Sunday AM – Coffee at the Ranch

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If you were to drop by for a cup of coffee in real life – you wouldn’t be welcomed.  We’re still “hot zone” mode out here.  If you follow the virus numbers, looks like 18-million will be passed tomorrow.  And 19-million this coming week.  Thursday?

Dream Shop Progresses

Up early this morning to take advantage of the cool (<70) morning out here to rearrange the shop.  Takes time and  actual work.

A good part of Saturday was spent deciding whether to have three rows of benches or whether some variant of “L” shapes would be best.  After much walking and thinking about how I use the space, three parallel with about 3-feet of space between the rows.

Wheeled Machinery

I’ve been putting casters under some of the machines.  Step-to-lock variety.  The “dado table saw” and the retro shaper, are two.

That gives the choice to line up machines wherever convenient.  From the sidelines, a machine can be wheeled into place in about 10-seconds.  15-seconds by the time I hook up the central shop vac.

There are two halves to the shop:  The north side is the metal working dept.  Which is where the metal lathes, vertical mill, bending brake, welders and plasma gear go.  Isolated 120 and 240 V power is right outside the door.  I don’t trust fire indoors.  That’s what cutting and welding involve.

After today, the next project be bench-building on the metal side.  Followed by centralizing all of the saw and tool sharpening gear in that area.

A new platform and LED floodlight on the vertical mill is planned.  Might even pick up some additional storage space.

Still vexed by where to put 4X8 sheets of plywood.  There’s just nowhere to put big sheet goods in any shop I’ve ever seen.  Unless I build on a “lumber room” but now you’re talking money, again.

3D Printing: Glass Room?

Not sure how to tackle the 3D printer issues, either. The CNC router doesn’t need to be in “controlled air” but since a fair bit of what we’ll be printing will likely be ABS, which is stronger than PLA, the old (crappy) built-in shop vac will work as an exhaust system for ABS fumes.  This gets us to the problem of windows and a door for that area… Which?Leads to serious  scrounging on Craigslist…

Key problem in shop design is you want 8-feet (or 10-feet – more is better) front and back of each of the wood machines.  So when you figure 8 feet of in-feed and 8-feet of out-feed for a table saw, planer, bandsaw (when doing resaw work), or jointer, you begin to run out of 16-foot material spaces.

I could set the 3D printing up in my office, but that begs the question of then which ham radio gear gets sold off to make room.

Seed Lessons & New Book

My long-time friend Gaye Levy and I have started outlining a new book for the “Post-Modern Times” we’re heading into.  Some finance angles from here, some strategic Living from her site (here), but new content.

Just to throw one topic on the table:

We both had batches of seeds this year that were zero germination rates.  And this is a key thing to be aware of going into this fall/winter.

In order to germinate, seeds can’t get too hot.  And I know some of the seeds I was planting (lavender in particular – 500 seeds worth!) failed to show so much as a stem.

A little track-back:  They were planted late and in the greenhouse.  Simply got too hot, near as I can figure it.  But!  Therein is one of the most important of all home-grown food lessons.

Heat Kills Vegetable Yields

I began to sneak up on this “heat kills” when my hydroponic tomatoes in the greenhouse failed to set fruit (in good numbers) last year.  

Turns out, the right temp for most veggies is 90-95.  When you get over 100 (120 in the greenhouse without the box fan – and that’s with the doors open!) the setting of edibles walks off a cliff.

This is a HUGE deal if you need food to eat.  A key lesson since in times ahead we may ALL have to be augmenting store-bought food with stored and grown types.

Winter Grow Tables

One of the items I’m working on this weekend (once the shop design stabilizes for more than 5-minutes) is making a could of “growing tables” for up at the greenhouse and setting them up specifically for cool-weather crops.

Main way to do this?  Put in some electric seed mats.  Not too expensive and all you need is a thermometer to kick them on when the soil temp drops below (pick a temp).

We’ve also got plans for a lean-to off the recording studio where a modest swamp cooler might be able to hold highs to 85 and humid which would be OK with most lettuces. Especially the Romaine developed for hot weather growing in Israel, some years back.

The additional roof area would feed into rain barrels, too.  Which means the roof gable would come down just higher than a 55-gallon water barrel.

