T Melville

So I continued to procrastinate more than I worked on that tractor. Even when I had to start collecting eggs from the brooder. A kid from church was looking for odd jobs, so he finished skinning it. I spent a day going over it, "sowing" the seams together with electric fence wire. When I got done, I don't think a bluejay could've gotten in. I moved 'em in.

The next day, my son gets my attention after work and says the chickens all appear to be dead. We both overlooked a vulnerability: the bottom of the gate could be bent up enough for a small predator to enter. One hen was alive but wouldn't stand. We figured she wouldn't last, but wanted to let her try, so we moved the old too small chicken tractor against the door to block it.

Later in the day I heard barking, so I quietly went to the door and watched. (The neighbor dogs come over, but they don't trust us, so they stay away from us and eventually go home if they know we're around.) As I watched, a small one of unknown (to me) breed, built kinda like a dachshund but fluffier, came and circled the tractor for five to ten minutes, and seemed to me to pay extra attention to the area where we blocked access to the door. I think I've found my culprit.

The hen we were still trying to protect died around dark. Final count: 9 dead, 2 missing. The 2 were probably drug off, but it's possible they got away and hid in a tree or in the bamboo. No known survivors.

My plan isn't completely formed, but I think it will involve stiffening the door. Motion lights mounted on the tractor? I think it will involve a goose and one chicken, probably a hen to keep it company. Small investment until I have more confidence in my tractor.

I have a few questions I'd like opinions on. Do I want to keep something in the tractor the dogs will want, so they help me with testing? Or does that just reinforce a habit that needs to be broken? Should I get my goose and chicken right away, or wait until spring? (First frost here is Halloween, give or take a week or two.)

I tend to oversimplify, because I frequently need very simple instructions, and this is how I find those simple instructions for myself. That said, and putting myself in your shoes, it looks like my chief goal is observation. For the most part, more observation (or more accurate observation) is better. So the more time I can spend on property or very near by, the better the quality of my observations. It sounds like you live farther away than the area where you could camp. If so, I think the camping will improve the observation. You'll learn about conditions that are at least local. Also, your site visits will probably be more frequent, so again, an improvement. I'd say that if you could live on site, that would be the best for observation, but the local camping will bring you more of that advantage than you have now.

The AI's answer seems to agree mostly, but I think it may have undervalued the local camping. They say "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Good is available, perfect isn't. I don't think you have to let that stop you.

If I try to do the full work a garden tends to require, my body gets real angry and talks me out of it. I no longer have anyone to help me. So for a few years I didn't garden. This year I was gonna have a garden even if I had to cut corners to make it happen. I acquired a few IBC totes a few years back and one didn't hold water because someone removed the drain valve by cutting the threads off the tote. There were 3" or 4" of old sawdust on the bottom. I spread one brooder worth of chicken bedding over that. Then raked leaves all winter and threw them in there. I didn't have any big pieces of wood to put in, but I did add in some sticks that fell in the yard. I made sure to keep them out of the top several inches. Of course the leaves settle a lot as they break down. It was full about three times over the winter. In the spring we divided a bag of cheap potting soil into about ten little piles on top of the leaves and put a seed potato into each. They grew decently, as did some peas, a squash vine and a potted strawberry and it's pups. Like a proper hugel, I expect it to improve over time as things break down. It looks like I'll have to top it up every winter for several years, if that ever ends. It's currently about 1/3 full.

All the water lines coming from our well were galvanized, installed before I was born. It was a suitable option at the time, but pretty pricey. So they used 1/2 inch pipe as a cost saving measure. The input/ output spot on the pressure tank was 1 1/4". When the galvanized failed, it was a much later date. Galvanized was prohibitively expensive, PVC also pretty pricey, plus it's prone to failures (At least in the hands of amateurs.) Then somebody told us about PEX. I wish IT was cheaper, but it seemed to be the most cost effective thing we looked at. It was cheap enough for us to go smarter, so we tried to use 1 1/4", but they didn't have it. Ran 1" all the way to the house, to the barn, and right by anywhere there would be a hydrant installed. Think of that as a trunk. Everywhere we needed a short branch for a hydrant, a faucet, a toilet or shower, we adapted to a smaller size. I don't remember if it was 1/2" or 3/4". Now any time we open any of that stuff, it can't rob ALL of the pressure or volume. In fact, when someone is using the kitchen sink and someone else turns on a hydrant to fill a tank or water a garden, it's hard to notice the difference in the house pressure. I recommend a similar strategy. Note that all of the check valves and pressure tank, etc mentioned above is in the well house in my case. If yours are placed differently, you'll probably still need to adjust for that.

