Hal

Frugal … FRUGAL ! 😁

For the past umm… how many years I have been using seed taters that I sorted and separated from the previous season . Original stock from Banfields marked as Yukon Gold , but I believe someone mixed them up with regular White . Tasty but not even close to Yukon Golds as compared to Chris’ actual YKs . I like Reds but the yield per plant was blah , size … mostly small . Now that could have been my fault as I have not Limed the ground , will this Season though ! So , yes Yukon Golds for the win here ! Tractor Supply always has the smaller bags ( think Little Debbie donuts bag lol ) and a good variety ( pardon the pun ) of , well … Varieties . I will buy Yukons from Banfield of course but will cut one open to see that Gold inside just to be sure . And I believe I have seen those small bags there as well .

Would be a really good idea for heating those buildings on the site wouldn’t it ! Or for washing off those nasty ass NYC trucks and trailers .

It is ironic isn’t it lol ! open burning off or venting methane produces CO2 and other gasses but still the modern process of a Digester reduces those off gasses significantly. But the Article years ago in Mother Earth News about the coiling of plastic piping under his manure pile always intrigued me … no shite lol.

This is So Wrong ! And not just because I side with Farmers on most everything but over the last 25 years or so the farmers especially the small family farms have made great strides in just these kinds of innovation! From the farmer at his Own expense, quite some time ago , decided to run heavy plastic piping under his manure pile providing Hot Water Heat and Domestic hot water to his barn for wash down . He just added more and more manure as needed and covered with tarps and voila Free Hot water and Heat . Now , conversely take a ride to Lowman and look at the methane gas ( from the buried garbage ) being wasted just going up in flames from the vent pipes !! But who gets the bucks for all that wasted energy generated for the most part from downstate ?! Who has the backing of State Government?! And Who ,most likely , gets Government Subsidies for new trucks etc … our friends at Casella ! So on this subject and a few others Mr Trump is tripping over his own … well , you get the point . Sorry to go on .

I just Could Not skip ahead to your post without reading the article MsKreed as i had an idea what your thoughts were on this subject , hence the 😂.

I certainly have no regrets puttIng in the ,rather small , pollinator plot here , and will continue to put more in addition to what we have . So much to see happening different every day from the barn porch . From the Monarchs to the Hummingbird Moths and Viceroy butterflies right down to scaring the Hell out of the woodchucks that cannot stand the sound of that pellet hitting that tin pan bwahaa 🫢. Anyway , the plot is cut cleaned and ready to spread the seed for the Annuals plus having dispersed the seed heads of the Perennials just for giggles . So yeah Monarchs … c’mon down !

Antiques not so much , a few old tools , odds and ends . Collectables … if musical instruments fit the category then yes I seem to be obsessed with mostly stringed instruments with a line up of harmonicas even a kalimba …or two . With 7guitars one of them a 12 string ,an electric and another that my parents gave me for my 12th birthday, 3 banjos and 3 mandolins a guy can keep pretty busy . What with keeping the humidity just right and going though the “ rotation” every day of tuning, cleaning's and playing I get about 3 hours per day in the newly redone “ music room “ . Can’t explain the why of it but I suppose its like other collectors, just feeling relaxed surrounded by things that give me joy . I have to say here that it has taken many , many years to settle ( if a collector can settle ) on what I have now and have traded many more instruments than I currently have … “at this point” ( disclaimer just in case ) LOL . But enough of my , ahem … quirk lets hear about Yours !

Old Timers have always told me to plant the taters “ after the New Moon of June . But really , you will be leaving them in the tires till the plant dies back (if for storage ) so a couple weeks either way of Memorial Day isn’t going to hurt IMHO . Me , I know I can put them in when the soil , a little on the drier side , doesn't stick to my plow 🤔 or when the tractor is running well LOL ! Reminds me to get new seed taters this year , Pontiac Reds just didn't yield last year and I have Grandsons that need their Ma’s mashed taters at the Holidays !!

Aww , man love the pics but now I’m reminiscing… missing my days with chickens and my bees 🐝!

Yales … my version of a Toy Store , always going the extra mile to help out and great friends as well . If things aren’t too busy when I go there Dave will sit to jam for a bit or show me a couple new riffs to step up my playing.

I can personally vouch for these folks , They are at the top of the Beekeepers game ! Always looking to find ways to keep their apiary and bees in top condition and take great pains in how they process their products , from the extractor directly to the sterile jar ! When I get missing beekeeping they invite me up to help or just relax and talk all things Honeybee , and believe me , they know more about beekeeping than most others have forgotten. Too much LOL , thats just because they are that good . Interesting videos if you care to check them out .

Somehow I don’t believe the goats are too fussy about the looks of it . And you won’t find my old ass climbing in the trees to check it out !

Really , one can prune anytime of year . That said the drawback to that is that pruning in the cold weather when the tree is dormant is the ideal . Alternatively, early Spring while still cool . Bottom line … when your shears are sharp 👍! I would be remiss if I didn’t add that pruning while its cold also leaves you less worried about disease and fungus invading through pruning cuts …

Thank you MsKreed … those regulatory rules , I believe, could/should be trimmed back to adjust the price of lumber a good deal . But there are pockets to be filled and palms to be greased all along the road even to just the lumber store let alone the housing market . Lumber imported from Canada spiked ridiculously during the covid pandemic for the simple reason that the loaded trucks were stuck at the International terminals waiting for Health Officials to admit U.S drivers to switch out with their Canadian Counterparts what a Charlie Foxtrot that turned out to be ! Until Agreements were reached ( aka palms were greased ) FYI , this from my Cousins Truck driver husband . Well , that time period has passed and the cost of lumber , along with other products from here and abroad never dropped to pre covid prices . Point … oh point yeah . As you pointed out with your post , tariffs blamed for higher prices being passed on to the Consumer, meh , just another excuse pushed down the Supply line to get prices and profit margins up and keep them there as with during covid .