J Garlits

This is a great opportunity for me to plug one of my favorite services. It's called "chip drop." Run the words together and add a dot com and you'll find arborists in your area who are willing to dump their chips on your property after they take down a tree or trees. Here are some pro tips to increase the likelihood that you'll get chips sooner rather than later. First, don't be picky...tell them on the form that you'll take chunks of wood mixed in with the chips. I've gotten three loads from them so far, and have never found a single log. It has always been pieces of wrist-sized or smaller partial branches. Second, you can tip them. Yes, they already save money by not having to pay to dump the chips at a commercial facility, but most of the arborists that participate are small businesses, so even $10 or $20 will get the chips dropped at your place instead of your stingy neighbor's.

They don't charge your method of payment until the chips are safely on your property.

The third dump I received was from an arborist who had previously given me chips. He was working in the neighborhood, knocked on my door, and asked if I wanted what he had. It was mostly green ash, and man did it ever smell wonderful. And it was a huge dump. It sat over winter and it's what I'm using in the garden and orchard this spring.

j

I second this as part of your overall strategy. Dragonflies, just like skeeters, begin in stagnant water sources as larvae. Dragonflies will hunt from perches, so research that a bit. Adding fish to whatever stagnant water sources might be your skeeter breeding ground will reduce the population some, but they will also reduce dragonfly larvae. I'm a sucker for cool looking critters, so I build them homes and try to make conditions right for attracting them. Dragonflies, hummingbirds, as many birds as I can attract, etc.

But the guiding principle can be as simple as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." If it were me, I would focus on "what eats the most mosquitoes?" Two of the big ones will be bats and dragonflies.

j

Timothy Norton wrote:I like to encourage dragonflies...

I'm over-posting on this thread. Sorry John! But here is another tip.

Roasting coffee goes through several stages. Estimate or confirm that your roaster is at about 450 degrees or slightly lower. Add the beans and agitate. If you can see the beans, they'll start to turn some shade of brighter green than they were when you added them. When they get to that point, it should smell very grassy. If you smell it, you'll know what I mean. Then they'll start to turn a nice shade of green/light brown. Keep agitating and keep the temp constant. Once they begin to turn truly brown, wait for "first crack" where the internals of the bean expand and "snap the spine" of the whole bean. If you've ever sat around a fire pit and the wood crackled and shot sparks into the air, it sounds like that. It will begin sporadically, then at its height, it'll seem all the beans are cracking at once. That will die off and there may or may not be a pause between first and second crack. It might be up to a minute, or it may overlap a bit. Second crack isn't as loud, and it sounds more "ping-y." That is the best way I can describe it. It's pieces of the outer surface of the bean detaching due to the extreme heat, and formation of oils on the outside of the bean. If you like lighter roasts, stop the batch midway through first crack to its completion. If you like darker roasts, let second crack complete, then cool the beans. Watch the level of smoke. Going into second crack, you definitely want to be doing this outside. Up to the middle of first crack, you can do it inside if you and your housemates don't mind a LITTLE bit of smoke and a nice roasty smell. Into second crack, balance out the sounds with the smoke level to determine when the beans are done. If you smell smoke from roasting beans, you'll learn by experience how that differs from beans that are burning. Burning beans have acrid smoke.  

j

John F Dean wrote:Has anyone successfully roasted green coffee beans in an oven?

Whirly-pops are awesome! The agitator at the bottom does a great job with coffee just like it does with popcorn. And when you say "low temp" as you know but other readers might not, is that the bottom of that whirly-pop will quickly get to 450 degrees even on low heat. With methods like this, you have to realize that you won't reach perfection because you can't control all the elements (ambient temp, airflow, etc.) but if once you get the hang of it, it'll knock the socks off of anything you can get at the grocery. Unless you burn it to a crisp, even the worst home roast will outperform anything you can get at the store. That's like saying your worst day hiking in nature will be better than your best day at work, but it is generally true.

j

E Eyring wrote:I’ve done a fair amount of coffee roasting (personal, not commercial) over the last decade and a half and there are multiple ways of doing it. Just recently experimented roasting a pound of raw coffee in a hand crank popper on my stovetop. I kept the heat fairly low and cranked it the whole time, but it wasn’t particularly arduous and ended up being a pretty good roast. I used a stainless steel version from amazon.

A caveat, sorry about this. But since I recommended a business and gave generalize pricing, I have to eat crow. It’s been a while since I placed single orders with them, and prices have doubled over the last couple years. I buy 5 pounds a month from them with a deal where they choose the coffee as they send you, and keep costs low. It’s still cheaper to buy a green and roast your own than it is to buy the horrible stuff in the grocery store.

J

John F Dean wrote:Has anyone successfully roasted green coffee beans in an oven?

