One indoor and one outdoor project this weekend. We’ll do the Garden work first because I’m on a “schedule ” with this as a part of the Pomodoro Gardener concept on the Peoplenomics.com side of things here.
The idea of pomodoro gardening is in honor of Francesco Cirillo’s book (The Pomodoro Technique) on time management. It involves using timers for everything. Along with the Cal Newport book “Deep Work” you can sort out a personal approach to get almost everything done in Life you want to.
Then about the Garden part. At 74, you may begin to ask yourself “What is my absolute perfect day – and how do I schedule one every day until I die?”
Sure, some damn fool will pipe up and wise-ass “Perfect days don’t have schedules!” But in many ways they do. For example, pausing for a couple of drinks in the afternoon has a kind of built-in scheduler. Have more than two (doubles) and not much will happen the rest of the evening. I might make it to the television and something useful on YouTube (Why Files?) but gone in 10-minutes. Drink and be scheduled. (Nice sure than shaying schpitfaced…)
On the flip side, one double and (*using plenty of care with sharp kitchen tools!) a dandy meal and adult entertainment might arrive. Or, I might stay awake through an entire movie, right?
Gardening, it seemed to me had not been subjected to enough Frederick Winslow Taylor-like time measurement. Taylor made his fortune by optimizing human effort and results in specific times. Like an 8-hour shovel shift moving material in a steel mill. With me? 22-pound shovel ready?
In a world where a huge portion of our food is purchased (and at increasingly outlandish prices!) it seems to me that the time spent in the gym could be more wisely invested in growing edibles! Not that joining the local Y isn’t good. But Covid queered a lot of people on “proximity to others” and honestly, meals cooked at home are better, anyway.
Here comes a Fall Garden
Making a “serious” garden will require some tools. Been making a list of the one’s I’m using in the “fixing to get ready” part of the adventure. Some examples of tools you may need:
Weed Eater: Doing the basic “tear-down” of old vegetation, the weed eater (and its battery-sharing pal the hedge trimmer) are great. With knew high grass, two days of 30 minute “Pomodoro’s” get the garden to the point you could walk to the raised bed without getting ticks.
While I was getting “grounded” what do you know? Another ShopTalk Sunday project! Ure’s now 12-year-old garden counter! This was one of my old-time hare-brained ideas on how to use a leftover remodel kitchen sink. When this shallow one updated, I remember thinking “Wouldn’t it be great to have a wash counter in the garden?”
Next time, I might make it out of cedar instead of pine, but wood that is off the ground can weather OK…sometimes. On to the next tool:
Pickup Truck: Before you quit your gym membership and begin bringing bags of potting (or better, starting) soil home, you might want to cozy-up to anyone you know who wants in on your organic gardening adventure. Schmooze ’em to death (and get the pickup keys). Then head for the local feed store (we have a great one in town) and load up with garden starting basics.
Local feed store prices are usually very good. On the left are two bags of soil to reseed two beds in the lean-too greenhouse. On the right is a huge bag of vermiculite (to till into the soil) and on top of that is a bag of organic alfalfa pellets. That lays in long-release bound nitrogen and it breaks down into organic materials to support your soil enzymes and such.
The two bales of straw go through the yard chipper with an ingredient that may surprise you…
Cardboard Tools: Here’s the official UrbanSurvival Amazon Boxes Breakdown Kit. *(Or, something like that – obviously, I don’t have a marketing department yet…)
With these, you will attack that pile of cardboard boxes that has been piling up because of summer burn bans, which may go on until the next Flood – it’s been that dry around here.
Armed with these tools, in a pomodoro block this week, the tape was tossed in the regular trash along with peeled-off labels. Then you cut the cardboard into easily used pieces.
These pieces get run through a leaf mulcher or branch chipper. We have a many years old electric chipper that has done cardboard, leaves, more trees than can be remembered and it works OK for charcoal briquettes (tossed in with mulch – just get the plain ones so you don’t end up with petroleum products in the yard!) and cardboard, too.
NO SHINY CARDBOARD. Only plain or with simple black (vegetable ink) on them.
