Pub buP

I’m done prepping the garden.  I have 6 16sqft beds, clay dug out of them, and good dirt and compost put in.  I have 8 stalks of corn and at least 4 (maybe 8, but I’m not sure) watermelons gowing (thanks to dad).  One or two of the watermelons, only about 3″ above the ground, are blooming.  I’ll photograph my work after I’ve cleared out the tree branch I’ve pulled out, one that fell a few weeks ago during strong wind.  Hand saw, here I come…

Calculus is kicking my butt, and I’m having second thoughts about this whole teaching thing.  It’s such to the point that I’ve had another idea.  Here’s the story behind it:

Calculus had been wearing me down, and the wife had gone out with a friend of hers from college to celebrate that friend’s birthday, when the wife decided to call and ask if I wanted to go out with them.  I agreed, and we headed for a gastropub in Knoxville’s Old City district, The Crown & Goose.  Well, if you’ve ever been in that area on a Saturday night about 10:30 at night, you’ll know what parking’s like, as in nigh non-existent.  So, we headed for an old favorite, Union Jack’s on Northshore, which we arrived at after being confused by the detour signs in that area for I-40.  We got there, had some beer, and headed home.  While we were at UJ’s, the wife said, “I wish we had one of these in Maryville.”  Or, something like that.  Well, it got me thinking.  Why not put one in Maryville?  Not necessarily a Union Jack’s or a Crown & Goose, but perhaps something in-between.  A beer, cider, wine & mead bar (no liquor) with a dining room, a British/Irish pub done American style with British inspired food.  Grands plans for one man and no idea how to write a business plan.  I can imagine a whole book just for the place’s plan.  Eventually I want to add a tea room and Orthodox Christian bookstore next to it.

On that note, if anyone’s feeling brave enough to collect names of alcohol distributors used by Union Jack’s, Crown & Goose, and/or other places with good beer selections in the area, I’d be very appreciative.

Translation:  Yes, this is a real plan.  The wife even said she thinks it’ll be so much fun.  I agree.  I’m not blind to the work it’ll take, though.  There are a lot of plans to be made and a lot of work to implement those plans.  Stock?  Beers from around the world, meads from around the world, fresh and hard ciders, and some wines.  Beer challenge copycat?  Sort of, yes, using a point system with annual winners getting an actual prize.  Actual pub?  Yes, since pubs should be open to families, not just some people wanting to nibble on something while drinking and smoking.  Smoking?  Only outside, and not at the entrance.  Darts, billiards, other entertainment?  Of course!  And so many other things to think about.

I have a name picked out with a hidden meaning:  The Bell & Dragon.  I have a menu worked out.  These things, of course, are moot without a location, money, and things with which to fill said location.  And money.  Did I mention this will take money?  Something I’m not good with.

Well, to cut the ramblings off there, this will take a couple of years.  I’ve been told I need to get a regular job for a couple of years to help get financially prepared to delve into this.  May be teaching.  May be something else.  If anyone had a good idea how to write up a business plan for something like this, I’d be grateful.  Any other information would be appreciated, too.

Cheers for now,

Red Wolf

Garden Plan Finished!

I’ve got a plan now!  Well, I have a general plant plan.  I need specific plant types, and I’m trying to find some special heirlooms.  I want to do some seed saving, but I have to figure some of that out yet.  So, here’s the general layout:

Garden Plan

I have some seeds I saved from a Cherokee Purple, a Brandywine, and a Big Rainbow, which I wrote about previously.  Unfortunately, to make sure I can save seeds to preserve a strain, I have to raise one type at a time.  Although, I think I may try to interbreed the Cherokee Purple and Brandywine to get a sweeter Cherokee Purple.  I’ll probably just plant one kind for now, though.  Probably the Cherokee Purple.  Most of what I plan on getting will be from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange or the Seed Savers Exchange.  Here’s the list of intended varieties with the intent of saving seed (mostly for personal use):