Heat is Dangerous

Main point:  We have a black mailbox. In the East Texas sunshine.  Might as well have our seeds put right into the microwave.  Fall and winter ordering of all critical seeds and then keep them in the fridge until used.

*(Same with batteries, too.  They like to be kept cool, so order your stocks of AA and AAA batteries when they won’t encounter more than 75, or so, on their trip from warehouse to Ure house.)

With overnight lows of 75-plus and daytime highs around 95 now, we are also not seeing fruit set by our “summer squash.”  Maybe this week with cooler weather overnight – down to 72-degrees for an overnight low.  Lots of blossoms but not setting fruit yet,

Calling all bees….bees?  Oh, BEES!!!!

Side of Woo-Woo

We’re keeping a watch on Queen Elizabeth, II – who is now 94.

Reason is one of those odd “dreams” I get every so-often.  And try to remember then as outlined in my book Psychocartography: Mapping the Human Dream.

Here’s the pertinent part of the overnight dream real adventure:

“I remember being a worker for some part of the British government.  As a female (in this dream) I did some kind of administrative/office work.

Word came down that the Queen had died and all government employees would be given 4 or 5 days of personal time to “do their grieving.”   Looking at the calendar on the wall, the numbers 7 and 8 were prominent.

Then, the most curious thing happened.  My supervisor came over and said “You’ll not really planning to take time off, are you?  That’s all for show.  Any civil servants taking time off will be considered disloyal to the Crown and will be passed-over for promotion.  The “time off” story is for external consumption, but around here, there is no time off….”

No idea where a dream like that could come from. 

DNA Antennae?

Except that I wonder sometimes if there are “dream-chain antennae” built into our DNA.

Is it possible that “junk DNA” is some kind of “soul-jumping technology” – research into which has been politely wiped from our human birthright by religions more interested in accretion of power and property?

I thought about that for a while, upon waking.

One of the useful hints for dreamwork is don’t be in a hurry to pop up out of bed in the morning.  Relax…recall your dreams.  Plan the day ahead a bit.  Then…..

Which is how I got to the reality of moving machines and shop tables around.

After coffee and a note to a friend.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

54 thoughts on “Sunday AM – Coffee at the Ranch”

  1. George
    I have found that the temps at night are very important, there are some crops where if it does not get below 76 at night they will not flower, or flower and not produce fruit even when hand pollinated.

  2. ….time to be planting your seeds for a fall garden….spinach,Swiss chard,carrots,kale……I’m able to harvest these almost all winter and into the spring….still harvesting kale from last falls planting…don’t have much sunlight here in the forest about an hour north of you but winter gardens seem to work best… .this respit from the heat may help things along….unfortunate that you haven’t yet experienced this hidden aspect of year round gardening….best of luck…it’s always a learning experience!

  3. UK – “Operation London Bridge” will be the warning if queen died, It’s on Wikipedia. UK has code names for different members of royalty so officials can be warned before the press announcement is released to the public.

  4. Hey Mr. Ure, I wanted to thank you! I got a job out at the airport. I figure if I can work around aviation before things get bad, it will be something I can cherish in my life!

    I have a question for you though. What can we youngins do to save the country. Many of us don’t want to have to “water that tree” but we have a feeling we might. Could you right a survival and/or restoration of the US guide we could refer to? We know it won’t be easy but the best things in life ain’t easy either. Thanks Mr. Ure! You are an inspiration to me and making my life better one post and conversation at a time!

    • I appreciate that…yeah, I will work on it.

      Main thing though is to be a “model for your peers” in terms of work, thrift, recycle repurpose, save, get out and stay out of debt and so forth. That’s the key!

  5. Last grow season I tried firing off some Kudzu seeds a guy from India sent me. Only two seeds out of at least 25 sprouted then died. I chocked it up to being in the wrong zone on the planet.

    Also last year I planted a bunch of Catnip seeds. I was in the planting window according to the seed package but nothing sprouted. This year the seeds from last year came up! But I didn’t know what the plants were so they got nuked. LOL

  6. A Side of Woo-Woo..???

    Me thinks U should write.. “a Big Side of Doo-Doo for AUGUST”

    “THE” movie is coming out this month – Big Pedo Arrest, “SpyGate/ObummaGate’ , big dam dam – just to name a few..