Since the BIG (100′) trees between the house and shop are shorter now, I may get a leaf mulcher because the leaves I put down 15-years ago, un -mulched still haven’t broken down.
AutoCad, TinkerCad, or FreeCad: I know – seems like an odd tool for gardening!
Might until you think about my odd way of solving problems. Let me begin with my personal failing at using very little garden seed. It has been a 24-karat bitch trying not to overplant. By FAR the ADHD enemy of big crops.
It wasn’t until I started using the seeding template for Square Foot Gardening that my crops did incredibly better. What I was doing was planting too close together.
Which works dandy on raised beds that are waist high. But try though I did, there was NOTHING that would fit what I was looking for. A simple tool that would let me dump our a seed package on a seed platform and have one hole, which would be on a 4-foot piece of PVC.
If we’re such a smart species, how come there is obvious stuff like “Ure’s Feed Humanity Seeding Table for 1/2″ diameter 4-foot pipe” to be invented?
Obviously, I didn’t make a top piece (to keep seeds from rolling off. I figured a small bead of hot-glue around the outside edge would be quicker. I couldn’t get the file to upload with my content manager, so if you need the .STL to print, send me an email.
The way the job is laying out (with this fixing to get ready stuff) is to use Friday as the “materials and set-up” day. It should be under an hour:
- Plug in power to the garden (1-min)
- Take heavy-duty 100-foot power cord up. (3-min)
- Wheel the electric tiller up (4-min)
- Start tractor and move: 2 bales of hay, bag of vermiculite, bag of alfalfa seed. Bales of hay. (8-min)
- Move the old wash station away from fence. Move to the welding bench area (7 min)
- Take 5-pounds of alf-seeds to the lean-too and top dress those beds. (5-min.)
With everything pre-set like this, we were set for Saturday dawn. Which will be when the electric tiller comes on and we mix up the soil. That will be longer than one Pomodoro unit – 2 or 3. Unless I break it into two days? Naw, I can still drive a tiller all day, if need be.
Sunday (today) will be planting, labeling, then watering everything in.
That means tomorrow, Monday, will be mulching day. One of us will run the chipper and crank out cardboard chips. Then we can both put down mulch and straw, so maybe a whole time unit on that.
Final part of the project will be putting the bird-netting hoops up over the tomato raised bed. Tuesday for that, and then hopefully, our first “children” (plants) will arrive in a week, or so. We still have warm ground and with solid daily waterings, should work out fine.
After that, we will take our pomodoro gardening to another project (we have many). Because once planted and mulched, a daily 10-minutes for watering should be a great deal of the activity.
A Useful Shop Tip
I call them “safety rails” and they have been installed in our outdoor stairwell down to the car almost since we got here.
The rails go in with good steel fasteners (because of my background in radio, copper and I have a problematic relationship…).
As you can see, the ugly knotted 2-by-4 is set down a 2-by from the top. What you do with it is lay a 2-by8, or so, across the stairwell to it’s companion on the other side of the stairway.
Having to get this set up this weekend, too, so I can fix the raccoon and possumed out screens. If they try to claw through a new storm door and 3-foot high t-1-11 panel, I’m going for the AK… you toss the grenades, with me on this?
Seriously, this is the same kind of thing I put over bathtubs when fixing the odd bit of mold that shows up when the window is left open…
Don’t just use a 2-by-8 – put a 2×2 runner on your workboard so they don’t slide off the tub leaving you with no invitation and gravity working its magic…
Refer to your copy of Thomas Glover’s Pocket Ref (Book) for whether you need a 2-by-10, lol. If doing ladders? Put those on such a stairwell lash up ONLY if you have put 1/2-inch rails around the tops of the boards. That will (should!) keep a ladder from sliding off. “Though that’s an unproven theory, your Honor!”
In other words, use such techniques at your own risk. I mean, we weren’t stupid coming up with the ideas sure, but you, well? Um… (Just kidding!)
[He was, kidding, right?]
More Saturday Ranching
A word of “Tiller Jumping” if I may?