• Elephant garlic (just because it’d be fun and isn’t too expensive from the store) – Pot (Kroger)
• Bogatyr garlic  (SSE)
• Russian Giant garlic (SSE)
• Pennsylvania Butter Flavor Popcorn (SESE)
• Stowell’s Evergreen Corn (SSE)
• Seed Savers Lettuce Mix (SSE)
• Greek & Armenian Basils (Burpee)
• Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean (SSE)
• Danvers Half Long carrot (SESE)
• Straight Eights cucumber (SESE)
• Borettana Yellow Onions (SSE)
• French Red Shallots (SESE)
• Long Island Mammoth Dill (SESE)
• Greek Oregano (SESE)
• Broadleaf Sage (SESE)
• Rosemary (SESE)
• Thyme (SSE)
• Spearmint (SSE)
• Cherokee Purple (Fresh Market saved seed)
• Black Velvet Nasturtium (SSE)
• Tip Top Formula Mix [Nasturtiums] (SSE)
• Tashkent #1 French Marigolds (SESE)
• Bull Nose Bell Pepper (SESE)
• Amish Snap peas (SESE)
• Rostov Sunflower (SSE)
• Old Fashioned Ragged Edged Mustard (SESE)
• Moon & Stars (Cherokee) Watermelon (SSE)

So, those are the inteded varieties.  I plan on getting started in about a month.  I live in East Tennessee, which is Zone 7.  Anyone have any comments on the types I’ve decided on so far?  I’m open to change…  And, yes, I know the pattern for the sunflowers won’t really work, but it was fun to think of and paint in.

So, lettuces and mustard will be planted in mid-August.  Garlic will be planted in mid-September.  Everything else planted as necessary.  If anyone does planting by the stars and the moon, let me know when the best dates coming up for these are.

Cheers for now,

Red Wolf

P&D House News

All is well on the homefront.  Our anniversary went well, with me cooking dinner (most of what I wanted to cook, anyway).  On Thursday evening, we went up to Gatlinburg for the parade, then went cruising around on Friday.  We just completely didn’t want to go into Gatlinburg, but we wanted to get out of the house, so we just started taking forks in the roads.  We went up to Cosby (a stop sign in the East Tennessee hills), then up the section of the Foothills Parkway that runs from a little West of there to I-40.  We drove into NC, then turned South and headed back through Maggie Valley and down the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Smokies.  We ate at Howard’s on Thursday, and at Shoney’s, of all places, on Friday.  Saturday saw us in Pigeon Forge and at home.

I’m about 1/3 through prepping my garden beds for the summer.  I need to level 3 frames and get the good dirt, and I’ll be set to go.  I may even set out some leafy greens in August, since that will be enough time for them to pop and mature, and the weather will be cool enough in October for them to be well on their way to my salad bowl.  As per my hopeful gardening–idiom?–plan?–you know what I mean–I plan to get heirlooms.  I’ve found the Seed Savers Exchange, and the Southen Exposure Seed Exchange, thanks to Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, by William Woys Weaver.  SSE has a lettuce mix I’m really interested in trying out, so we’ll see.

Finally, I have a new phone, wich I have to go back to US Cellular to discuss parts and accessories.  Seems my phone should have had a USB cable in the box, according to LG’s web site, and it didn’t.  It’s the UX260 black that’s been advertised on TV recently.  I’ve seen another phone like it and really like it, so there you go.  I’ve got a microSD card on the way, too, so I can use it as a 2 GB MP3 player.  I hate that I had to leave AT&T, with whom I’ve been happy for almost 5 years, but I don’t didn’t get reception in the house, or much outside the house, with their service.  Had they offered their DSL in this area, we would have switched and gotten a land line, since those and the cell service together along with Netflix are cheaper than the cell and Charter’s Internet w/ 12 channels…  Oh, well.  That’s life.

I’d go on, but life’s just how it is.

Cheers,

Red Wolf