William Schlegel wrote:From the pods it might be Camelina microcarpa but the leaves are very different from that.

Yeah, from the photos of Camelina in Google Images, I would agree...can't reconcile the leaves with the silques though.  Strange, but hoping it strikes a chord with someone. Thanks!

Does anybody know the common or scientific name of this little mustard (photos below)?  It popped up in some soil from the Washington-Idaho area.  Thanks!

I recently saw a comedian video-clip where he proposed a much simpler border wall:  If the US just takes over everything south of the border down to the Panama canal, then it would be a very small border to have to defend! [  ;-)  ]    

In addition, on a per-capita basis, there would be a much larger tax base to fund the federal coffer.  Then we could give/sell Canada the states of Maine, Montana (maybe just down to I-94??), northern Idaho, North Dakota (missile silos empty, but re-hab ready), and even northern Minnesota up to Lake Superior, but not including Duluth, which has a decent waterfront. ;-)  Canada can finally move a sizable portion of it's central population that much closer to the equator, they gain a few more eastern ports in Maine, and they can finally fix the flooding situation in the Fargo-Moorhead area the same way they did for Winnipeg.  The quasi governmental 'Bank of North Dakota' could merge with the 'Bank of Canada' and prairie province wheat growers could finally gain access to the North Dakota State Mill.  

(Promise, I won't even get into health care... )  

Is this not the very definition of "Win-Win"??

:-o)

Valentine's Day addition--- The Gambler ran out of luck!

No snow for a few days, but the last one left a pretty light covering of new snow across the region.  Then last night, against the run of the forecast, the winds picked up and blew most of the night and early morning.  I assessed the driveway and wagered that (a) the drifting was no more than 1.5 ft in height and that (b) it was located higher on the driveway which would have hard surface underneath in contrast to some of the pot-holes farther down.  What I was gambling with was the fact that (c) that drift was a good 25 ft in length to make up for it's lack of depth and (d) the placement near the county road would mean that the snow *in* that drift was the result of a driving wind for more than 12 hr.  Should I stay with the AWD small SUV and risk getting hung up or go with the truck (higher clearance 4X4)?

I decided to take the bet......and lost!  Midway through the drift, the axles bottomed out and I was stuck fast.  As the Valentine's Day cherub chuckled from a nearby tree, I proceeded to dig out the wheels and under the carriage to removed the snow holding up the vehicle.  Which is not much fun when the snow is that packed and heavy.....and even less fun when doing so at the most exposed part of the property with a 25 mph wind driving a 5 degree F morning temp into a rather 'bracing' windchill.

It took around 20 minutes of digging, moving a bit, digging some more, moving a bit more to finally back the vehicle down onto more solid driveway.  The process, however, was an education since I'm new to modern AWD vehicles that have both 4WD option and "traction control".  What baffled me was that the old school "rock the vehicle" between 'drive' and 'reverse' was not working!  Occasional stomps on the acceleration yielded.....NO acceleration.  What was going on??!  Later at work as I relayed this to colleagues, I got the eyeroll as they clued me in as to the need to disable the 'traction control' in such situations in order to maximize power transmission to the wheels.  Who woulda thunk!.....

Anyway, at the end of the day, the drive was completely filled in.  So the car awaits by the side of the road and my Valentine's Evening highlight will be a date with John Deere as we blow out the drift under the stars.  I didn't see the cherub in the trees when I arrived home.....I think he got frostbite and tumbled into the snowbank below!  ;-)

thomas rubino wrote:

I don't think the financial logistics would work with this idea or really even the power benefit gained.

Yet another 'spin' (pun fully intended) on this idea that might provide some usable power.  What would stop the owner of an apartment complex from rigging all of the waste water lines through a micro-hydro set-up, especially if the complex is a high-rise type with a lot of drop from the upper apartments?  You, as the owner, are already collecting rent.....why not collect power in the "form of the flush"?  ;-)   If the dwellings did not begin until, say, one level above street level and the turbine were located in the parking garage underneath, would that be sufficient pressure with all of the showering, flushing, and sink use to generate power?  (With a bit of ingenuity you could possible get some bio-gas as 'collateral waste fuel' as well.)  I've always assumed the hydro-turbines need to run continuously, but if they are like wind-turbines, I guess that would not need to be so, correct?....so it would generate peak power during peak waste-water flow?

r ranson wrote:

John Weiland wrote:

r ranson wrote:what are car chains and would they be a better option than winter tires?

Seems a shame to buy special tires if we only get winter one or two weeks every other year....

What kind of vehicle(s) do you have?

Front-wheel drive van.  