I just found out we have a Recipe Index! It reminded me of a recipe of mine, and the index showed me to come here for foraged greens. When I took foraged lamb's quarter to the farmer's market, the people who wanted to give it a try wanted a recipe. "Treat it like spinach" didn't cut it for some of them. So I cooked up a few bags that didn't sell one market day, measuring and recording what I did. Then I printed up a table sign with this recipe on it. I may have also made up a few hand-outs of it as well, can't remember.

A Recipe for Greens (Lamb's Quarters this time.)
Ingredients:
½ Tablespoon Butter
½ Tablespoon Bacon Grease
½ an onion chopped
1 garlic scallion chopped (Can substitute 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (to taste))
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons Water
6oz Lamb's Quarter leaves

Combine all ingredients except lamb's quarter and water in a skillet. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add Lamb's quarters and water. Sauté until water has evaporated and greens reach desired tenderness.

I get a weekly email from DuckDuckGo,  DuckDuckGo Privacy Weekly. This week an article reminded me of this thread.

We think you should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all. To that end, we’ve added a new setting to hide AI-generated images when you’re searching for images on DuckDuckGo. Try it by making a search on DuckDuckGo and heading to the Images tab. You’ll see a new drop-down option at the top of the page: "AI images: show" or "AI images: hide." The filter relies on manually curated open-source blocklists. It won’t catch 100% of AI-generated results, but it will greatly reduce the number of AI-generated images you see.

You can also bookmark noai.duckduckgo.com, where the image filter is auto enabled, AI-assisted summaries are switched off, and Duck.ai chat icons are hidden.

I think you said you'd rewired lamps before, so you know that shell will come apart (unscrew) and the actual socket will separate from it.

Should unscrew at the red circle.

What if you put a different shell on it, but kept the 3-way socket you like? I found one I suspect would work well on amazon for $5.69, if you reuse your socket. About $1.30 higher to get it with a 3-way socket already in it.

A shell socket from amazon, in a different style.

By all means, check Habitat for Humanity, but this can give you the new price for comparison, if what I picked will work for you.

I come from a part of the US where we aren't real strong on realizing a thing we always do one way is often more versatile, and that other cultures often know other tricks. So when I bought mung beans at my favorite asian market, I didn't ask any questions. (I must've heard somewhere about the presoak.) I just season and boil them like any beans I would use for ham and beans or chili, but I just don't have to soak 'em. They taste like beans. So I imagine there are a number of things that can be done with them, but keeping it simple is also an option. Boil until soft, seasoned to taste. Onion and meat or broth (If you're into meat.) are good additions. Or add rice and/ or anything you'd put in a soup.

Framework. It's a company trying to bring this idea to computers. Most internal components have a QR code that will fetch instructions with videos. Lots of input/ output (I/O) options that you can swap out. They're built into little modules that slide into little bays. They plug into USB-C ports inside the computer, but on the outside they can be USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, Display port, Headphone/ microphone jack, SD or microSD card slots, removable storage drives, maybe a few other things I forgot.

In the video, Linus removes the 2 spacers flanking the keyboard, moves the keyboard to one side and adds a numpad.

They look to be all about right-to-repair, upgradability and generally not having to throw away good components when one part breaks. They are kinda pricey, which is why I don't own one, but they seem to be competitive with high end brands.

I think keep an eye on soil moisture, not waterlogged but never too dry, until it either shapes up or dies. Mulch is helpful for this, but don't be afraid to part that mulch a little and feel the soil. While it's alive, there's hope. If it dies, you can probably grow something else, so there's hope. (If it doesn't make it, I suggest trying to grow something cheap until (or unless) you can determine the soil is okay there.)