Tanya White

I haven't taken a train in years. To be fair, I don't do a lot of traveling via any transportation method. Best part, you don't get motion sickness. You are able to move around and stretch. You never feel as tired in my opinion. A 12 hour car drive - super stressful. A 12 hour train ride - not stressful at all. I wish trains were more popular and more routes were available.

Lack of time is the biggest. Also, even with a good schedule/routine, stuff happens (i.e. I got off work 2 hours late and am exhausted and the schedule is thrown off). I end up making discard recipes a lot more often. I don't love the fact that I HAVE to feed the starter. While I actually enjoy a routine, sometimes things get overwhelming and one more thing that I HAVE to do at a very specific time can be a deterrent of sorts. I guess what I'm getting at is I want to figure out how to be more flexible when it comes to baking sourdough bread. I guess I could bake other types of bread, but I really prefer sourdough in terms of nutrition.

One more thing maybe off-topic: I would love to find a sourdough bread recipe that works with my oval romertopf clay baker with glazed bottom (it should not be preheated empty).

I think it depends. I don't mind spending money on gardening since it brings me joy and I consider it an investment in my own health and that of others (and the planet). I prefer to buy high quality tools, even if expensive. However, I was initially more hesitant to invest in any continuous inputs that I have to repurchase/acquire again. With that being said, my soil is not well balanced (highly leached clay). While I don't have to water constantly, I DO import some amendments now.

The second issue is how the garden looks. I certainly had an option not to spend on some things, like supports and metal labels, but I chose to buy those (hopefully, just once). I save money elsewhere in the garden - saving all of my seeds (except corn), propagating just about all of my perennials. Sometimes, I prefer buying something that is well designed rather than making my own for free. This may have to do with my fear of clutter.

Trying to grow something that does not grow well in one's area can become cost prohibitive, as others have mentioned.

This may not be super helpful, as I have NOT found any that don't require soaking. I just bought some on Etsy from PlantifulFarm, but I am not planning to consume them - more of a decorative cover crop. I have also sprouted (other) legumes from Rancho Gordo, so you may be able to buy some packaged as food? Out of caution, I would rather soak (at least some) than trust that they don't have to be soaked.

This is the description from the Etsy seller
"Lupini Bean (Lupinus albus): A nutritious and ancient legume perfect for adventurous gardeners. Unlike other beans, lupini beans have a distinctive firm texture and require boiling and soaking over several days to remove alkaloids. Wait until the pods are dry and rattle when shaken, then harvest and dry further. Use in Mediterranean-inspired dishes, such as hummus or stews. Or grind into flour for use in baked goods. Or dry roast for a protein-rich snack. Cooking time is longer than other beans, but the nutty flavor and high protein content make it worth the wait. Lupini beans have a protein percentage even greater than soybeans! Lupini beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, making them a great companion plant. Try this unique and rewarding legume in your garden!"

Arugula, mache, lettuce (this year we're growing  Teagan variety), pea shoots, young volunteer garlic tops are what we use most commonly. Arugula does well in the cold frame for us. I also love a variety of chicories for crunch, but not growing any this year.

Long hair for all genders in our household. We trim each other's hair using one of those plastic crea-clips. It looks very gimmicky. Was gifted to me by a coworker and turned out to be perfect.  I haven't been to a hairdresser in years (oh and how they love to cut hair short). I find that you can turn long hair into short hair but not the other way around Overall, for us, long hair is LESS maintenance. We both wash, condition, apply scalp oil (homemade), and occasionally blowdry (dyson blowdryer was an investment, but dries even long hair quickly).  I grew up with short hair and, let's just say, never again. I should note that having wavy hair also is a challenge with shorter hairstyles for me where weird curls stand out.

I am very low key with styling. Primarily, it's hair down, braid, low bun, high bun, ponytail, half up with a clip in the back for special events  I also use silk scrunchies of all sizes.

Personally, I feel like I am saving money and time by having long hair.

I wear exclusively cotton socks in summer and wool in winter. Both DO have some synthetic fiber in them (generally less than 10% for cotton). I've had great luck with Maggie's organics. They offer some socks with < 1% spandex.  

A family member once had a pair of socks from Eastern Europe (can't remember exact country of origin), but they lasted over 30 years apparently. They didn't look like anything special, possibly a cotton blend.

I love using pits for all my squash and  melons. We have pretty heavy clay.  It really helps not having to amend a large area. We use unfinished compost including meat products, small round broken branches, ashes, etc. Top with some decent soil and mulch and plant of top of hill. I have not used humanure personally. I will say that not much was left at bottom of holes once the plants were pulled at end of season (I dug one up because I was curious). We have a lot of precipitation, including a recent 1 in 1000 year rain event... Nothing - or at least nothing visible - got washed away from the bottom of the pits.

I think I would follow the Humanure Handbook closely which is available free online specifically for humanure. I would still use the holes in which I would have no problem using gross materials, but maybe not humanure.

Hi Tom, a lot of people are still without power and water, and roads are not in great shape at all, many unsafe. I think the challenge in WNC is there are lots of isolated small communities that are hard to get to, like Greg mentioned. I feel that I don't know where to start on my own. So far, I have stuck with established charities that I trust to go directly to people, as well as helping neighbors and helping out at work. Also, cell reception is not great (never was). I have had trouble simply checking in with friends. The local news stations would be folks doing some stories on who is helping out.

A bit late to this thread, but...

Another vote for cucuzzi! I am done with any other summer squash. Zucchini died a horrible death (mostly SVB). In general, summer squash had never done well for us.

After doing squash surgery cutting out the borers from our candy roasters (maxima) all summer, we got 6 large squashes to maturity from 3 plants. I tried injecting with BT, burying the stems, etc.. Can't wait to try the dill suggestion! I am surprised they survived and matured.

Butternuts got attacked by bears (while immature) and this lead to rotting. So far, not that impressed with butternuts after 4 attempts or so. I would love to try a new moschata, particularly Cherokee tan pumpkin - but cannot find the seeds anywhere this year. I am also considering a moschata landrace, a Lodi, or black futsu. At least the SVBs didn't get the butternuts.

As far as pepos, Candystick Dessert delicata did pretty well this year despite the SVB attacks. Way better than zucchini.