That would be a tough rig for driving in deep snow and may be problematic on some icy inclines.  Overall, front-wheel drive is more useful than rear-wheel drive on snow-covered roads.  Between my wife and I, only I have an all-wheel drive car for everyday use and it's pretty good.  Wife drives selectable 4X4 Xterra (Nissan) and the pick-up truck is selectable 4X4 as well (rear-wheel drive only when not using 4 wheel drive).  The 4 wheel drive option really can get you out of situations in deep snow and mud that all-wheel drive can't, but none of them will be of much good when your axles are embedded in mud or snow.  In all cases, and only deployed judiciously, axle-burying hard snow drifts that are not too long can be battered through if you are able to get a run at the drift.  A large majority of local drivers need to do this when they arrive home to find the driveway blocked by either a drift that formed during the work-day or a passing snowplow whose road-clearing efforts have filled in the top of the driveway.

I've put tire chains on car and tractor tires but don't relish doing it much....

**If** you are in the market down the road for a new rig and wish to have some security in this department for future winters, you may wish to look into one of the SUV (more common) or van (less common) options that have selectable 4X4.  Hope this may help in some regard.

Also see the following for a discussion on the all-wheel drive versus 4 wheel drive comparison: https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/awd-vs-4wd-whats-the-difference-and-which-to-choose.html

r ranson wrote:what are car chains and would they be a better option than winter tires?

Seems a shame to buy special tires if we only get winter one or two weeks every other year....

What kind of vehicle(s) do you have?

Alan Loy wrote:Two additional options

marinate in your preferred acid based marinade (wine, lemon etc)

strip the carcass and then mince/grind the meat then use as you would ground beef

Wow!....I've never heard of these salt and acid/vinegar incubation options.  I assume the meat which has not yet been cooked, once ground, could be used for sausage, correct?

r ranson, what do you feel will be the duration of the snow piles this year?  Shouldn't that part of Vancouver Island be back to melting/raining temperature pretty soon?  If it's not likely to last for more than a week or two, I would just do the minimum to get around to your animals and make sure that you have road access and wait for it to melt.  Outside of Fargo, we don't have that luxury.....but the luxury we do have are snowblowers and HIGH WINDS!  So it's rather easy to make the snow airborne with a walk-behind or tractor-mount snow blower and get it away from the driveway in order to minimize future drifting.

Gaiters.....back in the ski-bum days in Utah, and challenging each other to come up with the cheapest set of gear, a friend showed that you can take a standard plastic grocery store bag [we debated whether or not Smith's Food King were better than Albertson's..... ;-)  ] and cut the bottom out of it.  Now turn the bag upside down (not inside out), place your foot/boot through the cut hole and loop the two 'handle straps' under your boot.  Then collect and wrap the bag up around past your ankle and calf, much like wrapping decorative paper around a flower arrangement.  Finally, with one hand holding the top of the bag around your upper calf area, circle it with duct tape!   I'm not kidding.....instant gaiters!  They won't endure like the real deal, but if you are in a pinch it works to keep your socks and feet dry.

As for "What else do I need to know about snow?"....

.....some chickens actually like it!  :-)    (courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)

Wes Hunter wrote:

I've never tried it, but I had a customer tell me that using alcohol is another method of rendering an old bird palatable.....  

:-)   I have to admit my first thought was how little I might care about the tenderness of the meat if I'd had one too many shots of Stoli's before dinner.... :-)

The resurrection of this thread was timely as it's mid-winter, yet signs of looming spring are in the air.  This means that the roosters are fighting a bit more and occasionally one of the "tough old birds" meets his maker from a scuffle.  If I come across one already dead or nearly so, the head gets chopped off and (again, midwinter) the bird hung by its feet in the root cellar for up to a week or so before plucking and evisceration.  After cleaning and even with a tough one, I find that a several-hour 'steaming' (simmering) on the back burner with a generous amount of water is sufficient to turn it to reasonably tender meat---and very flavorful!  Did a first batch of chicken and dumpling soup last night after many years of just making chicken noodle soup in the past, but the bulk of the meat is usually used for things like chicken salad, chicken curry, stir-fried veggies with chicken, etc.  And its amazing to me how many meals are afforded by one bird!.....

Tj Jefferson wrote:....In most industries people have almost stopped reading low impact journals. One of the frustrating things I have experienced (and I bet Dr Redhawk can confirm) is that now we can track the number of people who read an article, and the writing process takes me more hours than the number of people who read the article unless it is something compelling. .....

