Trace Oswald

pollinator
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since Sep 20, 2018
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Recent posts by Trace Oswald

Tommy Bolin wrote:
Along those lines. Will somebody explain to me how a "moisture meter's" little metal prongs stuck 1mm into the end grain of a length of cordwood tells me anything useful about the dryness of the center of that 22inch piece of stove wood. Those meters function similar to a pH meter, they measure electrical resistance in wood of 2 prongs about an inch apart, and infer a local value.



If you have a woodpile you want to test, take one of the thicker pieces from the pile, split it, and get the reading from the center of the wood where you split it.  It will give you a pretty good indication.  Most readers are accurate to 5% or so if you test that way, and I think that's close enough to tell if my firewood is ready to burn.  I also generally don't burn for 2 years after cutting, so I don't use a meter often.  I normally only use it on a pile if I don't know when it was cut.
2 hours ago
I haven't seen posts from him lately, and I very much miss what he has to say.
2 hours ago

Daniel Wilmot wrote:We like to use silicone backing pan for our birds 🐦.
We have 1 duck and 4 🐔 chickens. Seams to work for us.



No reason not to use it if it works for you.  Most people that are looking for "inventive" ways to feed their chickens have a lot more birds.  I have 52 birds, so I need something substantially bigger if I don't want to fill feeders constantly.
2 hours ago
Thanks for posting.  I ordered some.
5 hours ago
Perfect getaway?  That's an easy one for me:  Stone cabin in the words  Built by a Permies member too!

If you are talking about a nice place I would stay but not perfect?  My criteria is pretty simple:

Clean
Dry
Warm in winter, cool in summer
A really beautiful setting

That's really all I need.  I want a comfortable place to sleep in a beautiful setting, preferably with nice walking trails, maybe animals, maybe water, especially a small creek where I can look for fish, frogs, dragon flies, cool rocks, turtles.  No noise except for nature sounds.  I want to have my dog there.  That's it.
Cilantro
Parsnips

I think I would rather eat a dog shit sandwich than either of those things.
2 days ago
Dry beans are a big plus with chickens.  They are super easy to grow, a good protein source, and last for years.  The way I feed them is soak them for a day or so, overnight at least, change out the water, bring them to a boil in a dutch oven, then turn off the heat and let them sit another few hours.  The birds love them and they get water with their food so they don't need to drink as much.  That's especially helpful in winter when the water freezes every day.  I usually mix the beans with rice or pasta, but I can't grow those of course.
2 days ago

Emmett Ray wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Emmett! I've been using this exact feeder for 5 of the 6yrs we've had chickens, here, and have never had trouble with rats, mice, moisture, bugs, or mold - and it's humid, here.



Wow, thanks for the pictures, Carla!  I love seeing people's set ups about anything and everything.  And thanks for the explanation.  I've never kept chickens but it's something I'm surely looking forward to.  I still have a lot of learning to do though.  They'd have the space to free roam but my area has a lot of the same predators.  I reckon the eagles and hawks would be the most worrisome in the daytime.  I'm really looking forward to see just how good of a set up I can creatively manage for the chickens to enjoy as well as leave me available for occasional overnights away.  

It sounds like you've got a pretty good set up for your situation.  Having friendly neighbor folk makes a world of difference.  



A good dog makes all the difference in the world if you want to free range your birds.
2 days ago
I really enjoyed that video, thank you.
2 days ago
If it were mine, I wouldn't touch it :)  One, it looks great.  Two, I'd be afraid I would mess it up.  I think the background change you made is an improvement though.
4 days ago
art