John Weiland

Tim Holloway wrote:...... Do not ask over whom the bus rolls. It rolls over thee.

.............................................................................................................

Commercially, cabbages and potato-chip potatoes about 20 miles South of here and corn to the West. Harvest salt from the ocean and you're guaranteed a supply of junk food!

Uncontrolled LOL on the bus quote!....

Cabbages I need, salty chipped potato and corn snacks I crave.  Savory, spicy refried beans on toast are our answer to the less titillating British staple.  

Where do I sign up!.... ;-)  Really liking this thread.....

Sara, perhaps a rather premature and off-topic notion, but have you begun thinking of a name for your creation?  As noted, some have come up with "Shorty" or "The Dragon", but given your location, might not the name 'Aitana' pay homage to a shining star from Barcelona? ;-)  

Thekla McDaniels wrote:.......but let a divisive person show up (this happened while I was woof hosting), and all the dynamics change.  

The older I get, my vulnerability increases.  Once I have taught what I know, and a productive system is in place, there are those who would have no further use for me.

This may be a realistic viewpoint for sure -AND- I like to think people at times can collectively take the high road.  I don't like the idea of making myself invaluable to tyrants, practical and expedient as that path may be.  Rather in the "glass is half full" vein, I hope that the productive and more benevolent approach to living might become infectious and be cause for ostracizing a divisive entity by other members of the community you have mentored.  That 'infection' would be cause for those around you to consider you more in your older years with gratitude for what you have put into motion and have taught them by example.

For a quick, catchy musical morale boost in this regard, have a listen to Mark Knopfler's "Done with Bonaparte"......

Keep sowing, growing, sharing.....caring.

John F Dean wrote:My experiences have led me to believe there is a huge difference in perspectives between those on small farms and people living in metropolitan areas I regard to preparing for a crisis …especially one that is long term. Even more surprising to me is how similar the thinking is between the mega farmers and city dwellers.  My experience has been that people operating huge farms (1000+ acres) seldom have a vegetable garden.
...........  Our biggest frustration is grains.  Growing, harvesting, and processing them has been difficult for us.   I am trying sunflowers and corn again this year.  Maybe I can be more successful.

I would think both corn and wheat (certain types) would grow well in your area, but dried corn would be the easiest to recover as a grind-ready grain.  Threshing of small grains can be an impediment to wide adoption unless the time and/or resources exist to do so.  We are in a historical bread basket of wheat and barley production, but getting a good crop and finally cleaned grain is not an easy endeavor.  But I'm a bread and pasta addict like many and it's hard to reduce that in the diet.

Also, I agree with the observation that many operating huge farms seldom have a garden.  The difference between them and the myriad city dwellers is the knowledge of what to do if one *needs* to grow their own food.  Most big growers could still do this fine.  That said, my cousins who were born into a moderately large farm in the 1960s an 1970s certainly knew how to utilize a garden, but just seemed to want to join in with the rest of the nation in indulging in the convenience of store-bought food.  Fortunately, they already some years back started gardening again just on the realization of the food quality they were missing.

For my wife and I, we've been fortunate to interact with several of the local farmer's market producers here on the North Dakota-Minnesota border.  Occasionally we are gifted with extra produce they have at the end of the fall and this excess typically goes into the root cellar.....where harvest can be observed regarding who stores well and who doesn't.  I've been impressed and surprised at times to discover that some items we deliberately planted for storage do not store as well as some of what we freely obtained from a local producer.  So that allows us to learn from them just what varieties or landrace selections they are using towards that end.  This year we hope to add more cabbage, beets, and carrots to supplement the annual staples of potatoes, chard, kale, peppers, tomatoes, onions/garlic, squash, green beans (this year, maybe plant dry cranberry beans again), and eggplant.  Hoping for good dehydrating weather when the time comes as well and grateful that the chest freezers don't need powering (much) when winter up here arrives.

The impact here with our rural coop in Minnesota is not so much the rate of pay-back for excess power generated.  It's that connection fees (billed monthly) are beginning to creep up at a worrisome rate.  I'm not sure what their rate for adding grid-intertie to the mix is just now, but even without it, our current connection fee is over $60 per month, even if we were to not draw any power from them during that month.  I understand that such fees are necessary to maintain the grid for all, but will have to weigh this as a factor in the homestead economics.  What I certainly do like and appreciate is the greater affordability, on-site power storability, generation efficiency, and plug-n-play nature of modern solar offerings.  It comes with a re-education for the homeowner to be sure, but the potential for a bit more power independence is sizable.

One question for you in Canada without getting lost in the weeds too much of particulars:  Does Canada as a country or the Provinces (or cities/counties) provide financial incentives for solar/alternative power installation by homeowners?  A useful swath our tax incentives in the US have disappeared under the current government....could well come back after changes occur in that realm...but i'm curious as to whether or not home power generation up there is seen somewhat in the same light as health care, where the costs of the service are distributed across residents in a different way between the two nations.  Thanks....and appreciative of these discussion points from both of you...for solar especially, so nice to hear how those in northern climes are balancing the summer power generation with winter deficits and working out affordable plans with grid power providers.

Allen Jackson wrote:Amazon actually sells parallel compatible versions of the JK BMS, if you are wanting to do combo series/parallel battery packs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0FPCZS56M

Pasted below is the BMS I purchased for this first 12V/100Ah build.....

Eric Hanson wrote:Ok, I will try to explain what is going on in this (mess) picture!

..................................

I still have a few things to tidy up.  I need to shorten some cables and tie other cables together to make things look better, but I think it is coming along.

Thoughts?

Eric

Eric,    I may have missed it in your build description, but do you have plastic/ABS separation sheets between each adjacent cell?  I just received 4 EVE 100 Ah cells that will fit nicely in an ammo-box build but need to confirm the need or not for dividers as has been mentioned elsewhere on internet descriptions.  Thanks!

In the northern Plains of the US, it's probably prudent to view Mother Nature through a lens that spans years to decades of possibilities, hence the value of last and first average frost dates.  For about 1-1/2 weeks in March this year, it seemed worth considering planting some colder tolerate garden items.  The garlic was already sprouting, many yard plants were greening up, and the temperatures were swinging from 50s (F) by day to 30s at night. Then the early spring storms arrived, dropping not only 10" of heavy wet snow, but following that with several days where highs were around 30 and the low morning temperature yesterday was 3F.  In this regard, Mother Nature is like the 'Trickster' of Native American lore....looking to trip you up for your hubris.  So an 'annualized' Mother Nature is what we take into account for making planting decisions.

Esther Norine wrote:Hi guys!

Just another Minnesotan checking in.

I was wondering if anyone in the Twin Cities area has any apprenticeships for Permaculture or opportunities like that?

.....

Thank you!!

The link below may at least possibly put you in touch with some in the Minneapolis area that could help you out.  Good time to look because there may be opportunities for the coming spring!

Good luck!

https://permies.com/t/270803/Urban-farming-Minneapolis