Although the proliferation of lower quality journals is, IMHO, not necessarily a good thing due to the sloppiness of the manuscript reviews and editorial oversight, I actually welcome the fact that much is being published that would not find its way into other journals.  Certainly, this means that the onus is then on the reader to be able to examine the experimental design, the type and quality of the results obtained, and the interpretation of those results by the author(s) in order to determine how much 'weight' to give to the findings.  But often these articles are publishing on some aspect that, while not significant to the overall advancement of knowledge, may be significant to investigators who are part of the discipline.   I'm aware of the 'high-impact' journals, but was trained long ago to give critical review to ALL publications in science journals and cringe when I hear others comparing notes on 'impact factor'.  A more concerning development is the increase in 'scientific review' articles by non-research professionals who nevertheless hold advanced degrees:  There are increasing numbers of such articles that ostensibly summarize the 'state of the literature', but in which the author has made no attempt to critically assess the studies being cited in that review.  The result is 'misinformation creep', where certain ideas gain validity strictly out of being referenced in multiple review articles without scrutiny.  And all of this is happening *before* the press gets a hold of it! :-/

Yet statements like the following are always curious:

"Though the philosopher's stone was a myth and alchemy failed, the alchemists weren't completely wrong: With modern physics equipment, such as particle accelerators, it is indeed possible to create gold from other elements, though the amounts are sub-microscopic and the process costs far more to create than the resulting gold is worth." -- https://www.livescience.com/39314-alchemy.html

That it takes the pinnacle of human ingenuity to make this happen on a microscopic scale doesn't negate the possibility that it can happen rather readily under circumstances unknown.  So maybe in the case of oil genesis the minerals all turn into carbon-based petro. :-)

Stated tongue-in-cheek, of course....but only because of our current subjective understanding of the natural world.

Greg and Malcolm, settin' up shop in the sunroom! ;-)

S Bengi wrote:
Creating a world without pecking order at homes, schools, work, government, society is going to be hard. We have made some great strides but so much still depends on the race/tribe/country/nobility/money/gender that you were born into.

Yes, culture will impact this 'bigly' ... [...as a current stable genius leader in our current culture would say. :-) ]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/14/early-men-women-equal-scientists

William Bronson wrote:
The business of higher education seems to consists of sports, research, housing and certification, in that order.


..........

In a better world,  all these teams would be run like the Packers.
Owned by the community, supported directly from the fans, old school crowd funding.

I do like the economic model of Lambeau field.  I can't imagine the Packer franchise still be located in Green Bay were it not for that ownership structure.  

As for the first sentence, when did 'research' rise so high on the list? ;-)  Locally, it appears that administrators are siphoning dollars away from the research component as fast as the laws allow.  With the exception of a dedicated few, teaching died a quiet death long ago.  As a business model, it does seem to be teetering a bit of late and, unless changes arise, appears unsustainable.

Mike Jay wrote:

But I'd be much more interested if the Packers were in it.  Maybe next year...

Oh....In your dreams, Mike.  2020 is going to be the Vikings year!  After supporting them with all of the doe-eyed delusionality of religious convert since I was old enough in the mid-1960s to hug the black-and-white screen, I can feel it my rickety bones that the Purple Wave is going to channel the entire megawatt load running the lights and HVAC at Mall of America.......and crush the Cheeseheads on their way to Superbowl dominance!

[Then the lights can go out and the Permies will be left standing... ;-)  ]

But like I alluded to;--when it comes to the Vikes, hope springs ever eternal...... ;-/

I'm intrigued as I've had so many tech-heads sing the praises of Linux and I've stayed away from it from lack of time and knowledge.  Now there is a bit more time and an old 32-bit Win7 laptop gathering dust in one of the side-rooms.  Maybe a good time to give it a try.  Any recommendations of a "Go to this website *first*....", step-by-step nature?  Also how is the compatibility of Linux-based open source word-processors/spreadsheets with their Windoze counterparts and what would be a recommended browser?  Thanks!

Just for fun,.....and it may be staged.  

But maybe not!:    Two current 17 year-olds trying to operate a rotary phone!

Liam Omalley wrote:

I just purchased a 4 acre home.....

Wow!.....our home is only ~1800 square feet!   How do you heat that thing!??  .... (kidding)

Agree with Travis, but also to add:  Any possibility for home modification for passive solar?  Even with modest sun in the winter, adding more south-facing windows and beefing up the insulation all around can make a lot of difference, especially with the leaves are off the trees during that season.  Does it have a woodstove already?  With the 4 acres, would one part of it be able to provide wood for wood-heating?  If interested, here is a lin to a furnace that does a combination of wood along with fossil-fuel of your choice:  https://napoleonheatingandcooling.com/products/hmf200/

They appear to be made in Canada, but have US distributors.

If that stream flows all year, the I agree with Travis that it could a quite a reliable source for some of your electrical needs.

