John F Dean

Are we bringing in the NewYear … or making sure the old one leaves?  Anyway, Happy New Year!

I am going back to Timothy’s November 22 post and making some version of Salisbury Steak. I also tossed some chili into a crockpot for tomorrow …or whenever.

Hi Craig,

Great points. I sold my Minnesota homestead for a variety of issues. But the major reason was neighbors.   I had at least three neighbors with major  drinking problems.  As for government, from the start I sought out minimal restrictions.

He used the concept.. not the word.   For example he discussed how the combination of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol was begging for cancer.
He also discussed the prevalence of types of cancer worldwide wide and connected that to diet in those regions along with the implied trade offs I seldom hear about.   For example, he mentions that country X had 10x the colon cancer rate of region  Y.  Something I often hear. But then he goes on to address why region Y has a much higher liver cancer rate than country X.   And yes, he connects this to the diet of both.

I agree.  I have long used the price of a magazine subscription as my base criteria for buying pie and financially supporting  Permies.   … by my calculations, about $40.00 a year.  I give out pie for a variety of reasons; most consistently it has been for posts that have saved me money…and/or my backside.

Water tops the list.  I look at proximity to medical care and hardware stores.  Lumber is a little less important. Roads come in somewhere in the consideration.

One flood gets my attention.  I would not rule it out. But, I have always bought homestead property on hills.

I don’t know how they compare to other brands. My go to is Fiskars at under $40. To me, that is pretty pricey.

I just read the above book on cancer by Robert A. Weinberg. His background is in cancer research at MIT.  The book was published over 20 years ago, so I am sure there is more current information. I was attracted to it because it is part of a series, and I found other books in the series to be quite good.

Anyway, it did go into sufficient detail to add to my knowledge.  He made a number of predictive statements that turned out to be accurate.  The one predictive statement he made that leads  to this post is that he felt the successful treatment of cancer in the long term future was going to be through prevention.

Regarding the plastic going to the ground, I have a wainscoting of old boards about a foot high going around the outside. It provides  substantial protection from animals, lawnmowers, weed wackers, etc.  I attached it to the metal frame.  In hindsight, I am wondering if I should have driven in wooden stakes and attached the boards to those. This would have made it easier to tuck the plastic all the way to the ground behind the boards.

Regarding venting, I have installed older metal storm windows at each end of my high tunnel.  It gives me a little better control in the venting process than only having the option of raising the skirting.