Now that hunting season has started, the deer spend more time close to the house. They know that they can’t be shot within 400 feet of an occupied house.
Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.
Daily Electric Energy Used (69 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (11.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy and rainy all day. Biggest usage Hydroponics (22.4 kWh), servers and computers (18.9 kWh), kitchen (6.4 kWh). Overall a net deficit of 57.6 kWh. Some of the excess usage in the kitchen was the oven being used to re-season a cast iron stir-fry pan.
As the nights are getting cooler, it is getting near the end of the growing season for vegetables in my GrowTowers. Today I have taken pictures of all of the different types of peppers that I have grown this year. Some of the pepper leaves are turning yellow, so I probably should have added some fertilizer mid-summer. Other things that have done well in the GrowTowers are carrots and scallions (on the top), various lettuces, kale, and swiss chard. Early in the season I had some broccoli, and three cabbage. Later on the insects got the broccoli, and the cabbage got to be too big for the GrowTowers. I am still getting basil, but the dill were all eaten by Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars. I also planted three types of strawberries. Some of the plants are still producing fruit, and I have many strawberry runners that I need to cut and replant. I need to figure out how to protect the GrowTowers with the strawberry plants over the winter. I now have two air-puppet Scarecrows guarding the wildflower meadows. So far the deer are staying out (although they completely destroyed one rear sections with Sunflowers).
Individual images from all of the slideshows can be viewed in my PhotoShelter gallery here.
Late season strawberry. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)Late season strawberry flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)Doe and two fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens + 1.4x teleconverter. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (39.3 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (37.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Clouds most of the day and cooler, so no need for the Geothermal HVAC. Overall a net deficit of 1.8 kWh.
The deer are getting bolder and getting closer to the house. Here a doe is just outside my patio. The buck with a rack of antlers is next to the back wildflower meadow. I am guessing he got his antlers caught in the electric fence and panicked destroying a section of the electric fence. These images were all taken through a window impacting sharpness.
Daily Electric Energy Used (40.5 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (38.7 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy much of the day. Starting to warm up outside. Overall a net deficit of 1.8 kWh.
When I woke up, I noticed a number of deer in the back. One doe with a bad case of mange was down. As soon as it saw me, it got up and one of the fawns joined it.
Click on the above image to access the individual images in the slideshow.
Daily Electric Energy Used (45.9 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (40.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Still cool outside but more clouds for a net deficit of 5 kWh.
There were more than a dozen deer in my yard this morning. Lots of teenage fawns, still with spots. They spend their time nibbling on the wildflowers just outside the electric fence. At one point I saw one jump back after touching its nose to the electric fence. A bit later, I saw one of the fawns with “mile-a-minute” vine sticking to its side. Helping to spread this invasive vine.
Early morning Doe and two Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 640, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Early morning Doe and three Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Two Fawns. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 1000, 200 mm, f/2, 1/300 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Fawn checking out the electric fence and the flowers behind. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 320, 200 mm, f/2, 1/850 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)Fawn (with mile-a-minute vine on its side). Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 200 mm f/2 OIS lens (ISO 320, 200 mm, f/2, 1/2500 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (40.6 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (62.10 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside and more sun for a net surplus of 21.5 kWh.