A year, or two back Mr. Claude and Scooter came out and did some biomass harvesting for us. We have a big area on the “south 16” where Stumpy can get his 18-wheeler in, turned around and get loaded.
Anywho, when they were done I tell Claude “Don’t clean up under the chipping machine…I will use that for mulching in my garden.”
Well, he gives me a funny look and says “You know most people don’t do that…”
Now let me tell you why:
See? A lot of the chipping for biomass was young hickory and other young brush (yaupon) that when dried under a hot Texas sun a couple of years doesn’t really break down. More like becomes “seasoned” (like the wood in a Louisville Slugger baseball bat).
When you hit it? Tiller gets airborne.
This caused the electric tiller to go jumping in the air for the better part of two hours (so much for time management on the job, huh?)
And what the seasoned hickory and yaupon didn’t launch was soon upstaged by a good-sized rock lodging itself in the tines…
A few whacks with the engineers hammer, but my now my right hand was getting plum tuckered out.
The reason? An hour and a half of roto-thrilling holding the same “safety switch” was making me unsafe at any speed. Of course, having a world-class tub of zip ties – DON’T DO THIS AT HOME! This is stupid and dangerous! (Where I happen to excel…)
At the end of the job the zip tie was removed. Don’t want to leave evidence of overriding the safety features laying around.
15-minutes spreading vermiculite/perlite and alfalfa pellets and mixing them in? (stopping midway through the final pass for a photo op):
Today, A handful of stakes and twine to set down the rows and then a plant every 3-inches or so. Followed tomorrow by Mulch Gulch and getting the garden prep table down to the welding area for reinforcements and fresh wood.
Dandy weekend, as long as you’re done with everything by 10 AM because that’s when the heat is still coming on.
Did someone miss the memo about Fall?
OK, Planting today and mulching tomorrow…maybe I can sneak in a writing class? Would it help?
Write when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
George Ure: For example, pausing for a couple of drinks in the afternoon has a kind of built-in scheduler.
“A dry martini,” Bond said. “One. In a deep champagne goblet.”
“Oui, monsieur.”
“Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?”
“Certainly, monsieur.” The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
“Gosh, that’s certainly a drink,” said Leiter.
Bond laughed. “When I’m…er…concentrating,” he explained, “I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink’s my own invention. I’m going to patent it when I can think of a good name.”
? Ian Fleming, Casino Royal
“In a world where a huge portion of our food is purchased (and at increasingly outlandish prices!) it seems to me that the time spent in the gym could be more wisely invested in growing edibles!”
Italian Grandma’s Vegetable Garden Tour 2023
https://youtu.be/eINuPSDnNLM?si=Ih7QeixjtwoA0eqD
Great job on your washout table 12 years ago. Everybody with a garden needs that. Get all the dirt and little beasties off your stuff BEFORE it goes into the house. I missed a couple soldier beetles on some lettuce once and you could hear the shrieks clear down by the gate. Consider shade cloth for your beds. That is a good looking garden spot you have there.
Put up the end fed while Diana was not looking yesterday. When I get some time I’ll give it a run. The 2 day trip put me at least a week behind.
Off to church.
Stay safe. 73
A good quick read for me as I am a decade older than you and just use quality food storage & a full large freezer. :>)
Trust me, you will be doing the same thing.
If we have that long, of course…10 years at the current contagion rate of insanity? Yee gads, man!
I have to agree with you! We all here had the best of years……….
Ok.. down time relaxing, why files, and adult exercise..
as a fellow multi tasker…
some enjoy relaxing stretching exercises such a qui -gong or Tai-chi.. what about a combination… CAN – CHI…yup that beautiful 12 or 20 ounce weight.. imagine if you will going The exercises with not one but two weights at one time..
then build up pretty soon you have two 2.5 lb. bottles then two 12 pound jugs.. CAN-CHI ..and you can watch the why files to…
I prefer 115 lbs, and I only need one for adult exercise. Unfortunately, I’ll have to spend the time fixing the tractor instead.
