more because it could no longer climb trees to get away from dogs or coyotes. It was tearing up the whole house. The dogs were fine but the cat went bat shat crazy. The cat lived to 15 years old but I don’t think it ever did forgive us. Good luck.

Our two cats are brothers and they are very chill. As long as they get their kibble every morning and night they are happy. Hopefully they will make the transition OK. Our old cat moved with us several times and usually only took her about 24 hrs to settle into a new place. Finger's crossed!

 

[GreenDragon]

Quick update - 3" of snow and still falling.
@ChinaVoodoo quit laughing at me - I can hear you all the way here in Texas! This is more snow than I have seen in my entire life.

PS - the Labrador is loving it! The border collie is not impressed.

 

[deluxestogie]

Keep your phones charged.

 

[Alpine]

Well, 3 inches for you, 3 meters here on the alps. It’s not yet the highest accumulation I’ve seen in my life (we reached 5 meters in 1986) but it’s certainly very unusual.

pier

 

[GreenDragon]

I'm back! Yesterday's move was brutal. Cat were completely freaked (they hid behind the toilet for hours) and woke us up every hour last night for pets. But they are rapidly getting acclimated and have started exploring the house. The dogs, of course, have already been in the pool. They totally approve.



On a more pertinent note, the wife and I have already discussed having an arborist / landscaper out to cut out most of the overgrown/unkempt foliage in the yard to allow for sunlight and gardening

I spent about 4 hours today getting the internet to work in the house. I don't know who originally wired this place, but they were an idiot. And apparently didn't know what a router and switch are for. Thankfully I have a tone / tracer set that was a God send to straighten everything out. Also, had to change from AT&T Fiber to Spectrum (cable internet) so that was an additional wrinkle.

Now I just have 5,357 boxes to unpack and find places to put everything.

 

[GreenDragon]

A lot has transpired in the past week. Most of it... not good.

To start, I had to replace the hot water heater - it was leaking both water and gas. Now I knew this going in, so had negotiated the cost of replacement into our contract. However, what I was not expecting was that the water softener (a necessity in this region) was not working. And then, to top it off, the new house is infested with rats. So, instead of buying some new furniture for the new house, I'm paying to replace the water softener, plug all the rat holes in the roof & attic, and replace the insulation in the roof. This is not cheap. My real estate agent is working to get the $ for my house inspection refunded due to the cruddy job they did, but that's a drop in the ocean.

But on to more pleasant things. I made two trips to the local recycling center and got two truckloads of free mulch for the back yard. This is to cover up the bare soil (which is mud right now due to the weather) in the back yard which is about 75% due to the overgrowth of the landscaping. Will need another two truckloads to complete the job. This is a temporary fix until I can get the trees trimmed/removed etc. to get enough sunlight to grow grass again. This is very important due to the fact we have two large dogs... On the bright side, it looks like black rich Blackland Prairie soil, which should be excellent for growing tobacco.

On a related note, I found (unboxed) my recent seed order from @skychaser which I haven't seen since a week before the move. The plan is to get the trees & shrubs in the back yard trimmed enough to plant a bed of tobacco and re-grow the lawn. Our last chance of frost is usually April 15, so I plan to start my seeds around February 15.

Tonight I had my first pipe at the new house. I smoked my favorite Savinelli churchwarden filled with a bowl of Odds & Ends. Basically all the small remnants from last year's home blends and leftover commercial tobacco. I had mixed it up last year, stored in a mason jar, and completely forgot about it until I unboxed it today. So I sat in the dark and drizzle, lit a bowl (was surprisingly tasty!) and waited for the rats to emerge. Shot the first one within 5 minutes of lighting up.

 

[Biglizard1]

Trials and tribulations always come with sunshine and futures... never be discouraged for being better than you were. Beautiful pipe. I'm a bit jealous, and I dont even own a pipe.

 

[GreenDragon]

We are looking at some record low temperatures here in central Texas. It’s been sleeting all day and they are forecasting lows of 3 F this weekend! Also the power is out due to tree limbs snapping from the ice. 2021 is not starting out promising....