Picture yourself with flowers

Such a lovely day for going to market today!

Big Timber Farmers Market
City park, McLeod and 8th
July 2 - September 24
Saturday, 9 am - noon

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Garden Update and Request for Help With Deer

In this video I asked about preventing deer from entering my garden.  Since then I have begun to build a strong fence.  The minimum height is 6 feet.  My hope is that deer will look at the area inside as too difficult to jump into, and go elsewhere.  Many people talk about using smells and tastes to drive deer away.  My experience with hair, lion dung, dogs, dial soap, garlic and pepper is that these methods do not work. 

I hope you enjoy the tour.  Im looking forward to posting more updates later this summer

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زياره لمحل أدوات السباكه أسعار وأنواع توصيلات المواسير البلاستيكيه بى فى سى A visit to the shop Plumbing tools prices of the types of plastic pipes PVC

A visit to the shop Plumbing tools ... prices of the types of plastic pipes .. PVC.
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Thanking the mailman

Do you take your mail carrier for granted? I sure dont. So this year I delivered a little treat to him.

A gal in town makes delightful packages filled with small candies, like M&Ms or Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. (She also makes her own amazing chocolate-covered toffee and puts pieces in much bigger packages, but thats for another blog entry.) When I saw them, I realized what a perfect gift they are for a mailman.

Last year I had wanted to give my mail carrier something, but just couldnt think what. I thought he might like something warm, but the logistics of putting a steaming mug of hot chocolate in the mailbox seemed insurmountable. How to keep it from freezing before he arrived, or what if he scalded himself opening the box?

He delivers mail for 3 hours on a 60-mile rural route. Apart from regular mail delivery, he can deliver stamps or take packages that need postage. Or hell call before he begins his route to ask if I want an oversized package delivered to the house or will pick it up myself in town.

And he does this in all weather, 6 days a week. Without his faithful service, I wouldnt have any Christmas presents!

I cant thank my mail carrier enough.

Here is a closer look at the packaging; sweet, eh?

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Molt breakfast with a touch of Baileys

Todays journey began a couple of years ago, after I first moved to Montana, when someone told me to "have breakfast in Molt." I have long forgotten who that was and anything else they told me, but I have been planning to eat breakfast in Molt ever since.

Friend Kathy did the driving, but I felt a bit tense, wondering what we would actually find in Molt. I didnt even know the name of the restaurant . . . would we find it? would there still be a breakfast served? But Kathy, who loves road trips that dont take you anywhere in particular, was cheerful about the adventure.

Molt was easy to find: drive north past Laurel for about half an hour. And we soon saw the restaurant was not only visible -- make a quick right on Wolfskill Road as soon as you hit town -- but very obviously in business as evidenced by the many cars (the only cars in town) parked around the building.

Molt is very small, and although there are a few buildings in current use, the nearest one to the cafe, besides the post office, was this house:

But the Prairie Winds Cafe was jumping.

The moment we entered, I knew this was a really, really cool place. Bluegrass music, tons of people, plates piled high with delicious-looking food, walls lined with full shelves from the buildings days as the area mercantile. So many things to look at, listen to, savor.

We stood in line for a few minutes, then saw two empty places at a table nearby. Four other people at the table were already devouring pancakes and eggs. With permission, we sat with them. And thats a really nice feature of this place: you get to meet other diners.

In fact, things got so friendly that our table companions asked if wed like some soy milk, which they were passing around in a green metal beverage container and pouring into their coffee. One of their party was lactose intolerant. When we learned there was Baileys Irish Cream liqueur in the container, too, we suddenly realized we shouldnt be drinking so much milk and we accepted the offer. Ill have to say that Baileys really livens up a cup of hot chocolate!

It really livens up conversation, too. In between laughing and sipping our "coffee," we were told the hash browns were made from fresh potatoes, and that you get tons of food, so dont order too much. Apparently, they have very tasty pie, too, but I ordered a cinnamon roll to take out. (Dont do this yourself; I dont know what it would have tasted like if Id eaten it right there, but it was plenty dry by the time I got home. Next time Ill take home a piece of pie.)

We found out that a lot of people drive here or cycle from Billings, which is about an hour away, and as we were eating I saw a young woman from Japan walking around taking photos like any tourist. Or, perhaps, she has a blog, too. But its obvious this cafes reputation has traveled far and wide.

If you arrive when the cafe opens at 8:30 am, there will be a huge crowd, but at our arrival time of about 10 am, the crowd was thinning considerably.

Do not expect fast service. This is a leisurely experience that should be savored as much as the food. For when our food did arrive, I suddenly understood exactly why that long-ago unknown person told me to "have breakfast in Molt." The ambience is terrific and you should definitely go if only for that, but the food!! Delicious!

Of course the photo does not do justice to my meal, but it gives you an idea of how high the food is piled on. Although you can see the English muffins and a corner of my omelet, the plate was mostly covered with hash browns, and I can highly recommend them.

A repeat customer told us that if you go during the week, there might be one other person sharing the room with you, and there wont be any live music, but it would be a good time to taste lunch items.