I can watch the WHY files some other time.
It’s too hot here to drink any adult beverage. That’s perhaps good for my health and wealth – maybe…
gentlemen prefer blondes, 5’2 to 5’4, 115lbs.
Que: ~ some kind of wonderful ~
https://youtu.be/1eZM-rtqBfU?si=gfqHSQ58oGFy5ynt
G.F.R.
Remember water is 8.4 Lbs/gal.
You can make use of those empty milk jugs. I myself only have the 4.2 lb versions because if I buy more than a half gallon it will go bad before anyone drinks it all. In the South we have Milos Iced Tea, though and the gallons have a good screw on lid like the milk.
“DON’T DO THIS AT HOME! This is stupid and dangerous! (Where I happen to excel…)”
lol lol … I thought that I was the only one that did stuff like that lol lol..
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.7f9239ab269e15a8866eb030d5b67ee6?rik=Lt8GTV1%2f3V0xaA&riu=http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2feEsd4V1.jpg&ehk=V%2feTyA5%2bBe4P158oeKKFc82eqhKWa243ZEGZmz7Xihw%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0
While your 3D printed seed planter platform may work OK for you, I’ve been using a 3′ piece of 1/2″ PVC pipe for 30 years and just holding the seeds in my hand. I take a handful from the bag, then dispense one at a time into the top of the pipe (being sure of the placement of the bottom of the pipe for spacing). I have thought about using a funnel at the top to make it easier to hit the pipe with a seed.
Your electric tiller brings to mind the Crocodile Dundee scene. “That’s not a tiller… THIS is a tiller” (pointing to my 4′ 3-point hitch tiller). I also put a tool bar across the back of my tiller and mounted two 12″ discs so it tills and hills in one operation.
I have such a tiller, but it keeps breaking shear pins. I’ve no idea why, other than the clay “soil” that turns into a rock when it dries.
You guys work on him…
George has his Kubota, which will drive a tiller over that little bit of dirt he’s gardening on, in a matter of minutes, and not shake him to death. I know it will, because I’ve a 42″ Deere hydraulic which works just fine on the 3pt on my little antique 318.
I’ve been bugging George every few years to buy a 3pt tiller — always falls on deaf ears. I keep thinking: “If I catch him right after that toy tiller he’s using shits itself…” but he refuses to terminally break the damn’ thing.
It’s end of the season, now. New and used garden tractor and CUT implements like tillers and even cultivators are available and relatively cheap. By next May they may be unavailable, at any price. ‘Sure would hate to be 76 and have to turn a garden with a shovel and hoe, or starve (but that’s just me, I guess…)
FWIW my tiller was $650 and I had to drive 400 miles to get it. THEN I had to snag a hydraulic motor from Surplus Sales and custom-build a driveshaft for that motor, so I could use a hydraulic tiller with a 1980s 3-series garden tractor. I’ve seen that tiller priced at well over $2000, but a cursory glance found three for sale today, for $800 or less. ‘Tis the season…
Aaa George, another good Sunday morning article. Thank you.
Home grown coffee on the deck this morning with a bit of Irish Cream for my Lady but I also added a ‘splash’ of the cooking rum – -for medicinal purposes only. Fired up the fireplace (about 68F) to take the chill off. Life is absolutely wonderful.
Many people have asked us why we moved to Costa Rica and a lot of the reasons have been discussed in your columns.
Looking at the future and Quality of Life are our answers. It is easy to live here on $2500 a month which includes a gardener and a house cleaner. As I age (80 now) it is easier to have our gardener do the heavy work.
Doing a walk-a-bout this morning I inventoried our plants on the hectare + property. Over 25 different fruits and plants for nourishment. Plus we have potted herbs, veggies and we can get 3 crops of beans, corn, squash, etc a year.
By my reckoning time is getting short for people to get their act together! Not recommending a move to here or somewhere else but do look at the future and Do Something about it. I have seen too many people sitting on the pot doing nothing except flapping their mouths.
Your articles and the wonderfully thoughtful comments from the readers point this out.