James Freyr wrote:I don't know which circle of hell it is, but I do know Sisyphus' punishment was to roll a boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down to the bottom after reaching the top, and he had to repeat this task for eternity.

But what a wimpy sentencing......compared to Prometheus who was chained to a rock, had his liver eaten by an eagle each day, only to have it re-grow overnight so it could be eaten again the next day....lather, rinse, repeat..  I think it was a morality tale foretelling future employment in a telemarketing pool..... ;-)

L. Tims wrote:
However, a lot of people on here seem to think that heirlooms are incredibly inbred and thus incapable of adapting, and that you'll continue to get the same results year after year unless you introduce new genetics.

Not having done the long term experiment, I'd like to hear thoughts on this, maybe from someone who has and can say for sure. Or somebody else's theorizing at least, lol. They should adapt even if they are somewhat inbred, because epigenetics or something, right, right? Or if you've got a strong argument that they don't, well that's fine too.

Just MHO, FWIW and YMMV...

Some plants like beans are already quite inbred since they are naturally self-pollinating.  Others like maize are out-crossing and likely are less inbred.  In both cases where they are heirlooms, adaptation to a new environment will likely occur over time.  Generally speaking, the out-crosser will come with more genetic diversity naturally as a consequence of the cross-pollination and may adapt sooner to a new environment.  You may have genetic diversity in a handful of heirloom beans, but if they were derived from a single seed, then they will be pretty genetically homogeneous (more 'clonal').  Either way, "new genetics" will enter your operation by default, even if you stick with the same seeds and do not experience wind-blown pollen blowing in from neighboring beans or maize.  This is because mutation (in addition to the epigentics to which you referred) naturally occurs in the genomes of all organisms with each generation, to a greater or lesser extent.  It generally takes longer to see genetic gains/improvement via this mechanism of 'new genetics' as compared to crossing with (a) something either more naturally genetically diverse, or (b) crossing with something that might not be so diverse, but is at least different in its genetic background or history from the heirlooms you brought with you.  Most publicly-offered seed from seedbanks will, by practice, tend to give out seed that has genetic diversity *within* the seedlot so that the recipient can make faster gains or improvement for their own location.  All of this said, for *some* types of crops and seed sources, you might find a pretty severe initial 'bottleneck effect':  If you brought heirloom seed from a family farm in, say, Maine to a new abode in Tuscon, AZ, the climate shift for those genetics *may* be such that you see high mortality in the first few seasons of production and, in later seasons, gains thereafter as the best 'new genetics' that survive the new conditions begin to establish your new seed cache.  You may in fact observe a shift in flavor, size, and other attributes of the plant, but generally it will be close enough to the original to still warrant retaining the original variety name.

Depending on the daylength, kale and chard should be fine, yes?  And provide a fresh, edible green leaf throughout the winter in many areas?  By protecting them through the worst of the freezes with tarps/blankets, wouldn't they at least hold their turgor and many nutrients for fresh picking?

Another pretty interesting view on the issue regarding evolved diet in humans and close ancestors:  https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/

The article makes one mistake in my mind, common and yet understandable though it is, and that is to equate....or nearly so.....*our* ancestors with current day primates.  There is of course *some* merit in doing so, but one must be cautious about the conclusions drawn and be cognizant of misinterpretation.  Another factor worth reflecting on is the common perhaps 'over'-interpretation that our teeth determine us to be hunters.  Certainly the structure of our mandibles and teeth are consistent with meat-eating, but as one paper queried:  "Take a look at the teeth of any animal. The chances are you'll then have a good idea if it's a meat eater or a vegetarian. Sharp canines? Easy. All the better to eat you with. But how would you find out whether your chosen species got by on dead meat, or if it survived and thrived by catching live prey?" --  Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-scavengerthe-meat-thieving-traits-stood.html#jCp"

No easy answers from the top article, but it sweeps broadly through evolutionary time which makes sense to me and is quite thought-provoking.  Personally, I'm pretty omnivorous (....and when popcorn is available, pretty 'cornivorous'--hardee, har...), but my wife is trending vegan for ethical reasons.  That said, we equally kill kamikaze roosters on the property and my wife has no problem eating what she kills.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:John, two thoughts. First, the "new" hydrant in the sleeve seems similar to how city water departments have a valve in/near the street where a service joins the mains. There's a pipe for the valve key to reach down to the valve way underground, and nothing but air in there... so I wouldn't be too concerned just as long as you are below frost-line.

Second, if your standpipe was bent that much, so then was the plunger rod. Your straightening of the pipe wouldn't have straightened the rod fully, due to the "springback", so it is bent and likely jammed against the inside of the pipe making adjusting difficult.

