Mark Beard

I think you would be better off finding a way to make more char and less ash rather than working on sifting minimal char from ash.

From my understanding True char is formed in the abscence of oxygen…. And I don’t that is the same as partially burnt wood

I too have used mulberry leaves for tea.

Not a ton of flavor … although I discovered that
If you soak them in the fridge for an extended period (like a week) then the tea starts to taste hemp like… if you like that sort of thing

Pic 2

I found my moisture meter and checked my bowl. Looked to be dry, so, I finished it up this past weekend.

Hey, thanks Beau,

I took it out of by paper bag with saw dust in it a couple weeks ago.

I let it sit out for about 24hrs and i could see some very fine cracks developing… so, I’ve put it back in my bag.

I think it needs more time.

I’ve had other pieces ive dried, and if they start to develop cracks, I’d input them back in the bags, the cracks will close back up as it dries.

Seems like you’re dealing with quite a bit of water, And I imagine that your ultimate solution will be similar to that which caused this problem for you in the first place. You might not be able to build a pond on your neighbors property, but you might be able to build a series of retainment pools to hold the water and slow down its drainage.  Where I live, there’s a lot of hilly Farm ground.  Between terracing and retainment pools we control the erosion. Most of these pools are built by building earthworks at low points that make a U-shaped into the hillside. Whereas  the kind of dirt used on a permanent pond is important, it’s less important in these sort of pools where you simply want to slow drainage. As such most of these pools in my area are ephemeral And only exist during times of excess rainfall

Sweet potatoes are shade tolerant

Beyond that, try to identify the species of the specific trees you think you’d like to remove.
Certain trees are better for inoculating specific mushroom species.  I had a good sized Sugar Maple taken down in a storm. It’s now growing Lions Mane and Shitake…. And according to literature may support those mushrooms for the next decade based upon the size of the logs.

I don’t think this was mentioned yet,

But Peroxide is good for removing most stains… won’t eat holes through your clothes the way Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) can.

Peroxide is very cheap too… no need to get the name brand peroxide stain removers.

Scott Weinberg wrote:I have 38 foot internal and 4 external,   it is scary good.   Very seldom need to use the bypass, but always like to have it as an option.  By seldom, I mean 2-4 times in a entire season.  And it is NOT the flue causing the need, but more the climate conditions on that given day.

Tell me more please what is your bypass and when do you use it or what is its roll/purpose/need?