    Damm – with Hurricanes/Tsunami’s and Earthquakes popping off this Month, it promises to get even Hotter this month..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeZZr_p6vB8..whoa Nelly.

    G – its going to get sooo hot we might even see the Galactic Super Wave (Supra Luminal Event) coming thru “the skies”

    – of course this would be Preceded by a Carrington Event..which would be a big Scooby “RutRow” – if U be on the wrong side of the Planet when it hits..yeah never mind – lets hope its just hot Woo-doo for August.

    The Bitcoin Nazi might get a lil depressed by ALL the NEGATIVE SCHEISSE bombarding the Human Beings right now; Society Failing, Financial System/Economy Failing/Increased Rate Marriages Failing -covert19Lockdown, ALL NEWS Failing, Democratic Leaders Cities Failing..

    *At LEAST WE HAVE BITCOIN!

    3 Year Anniversary of UASF -DEFEATING Corporate Take Over – Can You say Segregated Witness(SegWit) ?USAF = User Activated Soft Fork.

    Can U say the ONLY DECENTRALIZED Cyrpto in the UNIVERSE?

    Can U say – “NO BITCOIN 4 Dzodz!

  7. The Covid-19 case rate per 1000 population in Texas has increased to the point where you can probably get a dose anywhere you go if you aren’t careful, and have limited resistance. Restaurants are slow, and the wait staff who have managed to hang on to their jobs tell me their tip income is way off. We have been getting carry-out at lunch for the big meal of the day.

    Last weekend, the grocery stores were just packed with people. I started asking questions because it almost looked like another food panic might be developing. One of the comments I heard was that advertisers were pushing the 2nd wave meme to drum up business. I haven’t seen any evidence of a 2nd wave, just step changes in geometric case growth tied to national holidays. The virus is still circulating, and if you celebrate by getting drunk and stupid in public, you get a dose, and take it home to your family. But that’s what holidays and family are for, right?

    This weekend, the grocery store parking lots were better, and I went in and did some shopping. The store I went in was fully stocked, although the TP aisle was rather oddly stocked, with a lot of small TP packages. There was plenty of good quality house brand paper towels.

    Bulk foods were back restocked at the grocery store. The national survival food suppliers also seem to be shipping staples. I recently tried buying a bulk bag of dry cereal and dry canned it for the winter months in 2 gallon containers with zip-lock metalized mylar bags and 02 absorbers . I seem to have caught up with the resupply.

    I’m not sure when I should buy seed for next summer, but it needs to be early.

    My little AC/DC freezer is up and running on AC. I need to get a dedicated surge suppressor for the power supply.

    Certain things that I prefer are in short supply. The Dial foaming hand cleaner refills are currently unobtainable, unless you are willing to pay 5X to a scalper.

    Life would be back to the new norm, if I weren’t being threatened with state-sanctioned invasion and destruction. Some of the neighbors are jealous that half of my place may fall to the earth movers; their property value will be destroyed as well, and they get nada.

    • Speaking of tip income being way off, rumor is scholarship/grant money for colleges and universities will be way-off. Funds aren’t being replenished and ask is at record highs.

      I would think people will prioritize academic scholarships over room and board scholarships. College town RE is going to crash along with the pay as you go college pension funds.

      “(Last Updated: May 2020) The percentage of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students at 4-year degree-granting postsecondary institutions who were awarded financial aid was higher in academic year 2017–18 (86 percent) than in 2000–01 (75 percent).”

      https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cuc.asp

    • The reason the covid19 is still a thing in summer time is cause people are obsessivly discenfecting things with mystery chemicals and wearing masks all day.

      Ive worked 3 jobs so far since this pandemic started, and ive been living normally with the exception of going to resturants less often. and the people who are getting sick are the ones who follow the rules.

      The stress hormones weaken the immune system, and masks increase co2 to toxic levels. Virus cant remain viable in the blazing summer sun, but having a rag full of sweat, drool, boogers, and whatever else floats into it is going to breed germs and make you sick.

      When the mask up orders came out, my brother didnt have a mask, so the nurse at the medical center said you have to wear something. He found a knit cap full of dog fur and whatever else under the seat and he cut the top off to pull it over his face.

      When im at work it takes 10 minutes to saturate a mask. But you get 1 per day, so it just waterboards the workers with sweat all day every day. But law says we have to wear them so workers are sick and miserable.

