J. Syme

Ask your local cemetery grave digger, they will probably have access to a ground penetrating radar device used to locate unmarked graves.

Harry Morgan from MASH tv program comes to mind as an actor that can express frustration eloquently.

My side of the ditch has a mixture of grass, ditch lily's, and tuberosa (milk / butterfly weed). they come back each spring for the past few decades.

Anvils, Of course.  The Wile E. Coyote approved A.C.M.E. tool for catching the road runner.  I have a small one in the garage, & a large one in the barn. They are handy for shaping metal objects. maintenance is minimal, wire bush, light oil or bees wax after cleaning.  John

forage gardening, hmm, I have a slingshot & hiking shoes, anyone have a good seed bomb recipes for Ohio/Pennsylvania areas? Dropping wild radish seeds into deer track holes isn't as fun as launching clay seed balls thru the air. best time to plant a tree, ten years ago, second best time right now....

paul wheaton wrote:

J. Syme wrote:We upgraded the garden & back field to make 1.5 times as much food as we consume, if food cost goes up 10x then I'll be sharing even more food with neighbors and helping them fortify their gardens.

Maybe that's the true core:  save our apple seeds to plant in the neighbor plots.  Visit our neighbors to plant sunchokes, walking onions and kale.  

Maybe do a little "forage gardening" once a week or so.  In time, there could be enough food to feed a few hundred people nearby.

We upgraded the garden & back field to make 1.5 times as much food as we consume, if food cost goes up 10x then I'll be sharing even more food with neighbors and helping them fortify their gardens.

eat what you store, store what you eat... i have racks that you put cans into and it rolls to back and drops then rolls forward to front. first in first out inventory made easy. so this way i can buy stuff when it's on sale and not have to waste time sorting stuff by reading expiration dates... the more used stuff gets more shelf/rack space. we can, and freeze things regularly. the major issue is when we get bonus crops and we're tired of zucchini, tomatoes, & peppers ect... then we hold neighborhood salsa making party and process store a bunch at a time. my suggestion to those starting out with building pantries is to take good notes on your food that regularly gets consumed. types and quantities then make a plan as to how to store it at about 80% of it's shelf life/rotation thru your kitchen. i started this path in the 90's and have benefited greatly from reducing impulse or panic buys. happy bargain shopping and planning your garden calories. john

For Best fuel savings is drive less. (group errands, carpool, and do the farthest spot first then work way back home).  Leave early for errands so you're not rushed and tempted to drive more aggressively.
Remove extra weight from your car (clean out your trunk).  Inflate tires to proper rating to reduce rolling resistance.  Maintain vehicle tune ups, wheel alignment, bearings, brakes ect.   Avoid using the heater use until the engine has reached operating temperature.  Minimize air conditioning use, below 40mph use windows, park in shade use sun shield when parked. dress for the weather.  When driving on a multi-lane roadway, try to maintain a "space cushion" around you, so you can avoid speed variations.  Conserve momentum avoid coming to a complete stop whenever possible.  Be aware of your surroundings, try not to drive in a manner that will annoy those around you, give the impatient drivers an easy opportunity to pass you.  Some will see your atypical driving style and give you a thumbs up, most will be annoyed that you held them up from a very important stop light they rushed up to, only to wait until it changes green, right about the time you gently roll up to the light.

true well water yield/flow testing is usually done over a 2 hours period. 5gal/minute time 120 minutes is 600 gallons so if you can fill a dozen 55gallon drums in 2 hours you have plenty of sustained flow.  make sure to watch the flow carefully because if the well runs dry for a bit and the pump runs dry it will damage the pump. FHA & VA loans require minimum standards for well quality & flow rates. HUD reg are found here https://www.hud.gov/hud-partners/single-family-handbook-4000-1.  if you don't want to read 900+ pages here's the basics:  flow rate of 3-5 gal per minute sustained for a couple hours is the flow capacity they look for. there is also testing for contaminates in the water Bacteria, nitrates, lead, pesticides. the well should be more then 50 ft from septic and more than 10 feet from property line and 100 + feet from a drain field.   the practical test is if you have multiple fixtures running in the house at the same time will the pressure drop significantly that the pump will run dry for a bit damaging the system.  hope this helps.

I will put it on my calendar. Most likely I can fly into glacier MT area and borrow a ride from a buddy of mine. Paul, please let me know what RMH supplies you may need for this learning adventure.