You know the saying – “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”, well Ron has a special knack for that.
Yesterday was supposed to be a normal enough day. The plan was to get out to THF by 530 am and get the pawpaws and elderberries watered. We had been using two plastic coffee cans to measure out the water for each plant. Being Ron, he really wanted to formalize our routine. Make sure that each plant got the amount of water. Also, being Ron it had to be a cheap fix. I managed to find gallon size pitchers that meant his requirements. And on clearance to boot.
So we were all up by 5 am and on our way. Loaded the water tank and and pump onto the trailer and headed across the stream. Then we hit a few snags. The water pump did not want to kick over and then the hose I had shoved into the water tank was not filling up. I had shoved so much of it into the tank that it folded over on itself. Once I yanked a good length of it back out, the tank was suddenly full of water.
Back across the stream we went and started watering our future orchard. I really do need to look into karate lessons for my elderberries. The deer have been eating their leaves and making me very nervous in the process.
With the tank empty Ron and Jo headed back for a refill. I heard the pump start and then stop, the 4 wheeler start up and then Jo give a yell. The engine cut off and I heard them talking and then Jo yelled for me. Heart racing I ran to the stream to see what was going on. Huge relief. It was a flat tire on the trailer. And do I mean flat. Down to the ground flat. Ron was already emptying out the water tank and asked me to bring over some pliers so he could get the tire off. While a flat tire might seem a small inconvenience, it actually shut us down. No way to finish watering the plants and certainly no way to haul the water needed to soak our mushroom logs. This had to get fixed.

We loaded it into the car and headed off to a gas station. $1.50 later and we were still holding a very flat tire. The tube was not filling at all. Now we headed home with Ron planning to try one of the local tires places. A quick check and he found one that opened at 730. While he went to Oneida, Jo and I tackled the remainder of our just delivered wood pile. And we quite simply, kicked butt. By the time Ron got home 90 minutes later we had hauled the last of the logs from our driveway into our backyard and stacked them in our racks. He was most impressed.
But the saga of the tire continued. The guys at the tire place had been great, using a bead bazooka with huge power to refill the thing. They found the problem. A good sized cut in the time. Probably from one of our many, many rocks. They had no tires that size so Ron headed to a store that sold lawn mowers to see what they had. Then he came home to search the internet. A phone call later and he was grabbing his keys and wallet on the way out the door. Jo and I were heading to Syracuse to have some fun.
Of course things did not go smoothly again. Turned out the store did not have the tire after all. So Ron headed Don Hull & Sons in Verona, an engine repair shop. They did not have the tire but Rosa, the lady who Ron talked to, went above and beyond customer service. She pulled out her parts book and made phone calls trying to find someone who did have it. Jo and I were happily walking around the Regional Farmers Market in Syracuse when Ron called. We were headed to Kimbers which luckily was not even 10 minutes away. We walked in and told the man we were looking for a turf tire. “Did you call earlier?”, he asked. I told him that someone else had. He brought a tire out but it did not look right. Luckily the other man knew there another style and sent him back for it. That was the right one and I called Ron to tell him. He was still at Don Hull & Sons and had news of his own. Rosa, who obviously was determined to find a solution for Ron, told him if he had the flat tire with him they could repair it. They could install a tube that would get him back up and running. She is the kind of person Ron really likes. One who thinks on her feet, and cares about getting the job done. Well, he did have the tire and so once it was fixed, he was going to head back to THF with brother Don and get the trailer back up and running. Rosa will be getting a huge bag o’shiitakes as a thank you next week.

I do wish I had been on hand to watch the process of getting the tire back on. More photos for one thing. Don, Jesse and Ron got it done and then finished up the watering. By that time it was bloody hot, even in the shade and Ron decided it was lunch time. No desire for fast food so they headed to Clinton to find a proper restaurant. They landed at “fancy” place that they were seriously underdressed for. He assured me the food was excellent but what he was most excited about was the conversation he had with the chef. Ron had asked the waitress to check and see if the chef would be interested in shiitake mushrooms and he came right out of the kitchen. 15 minutes later and Ron had pretty much his whole life’s story and a commitment to take some shiitakes on Thursday. Again, this year we are not selling. That begins in 2017. Just working to get people hooked this year.

These replacements don’t look like much, but they will certainly save our butts when the next flat happens. In fact Ron won’t be surprised if we find it flat again when we get out there today. As you know “sh#t happens”.

UPDATE

One week out and the repair is still holding. Gotta love when good people help you and it works.