Donna Lynn

Slightly off topic, but here in mid-Michigan I had to cover a few of my potted fruit trees overnight to protect them from frost on my deck.  The tropical ones were brought inside already, but Mediterranean ones like fig, olive and pomegranate need chill hours in the 40s to fruit the next year, so it's a touchy time in the fall trying to leave them out long enough but not too long!  I've gotten nice figs and pomegranates, but haven't gotten the right combination for olives yet.

I cover them with contractor trash bags, then have to be sure to remove them before the sun gets too hot the next morning.

David Baillie wrote:

Donna Lynn wrote:We bought an electric side by side utility vehicle as a prep for when gas becomes unavailable or just too dang expensive (which looms precariously closer....)  It plugs into a 110 outlet to charge, so I'd be recharging it during peak solar hours.  Or doing laundry, running a canner on an electric burner, vacuuming, using power tools, recharging the electric mower and chain saw, running the freeze dryer or dehydrator, baking stuff in the electric oven, using the infrared sauna, and so on.  

Although an actual solar sink to hold power would be something more along the lines of pumping water into a high tank or uphill pond to release later as needed to run a hydroelectric unit.  Or the compressed air others mentioned.  We bought undamaged Tesla car batteries from wrecked cars to store power, but they only hold so much, just like any other batteries.  So they can cover us for a cloudy day or two, but that's about it.  

hi donna, what is the model of the electric side by side?

It's a Hisun Motors Sector E1.  We had to drive several hours to pick it up because not many places were selling them.  Ours is a 2022.  My guy is partially disabled, and the Hisun made it possible for him to help with some homestead chores he just couldn't walk enough to do before.  He learned all about the batteries and how best to make them last, and that's how we use and charge it.  We also got the optional snow plow, and now that we've moved it's saved us a lot of money plowing our long hilly driveway.  I can't say it's paid for itself yet, but for our situation it's made a world of difference as far as "aging in place,"

We bought an electric side by side utility vehicle as a prep for when gas becomes unavailable or just too dang expensive (which looms precariously closer....)  It plugs into a 110 outlet to charge, so I'd be recharging it during peak solar hours.  Or doing laundry, running a canner on an electric burner, vacuuming, using power tools, recharging the electric mower and chain saw, running the freeze dryer or dehydrator, baking stuff in the electric oven, using the infrared sauna, and so on.  

Although an actual solar sink to hold power would be something more along the lines of pumping water into a high tank or uphill pond to release later as needed to run a hydroelectric unit.  Or the compressed air others mentioned.  We bought undamaged Tesla car batteries from wrecked cars to store power, but they only hold so much, just like any other batteries.  So they can cover us for a cloudy day or two, but that's about it.  

Chance Lunceford wrote:

Donna Lynn wrote: Wonderful idea!  My container strawberries are currently being assaulted by chipmunks, who rarely eat a whole berry but also rarely leave a whole berry for me. 😠  I can take what's left of a chipmunk snack and slice a side off that still has seeds, and plant that into a container to start some new plants.  I'll do that today with a partial berry I saw this morning that was still attached to its stem, and see how it goes.  Thanks for the idea!

Keep us posted

It's been about two weeks, and nothing has sprouted yet.  I keep the soil consistently moist, and the container is outside in dappled shade/sun in zone 5.  There is a slight possibility a chipmunk dug it up and ate it, but I don't see any obvious soil disturbance like I normally do when they dig in my plants.  I'll keep watching...

My fave is a lot like others already posted.  Boil macaroni, mini shells or rotini; make a roux with butter, flour and whole milk; slowly add plenty of shredded sharp cheddar until melted in; add grated or shredded parmesan cheese, about a third as much quantity as the cheddar; combine in large baking dish with drained pasta, broccoli and cauliflower florets, plenty of garlic salt or powder, black pepper and some cayenne if you like a kick, and if I'm feeling ambitious, diced onions sauteed in bacon fat.  You can also add crab or lobster bits, or other protein if desired, but heavier proteins can change the flavor profile.  Top with bread crumbs or not, bake about an hour.  

To deal with the prep time issue, I make a large pan or two and freeze it in single serving portions.  That makes it quick and easy for members of the family who are not inclined to spend time in the kitchen.  I won't have a microwave in my house, but my guy who cannot stand for long with out back pain can just pull out a glass dish of frozen food (or thawed if he plans a day ahead,) replace the plastic lid with foil, heat it up in the toaster oven, and have a filling meal if I'm not there to make him something.  Easy Peasy, and he's not eating highly processed conventional stuff out of a box.  Plus I get a few no-fuss meals out of it as well.

Well, that explains why, when I first started my little food forest with young fruit trees surrounded by garlic or onion bulbs and different types of legumes planted to vine up the wire cages around the saplings, the legumes never took off.  I had assumed some critter or other ate them as they emerged, but the close proximity to the garlic and onion may actually have been the issue.  🤦‍♀️

Are there any time lapse videos of Simon doing his snow art?  I'm skeptical since they look so perfect...

But now that we live on a small lake that freezes over enough for people to ice fish, I may just have to go out this coming winter and try my hand -- er, feet -- at making some cool patterns in the snow cover over the ice!  Maybe I'll even sneak out on a fullish moon night and do designs around some poor dude's ice fishing tent 😁.

May Lotito wrote:Ginseng grows in similar soil condition where you can find abundant mayapple and trillium as understory species in hardwood forest. Do you have those indicators in your woods?

I need to do some more detailed exploring once we're unpacked, but I do believe I saw some mayapple not too far off the long driveway that goes through the wooded area.  I'll keep my eyes open for trillium now too, thanks!  Our soil is quite sandy, but there's a decent duff layer in the woods, so I have hope...

I planted some ginseng and golden seal several years ago in our small wooded area in zone 6, but none of it took.  It was a swampy woods, with more softwoods than hard, so probably not the best environment, but I wanted to try anyway.  I planted them on what little north facing slopes I could find, sheltered behind trees, not too far from the creek.

We've just moved to a zone 5 hardwood forested area, so I will try again this fall.  We do have a north facing slope here and lots of ferns, so hopefully this time will be better.  

Chance Lunceford wrote:As an alternative look at strawberry propagation, consider that seed grown strawberries aren't too hard either.

Lots of different methods, but if you cut a thin slice of strawberry, close to the surface so you have seeds all across one side of the slice, and bury it in good potting soil with the seeds facing upwards (and you should barely cover the top of the seeds with soil), then keep it moist for the next week (you can use the plastic over the pot trick, but don't let it get too hot or the seeds will rot), you'll see a bunch of little strawberry seedlings growing. You can keep them growing for awhile and then loosen the soil and pull them apart, or break the clump into a couple-few small pieces, plant in pots and thin down to a single plant (my preference). You can get ≈ 4-8 slices out of any strawberry that isn't a virginiana (in which case just use the whole berry), so you can get quite a few seedlings going from a single strawberry.

In this way, you can clone using stolons (runners) but freshen genetics+develop locally adapted cultivars with the seedlings.

Wonderful idea!  My container strawberries are currently being assaulted by chipmunks, who rarely eat a whole berry but also rarely leave a whole berry for me. 😠  I can take what's left of a chipmunk snack and slice a side off that still has seeds, and plant that into a container to start some new plants.  I'll do that today with a partial berry I saw this morning that was still attached to its stem, and see how it goes.  Thanks for the idea!