Thanks for providing a very useful site!
Cheers
Honored to have as many thoughtful and sharing readers (like you!)…
what you need with that fresh cup of coffee is cinnamon roll bake…
take a dozen frozen cinnamon rolls..( if you make fresh then just bake the rolls)
cut the frozen rolls into quarters..
now take
6 eggs
1 cup of cream
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
beat this in a bowl
now add the quarters making sure everything is coated..
grease a pan and pour the mixture in it. set it covered for a half hour so the rolls start to rise.
bake at 350 degrees until done and golden brown now drizzle the frosting over the top.. enjoy with a hit fresh cup of java
How much to plant. Tough question for a lot of folks. There are a lot of on-line resources that lay-out how much / many vegetables to plant for ‘how many people’. I found my way of measuring ‘how much’ through years of trial and some error. Canning jars.
How many carrots does it take to fill a Bell quart canning jar – with – how many meals can you get out of one jar ? [ Depends on how you plan on using them, also – in a stew, or as a side vegetable at dinner., or – ??] With that knowledge you can determine how many jars you will need per month., or, even how many until you can start planting/harvesting/canning again.
Canning is labor/time intensive – no way around it. There are very few short-cuts to canning. You have to present. You can’t just start and walk-off to do something else.
Is it worth it? That is your decision. When you walk into a pantry and see dozens and dozens of jars of vegetables all lined-up for your consuming-pleasure – yeah., it’s worth it.
Yes, you can buy freezer-dried, or simply canned vegetables. Not quite the same, but very doable. If that is your plan, I suggest that you start stocking up as soon as you are able. If/when the store shelves go bare, you’re gonna be in a very tight spot. And how long will it take for those empty shelves start to fill back up?
If you don’t know how.., there are literally tons of books and on-line web sites and reference guides from very basic beginners to, high-production out-put for multiple families. It’s all out there just waiting to educate you.., but start now.
https://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Dried-Vegetable-Soup-Mix-44-oz_p_1779.html
that’s a great soup mix.. A half cup to a cup for a soup for 4….
freeze dryer is awesome..be wise of the humidity I take it out then into a dehydrator to take care of any humidity issues.
https://www.prepsos.com/brand/harvest-right-freeze-dryers/?msclkid=2b4efe26991017d0af8b9ad265667671&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brand%20%7C%20Harvest%20Right&utm_term=harvestright.com&utm_content=URL
at this point.. I think I’d be buying a few already dried..
I have two of those sitting on the shelf. Have yet to try ’em. Didn’t want to break the seal – keep ’em fresh. Heard good things about them., one thing to note though – they very little nutritional value.
Kinda off grid here with age approaching 7 decades. Living in Plains Indian Tipi past four months. Large garden with most everything but mostly winter squash. Tiller is a Troy-Horse. That bronco will have the inexperienced flying like The Red Barons scarf. Sometimes even myself. Gave up cars moto-bs and Dr. Lic. @ 60yrs.
No ins., rego, maintenance, fuel. NO regrets. Cab or friends for necessities and my basketed bicycles seem to keep me in reasonable shape.
No credit card for 12+yrs. No phone for 3+yrs.
Freezer @ friends I regularly stock with large lamb and chicks. Internet at library near laundry.
One thing to add that there are few doing similar locally except maybe some East European pioneers.
Pedalled to town this morning; saw@ dollar store display for kids halloween. Under “Party Favors”= four needleless syringes/pack.???
The heat is tapering off a bit; I was able to get some outdoor exercise every day this past week.
I am pondering whether I will resume gardening next year. I need a way to till that doesn’t involve lifting, bouncing and trips to the orthopedic witch doctor. Gardening in black clay can be physically brutal, especially with old equipment.
Got the planting done, but at 98F now, I am watering ’em in every 3-4 hours to keep them workable….
I suggest you acquire a 30-60yo garden tractor or 50-80yo small-frame farm tractor (like a Ford 9N, only newer) or CUT (Compact Utility Tractor) and a tiller. Go to the websites:
My Tractor Forum, and
Weekend Freedom Machines, and read.
