Matt McSpadden

New Jersey can't make up its mind.

Michael Fundaro wrote:I wish I had a friend willing to help work on projects all day and provide free beer and Detroit style deep dish party tray pizza every night.

Granted - A friend you have not seen in a while shows up unexpectedly, ready to help you with your projects all day... exactly 24 hours of work. And you are now stuck with sending beer and pizza to him every night for the rest of his life.

I wish - my two new kittens would stop climbing on the table at supper time.

If you had some water proof options like a tarp or plastic of somekind I would probably use that if there was rain called for. Otherwise, yes, like you said old t-shirts, towels, sheets, etc are generally good enough to keep frost off the plants for a small freeze like you are describing.

On a different note, I recall reading in the book "Farmer Boy" where they were out in the middle of the night pouring water over the plants before sunrise. There was something about the frost plus sunlight. Not sure how much of that was story and how much was science, but it is an interesting anecdote.

I have only boiled them as well, but I suspect a weak point or micro crack of some kind in the shell probably allowed that to happen.

Temp shifts in either direction too quickly can cause cracks. Bumping into each other while boiling can cause cracks... but in all of those cases I suspect that the shell was weaker than "normal" which is why you see that happen.

Why did the pro golfer bring two pairs of pants with him whenever he was on the course?

... in case he got a hole in one!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Matt McSpadden wrote:We take the seeds out of the head first.

Waaay too much work for bird seed. If I was saving it for human food, though, that is what I would do.

I agree if it's just going to feed chickens or wild birds or something. I think in those cases I would probably do what was suggested and just cut/break it into slices or pieces so it dries better. We take it out of the head first and dry it on cookie sheets for saving the seed for next year's sunflowers.

I prefer certified organic when buying things that are not local, because I know that it is up to a certain standard. Is it entirely the way I want it grown? Probably not. But I know it's closer to it than the non-organic.

If it's local, I can visit and see if I agree with how they are growing things.

If you have ever sat on hold so long you forgot who you were calling and why.

Hi,
I agree that alternatives to a traditional septic system should be easier to implement. Unfortunately, I do not have any suggestions for engineers... but I do have something to ask if you have thought about.

What happens down the road when this property sells? Most of us hope to be on a property for life, but things happen and circumstances change. If you put money into this property getting it the way you want... and then someone tries to buy it.. what will the bank /mortgage company think? This is a difficulty with many natural building techniques that are far from ordinary... many banks and mortgage companies will not loan money for that property which will severely limit who you can sell it to.

I don't know what your property looks like or what your budget is... but there are small septic systems that should fit in a fairly small area that shouldn't need as many trees to be cut. You don't have to use the system.

Well, I still have not made a decision on the collars, but I did make a decision on the cats, and I will be keeping them indoors this winter until they have settled and grown up a bit before letting them outside some in the spring. So I have several months to think it over.

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures. They are settling in well.