reform school

https://pixelfed.social/reformSchool

Pilates, Plants, & Portugal.

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reformschool_at_pixelfed.social@momostr.pink

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relay.momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-06-29 00:02:20 UTC

The garden is doing a little better but still not exactly thriving. Still: it's been a good first year. #garden #gardening #horta #porto
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2026-06-16 14:32:05 UTC

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Ok I'm intrigued! Potatoes: hill to keep potatoes covered & edible
Tomatoes: bury deep because the stems will throw out roots
But corn? Is this to keep from flopping over, from pests, ...?
Looks great!

2026-05-09 00:35:27 UTC

[@yvan](https://pixelfed.social/yvan ) shared a really detailed message about Weck jars and introduced me to a new source to buy from without spending 2x the product cost on shipping, customs, and VAT. I've shown the Portuguese version; there's one for the UK as well. I didn't move any of my canning equipment or jars from the US to PT so now I start over. The pears last year required a lot of editing, but then, we hadn't moved in yet. I hope picking rather than wind fall will help. I plan to can. Last year's persimmons were sadly compost. And apparently they don't can safely but they dry and freeze. My tomatoes are not impressive -- likely bad timing as I learn new rhythms -- but I still have hopes for putting up sauce. Maybe the squash will do well enough to cube & can for future soup. I also ordered bottles for vanilla, yogurt, and kombucha. The markets here will sell fruit & berries by the kilo before long. Anyone have favorite recipes? #preserve #garden #gardening #yeswecan #canning #horta #porto #fruit
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2026-05-07 22:27:32 UTC

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Oh how sad -- they only ship to the UK. I spent so long agonizing over this and should have checked first, but the customs warning left me thinking it would be UK to Portugal, when likely it's Germany to UK. Ah well. Try, try again.

2026-05-05 09:05:46 UTC

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"Write once, debug everywhere" in those days Java was pretty frustrating. And Sun's slogan sparced much derision.

2026-04-06 08:10:47 UTC

Tomato planting day! 6 seedlings of black krim, Roma, and a yellow cherry plus a few direct sow since I was trying for 8. Carrots are coming along well. Lettuces look to need thinning. The odd cup-shaped fungus returned amidst the garlic but not so bad. And I don't know my local birds but meet a cheeky little fella who might be the nasturtium raider. #garden #gardening #raisedbeds #horta #porto
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2026-03-24 09:34:31 UTC

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fabulous! I think that means you are planting more densely than I expected to. And the spacing suggestion on the seed packet seemed overly generous to me. Maybe it's time to ignore the docs 😁

2026-03-24 09:09:53 UTC

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Mine are a little smaller and I'm hardening them off to plant out at the end of the week. Yours look lovely! You are going to have a lot of happy bees. I'm planning one row .8 meters long. How much space are you devoting?

2026-03-10 02:51:33 UTC

Today in the #greenhouse: strawberries are bouncing back from my neglect. For both the snapdragons and the carnations, I must have dropped some of the tiny seeds outside the grow bags, as well as some potting mix, so I have some volunteers to prick out. #estufa #jardim #porto #gardening #garden #growityourself
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2026-03-08 03:18:25 UTC

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thank you! Question: is there a list somewhere of TopicDay hashtags? I see them from time to time and worry I am not doing the community integration thing well. Does everyone coordinate somehow?

2026-03-05 21:49:56 UTC

Balcony #solar is brilliant. It's like a UPS for a subset of the house, via PV panels, grid-tied. It will help smooth out our demand. We're not going for full energy independence here, and #portugal's energy basket is actually very good. But transmission is loss, about 50% in the US (Edit to add: INCORRECT! See thread for updated stats.) So we got something small enough to move, without waiting to get the roof replaced in a few years. I just hope I got the right mounting kits. #diy #solarpunk
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2026-03-03 19:59:36 UTC