My John Deere 318 is considered by many, the best garden tractor ever made. This is because before the 318, John Deere made the 317, which is considered one of the worst garden tractors ever made. John Deere came out with the 318 in about 1984, specifically to save its reputation, so it is radically overbuilt and overengineered.
As LOOB will tell you, by about 1992, Deere started a tiered quality structure, selling “tractors” in box stores. These tractors were overpriced junk (made by MTD and as crappy as the Wheel Horse, Case, Allis, Snapper, etc., which were also all made by MTD) and sold alongside them. These companies ALL produced a line of high-quality tractors themselves, but they also all jobbed out a “consumer-grade” product to MTD.
With Deere (I believe also the others — but I don’t know for sure) the tractor model numbers differ, between the consumer crap and the real tractors. The real tractors are sold exclusively in the John Deere dealerships. The only way to tell a real 30yo Deere L&G tractor from a junk one is the real Deere will still be running, and the junk one will be in an old lady’s garage, or a landfill.
The small tractor guys will know which are quality pieces of equipment and which are junk, which is why I suggest you go there.
Don’t buy junk.
DO get a good, cheap tractor and a quality 3-point tiller for it.
Don’t buy stuff for which you can’t get implements, because you may need a plow or loader, or want a mower. I can buy a loader for my Ford for a couple hundred bucks. If I want one for one of my little Deeres, I can get it, but it will cost between $4000-$6000, which is more than the tractor cost, new. and probably more expensive than a new, real loader for a big boy tractor.
If you are patient, you should expect to score a tractor + tiller for under $2000. It might be a Cub-Cadet or a Simplicity, and a mechanical tiller, but it’ll do the job and not require narcotics or a skeletal realignment every time you use it.
‘Point is, if you might EVER need something like this,
BUY IT NOW
because when you truly need it, so will everyone else.
“1992, Deere started a tiered quality structure, selling “tractors” in box stores. These tractors were overpriced junk”
AMEN @Ray AMEN
I bought one of those two grand sinkers.. when it ran it ran with a lot of power..but it was a frustrating pile if junk.. even Deer couldn’t figure it out or back up the product.. you buy it you own it.. kind if like my cub cadet snowblower. almost got the driveway snow blown once..half of it..store and company refused to back it up. I bought it in the spring..
the deer piece of crap..start it up take off it would stall and die..then the vibration was so bad that the cheap ass plastic hood cracked and broke..I maybe mowed the lawn twice. it sits at the kids house..
I was going to get one of those kids mini jeep conversion kits for the grandkids.. but he’ll if the motor won’t run what good is that..
“even Deer couldn’t figure it out or back up the product..”
That’s because it wasn’t a Deere — It was an MTD and the JD store didn’t even have a parts list on it.
The “real” L&G tractor (any manufacturer, any brand) will be priced at between $5000 and $8000. The real Simplicity or Husky will be made by MTD (because MTD bought these companies) but they’ll be made in USA, not in the MTD factory in Taiwan or the ones in China.
There is a minimum amount of cost which goes into a quality product, and no matter who makes it, the cost is going to be in the same ballpark for any similar product. The Troy-Bilt and Snapper may be at the $5000 end, and Deere and Kubota at the $7000 end, but they’ll all be much higher priced than the box store junk, because that’s what the quality parts and engineering cost…
BTW, be aware: JD opened a factory in China. I don’t know what they’re manufacturing there, but I’m assuming it won’t be their cheapassed MTD-built bits, so if’fn anyone wants to go “mean green,” I suggest they check the labels and search the supply chain. It’d really suck to plunk down 80 large for a 5-series, then have the U.S. and China go into a full-blown trade war. That advise may apply to Kubota (their Chinese factory allegedly makes ag equipment solely for the Chinese market), and to Steiner, Gravely, Jacobsen, and the other little-known but top-shelf American brands (who may get chips from China…)
Here’s a question for those who actually use one: Does anyone know of a reliable, low maintenance electric weed wacker? Some of the gas powered ones seem to be designed to pro standards, but all of the electric ones are underpowered and have no ability to remove the stupid twine spool and add real utility, like a sharp blade. The strings are undersized and either break within a minute or tangle inside the spool. I’d guess that for every five minutes of using such a thing, there’s ten to fifteen minutes playing with it. I don’t want gas due to the maintenance issues, and I don’t want the bad designs of the electric ones. They can’t even get the balance right since the motor is at the weed head, meaning that the weight is hanging at the end of a long uncompensated moment arm.
