Sam Potter

I kind of red necked my set up, all of my drains are plumbed directly outside. We have 2 sinks and 1 tub so I just drilled a hole thru the wall and set the pipes out for each one as I got the time. Then there's a adapter for a garden hose and I send it out to where it is needed. My plans are to set up reed beds that drain into a pond next year for any excess water to store it in a way it wont go gross. But this way it broke the project down into chunks that where easy to learn and get done when I had the time.
And yes this seems to work for my winters. Our normal temps in the winter like to get down and stay down in the negatives. I just shorten the hoses and make sure there's never any standing water.

We go out a couple times a week for a dedicated walk for a change of pace. But the dogs are always with me going thru the pasture to do pigs or move the chickens. They love following me on the bike to where ever I'm going. I think they get more exercise then most due to our routines and lifestyle. It took a lot of training to trust them off leash. 100% worth the time and frustration to do so in the end.

I make a small profit from my hens selling hatching eggs. I'm getting 15$ a dozen right now. Its not always consistent but I keep track of my sales. Roughly I get on average 3-4 orders a week and ship them out to whomever orders them. Customer pays for shipping or they can pick them up locally. I got into it during the chick shortage here a couple years back and people were ordering 12 dozen eggs for hatching out from me at that time. Next year we are adding duck eggs and Breed specific eggs. Also thinking of selling baby chicks locally.
I'm not sure I had ever made a monetary profit the 8 years before this just selling table eggs. But if you are selling other products like pasture pork or produce its a great weekly marketing tool to reach out to folks interested in good food and like minded community.

Motorcycles for the win. I'm currently fixing up a Honda Passport Scooter for a friend to get back and forth to her new job. With rising gas prices Motorcycles, Scooters E-Bikes and regular old pedal pusher bikes are all coming back into style at our place. Add a trailer and they can be good for pretty much anything.
My husband rides his E-Bike to work all year around Even thru the 3 foot of snow negative 20 blizzard last winter. He was the only one to get there on time that day! My dad used to do the same with his Motorcycle back in the 2008 housing crisis up in northern Minnesota, Rain, Snow or tornados he got there dressed to the 9s in his Carhart suite and riding gloves.  

I had no idea Cockatoos messed with garlic. Unless you count nematodes nothing messes with garlic in Iowa. The differences climate can make for a plant I thought I knew a lot about how to grow is just crazy. But the bulbs starting to sprout might have caused the bitterness?

We are using clay slip this go around. But the old stuff is a commercial mix of some kind and it sucks. I think Il bite the bullet and take off a layer of bricks and get that gap a little closer while building up the riser a layer. Worse case scenario itl come apart easier then last time thanks to the clay slip!

I see lots of post about how short you can go with a riser. But how about how tall?
If I have a 6 inch system can I go 5 feet tall for my riser without tweaking the rest of the core?
Dose it increase the amount of heat given off into the room instead of into the mass?
Or dose the whole system just stall out?

I was just wondering cause I'm replacing our old core and realized the manifold is to tall for our new core and the barrel would be like 7 inches above the riser. from what I see 2 inches is ideal. Adding more bricks is easier for me then taking mortared and dried bricks off. I like to know my options before taking a hammer to stuff.

Iv never tried the lacto fermented garlic but I know the honey garlic is best after a year. We have a batch that is 2 years old now that the family is eating like candy now lol. They hated it last year thou. Id give it time to see if it gets better if you have the space to do so.

We went out on a walk today with the dogs and found the edible volleyball sized puffballs. We ate half of one fresh with pasta and the rest of it we are dehydrating to make mushroom powder. We only grabbed two out of the dozens cause I only have so much dehydrator space. Hopefully they finish drying and I can get another batch in before seasons end. The kiddo loves finding these because they are so impressive and fun to peel, easy to ID and check if they are still any good! Plus he kicks the gross orange ones that pop up on the trail to help them spread for next year. Always a treat and a reminder to keep your eyes peeled for these tasty goodies.

Burning trash is pretty common out here. We don't cause its easier to just toss it in the gas station trash can for us. We don't make much. But Id imagine burning it in a RMH would be better then the just pile it in a pit and burn it method that kills my throat when the neighbor burns trash.
Would it damage the RMH at all to burn plastics in it?
Weird build up or something?
Is the foot print better to burn it at home and be responsible for our trash?
Or is that misguided and its better to take care of it in a land fill?
I imagine proper recycling is better but that doesn't exist here sadly.