Another repeat customer summed up the entire experience: "You always leave with a pep in your step," Although I must add the disclaimer here that she was the one who had brought the, er, soy milk.

I didnt get much practical information about the cafe, such as when it opened ("a few years ago," according to our table mates) or when it is open for business. But just keep in mind that on Saturday, you should arrive between 8:30 and 10:30 to sample the breakfast menu. I believe someone said the cafe closes at 3 pm on Saturday.

Call the cafe to get answers to your other questions: 406-669-3857.

But whether or not you remember to call ahead, do visit Molt on a Saturday morning. Ill share my table with you!

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Cookies with music

Today the American Bank held its open house, with handmade cookies by the talented cook at the senior center.

Every hour or half hour, music was provided by various groups around town. I stayed to listen to the Senior Center Kitchen Band.

This musical group is particularly relevant to my blog because their instruments are things they found around the kitchen: an old washboard, teakettles (brightened with kazoos stuck in the spouts), a plunger, a washtub, and -- clever Marian for thinking of it -- a handful of metal cookie cutters strung together and shaken.

The Kitchen Band began each song with an instrumental first verse. Then, the singing was hearty and often in tune. Just kidding -- they sounded great!

I think this idea could be carried into your own home. Set aside old pots and utensils to be picked up at whim and, when the mood strikes, start singing to the jingle jangle. Cooking dinner and then washing up afterward would be a whole lot more fun.

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Fun with Succulents

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Measuring Brix With A Refractometer

The importance of this test is to avoid problems with bugs, disease, and to assure that you are growing food that will benefit your health.  Below are a couple charts that show the relative Brix that can be expected.

... Low-Brix plants can’t develop the strong extraction fluids to pull minerals from the soil. As a plant matures, it requires more and more soil energy to extract nutrients from the soil. Reams continually stressed the fact that while a baby seedling had minimal daily nutrient needs from the soil, a mature plant drawing down heavily was an entirely different story. He taught that for a plant to bear a full crop of high quality produce it must have adequate soil energy (called "ERGS" or Energy Released per Gram per Second) available to "set" the high-quality crop and then "bring it home." ERGS is merely a measurement of the ionic conductivity of the soil expressed as microSiemens and directly measured with an ordinary conductivity meter. The point is that only healthy soils with teeming bacterial life and full mineral availability can "keep up" when the plant roots are most demanding. - Nutrient Dense Food High Brix Farming-Gardening

“In essence, I discovered that there was a direct correlation between the hydrogen content in the cell and plant health. At the ideal of 6.4, the hydrogen content of plant fluids is approximately
12%.”...“I don’t care what crop you check, 6.4 is the key factor. If it’s not there, you have an imbalance and potential problems. You can tell what the im balance is by backing up with brix levels.”  - GSait Plant Health Energy Managment PDF




Ideal sap pH-level for optimal plant growth and production is pH 6.4
If sap pH exceeds 6.4, this probably means a shortage of the anions nitrogen, phosphate or sulfur. At pH 8 the odds of insect trouble is 100%.
Conversely, if sap pH is lower than 6.4, then there is a cation problem, with possible deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, potassium and/or sodium. Low sap pH suggests a far greater potential for foliar disease. At pH 4.5 the probability for fungal appearance is 100%. - Principals to Produce Nutrient Dense Crops PDF  -Bruce Tainio

 

