2/16/2020
(Above: High-Garden this morning, before I began to work.)
Active Summary: After an early morning regimen of calisthenics, writing, and checking beef cows, I tended to a variety of tasks. These included: finishing up an email for Master Blend Cattle Company’s half-cow program, working on my UF application form, helping Padre walk a heifer into the treatment chute, venturing up to Oldhouse to make sausage beef for lunch, and beginning the High-Garden Project.
(7:11 PM Update:) This afternoon I helped with various cattle related activities before returning to the High-Garden. There, I continued where I left off earlier: weeding and spreading the soil.
TIL: Today I learned of additional modes for measuring temperatures. This came about at mention of The Réaumur Scale in War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy. The Réaumur scale seems quite similar to Celsius, because the scale begins at the freezing point of water (0 degrees). However, unlike Celsius, the boiling point for water is listed as 80 degrees instead of 100. Though the Réaumur scale has become far less popular since the late 1800s, it is still utilized in the production of candies in the Netherlands and in the process of cheese-making in some Italian and Swiss factories.
This all inspired me to wonder… How many different temperature scales have there been over the years? There are of course Fahrenheit, Celcius, Kelvin, and Réaumur. A little research, however, revealed that there are even more scales, including: Rankine, Delisle, Newton, and Rømer. That makes for a total of eight temperature scales where I originally thought there to only be three.
Commentary: Though I am still catching up with various Master Blend and school-related tasks, I am quite satisfied with what I was able to accomplish at the High-Garden today. It will be beneficial having to garden plots to tend, so when one begins to play out, I can plant or re-plant the other. With such a cycle in place, and with our fruit consumption about to be reduced by more than half*, my family’s weekly vegetation grocery bill may be reduced to a mere thirty or forty dollars**.
Also, apologies for the odd shapes, sizes, and quality of the pictures today. I’m attempting to keep the High-Garden location hidden from Madre until she finds where it is. Hopefully it will be soon! Maybe she’ll even be able to tell from these pictures:
A pigweed without any thorns. I’m not certain if this plant is a mutant of some sort or if it was affected by the super-strength compost in which it was rooted. 
One of the many click-beetle larvae I found. These are supposedly quite harmful to the roots of plants. Fortunately, they also tend to vacate heavily-worked soil. Padre and I were both impressed by how quickly it moved and dug its way back into the soil (almost akin to a fish swimming in water.) 
Another view of the High-Garden. 
High-Garden at twilight, after about 1.5 hours of weed clearing and dirt-moving.
Final Note: I must work on some school tomorrow. Aside from that, I’m sure I can find some sort of other shenanigans to get into. I’ll no doubt spend at least another thirty minutes in the High-Garden.
* My brother is venturing to his job in Seattle soon, and he is the eater-of-fruit in our family. I’m going to miss having him around… and not just because of the fruit and sweets that are kept in the house on his account.
**This may not seem particularly impressive to some, but considering that my family’s diet is about 80% vegetables (no exaggeration), that is a huge reduction from our farm market bills of $80 and sometimes $100 per week.
No doubt the “fruit” is going to be missed by all.