Barbara Kochan

I lost my entire crop (from 2 trees) of hazelnuts this year. 3 pair of Stellar Jays started taking them even before most nuts were mature!  I have blueberry bushes that are not bothered by the jays until, it seems, the Kestrels, in a nest box I put on the corner of the orchard, have fledged.  I wish I could convince the kestrels to spend more time over the orchard even after the babies have fledged.

The other issue I have are voles, seemingly lots and lots of voles.  I have lots of coyotes that spend a great deal of time here, and a barn owl pair that nest in one of the barns. They use it as their dining room year round, so I am certain they also help a lot with vole (and other rodent) mitigation. Still, I think I have grown the vole population by growing them lots of high quality food, and fencing the deer and elk out of 2 growing areas, which inhibits the coyotes and owls (on one small garden) from ready access to the voles.  about a month ago I decided I would rather the deer eat my bean plants than the voles, and I took down one panel of my veggie garden. This may have worked as the bean plants have regrown and are looking good  (knock wood).

I have lots of wasps here. Mostly I have lots of paper-wasp nests, but I also curated a nest that fell from the eaves so they could still live in it. That lasted about 2 months and/but they moved on or some other insects drove them out of that nest. I appreciate the wasps not only for all the pollination, but for controlling various harmful larvae, etc.  

Depending on how hot (I am a heat wimp) I wear a very wide brimmed straw hat and long sleeve, loose fitting shirt; I wet a kerchief for my neck, or my clothes, and/or I go sit in the small river that is in the shade of trees for 30 minutes or so.  I often sit in the river after my working day when the night will still be hot (no ac for me) and that lowers my body temp enough that I end up sleeping quite well, too.

Logged in automatically as usual.

selected 2d test, fairly quickly filled out the form (tho rarely use PayPal so not sure of my name there), got an f-code 806. Can't see f-code on original page even after refreshing it.

Using several years old Chromebook with chrome browser.

Is the f-code supposed to be visible on any page I am logged in on?  I did the third step and my code did show up when I did the hovering.

Sure wish I had a website folks visited so I could get in on this income stream!

How much and how far is key to deciding upon how to move it. I had a dump truck load and moved most of it about 40 - 75 feet. I mostly used 5 gallon buckets as it was easier to place it exactly where I needed it: under raspberries, blueberries, and small fruit trees. I moved it into the buckets by scooping with the buckets, my hands, and a smallish 'rake' (like a steel rake but with 5 tines that are a bit wider and with a 20 inch handle). The steps were good for my exercise, especially in the winter months, so it worked very well for me.

The way I save the most water is to realize not every dish I use needs to be washed. I can often re-use a dish for several meals or even days before needing to wash it. Same for pots/pans.  The second thing I do is to catch every bit of water I use for hand washing and dish rinsing: that water gets used to pre-treat dishes that do need to be washed.

Has anyone tried an instant pot in a hay-box yet?  I am thinking to just bring it to pressurized (in the box while open) then put a top on careful to not bump the pressure relief features. .... I had a (sorta) hay box a couple years ago and loved it. Not sure why I put it out of commission. Will make myself another soon and test it with the Instant Pot/pressure cooker.  

I am thinking that it will come to temp notably faster in the hay-box:  coming to temp often takes longer than the actual cooking (I have only an outdoor kitchen, so oftentimes it is 40F and sometimes colder).  Since I am usually cooking for just one (tho making leftovers for a few meals) I have just a 3 quart pot. Mom got me an extra liner so now I can keep leftovers in the original pot and still make popcorn that night :-)

thank you Jay. It is the lack of sun this month that leaves my room so cool and humid (it is well insulated and I get great solar gain in the winter). So while I have access to a car, and have my own, self-built solar dryer, ... no sol. Shinshu are a very large bean: the well developed ones are twice the size of the fava I grew this year.

I will take the beans to Mom's house on my next visit and find an out of the way spot I can stash them there for a few weeks: her home has the typical heat and temperature so I expect they will dry nicely there.

I left some shinshu runner beans on the bush as they were not ripe enough yet for eating, much less to be viable for next year's crop. I paid over $1 each for the beans to start 3 plants  so I REALLY want to make sure I have beans to start more plants this coming summer.

My question is: how do I tell when the beans are dry enough to seal in an airtight container for use in the spring?  I removed them from their pods as those were soggy and moldy. I have them laid out in my driest spot which is my room that I heat to just above 50F. It is less humid than outside but still fairly humid. Do I need to take them to my neighbors to finish drying?  

I also just harvested and gleaned some blue lake beans which I also want to get dry enough to store until next year. I presume telling if they are dry enough would be the same as for the shinshu?

Thank you for your help.

Even tho I live in the Pacific North Wet I have utilized gray water since the mid 90's. When I started I would catch the rinse water from the clothes washer in buckets and haul it out to the garden in the summer/watering months. I did the same during my decade in an apartment in Berkeley tho additional watering was needed in the yard.

Now the only indoor room I have is my bedroom, so it is simple to catch the gray water from my sink and put it on the plants. Since I haul all my water for drinking and washing I am frugal in its use so have minimal gray water, but it is enough to water most of my non-food plants. Most the rest are planted in a way that they make it through our dry months with no added water.

Meetup is an online place where one can find community. Not sure how well it is used in rural areas. Look for and or post at the library bulletin board. Nextdoor is a way to find/create community; again, not sure how great it is for more rural areas. As has been mentioned churches (bulletin boards) can be a place to find groups for engagement.  In my quite rural area bunko and pinochle are played by small groups (4, 8, 12) on a regular basis and these groups are a good start at meeting people.  Find like minded folk by helping out with your local fair committee/board, and or the 4H and Future Farmers, volunteering at the library.