Patricia Kavanaugh

My daughter was stationed at Kessler Air Base in Biloxi, MS. We were headed home from a walk on the beach, and as we approached the house, we saw a heron standing next to the roof vent with a largish frog/toad in its beak. Yup, he stuffed it in the vent and flew off.  We never heard anything or had any issues, so we like to think he came back for it later. When we mentioned it to our friends and neighbors, they didn't seem surprised.

r ransom wrote:A family member reminded me, we also buy yogurt for the septic feild if someone's on antibiotics.

Often we talk with the dairy guy in the grocery store.  Here the can sell up to the best before date, but policy says they have to take it off the shelf two days before.  We can usually get old stuff half price.

When I read this, it occurred to me that this would be an excellent source of livestock feed in the winter when the dairy cow slows down her production. 😁

My people have always been ranchers so we grew up knowing how things went. But my kids were city-raised and when they were young teens I started planning for when they'd be leaving home. Mom wanted a homestead! They were stressed by the idea of raising and harvesting farm animals. We talked names. The lead cow would be Lola (what Lola wants, Lola gets) while other breeding cows would get names from song titles. Calves I will name Stewy, Potroast, Dinner....    It helped to remember the plan. The kids are older now and on their own. One of them called to tell me of someone they'd met who has a Morton building on their place that has been adopted by an owl. Its name is, of course, Morton. I'm getting close to having my homestead and the kids are planning on naming everything! lol

How about a design for a roundwood boom crane? I've been considering something like a lifting gate at my driveway entrance using a boom crane type thing. 🤔

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Spilosoma_vestalis%2C_the_Vestal_tiger-moth_in_profile.jpg/1932px-Spilosoma_vestalis%2C_the_Vestal_tiger-moth_in_profile.jpg

Several people have mentioned free donation libraries in defunct fridges but I was wondering about a neighborhood dry-goods pantry. People could donate canned goods and dried goods for those in need without worrying about critters or weather. We've tried something similar in my area. It was popular and needed but storage was an issue. It didn't take long for the weather (wind & rain) and raccoons to get to it. This sounds like a very feasible solution. Thank you all for such beautiful ideas.

Anne Miller wrote:What do you do with your pickling water?

Put some hard-boiled eggs in that pickling water:



https://permies.com/t/58881/leftover-pickle-juice

I do that with the brine from my pickled beets. Makes lovely lavender/maroon eggs depending on how long the eggs soak.

Joe Grand wrote:Tell me if any of these are perennials:
Good old Henry-yes
Vineland Hardy Prickly Pears-yes
Purple Shiso /Perilla?
Red Fire Orach?
Ruby Red Swiss Chard?
I am planting in zone 8a, I have seeds, thanks.

Purple Shiso /Perilla-no
Red Fire Orach-no
Ruby Red Swiss Chard-no but I've had mine bolt and reseed

Edward Norton wrote:Another confused Brit in the US question . . .

I can’t find cooking apples in any of my local grocery stores. I ask in store and no one knew what I was talking about! In the UK there’s a large misshapen and waxy skinned apple called a Bramley. It has firm flesh and is very tart. It’s perfect in apple pies and that’s why I went looking.

Do they exist? My general observation is that on the whole the majority of American’s like lots of sugar in everything and have a very low tolerance for tart, sour, sharp flavours unless it’s paired with lots of sugar . . . I once bought a shop made apple pie and it tasted of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon with out the slightest hint of apple. I’ve given up on ice-cream. No matter what flavour you buy, it’s so sweet I can’t taste anything else. I digress . . . I’m guessing there’s no market for a sour apple that requires cooking.

I will of course grow my own.

You are SO right about American pies, and baked goods in general, being too sweet to eat. My grandmother made an apple pie from a tree on her ranch whose apples were too tart to eat but the pies were very "appley".
I don't know where you live in NJ but there is a wonderful orchard that has Bramley apples that you can pick or get at their stand. Here is a link to their website.  http://www.bonacorsifamilyfarm.com/?page_id=245  
Good luck in your search!

I'd nominate Greg Judy, Regenerative Rancher that educates about sustainable cattle raising.