Temperature, 68 °F (20 °C)
Specific Gravity	Brix		Specific Gravity	Brix		Specific Gravity	Brix
0.990	0		1.038	9.5		1.085	20.43
0.991	0		1.039	9.74		1.086	20.65
0.992	0		1.040	9.98		1.087	20.88
0.993	0		1.041	10.22		1.088	21.1
0.994	0		1.042	10.46		1.089	21.32
0.995	0		1.043	10.7		1.090	21.54
0.996	0		1.044	10.94		1.091	21.77
0.997	0		1.045	11.18		1.092	21.99
0.998	0		1.046	11.42		1.093	22.21
0.999	0		1.047	11.66		1.094	22.43
1.000	0		1.048	11.9		1.095	22.65
1.001	0.26		1.049	12.14		1.096	22.87
1.002	0.51		1.050	12.37		1.097	23.09
1.003	0.77		1.051	12.61		1.098	23.31
1.004	1.03		1.052	12.85		Continue reading Selasa, 15 Maret 2016 Compost Tea Brewer with Vortex Action Im testing various pumps and designs before applying glue and Uniseals to the final version of this  compost tea brewer.  I tested the brewer with an Eco Plus 7 air pump,  an old hot tub air jet blower, and a DR 083 Rotron regenerative blower .  The Eco Plus 7 is capable of 200 liter/minute.  It handled the 48" depth very well.     The hot tub blower puts out a lot of air, and also handles the depth very well.   But its noisy,     I may switch between the two, and use the hot tub blower during the day and the Eco Plus during the night. The regenerative blower delivers a massive 18 cubic feet per minute, but its incapable of pumping air deeper than 24" so it will not work for this application.  Four air lift pumps were too many, and even the hot tub blower worked best with just 2 air lifts.  Thats OK because 2 air lifts rather than 4 simplifies the design, and cuts the cost by quite a bit as well. I might build a very simple brewer out of the left over parts.  Im thinking of one that would simply fit down inside of a barrel.  One air lift and a center pickup.  Keeping it from being swept away might be the biggest obstacle. This is a concept drawing of my brewer where a vortex is created.   After testing for a while I finally decided to use only one air lift and the Eco Plus 7.   Other people have made good compost tea with less, and I felt the noise from the hot tub blower was excessive.  The 200 lpm Eco Plus is a substantial amount of air, and the vortex is still plenty strong. I have also seen brewers made with a small drill press mounted to a piece of plywood.  The drill press is then placed on top of the barrels, and a long stir rod is inserted down into the liquid to create a vortex.  This design lacks the extreme air provided by an air lift, but this design is being used at the Earthworm Soil Factory with good results.  A common design is to simply drop an air stone into the batch and let it bubble over night.  This too seems to provide adequate aeration and movement, but I felt that the air lifts were the best of all the designs I had seen, and worthy of the extra effort. My first batch worked well.  The microbes cause a lot of foam on top at first.  I would advise keeping the liquid level at least 12" below the top of the barrel.  Im told, adding more molasses will extend the useful life of the tea. Im pleased to say even at 1/3 full the air lift continues to circulate the remaining tea.   This is good because it keeps the tea steered up while Im draining the tank.  I used an old barrel with previously drilled holes for my prototype, and ended up with a 1" drain.  I will use a 2" drain next time.  When I fill my bucket I place a paint strainer bag inside of a 5 gallon bucket unless Im just dumping the tea on top of the soil.  This lets me use the tea in my watering can; otherwise the spout gets clogged.   The second time I made a batch of tea,  I placed the dry compost in strainer bags.  This also worked but not as well.  Below is a commercial brewer with a similar, but better idea. I have been using the tea during initial seed planting.  It also appears to help avoid transplant shock. I like this machine because it uses a bag which keeps the tea clean of debris.  Also the spray guns are great. Continue reading Senin, 14 Maret 2016 Teaming With Nutrients by Lowenfels My Review To make an analogy of this book -  If this were a book about the mechanics of a car, it would start out with the types of plastics used throughout the vehicle, as well as a description of the process used to make these plastics.    You would learn about hardness of metals their melting temperatures, and various formulas including the process used to make each type of steel. For example, he breaks the creation, and movement 10,000 different proteins down to an electrical interaction involving electrons and sunlight, and describes the process of storing energy in the phosphate bonds of ATP (adrenosine triphosphate) molecules. Lowenfels says right up front to simply read on, and dont take notes.  He says the lingo will eventually become understood, and that the entire journey should be fun rather than a laborious process of memorization.  So I continued to read, and trust that I would begin to comprehend the details of the amazing processs involved with plant life.   Still I was looking forward to getting out of bio-science boot camp.  Have faith it will get easier and come together.  Lowenfel uses the information from the beginning over and over so dont skip it.  By the end I felt comfortable with what I have learned.   The more I learned the more interesting it became. In fact I intend to read the book over again from the beginning, or at least the first few chapters. Id highly recommend Teaming With Nutrients, but Id suggest reading Teaming With Microbes first.  The two books give the reader a full understanding.   This lecture Jeff Lowenfeds Soil Food Web  will give you an idea about what is in the first book, but its by no means a substitute.  His lecture is captivating and filled with humor. Other good videos from the same YouTube channel can be found here https://www.youtube.com/user/MycorrhizalAppl/videos Continue reading Langganan: Postingan (Atom) Blog Archive ▼  2019 (316) ▼  Juni (20) Aquaponics System Home Aquaponic Farming Pros And Cons Hydroponic Is It Safe Most Efficient Aquaponics System Hydroponic Vs Organic Building Aquaponic System Hydroponic Farm Tropico 5 Hydroponic Tile Oxygen Not Included Hydroponic Bali Aquaponic Gardens Switzerland Hydroponics And Aquaponic Difference Hydroponic Nutrients For Leafy Greens Hydroponic Is It Healthy Aquaponics Aquarium Fish Natural Aquaponics System Aquaponics System For Fish Tank Aquaponic Cash Crops Aquaponics Plants Per Square Foot How To Design Aquaponic System Aquaponics System Profitability ►  Mei (63) ►  April (60) ►  Maret (49) ►  Februari (65) ►  Januari (59) ►  2018 (106) ►  Desember (66) ►  November (38) ►  Juni (2) ►  2017 (442) ►  September (70) ►  Agustus (73) ►  Juli (81) ►  Juni (85) ►  Mei (77) ►  April (34) ►  Januari (22) ►  2016 (825) ►  Desember (79) ►  November (76) ►  Oktober (76) ►  September (74) ►  Agustus (77) ►  Juli (16) ►  Mei (142) ►  April (174) ►  Maret (111)   Download Aquaponics Plans Copyright © 2016-2022 | Powered by Blogger