      Thats why they say masks keep other people safe. The non maskies are a lot healthier, so the psyop says they made you sick while you kept them safe. You all are tards, and should just get herd immunity while the weather is going to help you get over it.

  9. You will find that squash don’t set fruit until the vines are about 6-10 feet long. Our buttercup squash here only began about ten days ago. By the end of Sept, they should be finished. You should note to people the idea of more root vegetables. Turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, etc. Plus squash. In the warmer areas, root vegetables can be left in the ground. Up here in Canada, they go into cold storage between layers of sand. People need to think long term storage. Best crop is beets. You can eat the tops and bottoms.

  10. A few comments on seed storage / germination, etc… I would not recommend storing seeds in the fridge for any length of time. Short-term storage might be okay, but humidity fluctuations can have an adverse effect on germination rates long term. Sproutpeople.org has some info on this along with a chart showing how long various seeds maintain viability. The book Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth is an excellent reference for saving seeds (available on PDF Drive – thanks for pointing that website out!).

    Germination rates vary widely by plant, from nearly 100% to almost nothing at all. For example, dandelions have a very low germination rate, which is a good thing, for if even 50% of the seeds were to germinate, in a few short weeks the entire planet would be covered with dandelions! Many seeds of plants we think of as “herbs” also require very specific conditions to germinate, such as Lavender. In Lavender’s case, a few weeks in the fridge wrapped in a moist paper towel will help. Others require an entire winter of cold conditioning. Think about how nature works and it will start to make sense. Happy Gardening!

  11. I’ve noticed lower germination rates for some of my stuff this year too. I replanted some a couple weeks later and I still got the low germination rates. Quality of seeds or xrays for air cargo?

    How are you pollinating your hydro tomatoes?

    • Didn’t do ’em this year – not enough yield last year.
      Did everything then – open (outdoor) electric toothbrush, artist brush – tried it all and still crap yields.

      Maybe killing seeds and selling dead one is a plan?

    • All the seeds that we bought this year either had poor germination or no germination..we ended up using the seeds we had left from last year..

  12. activated charcoal dust to bind potential herbicides. pelletized gypsum and lime to increase drainage, increase calcium, and lower p.h.. till in top 4 inches with peat moss and heavy triple 13. water in deeply. soil salts will not allow anything to uptake nutrients. nothing in my greenhouse produced until i did these things. it took a month or so of watering and waiting. i planted jalapenos and bell peppers. they are now setting peppers despite the afternoon temps reaching 105. waiting until full moon to plant fall garden. this survival gardening stuff is getting way serious.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZuABDBOCy8

  13. Flowers, my mother always had 3 or 4 different flowers in her vegetable garden,,come over here you bees,, work in my garden, please,,here are some nice flowers for you

    now back to the GREAT Mask Debate,,mask debate,,,in my house the window screens keep the bugs out but the darn dust still comes in,,just my way of saying,,you need a tight seal mask(rubber, not paper) with the proper filter cartridge to stop a virus,, I used to be test fitted for respirators every year for my job,,no facial hair allowed, clean shaved, if you really want or need protection you do not rely on a paper filter for virus protection
    just my 2 cents worth

    • G2 tosses powder saccharin around when fitting sheriffs and firefighters in his co. “If you taste anything sweet, you didn’t getr your mask on right…now do it again…”

  14. George

    “I’ve been putting casters under some of the machines.”

    The washing machine died recently. It’s death throes were worthy of a B movie thriller. Instead of throwing out it’s carcass I repurposed it into a stand for my ten inch drill press. That made space for a new work bench.

    The new work bench was made from a sheet of birch plywood cut length wise down the middle. They are laid one on top of another. The bottom piece is nailed to a 2 X 4 on the front and back underside. The top piece is only screwed to the bottom piece on four corners so it can be removed if need be. This assembly is then placed on top of 16 concrete blocks arranged into four columns. This bench is rock solid and only cost $110. This bench can be broken down and moved without too much trouble. A portable 2′ x 6′ table from the Depot is at $100 and is 2 feet shorter than my home built and not as sturdy. The new bench is working out very well!