I’ve considered just putting a motor on a scrap pro unit, but haven’t found one of those yet. Does anyone use an electric one on heavy brush they’re actually impressed by? Cordless is nice, but I can deal with a cord if necessary.
My Oregon 40v battery trimmer works well and ok to restring. Lasts a long time. I imagine most big $$ brands are similar. i gave up on corded ones long ago.
My wife has a B&D 20 V battery weed wacker that she loves. It’s lightweight and short with only a single string. I buy ready spool that slap right on, but the battery charge only lasts 25 mins. Went to Loews to get a new battery – $55 or top line for $119. No thanks. Later found B&D 2 pack battery on eBay for $30, and it supports small businesses.
I use a gas trimmer with a quick spool. I take 2 arm lengths of the thickest line, center it and wind up the spool. Worth the investment.
My hedge trimmer has a cord requirement. And so does my leaf blower. They work fine with a 100 ft cord. I saw a corded weed wacker at Lowes when we were looking for the lithium battery.
The line width I use is .095. I think there is thicker, but you’d need gas power for those. The line is good for anything so far on our small 2 acres.
I prefer Stihl or second choice Husqvarna equipment but pricing on electrics are insane but I think worth it.
Lower priced consumer level stuff is a no go. Like you said it is a PITA just to get it going.
I look at the Stihl electric chainsaws when I’m at their shop and am impressed with everything but the price.
I use old-fashioned scythe. Wooden curved with to fist handles. 32″ blade for tall grass(harvesting)18″ blade for brushwacking. Strengthens grip and gives
exercise to torso turning left. Never seen a right turn
but I want one.
Turning body left is good for looking over shoulder when riding bicycles is a bonus.
No gas, no cord. Beautiful tool.
Mike, you might try using an electric drill as a “proof of concept,” if you go the DIY route. You’ll need to know how fast the cord needs to “whip” to efficiently cut the plants. Will the 1000rpm of a Makita or the 1240rpm of a DeWalt do the job, or do you need more?
I’ve not used a professional cordless electric. I have used several of the Chinese, consumer-level trimmers and they are all as you describe. They have no power, no flexibility, no ability to swap out the trimmer head for one which functions, and they have an extremely short battery life. Maybe someone here could rent a DeWalt or Stihl pro-level trimmer and offer a review?
Frankly, when my son has trimming to do, he comes by and borrows my Echo because his electric can’t even trim 40 feet of sidewalk before it dies…
Electrics are for Chicks .
Real men use Gas powered TOOLS .
What is this nonesense – woke ass weekend warriors now?
Shitfire and save matches whats next, Budlight sponsored garden tool giveaway ? Disney branded electric garden tools for environmentally brain dead?
(Same goes for Cars) – Guys want Ure Nutz roasted daily in EMF “cooker” , everytime Ure driving Ure mobile iphones?
Real work requires real Tools -See Gas Powered H,H,H,H, HONDA! or H,H,H Homelite..
Whats next for the candyassed gardeners here ?
How to delicately control garden pests, without chemicals ? hahahahaah
“How to delicately control garden pests, without chemicals ?”
I don’t consider “lead” a chemical, when applied at a supersonic velocity… Do you?
I sited a big rabbit out back and – eyes not being as good – started pricing aimpoints for the Savage only to discover I got the minimalist, peep site only, not drilled one in my misaimed youth… shit, old age is a bitch!
Forget gas! All my tractors are mechanical diesels! Gas becomes a problem when it sits for long. I’ve started a diesel instantly after 10 years after just changing batteries.