If you could get it apart, you could maybe straighten the rod again, or replace the rod and valve parts with new and save digging it all up.

Thanks,......I'm hoping the dead-air space will help to insulate things down below if we go that route.

Interestingly, I did actually pull up the rod and old plunger this last summer as mentioned above.  I had it laying on a table as I swapped out the original plunger for an OEM replacement and decided to swap out the spiggot head at the same time.  I do not recall noticing any concerning curvature to the rod itself, but that's not to say it didn't have some and to a degree to cause the problem you mention.  On a more concerning note, I was able warm the pipe enough a few days ago to raise and lower the handle......have gotten accustomed to knowing this does NOT mean it's fixed since often I think one is just raising and lowering the ice column wrapped around the plunger rod.  What's extra concerning this time is a lack of force needed to put the handle all the way back into the 'down' (off) position....as if the plunger is not seating in it's usual place----or is no longer attached to the rod (which seems unlikely, but who knows?).  If it is no longer attached and is seated so as to block water flow, I'm not so concerned as hopefully it will keep the water from geysering once the ground thaws and the water pressure returns.  However, if the physics of the handle are what keep the plunger seated in place at the end of the rod, what would stop the water pressure in the line from blowing out the possibly unattached plunger once the thaw occurs?  Unfortunately, two hydrants are run off of that one line and we can't just shut off the main water source until spring repairs can commence or else we lose the use of the other hydrant.  But you bring up an additional good point:  Like city hydrants, some yard hydrants are starting to include parallel-running conduits down which a key can be inserted to shut the water off from the source so that the specific hydrant can be isolated from the others on a multiple-hydrant line.  Lots of things to consider if we are going to do the job right with the new install.  Thanks for the insights here!....

Travis Johnson wrote:Most of the time you can pull the old style hydrant for repairs as well without digging.

The key to these are to make sure there is good drainage around the bottom of the valve body so that the water that drains out of the valve, has a place to go. I say this because inevitably someone will leave the hose in a bucket of water or stocktank, and when the valve is shut, a siphon action happens and sucks all the water out of the bucket or tank. If it is a 100 gallon stock tank, all that water has to have some place to go. Gravel, and a pipe from that gravel bed draining to daylight will work.

Another trick is to backfill around the pipe with manure. I heard sheep manure is the best, but anything with lots of hay in it, or hay itself, will help insulate the pipe.....

Thanks for the interest and responses here.

Travis, when you say "pull the old-style hydrant for repairs", you are talking about just the head (spiggot), plunger rod and plunger, correct?  Because I can't see any way that one would be able to pull the entire pipe, that is attached to the water line, out of the ground.  I'm predicting that our real problem is some sort of plugging at the weep hole as we have never been able to re-adjust the plunger so that the pipe drains out. [ This all happened after a ~700 lb sow ran into the pipe and bent the pipe about 1.5 feet off-center.....I used my tractor front loader to push the pipe back straight, but even if it *looks* 'straight' how straight can it possibly be? :-(  ]   It's also possible with the heavy clay soil and high water table that the hydrant was poorly installed and did not incorporate enough rock around the drain-out area.  But the degree to which the water remains in the pipe suggests to me a plugged weep hole.....even when I pulled up the entire rod and plunger this past fall, water remained standing in the pipe.  For the record, the hydrant is positioned about 1.5 feet from the wall inside of an unheated quonset on the south side of the building.  Immediately outside the building from the quonset is a narrow strip of earth, bordered on one side by an attached greenhouse and on the other side by a concrete slab.  We did pile manure onto that strip of bare ground and it did seem to help for a while, but the temps this year are just right for producing the usual 5-6 feet of frost depth......we can thaw the water in the hydrant that stands in the top part of the pipe, but not that far under ground.

So unless I remove the greenhouse (a distinct possibility as we wish to reconstruct the greenhouse to include a pumphouse) or break up part of the concrete slab, I will have about 2 ft width of bare ground for the excavation.....just wide enough for the backhoe bucket and then digging in from there under the building to access the hydrant pipe.  [Can't dig from inside the quonset since the hydrant comes up through a concrete floor. :-/ ]  With this in mind, I'm rather keen on trying the PVC pipe collar idea as it allows one to 'adapt' the bottom of a standard hydrant to a threaded nipple that's attached to the water line.  When you want to pull up the entire hydrant, pipe and all, you unscrew the whole assembly from that nipple connection (water turned off at the source, of course) and pull the 10' hydrant out of the PVC pipe.  The additional plus that I see is that heat-trace cables could be run down the inside of the PVC pipe in the event of any needed thawing way down below.....something you can't do when the hydrant pipe itself is surrounded by soil/fill.  I've heard that you can spin off the head and pour boiling water down the pipe alongside the plunger rod on a standard configure hydrant, but with 4-5 ft of solid ice in that pipe and trying to thaw when the quonset air temp is around 0 - 10 F is not an entertaining proposition.  Just to add, because of that air temp, we don't use any hoses in the winter attached to the hydrant.....just freeze up way to fast for my wife's routine.

