John F Dean

master steward
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since Sep 04, 2017
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Biography
In the early 1980s I quit a secure job in administration, bought 10 acres, and began homesteading. At some point we decided to relocate to an area with more job opportunities and in a warmer climate. We presently live on 11 acres. We have Nigerian Dwarf Goats, KuneKune Pigs, bees, and an assortment of chickens. Our driveway is the boundary between zones 6a and 6b. Annual rainfall for us is at 46 inches. We have been together 50+ years.

We don’t consider ourselves to be an expert on anything. For some, homesteading produces serious income. For us, it is fun. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves in the adventure we created for ourselves.
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southern Illinois, USA
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Recent posts by John F Dean

One a year each dog visits the vet. Nails are always trimmed then.  We check in between visits. My wife is the official nail trimmer.
22 hours ago
Thoughts that bother me:  Assuming that the Mississippi River is the dividing line, why isn’t Colorado the Midwest and Ohio the Mideast?
22 hours ago
You don’t describe the condition of the water going into the filter.  In any case, when using expensive filters, I always prefilter the water.
What kind of prefilter depends upon the condition of the water to begin with.  If filtering pond water, for example, I always filter the water through a pillow case into a 5 gallon bucket.  This removes debris that can quickly clog the more expensive filters.  I have pe filtered with homemade sand and charcoal filters …also involving 5 gallon buckets.

Water entering our house through the county district, I prefilter using an inline filter on the kitchen faucet.
1 day ago
For me the word bleaching creates an unfortunate image.  It appears that sulfur dioxide does slow the browning of apples and limits the loss of some vitamins … this is from a quick search of multiple web sites.
2 days ago
Great work everyone!
Hi Eric,  at 76 I am pretty healthy, and I can toss around 50 pound bags of feed for most of the day.  Nevertheless, when I am at the feed store and someone offers to help me load my truck, I am more than happy to accept their help.  
3 days ago
Hi Anne,

That was the first place I checked.  The PO wasn’t involved.
3 days ago
Good point Jay.  Soil depth is a significant issue.  My raised beds run about 2 ft deep. I have never planted anything in a raised bed with less than 1 foot of quality soil. By quality I mean  composted vegetative matter and aged manure.
I find raised beds provide for easier weed control. This year I moved much my garden much closer to my house. I am using 2x4’ water troughs, and 36” tubs all elevated on concrete blocks.  I suspect the move will be as complete as I want it to be by next year.
Of course, the OP was about traffic noise….which I find annoying.  Oddly, I find railroad noise relaxing.  I used to live by a rail yard and enjoyed listening to the noise.
5 days ago