John Ryan

Love my Satoh Bison!  Whenever I start it up for the season, the sound of imperial Japanese songs play in my head.  

Hello Amber, thank you for taking the time to share and engage.  Thanks for your compliment, the feeling is mutual.

I'll start by saying that I try to live by a loose philosophy that I know nothing with absolute certainty.  Faith then, requires one to trust in something without any guarantees.  Whether true free will exists ties all of this together somehow.  On the one hand Jesus may have been a high IQ man who was able to impact the world with his wisdom in ''miraculous'' ways.  I personally do see clues or "signs" that point towards there being a God, separate from us and Christian teachings have been the most genuine way for me to make any sense of whatever that truly means.  Is it possible that Jesus was one of many prophets?  I could understand that. Do I think the Christian bible, which was written and translated by men, is perfect?  Absolutely not!   However, I do believe that Christianity was able to record, interpret, challenge and preach that message far more accurately.  If it all turns out to be merely an illusion or sort of step in our evolutionary development, then I personally still choose to participate, barring someone presenting a better alternative with evidence.  

As far as eternal damnation vs karma.  That's thought provoking indeed.   I'll have to reflect more on that.  If you could, please elaborate on balancing Karma, I'm interested.  Again, I appreciate it!

36m on a journey of self-discovery.  I'm building a life on my established 40-acre homestead in Maine, growing food, sawing lumber, raising livestock. Too much time spent living with my dogs has me chasing my own tail.  I desire to improve myself and be useful to others deserving of my efforts which is often easier said than done!  

At present time, I can say the following.  I'm a Christain but I don't attend any particular church.  I'm a politically active conservative with a strong libertarian foundation. I have firm convictions but I'm hungry to learn other perspectives!  I strive to do things to the extreme in life including my physical fitness.  I'm an omnivore, I may sing songs to and befriend my cows but someday I will eat them, respectively.  I'm currently living an extreme hermit lifestyle now to the point where I've developed a bit of agoraphobic tenancies, I don't go into town unless something really motivates me to.  I don't drink or use any drugs other than coffee, but I don't judge occasional recreational or medicinal usage. I had my fill from my younger years experiencing with psilocybin.  I'm financially independent, grounded (maybe?) and totally comfortable with myself.  I've never been married, but all of my former romances ended with mutual respect or continued friendships.  So, why am I posting here?  I'm not particularly looking for anything romantic.  Suppose I am more interested in meeting honest, genuine, interesting people and perhaps together we can share our experiences, explore ourselves, the world and challenge one another to reach new heights.  The only expectations I have of other people are for them to be honest.   I've always been comfortable in solitude but lately life feels a bit unfulfilling without someone there to share with.

I've probably said too much here, probably should leave some things for a conversation.  Feel free to moosage me if you'd like to chat or desire a photo of me.

Some factors to consider.  How big are the logs and what length?  The following are my only my opinion based on experience owning a JCB 3cx and a Kubota 0457.  I bought a backhoe first because it's basically the swiss army knife of equipment.  It can do everything.   If you plan on moving loads of earth and rocks around without some kind of dump truck/trailer or many wheelbarrow loads, another win for the backhoe.  That backhoe is big enough to dig the roots and push trees over.

That mini excavator may be prone to tipping or you will have to be very careful when skidding bigger logs, slow and steady, especially on bumpy ground.  It maybe be quicker at the cleanup/landscaping.  You could level ground as you go.  Obviously, it will outmaneuver and fit in tighter spaces

Excavator probably has more selling potential down the road but in my area either of those would hold their value at those prices but don't forget that unexpected maintenance costs are a sure bet with any heavy equipment.

Hello fellow Mainers.  I'm down in Penobscot County trying to carve out a homestead lifestyle on 37 acres.  

A bushcraft school sounds really useful!  I'm particularly interested in learning more about local wild edible or medicinal plants and fungi.  

Books and youtube are great resources for learning.  Although, my advice is to just dive in and start growing!  Don't get overwhelmed with fantasies about all of the different methods, just picked something suitable for you and your capabilities, then go for it.  I've tried just about every method there is, and I've circled right back to traditional row crop gardening that my grandparents taught me.  It works best for me personally because it can be done on a small scale with hand tools or scaled up with mechanical equipment while the math, spacing, watering etc., doesn't vary too much. The only limits are my personal ambition or fuel.  I still practice some hugelculture for perennial landscaping and raised beds for containing vigorous spreaders.

If you are looking for in person hands on lessons then perhaps try:

Local extension office.
Local community gardens.
Local social media garden pages.
Farmers markets.

I'm growing a few acres of various flint corns this upcoming season in order to select and breed varieties suitable for my farming goals.  Producing a higher protein feed corn for myself and my chickens was one of many initial motivators, now I'm also mindful of the higher anthocyanin content in some varieties.  

Some corn from this study had 13% protein content.  Along with many other varieties, Abenaki aka Roy's Calais flint is one corn suitable for my region of Maine zone 5 that I will focus on preserving and improving.  I plan on crossing a variety of ''old world'' flint corn with some more modern types that are more suitable for mechanical farming and hope to develop my own lines.  

When feeding my rabbits branches or bark chews in the winter, I do feed some spruce and pine in moderation, while being mindful of when I read briefly about pine induced abortion in cattle.  I admittedly didn't read deep into the studies regarding the specific species of evergreen or whether it can occur in other animals.  I don't breed my rabbits in the winter months anyway and have never noticed any side effects from feeding spruce boughs.  By the time I start breeding in springtime (Maine z5), other trees are budding.

According to Bunnymeadow spruce is safe.