Land owner

Hmmm.... I got home from work today and there was a business card stuck in my door. I was puzzeled until I saw the name on the card. It belongs to the owner of the land across the street where I will be planting the victory veggie garden. Oh dear. The only reason I recognized his name is the letter I received from the town stating that his building permits and everything that went with them we being pulled due to the damage he has created by taking down all the trees.

I wonder, should I call this guy? From what I have learned from the Lake Association office is that he is a total JERK. Won't listen, will not let a word get in edgewise in a conversation unless it is his. He didn't even realize there was a lake across the street when he bought the property. Just a land-grabber, and build, build, build. Maybe I'll send an email, and just state that I do not talk on the phone. :)))

He wants to talk to me about the haybales. They are a compost bin containing organic kitchen waste, grass clippings & leaves etc. (Good thing the Veggie garden fencing is not up yet!) But in my defense, I am not the only person who accesses this land. People park there cars there, people dump there leaves there, people dump their dog-poop and litter box waste there...Not where I am putting the garden, mind you...lol. But the neighborhood has been using that property for well over 30 years for these things, and of course there were still trees there until he tore them all out. Don't get me wrong, it IS his property, but basically unbuildable and he has destroyed our neighborhood. I am trying to make something good out of something terrible. I just don't want to get into a pissing match with the guy...hello Irish temper on my side and Itaialian temper on his....could be dangerous.

Planting Schedules

So I sat last night with my glass of wine, and looked at all my seeds and notebooks to figure out what and when to plant. I would up labeling all the seed packets to help keep my head straight, then transferred it all onto a calendar. I am planning from 2,3, &4 plantings of each crop, to try to extend the growing season...I think I need a bigger veggie patch! Today before I take a winter hike with my friend Julie and the dogs, I am going to go over my site plan & see if I can fit all these crops! Please winter...go away

Ack....winter..Veggie Victory Garden

(The picture above is waht I had to start with for the Veggie Victory Garden)

I am sooo done with winter! Although I am accomplishing a lot in the New Jersey house in prep for sale, and directing construction guys by phone at the house in North Carolina, I just want to get outside! I am dying to start the Veggie Victory Garden! I think I will have to start a new blog for that project, but the background:
We had beautiful woods across the street from our house (NJ), and they were a huge reason I bought the house 17 years ago, that I had a lake in my back yard and woods accross the street, only neighbors on either side. Well for 16 years, I enjoyed those woods so much. On my way home from the NC house last year, I came to a screeching halt as I pulled onto my road. ALL of the trees were gone!
Now the neighbors had been fighting a builder who wanted to build a house or two there, so it seemed that no matter how many town meetings were attended, or letters we signed, this guy was going to build! It literally was a vicious rape on the land. The wetland were trudged through with the machines (the poor turtles and froggies) everything was a mess! Beyond the fact it is a terrible place to put a house or 2, flat then straight up a mountainous hill...after the 30' required setback, you would be looking at a hill out your back window.
But then I started thinking.....dangerous of course....the builder was not going to build for 2 years, and I am putting my house on the market, so why not put in a veggie garden? Plant some flowers, and seed the rest of the land with wildflower and sunflower seeds? Why not, the hideousness left behind after the destruction of the trees dropped the value of my house even more than the current market..lets at least make it into something beautiful, productive, money saving and perhaps money earning.
So I set out my plan, ordered my seeds, figured out planting schuedules, and began work on the soil. It was pretty good to start with, as all the leaves falling there for so many years, and the fact that we had been putting our kitchen waste over there for 17 years. I chopped down weeds for 2 days, then begain rototilling the soil with my neighbors tiller (damn thing is like 30 years old and weighs a ton, but it did a great job) Multiple trips to Oxbow Stables for Manure, more tilling, landscaping friend brought me grass clipping and leaves, more tilling....seed over with green manure and....wait for spring.
As I am waiting my way through this very long, very cold, very icy winter, and training the two puppies (the fruits of Christie & Buji's loins..ooopps!) I get a letter from our lake community. I figured it was a bill for our yearly lake dues. BUT it was a copy of a letter from Vernon Township sent to the owner of the land across the street. (the land rapist) They are suspending and removing all of his permits for construction unless he repairs the 'water propblem' cause by his excavations. What?!! I am jumping up and down with joy as I get to the second paragraph! In order to re-isuue his permits, he must hire an engineer to design plans to remedy the flooding that is running over the street into the lake from the wetlands (where all the turtles and frogs were displaced) at his cost; even tho...get this...Vernon Township owns the wetlands!!! HEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAH
This would entail some enormous expense, considering the road would have to be ripped up, a concrete drain run, all the fill, putting the road back together, repaving, re-routing traffic....and being that this guy bought the land site unseen and did not even know there was a lake across the street. Just a land grabber...build build build is what this guy does.
So in that he cannot build, I am moving ahead with full force as soon as the weather permits. Perhaps I'll even get a few chickens too! lol