For those interested, one such modified collar-version of the newer hydrant installs can be found here:  http://www.seppmannenterprises.com/hydrant-assist-kit/hak/    

Based on their diagrams, it seems like it may be worth a shot (if not too expensive) although I can envision a DIY solution as well.  As many of us know well, when the hydrant freezes for good, you wish you had been more diligent with repairs and maintenance when the heat of summer was present!.....

We are looking at repairing or replacing one of our yard hydrants this spring.  The current hydrant is frozen/non-functional and is the standard configuration below ground as show below in the photo on the left.  There are newer modifications being offered at present to the standard configuration.  One example, shown on the right, has the hydrant pipe running down to a point below the frost line inside of a PVC pipe "collar".  When assembled, there will be a continuous air column from the bottom of the PVC pipe to the top collar.....and this has me wondering:  With the way that cold air descends and warm air rises, would there not be greater risk of cold, freezing air dropping down to point where the hydrant pipe meets the water line?  In the example of the standard configuration, the hydrant pipe is surrounded on all sides by soil/fill and enjoys the benefits of that insulating effect.  Does anyone have experience with the newer hydrant-in-PVC configuration?  Any great freeze-ups that were unanticipated? One very attractive aspect of the new configs is that they allow you to pull the entire hydrant out of the PVC pipe for inspection and/or replacement without excavating the unit.  Thanks!

Travis Johnson wrote:
I am not sure? Katie thinks so...

Travis, have you considered submitting this photo for the cover of "Bridal Guide" magazine??..... I'm betting it will sell-out within hours of publication.  ;-)

'Big Oooops' events are not fun to experience, but they are amusing to observe occasionally.....

Ken W Wilson wrote:Are they frozen solid? If they are only partially frozen they are probably ruined. It seems like if they’re completely frozen, and you keep them frozen, you could cook with them. Just guessing though.

It turns out that about 1/4 of them were frozen solid and those more bunched in the middle were actually fine.  So I just took the frozen ones and tossed them into a bag and put them into the chest freezer.  It works pretty well for soups and stews just to grate them from frozen using a serrated knife.....seems to work good enough.  Thanks!....

Mike Jay wrote:
The problem is that I live in an area that is pretty cloudy in the early winter (mid Nov to mid Jan).  

Mike, just adding this data to the discussion.  The array noted here is probably at about the same latitude as your location.  The picture below is a rolling tally across last year of production from a 4.2kW array....a demo operated by a local power coop.  The site describing the demo is here:  https://www.rrvcoop.com/energy-mix  .   From that page, find the line "You can view real-time production by clicking on Solar Demo."  where the words 'Solar Demo' are hot-linked.  Just in case this provides some real-world data in a similar climate for your calculations.

Mike Jay wrote:

My thought would be to use a wood fired electrical generation method during those two months whenever the batteries get low.  Is there such a thing for residential scale applications?  

Mike, is there another place where you've indicated your major power draws in the winter time?  It may help to approach the question simultaneously from a production and use view that would reveal points for nipping and tucking on the power equation.

One thought that comes to mind is to use some sort of RMH in the greenhouse for keeping that warm....maybe you are already doing that.  I'm not sure about the next part, but depending on the size and discharge status of the battery bank in mid-winter, could you use one of those small, inverter-generators to re-charge the batteries during low-draw periods such as during the night or when you are away for a while?  I realize it may seem unwise to leave a generator unattended, but I'm wondering if you could get to a point where you know how long the gennie will run on X gallons of fuel, and fill it just enough to run out of gas/diesel when the battery bank is recharged.  The quiet operation of such a generator would (hopefully) not be obnoxious and the fuel consumption also possibly at a minimum.  Just musing here.....

Bryant RedHawk wrote:..... the only thing I miss is being able to send my writing to my agent as a file, now I have to burn a CD and mail it, just takes longer.

Redhawk,  I'm curious as to why you can't just EMail your writing to him as an attachment instead of burning a CD?.....