The bird of paradise blooms nearly year long, and I stood on tiptoe to get an overhead shot. Sunflower seeds are ready to be planted as soon as I feel they're hardened off; this is the step I reliably fumble. But they are too tall to keep in the greenhouse. The sixth replacement seed has sprouted; no doubt it will catch up. These will be tall fellahs. The garlic is doing wonderfully! I've never grown it before. I gave it a month in the fridge before popping it into the beds, and I have a 3.2 meter stretch of garlic across three beds. Vampires beware! Good to see lettuce and rocket make an appearance. Still unsure about the archways so today I planted spinach while I wait. Worst case I harvest it small. I also put a few lavender seeds into the herb bed; late but we'll see. Speaking of late, let's hope I didn't kill too many strawberries. I finally potted them up today. This is why I shouldn't impulse buy living things without knowing where they will go... I spritzed bare roots with water and left them in a dark garage, but everything is always wet in Porto. Poor little guys started to rot. But strawberries are fierce. I doubt I will lose many. Now to make hangers to keep them from snails. #bloomscrolling #garden #gardening #horta #jardim #porto
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2026-03-01 10:02:22 UTC

Potato update! I had a great experience yesterday. We walked in to the local café with an extra 82 planting potatoes. Between my basic Portuguese & a bit of mime, one of the guys at the bar very happily claimed them. A younger lad, 20s, came up to talk with us in fluent English. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a baggie. Uh oh, I thought, because in the US nothing good would happen next.
But here? Wheat seeds, from his father sitting at a nearby table. I am out of space for this year anyway so it's just as well that I wasn't offered any, but I have a new ambition for next year. The local wheat variety is short. That's all I know. But I love that the young men at our neighborhood bar walk around with baggies of wheat seeds. Time to become a café regular. #garden #gardening #porto #vilanovadegaia
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2026-03-01 08:58:25 UTC

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how did it go? I would love to try something similar here!

2026-02-28 00:12:14 UTC

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It's going to be interesting to see what holds up. For example, requesting a warrant is being weaponized. Police show up for a wellness check which doesn't need a warrant. Someone follows training like this card and demands a warrant. Police charge with obstruction. ICE coincidentally shows up and now they have a target with pending charges, with a fast track for deportation.

2026-02-27 11:18:34 UTC

Big day for the #raisedBeds. I made #diy bamboo frames and completed planting everything in the shown February plan (h/t growVeg) except for under the archway. I need to rethink that space because I may not have killed all of the chu chu I was given in October, so how does everything fit now? My 18 potatoes are planted--I think the remaining 82 can go to the neighbors with chickens and a rooster. Previously planted, garlic is coming up! Nothing from the previously sown carrots & greens yet. It should be a good Spring.
#garden #gardening #porto #portugal #growityourself #organic
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2026-02-21 01:37:51 UTC

Yay seeds! But... I went into my favorite store with "uma lista!" in English & Portuguese. The seller patiently helped me find things. Reader, I intended to buy six planting potatoes. But in the challenge to express that I would actually prefer red potatoes, despite at first saying either was fine, doing my best with my elementary Portuguese, well: I flat out missed that I was handed a box with 100 potatoes. 100 potatoes! I was so proud to only walk out with *almost* nothing more than what I listed (strawberries & spaghetti squash got past me, but so close.) While not my first #garden, as happens I've never grown #potatoes before, let alone here in #porto. I've drastically rearranged the garden plan. I can now accommodate 18 potatoes, but I'm not sure I should. And even if so... What am I going to do with the remaining 82?! 😳 With a plan for two zucchini, I better figure out an answer I can reuse in a few months! #gardening #raisedbed
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2026-02-20 23:58:27 UTC

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Hardening off might go better too!

2026-02-19 00:00:32 UTC

Black krim tomatoes planted 27 January (3 weeks ago) in the greenhouse. The yellow cherry tomatoes just came up. No proof of life from the hot peppers yet, but someone has to take the bronze.
Today I've direct sown garlic, lettuce, rocket, and carrots in the raised beds. It's not terribly photogenic at this stage, but I am thrilled to get some pauses in the rain. Let's get this garden party started #gardening #greenhouse #raisedbeds
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2026-02-16 11:52:10 UTC

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This is such an inspiration! Thank you for sharing specifics and the time estimate. Here's to Spring!