Eric Powell

I love my Snapper chainsaw from Home Depot.  I started with their tiller, then their string trimmer and then got the chainsaw last fall.  My research at the time indicated the battery had the most volts of any on the market at 82.  The chainsaw saw is an 18" and every bit as effective as asimilar size fuel model.  Same goes for the tiller just like a Mantis.  

I grew a few dozen confectionery sunflowers (the kernel eating kind) and was wondering if anyone has come up with a way to shell sunflower seeds in an efficient manner on a small scale?

I just built a contraption that uses a shop vacuum on the exhaust setting to bang the seeds around in a wooden box that theoretically knocks the hulls (shells) off with the seeds dropping to the bottom of the box and the hulls being blown out a chute.  I found the plans for this on the internet from an article in Mother Earth News magazine from the 1970's.  The contraption failed miserably not cracking open a single seed with the seeds (kernel in shell) just piling up in one corner of the box.

Winged Sumac and Basswood:  Both are good later-season nectar sources for honeybees and not easy to find for sale from my research.

I want to plant buttonbush shrubs on my property as a mid-summer nectar source for my honeybees but most of the available places to plant it are near black walnut trees. Many plants don't do well under black walnut trees. None of the lists I found on the internet regarding plants that are tolerant or sensitive to black walnut toxicity mention buttonbush so I was wondering if anyone has buttonbush growing near or under black walnut trees?