John Wolfram

Riona Abhainn wrote:How about most countries agreeing not to use chemical or biological weapons?  Like the tech to create them exists but most of us have agreed its a no-no, even in wartime.

Landmines would also fall into this category. However, considering how effective they still are at slowing down advancing modern armies I wouldn't be surprised if a few countries have secretly started producing them again.

FYI: The Indiana Fruit and Nut Growers are having their scion swap meeting Sunday March 30th in Bradford Woods, Martinsville. There tends to be some overlap with that group.

It's gotta be salt. It's the one spice where you'll die if you don't get enough of it.

Billy Blankenship wrote:I didn't even realize, until you pointed it out, that they didn't list nitrogen. No wonder that company is shutting down this year. The soil is made up of clay and sand, mostly. It has a lot of limestone, too. It is very compacted. They ran cattle on it for a long time until it was split up into smaller ranchettes.

Most soil tests don't measure nitrogen since it is so variable and changes so much throughout the season.

One test for 20 acres? Nope. That's a no go. If you did 20 tests at one acre grids you'd only spend about $250 for Midwest Labs (https://midwestlabs.com/agriculture) S3M test. It sounds like you'll be spending a lot on nutrients, and fixing things, so that $250 will likely pay for itself several times over by getting good information and avoiding wasting money on things where it is not needed.

It sounds like your husband will be A) spending a lot more time commuting, B) living in a place he doesn't care for, and C) living in his father-in-law's house. If my wife tried to get me to move in with my father-in-law  (which would accomplish the same three things outline above), I'd be really frustrated too. At least in my situation, a much more palatable option would be to have the father-in-law move in with us.

Grafting before planting the rootstock is called bench grafting, while grafting after the rootstock has been planted in called field grafting. Both options can be used for the apples and pears. It's more comfortable grafting while sitting in a chair in my garage than bending over a tree in the field, so if all other factors are equal I prefer bench grafting. Persimmons need a bit higher temps for scion and rootstock to grow together, so field grafting is a better option for them.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:What do you think of this idea of using DEF on/ around blueberries versus "Liquid Fence"?
Hmmm... Maybe I should withhold a few eggs from my girls and once they are good and rotten [not my girls, the eggs] put a few around my blueberries. That might be the cheapest. I know also that my hubby will piss outside when he is in his shop, as it's too far to run home. I left a bucket near the door of his shop with mission to pee in it every chance he gets. Maybe I'll break a few old eggs in there too, for good measure?

When are your blueberries being attacked? I've found repellants can be good in the growing season when the rabbits have lots of alternatives. If the blueberries are getting attacked in the winter, the rabbits can be super hungry and will ignore the deterrents. On the plus side, a hungry rabbit is MUCH easier to trap than one that is well fed.

I'm writing this post while on public transportation, so at least around me in the suburbs of Chicago I would consider the public transportation into the city pretty good. The trains are clean and comfortable with decent Wi-Fi. When I moved to the area, proximity to a train station was one of my key priorities since I would be working in the city and was still recovering from a job with a hellish driving commute.

While it's easy to get into the city by public transit, the local town has none. Having to drive 15 minutes to do just about anything is kind of annoying, but at the same time it does keep the town more secluded which is nice (especially during the Covid years).

I'm in Northern Indiana and just yesterday moved my persimmon and pawpaw seeds from the refrigerator to a heated cooler. I always seem to start my annuals too early as in the middle of winter I'm anxious to get ready for spring. I'm trying to avoid that this year so in about a month or two I'll probably start some tomatoes and lettuce.