David Matt

What pump are you using at the end of that hose? As the water begins heating at the pump depth in the barrel, does the pump get to hot and shut down? I would like to do something similar and then pump the warm water into a heat exchanger and then use the transferred heat in a hydronic heating system in my basement floor.

Hang a bug zapper over the pond during the evening/night (there are solar powered ones). Just make sure it doesn't fall in a hurt the fish.

Looks like Phragmites australis to me

Michigan DEQ

Consider making friends at the patrol level on the local police department. They are frequently called after animal-vehicle accidents and they can be a great source of meat. In Michigan, the driver that hit the deer gets first dibs but if they don't want it, the police can issue you a road kill tag (free) that will allow you to legally process the animal. I just got my first deer from this method two weeks ago. Yummy.

Paul, that is such a corny joke...you are a flake... Merry Christmas.

Nice video, thank you for posting it. I have a couple of whippets and (Max and Ruby) so we love the skinny dogs too.

Having trouble with a yellow jacket nest.  A picture is worth a thousand words so I have included a photo. The nest appears to be build underground with the entrance under the raised bed frame. The entrance is the dark spot in under the board (near the center of the photo). Last night at 23:05, I went out and used the hose end sprayer to put about 10 gallons of soapy water on the area, but there are still there this morning (maybe a little shinier due to their bath). I went out the store and bought a can of yellow jacket spray, but I fear using it because it would be soaking the stems and roots of my raspberry bushes. I was thinking about pouring a gallon of boiling soapy water on them tonight, but I wanted to get ideas here first.

How about
AgriTrue (maybe a green colored AgriTrue Logo) as the basic certification

and

AgriTrue + (maybe a gold colored AgriTrue Logo) if the producer is doing something above and beyond or maybe the gold logo could signify that the grower is doing something that they REALLY want the consumer to take note of or lookup of and read about???

AgriTrue Green Chickens are the yummy things that most of us around here look for (no *.ides etc.) and AgriTrue Gold Label Chickens were somehow raised in a manor above and beyond that the farmer wants you to know about. Perhaps they were paddock raised, given back rubs and slept in little beds in the family home?

One thing that helps is scratching your nails back and forth on a bar of soap. The soap gets under your nails and kinda blocks out the dirt. When you wash your hands, your nails are nice and clean. I have ended up just wearing gloves myself because of the thorns etc on my property.