We need a good diesel weedwhacker!
I have a cheap craftsman … plug in.. power dam I love it.. I changed heads on it twice the first time was for a mini strip and that one was great but the system for putting in the straps was of a poor design went to a better designed head..except for the largest filament.. ( that needs to be trimmed two inches) that thing works like a jewel..
now I bought the craftsman gas powered to. nice unit but it doesn’t have as much power as the cheap electric one..
Goats.
Unfortunately only paying ZH readers can see anything but the first paragraph:
. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/real-shocker-fridays-jobs-report-12-million-native-born-workers-lost-their-jobs-and-were
But you get the drift. No other media outlet noticed, or cared, that I can find.
This fits in with what I am seeing at street level.
The question I have is how many came across the border by land, and how many flew in first class on a Company recruiting tab?
It doesn’t seem to matter which gang is running the show. All are equally corrupt and/or asleep at the wheel (or both).
“if the path was easy everyone would have done it. if the path was easy the treasure wouldn’t be so big.”
Monkey D Luffy
5 stars sir,
a 10 mil socket, driver sorta post.
thank you.
one day you are in Jackson hole, the next your in Salt Lake city, 3 days later the bank finally comes through and your holding the keys to a brand new Chevrolet.
it’s like that girl I know says, you are old faithful Andy, no matter where I’m at, you are always there right on que.
yes Mam.
I have a Ryobi 40 V weed wacker/system. It has a tubular graphite fiber shaft that allows me to interchange a hedge trimmer, lawn edger, and two-tined tiller, all of the latter tools came from a gas-powered system that died on me. I was pretty sure that the tools would interchange, but carried the hedge trimmer to Home Depot to check before I bought it plus an extra battery. Those, by the way, are expensive, but charge quickly and hold the charge for a couple of months without degradation. Gray Fox
This is worth considering. I think HD only allows returns on garden tools for a month rather than their normal 90 days, so it’s buy, test thoroughly, and return quickly if it’s not up to the job. The first test would be to remove the weed head and try to install a saw blade or other heavy cutter.
“Cardboard Tools: Here’s the official UrbanSurvival Amazon Boxes Breakdown Kit.
With these, you will attack that pile of cardboard boxes that has been piling up because of summer burn bans”
Well, crap! When I saw this, I thought you were going to do “cardboard gardening.” I read up on it a few years ago when I was checking out different growing systems.
BTW, if anybody can think of a way to monetize what I’m about to post, I’d love to be cut in for 2% of the gross or 10% of the net.
The system:
You flop down a piece of cardboard, punch a hole in it, and throw a seed in the hole.
My own inventive add-on is you punch holes every 3″, 4″, 6″, or whatever the ideal spacing is, for the crop you intend to grow. If nothing comes up after two weeks, you simply throw another seed in the hole. In the interim, the cardboard stabilizes the ground temperature and holds moisture, which attracts earthworms and fosters their breeding, and it completely eliminates weeding. You can water it every day for months, before the box decomposes (the plants will actually need significantly less water), or when less water is called for, you may have the same cardboard for several years — like I did on my fig tree (13 figs this year, but it’s just a baby – only 4 years old…)
You don’t plant a bunch of seeds, then thin the plants when they begin to root, and then, maybe thin them again. This is inefficient. It is stupid. It takes more time and requires more work, and then, some of the sprouts will not be able to handle the stress of the transplant, and will die. Therefore, it also wastes seeds. Those fragile or marginal seeds will still produce product, if they are allowed to live.
Instead, you plant the ideal number of seeds, with the ideal spacing for the mature plants, and when a seed doesn’t sprout, you reseed that one hole — no big deal.
hmm.. the Mayan and Aztec civilizations used something similar..
the Aztec called it cinampas..
these rafts were constructed in such a way that they could grow a garden either on fresh water and salt water.. this can be seen going way back..to the sumerians and ancient Egypt and their gardening system also back to the most ancient Chinese water gardens.. ( I want to see these places if we ever stop killing each other)
only in modern times did we change our methods from sustainable to urban expansion..