Timothy Norton

[applepoll]

I purchase a variety of meats from local farms/butchers and have run into the idea of finishing beef recently. I have read some people swear they can taste a difference if a cow is grain or grass finished. I'm not sure I can detect a difference so I wanted to ask the group.

How do you prefer to finish off your beef cattle before sending them to freezer camp?

I've been trying to think of a use for scapes in my household as they are rather underutilized. I try my best to minimize waste so I kept the idea rolling around in my head for about a year now. I just so happened to stumble upon a sauce online that is semi-local and ordered it to try it out.



Essentially, the sauce is a vinegar base with scapes as flavoring. I have found it to be a lovely non-heat/non-spicy touchup to food. I have used it on eggs so far and rather enjoy the mixture of garlic and acid that it provides. I really think making them into a sauce might have merit to help preserve the harvest!

My poor pup stepped on a bee during our walk and decided to sulk at the top of the stairwell. Of course, she had to keep an eye on what was happening at the bottom of the stairwell. Someone has to make sure no robbers get in, injured paw or not!

Following the great participation with Permies Poll: Do you compost at home? I feel the next question that should be asked is HOW do you compost? There is a myriad of ways, and not every way is a good fit for everyone.

[applepoll]

There will be only one apple to apply to the choices, please pick your main compost setup. Feel free to reply with other compost piles you may maintain as well.

Please feel free to share details and pictures of your compost setups in the replies below!

If I have missed the type of composting that you do, leave a reply and I will add it.

Composting

A skill that I really would like to develop is the ability to weld.

I'm not aiming to be able to market myself as a welder at the end but I would like to know enough to do basic repairs on the homestead. There seems to be a bunch of information out there on the web about the different kinds of welding, differences with materials, and plenty of opinions to boot.

If you were to recommend to someone how to start getting into welding, what would you recommend? Is self teaching a possibility? Should I try and seek out a buddy to walk me through the initial times? Is it worth going to a program?

I yearn to assemble some contraptions for future projects.

1.How long does this mycorrhizae survive?
2. If it is dying, can I do something to keep it alive and productive?
3. Will my 15 acre forest's leaf/pine needle letter be a consistent source of this mycorrhizae or if I keep stealing it, will it eventually quit producing?

1. Mycorrhizae Fungi works by forming a mutual beneficial relationship with a large variety of plants to exchange certain nutrients for certain nutrients. The key, as I understand, to keeping mycorrhizae alive is to provide plenty of living roots from plants for this relationship to exist.

2. Keep a living root in the soil as much as possible. If you experience a winter with super cold temps and snow, you will naturally have a dormant period but the population should rebound in the spring.

3. Ideally, you shouldn't have to keep reinoculation your soil in the future after the initial time.

I voted lemon basil because I have used it before. I do not have experience with Thai basil... maybe I am missing out!

I will use autumn leaves as part of my debris mix (mostly woodchip) to encourage fungal activity in my garden pathways. I notice quite a bit of Winecap growth in these spots along with the disappearance of the leaves with time. There also, just so happens, to always be a ton of worms in these areas so I can't completely contribute the processing of leaves to just fungal activity.

I'll also see plenty of ink caps, stinkhorns, dog vomit, and other varieties of fungi in these spaces.

I'm hoping to see if Blewits will grow with this kind of material mixture.

I would consider my village to be the places that I could walk to and back within a day. I live in a rural village so I'm particularly nested in the middle of a bunch of different specialties which is really fun.

We have
Skilled Trades (Carpenters/Electricians/Plumbers/Roofers/Masons/Contractors/Ect)
Welders
Blacksmiths
Farmers of all types (Cattle/Crops/Poultry)
Fiber flock herders and a central spinnery
Medical facilities (Primary care/dentist/orthodontist/acupuncture/massage/chiro)
Multiple machinists
Mechanics
Plenty of eating establishments/cooks
A couple gyms
Several public parks and gazebos for events
A couple fuel stations and a few fuel providers
A farmers market at our local Veterans of Foreign Wars office (VFW)
The local Amish/Mennonites provide a variety of services to the area (Carts/Horses/Lumbermills)
A bunch of different religious establishments (We have a TON. Somebody really liked to build grand buildings in this village)
A very desired school district
A "folk school" to learn crafts and ole timey trades
Bee keeper and bee keeper stores
There is a local guy who is an amazing cabinet maker. They are like art when he is done.
There is a deadstock composting facility nearby that makes great compost.
Ambulance Service and Fire Service
A local animal shelter
There is even a guy that makes duck decoys and is world renown!

I'm sure I'm missing some, but I do live in a rather interesting place.

Yeah, construction loans are kind of funny.

They do not pay out a lump sum upfront but rather disperse in stages as qualifying stages of construction happen. The bank has an interest in making sure they won't be out a chunk of money if the loan is not actually spent appropriately so the requirements appear to reflect that.