Christopher Weeks

master gardener

+ Follow

news 5,145 Posts 123 Threads

since Jun 24, 2018

Merit badge: bb list bbv list

Forum Moderator

Christopher Weeks currently moderates these forums:

Biography

I steward 20 acres of Cromwell Sandy Loam in the north woods of Minnesota. I clear birch and aspen as needed to plant food sources.

I always have more projects going than I can keep up with which isn't really awesome but I don't know what to change.

I vote for Libertarians and Socialists because they know what it means to have principles and that matters more to me than the exact details of what they believe in. I'm a gun-toting vegetarian. I write code for cash and grow food because no amount of cash will buy real food these days.

I have a wife, two kids, two grandkids, and three cats. I've never had a dog, but I'm thinking about changing that. I hike, garden, read, play games, code, cook, spin and knit, putter, and play at arting.

For More

Carlton County, Minnesota, USA: 3b; Dfb; sandy loam; in the woods

Apples and Likes

Apples

Total received

In last 30 days

204

Forums and Threads

Recent posts by Christopher Weeks

Are you interested in building a rocket mass heater? What is holding you back?

I don't want to give up the space in my house. I don't want to wrestle with insurance.

I *do* want to try putting one in a greenhouse, but it's a project that's a few years out.

14 hours ago

rocket mass heaters

Music of the Moment

1 day ago

music

Would you rather ... attend a bonfire or play some pranks?

I like pranks less than candy corn. I'll take the bonfire, please!

1 day ago

meaningless drivel

Would you rather ... eat licorice or eat candy corn?

Hard salted black licorice from Denmark or Holland or wherever, the only trick is to be sure it's vegetarian.

I'd rather have almost anything else in the world than candy corn.

1 day ago

meaningless drivel

Dry Beans That Won't Cook

Maybe find a stove top pressure cooker at a thrift store. I haven’t looked, but there must be a bunch of them there since instant pots and their peers became popular.

2 days ago

zero waste

PEP Foraging - Straw Badge

I have accrued the 35 point needed for the straw badge in foraging! (Though, at the time of this writing, my sand badge request hasn't been granted, so don't do this before that!)

Eliding the parts of the list that don't apply to me:

35 points required
New items from the sand tea list - ½ point each
20 pounds of seed balls/bombs - 4 points
- Unlimited duplication with different species each time
Save seeds from 6 species of wild plants - 2 points
- Unlimited duplication with different species each time
Guerilla plant 500 woody perennial food seeds or cuttings (not seed bombs) - 8 points

1 point - two teas: 1; 2 (And just to be explicit, this doesn't include the tea I did for the Sand Badge: rose hips).

8 points - two batches of seedballs: 1; 2.

18 points - 9 batches of saved seeds: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9.

8 points - guerilla planting: Guerilla plant 500 woody perennial food seeds or cuttings (not seed bombs) - 8 points

2 days ago

pep foraging

Dry Beans That Won't Cook

Suzette Thib wrote:I have tried many methods of soaking and prepping

It might help if you told us at least the most extreme thing you've tried so that we can scale our answers.

If you've already tried x, y, and z -- there's no point in me suggesting those.

2 days ago

zero waste

a college degree in 2025/2026/2027 ... don't

Every time someone says AI can't do X or doesn't have Y, the answer is always, always -- not yet, but it will. The only way automation doesn't end up doing literally everything we can do, and more, and better, and faster is if we crash things into an unrecoverable dark age. I give it 50/50.

Regardless, however much machines can or can't do, or which jobs they displace humans from, knowing how to grow a lot of food (and build a shelter and stay warm/cool) is all up-side.

2 days ago

paul wheaton's pseudo blog

a college degree in 2025/2026/2027 ... don't

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:AI doesn't have hands!

Yet.

2 days ago

paul wheaton's pseudo blog

Ground Cherries - Edible or Poisonous?

Jay Angler wrote:I think the red ones are called Chinese lanterns...

Hooray for learning new plants! :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkekengi
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Physalis+alkekengi

3 days ago

plants