Also, a related topic as I'm re-reading some chapters of Leonard Shlain's "The Alphabet versus the Goddess:  The Conflict between Word and Image" about how literacy engages the mind in a different way than imagery.  There has been discussion here and elsewhere before about turning off the digital for extended periods of time,......but my question is whether or not anyone has tried to go for extended periods without reading/writing.....without engaging with the written word.  Clearly that is a more difficult undertaking as this is how we've mostly come about storing information and communicating it for several hundreds of years now (although to varying degrees and not true for all cultures).  It's one thing to come back from a vacation where you deliberately turned away from all digital/cellular communication for that period, but has anyone taken a break from reading as well an noted any interesting changes.....possibly better attunement to the natural surroundings or an (re)awakening of senses that you maybe did not know that you had?

!DOH!.....

So we left some storage onions and garlic harvested this past fall in a room that is cool but never freezes......at least not usually.  Circumstances collided and they froze, but that room won't stay frozen.  Is the best solution at this point to bag them and transfer to the chest freezer?  Has anyone taken them and gone immediately from frozen chopped onion to dehydrator for preservation?  Pickling?  Other options?.....  Thanks!

Eric Hanson wrote:.....In most cases, once a person goes off the "use as directed" route the patient runs out early and then tries to get extra pills.  This is where a doctor is faced with a real dilemma.  Is the patient using his pain meds for legitimate pain and truly does need more, or is the patient just trying to get more drugs from the doctor?  It is not an easy decision, but that is one of the reasons that doctor's get paid the money they do.  They have to make very consequential decisions about a patient's health and sometimes do so when a patient is being less than honest.  And a doctor's liability seemingly never ends.

Agree with this view, but just adding the following that addresses risk factors that may result in problems even when used as prescribed (my bold text to emphasize agreement with your view):

"Opioid addiction risk factors

Opioids are most addictive when you take them using methods different from what was prescribed, such as crushing a pill so that it can be snorted or injected. This life-threatening practice is even more dangerous if the pill is a long- or extended-acting formulation. Rapidly delivering all the medicine to your body can cause an accidental overdose. Taking more than your prescribed dose of opioid medication, or more often than prescribed, also increases your risk of addiction.

*The length of time you use prescribed opioids also plays a role. Researchers have found that taking opioid medications for more than a few days increases your risk of long-term use, which increases your risk of addiction. The odds you'll still be on opioids a year after starting a short course increase after only five days on opioids.

A number of additional factors — genetic, psychological and environmental — play a role in addiction, which can happen quickly or after many years of opioid use.*" -- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/how-opioid-addiction-occurs/art-20360372

My asterisks flank the content that I felt deviates a bit from your view....not greatly, only slightly, but nevertheless in a way provides context to the situation.   In the end, like so many chemicals/processes that can provide relief, there is so often the 'crutch' aspect to them that must be carefully monitored and weighed against other factors, such as terminal illness or complete lack of alternatives.

Dave B: "....And sometimes, my thoughts are in response in something that recently happened, but may not have triggered an immediate noticeable emotional response. And that's a tricky thing, too. Sometimes, I get very delayed emotional responses to things. Like, when I saw an ambulance rushing by, then, it reminds me of a memory I have, and then that memory triggers the emotion of crying."

Yes, whether or not these observations are made towards the self alone or in a family context, this kind of self-reflection can be very informative.  For reasons unexplained early in my marriage, my wife would get SUPER-irritable...around dusk in the late afternoon!  It took some time and self-reflection on her part to realize that the sudden decline and death of father in her mid-childhood was associated with short visits to see him....around dusk of the day. What she found most triggering in the present was the manner in which the light hit the trees as it was setting and hearing a train in the distance.  The particulars surrounding his death were dealt with poorly and the whole grieving aspect for her completely invalidated by her mother and other family members at the time.  She was pretty sure this re-emerged in her life as an 'unsettling' around the dusk period of day later on.  Like you noted....it's a tricky thing and often difficult to pin down due to the mind's desire to "move on and don't look back", even if the body is not really ready.

Eric Hanson wrote:Lucrecia,

I agree wholeheartedly with your friend's predicament.  I think a statement I like to use in class applies here.  That would be to use as directed.  The likelihood of your friend falling into the trap of either addiction or chemical dependence when using opioids for short term pain relief is indeed very low if used as directed.  I am glad we basically see eye to eye on this.

Eric

I think a good debate to research with regard to this particular issue embedded within this thread is that between Drs. Gabor Mate and Stanton Peele, both highly educated and trained in addiction counseling and with rather opposing opinions on the basis and recovery path for addictions.  In fact, Eric, I would encourage you as an educator to possibly take up this topic in your class as a "critical thinking" exercise....weighing the arguments and references of each practitioner, readily found in their exchanges and offerings on the internet.  Eric, as for the recommendation to "...use as directed", isn't that partly how at least the situation in the US got to the point that it did with the addiction?  And please understand that I'm not singling out one facet of the addiction-prone as they interface with the health care system as it seems to be a rather systemic problem with many underlying forces at work here.  I've heard that now the opposite is the case....many with true pain problems are  having a difficult time obtaining the best pain relief because opioids are under such high recent scrutiny.