A couple of other pro tips. Once you roast the beans to the desired level, they have to be cooled off very quickly. The easiest way is to toss them into the air repeatedly in a colander. Another method of roasting beans via the fluid air bed method is to use a heat gun. Very carefully. That’s how gourmet coffee Byers roast beans on site to determine which lots they’re going to purchase. Yes, they grind it and brew it immediately, and it is insipid, but their professionals and they know what characteristics to look for to ensure that it’s going to be fantastic once it off gases. You don’t have to have that skill.

J

John F Dean wrote:Has anyone successfully roasted green coffee beans in an oven?

In a nutshell, no. Putting your coffee beans in the oven will bake them, not roast them. Another comment was correct, that there has to be agitation and high constant ambient temperature to get bring coffee beans up to temperature as quickly as possible. There are two methods. Standard drum roasters, and fluid air bed roasters. The cheapest fluid air bed roaster you’ll find, is the air pop popcorn poppers. Say that 10 times fast lol. I could give a master class on the signs and smells, you need to look for to ensure that your coffee is roasted to the desired level, but the information is easily found online. Also, let the coffee off gas for at least five days before you grind it and drink it. Otherwise it will taste insipid and weak. It takes time for the flavors to develop. If you keep air away from it, it will still be considered fresh for a month after offgassing. I don’t make any money from recommending businesses that I love, but if you want to cut out the middle man and have a few Dinero to spend, there’s a company called. Sweet Maria’s that will take care of your needs. Or as others have said, just find a local source for green coffee beans, and don’t let them overcharge you too much. If it’s a standard Guatemalan, Colombian, Kenya, they shouldn’t be charging any more than five dollars a pound.

J

John F Dean wrote:Has anyone successfully roasted green coffee beans in an oven?

I fall to pieces when I lose a dog. I'm inconsolable for weeks.

It is hard. The pain of loss is the tax we pay on love.

But I'll take the love and the pain every single time.

The bond that was forged between your dog's soul and your own deserves the same space for grief and healing as any other big loss. You will grieve. And you'll heal. The pain will give way to gratitude.

I hope it comes quickly.

j

Maddie Watson wrote:No one talks about your biggest heartbreak When you’re the only person they’ll hang out with
You’ll be with them one second
In the next are gone

They disappear,
almost like they were never here
Just a thought
Maybe even just a blip

Nobody talks about your biggest heartbreak when you’re sobbing your eyes out and they’re the only thing to keep you stable

Almost as stable as the Colosseum
They keep you so strong until they’re gone
Gone where you can’t see them anymore
No contact nothing

Nobody talks about your biggest heartbreak when
You have to walk into that house
And see them lifeless
All you can do is lose it

Because now you know that they can’t keep you stable anymore
And nothing is able to replace that
Nobody able to replace the stableness that they gave

Nobody talks about your biggest heartbreak when
only real ones know that this isn’t about family
Walking in on your lifeless body
Was my biggest heartbreak

Knowing that you weren’t gonna be here anymore
Seeing you cold and stiff
It’s something that is engraved in my head
Engraved in my soul

My mind, races back to when I was five
Being with you in the yard
or when I was 11
and being with you in Connecticut

I remember getting that call
The one explaining how energetic you were
And how frustrated I was because of it
Frustrated because I knew it was your last moment

Last moment I couldn’t do anything to stop it
I couldn’t do anything
make you live one more year
You were there for me since I was little

I was sobbing my eyes out over a break up
And you were there to comfort me when I needed it
You were there for me during the divorce
You were there for me when I felt like relapsing

Matter of the fact that you were always there
when I needed you, you were by my side
When I was having a panic attack, cause you were there

You could tell something was wrong even if I denied it
Looking back, I regret pushing you away so much
No all I wish that you were still here

Cause I don’t wanna be here if it’s not with you
Not near you
Every time I’m on my cousin’s property
I have to drive by you

Remembering seeing you on the floor
Remembering walking out screaming
Because I couldn’t accept the fact you were gone
I can’t accept the fact that you’re gone

Since you’ve been gone,
I’ve lost a part of myself
A part of myself I would never get back
Real ones know that This isn’t about a person

Okay, so I rescued the kiddie pool, and have begun embedding it into my landscape. Yes, I know...microplastics. But such is the world in which we live. When the wind gifts you a pond, you install it. At least I do.

j

IMG_4508 by jgarlits, on Flickr
IMG_4510 by jgarlits, on Flickr
IMG_4513 by jgarlits, on Flickr

J Garlits wrote:I definitely will.

You know what? We had wind storms recently and someone's kiddy pool blew into "the ditch" at the back of my back yard. Possession is 9/10 of the law, right? That may become my pond! Talk about upcycling...

j

Timothy Norton wrote:I love it when I see dragonflies zip through my yard. While I have a nearby river, they haven't really started showing up until I upcycled small kiddy pools into water features on my property.

I don't think there is any harm in bragging, I hope you might be able to get some action shots in the future of the dragons enjoying their perch!