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Tony Hawkins

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since May 10, 2020
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Recent posts by Tony Hawkins

I have a spill plane that my buddy made for me. It may not be that rare in permie world, but it's definitely not something you're picking up at the local big box store. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/the-all-but-forgotten-spill-plane/

I also have horribly rocky soil so my rebar tamper that sits in my sds demo drill gets a lot of workout.
2 months ago
My shredded paper goes into the compost. It makes the compost look a little worse, as the ribbons of paper are obvious and visibly "not natural". I put wood chips down over compost once applied anyway so it's not really a concern.
4 months ago
I'm new to grapes, and bought several varieties this spring, half table and half wine. I usually take the advice of just letting them grow the first year and get established before I bring the pruning shears out, so maybe I don't need to do this now or maybe I should? Or maybe I don't need to stop this?

I have what I feel is the "main" vine on the left there, and a "secondary" on the right. I think that I'm just supposed to have one at this stage of the game, yes?

4 months ago

John Suavecito wrote:Tony, I'm surprised that you're burning wood chips.  Can you make a clean burn with them? Is it in a retort?

I get a much wider variety of sizes of char after crushing with bags.  I consider this to be an advantage.  We have very dry summers here. A bigger chunk will hold more moisture during the summer and that can make the difference for a plant that sends its roots in desperate searches for water.  The smaller chunks are more efficient in terms of mixing with the soil.  Every so often, I will need to manually break the big chunks into smaller pieces. THat's ok.

JohN S
PDX OR



John,

I built a biochar retort, a sealed drum with no oxygen going in and just heat from a pipe. It's a 6" steel pipe going into the bottom of the barrel, with a weld and 90 degree cut, and the pipe sticks out of the top of the barrel lid, cracks sealed up with rock wool. So yeah it all just gets pyrolized or whatever it is.

The wood gas gets shot back into the fire chamber once the pressure starts to happen.
4 months ago
Our drip irrigators run mid-day. It doesn't really matter as they sit over holes in the mulch and the water goes straight down into the shadow, and a thick layer of mulch is everywhere around it.

I'm in a *very* arid and dry place and even here, even when it is 100f in our high altitude I never need to water more than once every other day. Mulched soil that's been thoroughly watered, even my sandy soil, stays wet for a good long while.
Just to add a note about this, one thing I've done to increase the amount of smaller particles isn't to crush it so much as is it to just make more of it and to start with smaller particles in the beginning.

I use a heck of a lot of wood chips, and diverting some to the biochar retort is no big deal.

So I still end up with a couple of baseball sized chunks, not many though, the biggest are golf ball sized. I don't really fret it and just try to increase production of smaller stuff.
4 months ago

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:It's reasonable to use harassment tactics such as a pellet or airsoft gun, or a starter pistol. However, I suspect the fox will just adjust its tactics and become much better at showing up when you're not there.

I respect that some folks have a no-kill philosophy, but personally for a confirmed chicken killer I would be inclined to use lethal means. A .22LR subsonic round is low noise but packs a pretty good punch. My 2c.



Yep. And a nip-in-the-butt with a pellet gun can still pierce the skin, shatter bone, and/or cause an infection. I mean I get the intention but the only less-than-lethal options I feel for animals is pepper spray. Past that, you need to just acknowledge you're firing projectiles that can kill.
5 months ago
My techniques are pretty lazy, we just have a large stainless steel mixing bowl on the counter that generally gets emptied every day. Sometimes less often. If we're cooking with onions / garlic then we'll empty it within hours to keep the smell down. But the compost heap isn't that far and I can always use the exercise of walking around a bit. Dump it in, rinse the bowl, ready for more. Easy peasy.
5 months ago
Yeah, I yank anything out from inside the dripline and put a ton of wood chips down. I use organic fertilizer mixed into the chips. When it rains that gets pushed into the soil.

6 months ago
Indian free and poly white are two that do well here in the arid high altitude zone 6, if that helps anyone.
6 months ago