Greg M. "Has anyone here experienced any connection between depression and anger?"

From humans to rat models, parental neglect in one shape or form often leads to depressive symptoms, often enduring after the neglect has been relieved: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_impact_of_child_neglect_in_early_childhood

If that is coupled with notion of early life neglect leading to anxiety and anger, and all of this considered along a developmental trajectory, there may be a global link between these factors: https://www.amazon.com/Separation-Anxiety-Anger-Classics-Attachment/dp/0465097162

Probably not the best for clearing stumpy land, but I wonder if a re-purposed beet defoliator would work as a flail brush mower.  The rubber flails (used to protect the tops of the beets while removing the leaves and stems) could be replaced by normal metal flails.  Can't believe someone hasn't tried!.....

Dillon Nichols wrote:......
As with most things in life, having attractive members of your preferred gender observe you maneuvering an unfamiliar trailer and vehicle in close quarters is a surefire way to make things end well.

That's what this guy was missing (old humorous trailer video):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U91Zp9wWS30

Oddo Da wrote:....Yes, this can open you to the risk of being the sucker who always pays for everything but on the other hand, it also allows you to weed out the people who truly want to be your friends/good neighbors from someone who just wants to part you from your money. Let's be honest: 1) if you are new to a rural area, most locals have been there for generations and they do not really need you and 2) if you are new to the area, there are plenty of locals who can take advantage of your "green" status to part you from your cash.

The barn raising, the community stuff is all great but for the most part it is a thing of the distant past. I am not saying that's a good thing, I am just saying it is the way it is.

In general, I can agree with these statements as long as I'm thinking nationally and not locally.  The person mentioned in my previous post who was now elderly and requesting occasional assistance from local sources was himself raised on a farm and knew well the notion of "overstaying your welcome".  He was judicious about what kind of favors to ask for and did not balk at being told that the requested services would not be available.  I'll just say the in our local area, even though no one wants to be 'fleeced', in general people tend to try to help when they can fit it in.  As it happens, the guy most often to help out was the most immediate farmer.....full time dairy operation with additional crops. I suspect it meant little to this farmer to continue with snow-plowing that he was already doing anyway to drive up the driveway of the one in need and blow his out as well.  It's not always just about being friendly, although that certainly is a part of the social capital of the region.  It's also about *knowing*, to the extent possible, your neighbors.  The more interactive you can be with helping out in small ways like this, the more you get to know who's living next to you.

I recall surprise when we first moved here and my wife jackknifed a trailer that was transporting her repaired tractor....the incident force her car into the ditch but fortunately doing no damage to person or equipment.  A guy driving behind her saw the incident, had a pick-up with a ball hitch (who doesn't around here!?...), and nicely offered (and delivered!) on re-hitching the trailer to his pick-up and bringing it to our home. (The assumption of having a cell phone on hand is now changing this type of behavior and most will leave you by the side of the road, thinking you've already called for help....)  My wife is from the east coast and pretty savvy and wary of such offers, but it's not unusual for people around here to do this.  Additional types of assistance of this nature in the 30 years of being here has generally supported this observation.  I'm not saying it's entirely altruistic....and is probably somewhat based on the idea that we all may find ourselves in dire need at some point.  Requesting and receiving help from the neighbors becomes somewhat commonplace after a while, but again possibly on a regional basis.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:There is something nice about having your own equipment at the ready, but another option is renting.

Agreed....although I haven't capitalized on this option, there are many offerings nearby.  Did make the purchase of 10,000 lb gvw, 16' trailer for the occasional need, but instead have used the trailer mostly to help out others.  The trailer neatly parks the Deere and a ball-hitched back-hoe and it's gone to a few places to dig out well heads and do other mild excavating.  But this brings up as well another option between 'barn-raising community' and purchased equipment that will get used too seldom to be worth the while:  neighbors or community members that will stop by with equipment to do the job for you.  A person I know who is now in elder care had moved to a rural setting for the last active phase of his life.  Amazing how many people came to till his garden, snowblow his driveway, etc., all for the usual neighborly perks.....produce bartered/exchanged in the summer, a coffee cake dropped off at odd times as a way to say 'thanks!'.  I gotta think that in a community where some roots have been sunk, it may be far easier to get some help done in many regions.  Mixing and matching many of these solutions can often keep the farmstead moving along.....