  15. I agree with Bill—obtain a copy of Susan Ashworth’s Seed to Seed. Well worth the investment. Seeds can have a wide variety of required conditions in order to germinate—from stratification to just broadcasting on bare ground or even in a lawn, then stand back. Good example of that is the mustard greens that we’ve grown out for at least 40 years, named Magda’s Atomic Mustard Greens after my mother who insisted we plant this every year. I’d be happy to share some seeds with you when things cool down. We’re all negative here; it’s what’s floating around between me to you and your little black oven that gives me pause. Let me know.

    About storing seeds in the fridge, I’ve had good luck as long as they’re placed in canning jars with good sealing lids. That will keep humidity stable.

    An old timer’s advice on making sure to have a backup supply of seeds should germination fail for some reason or there’s a crop failure is to plant only 1/3 of your seeds. Put away 1/3 for next year’s/season’s planting. The other 1/3 is in case of this year’s crop failure and resulting lack of not only food, but lack of seeds for next year.

    Was wondering why you were going to all the trouble with hydroponics and greenhouse growing. It has been my experience that in-the-ground growing has consistently out-produced either of the other two methods. The only drawbacks are having to bend over to do the chores and keeping critters from helping themselves. A fence and raised beds solved those problems. I’ve gone to raised beds made with cinder block that have been used for over 20 years. Easy to maintain, contains the good, rich soil which is never trod upon. Nothing like home-grown broccoli and carrots that are pulled as needed—in our part of the country, anyway.

    Just had an email notification from a seed company, Sow True Seeds. They are completely refunding the money for my order of pawpaw seeds—because they had germination failure on their end. I haven’t pulled mine out of the cold yet, but intend to do so within the week. Now that’s the kind of company I like. Thought you and your readers would like to know.

    Take care all,
    Calyn

  16. “The CNC router doesn’t need to be in “controlled air” but since a fair bit of what we’ll be printing will likely be ABS, which is stronger than PLA, the old (crappy) built-in shop vac will work as an exhaust system for ABS fumes.”

    You’re still overthinking the ABS fume vent. I print ABS in my kitchen, and we’ve never smelled it. I built an impromptu enclosure for the Ender 3 Pro using a piece of cardboard for the top and visqueen for all 4 sides. Works great and cost pennies. PLA + is now said to be stronger than ABS, so it may be a moot point.

    For the young man wanting shtf survival info, Dr. Arthur Bradley has written a great survival guide and a series of similar-themed adventure books. The books pre-date and parallel our current pandemic mess. I commend you for working at the airport to be near airplanes. I started doing that in 1957, my only pay being an occasional hour of instruction in an Aeronca Champ. I soloed before that summer was out and learned a tremendous amount about airplanes by helping to rebuild a Champ from the ground up.

    For a great tomato (and probably anything else) crop, move the chicken pen to a new location and plant your veggies in the old one. We’re covered up with tomatoes from only 5 plants, and they’re still producing. You can’t beat chicken poop for fertilizer.

    • here is a really good prep manual.. I gave these away as gifts one year.. perfect well written and simple.. I have several in my library of shtf scenarios.. the really needed ones I bind with red binders.. then if it happens.. get the red book…
      don’t give up on cardboard as a building media.. I did restart working on that cabinet.. and about ready to do the counter top for it…
      I worked in a leading cabinet shop for years.. one of my favorite jobs.. and one year for the national home show tour we built a house out of cardboard.. it was beautiful.. people oogled at the million dollars worth of cabinetry in the house but what they should have been oogling was the display itself..I totally would have been proud to live in it.. if it had only been waterproof LOL… there are companies showing off just how durable that cardboard is and have build a variety of things all of which are well done and awesome from musical instruments to cars.. boats.. I will send George the finished pictures of the cabinet when I am done so if he thinks they are worth taking another look at the finished cardboard project he can post them…
      at the cabinet shop I use to make mini bar’s for people….. a simple project that they made a lot of money on.. that is what I am presently making a small mini bar..kegorator..

  17. I forgot to mention the overheated greenhouse problem can be improved by adding a layer or two of shade cloth draped over the greenhouse and tying it down.

  18. “If you were to drop by for a cup of coffee in real life – you wouldn’t be welcomed.”

    Ditto. Not even my kids. I have a no-touch thermometer, bleach, and alcohol at the door, and an ozone generator on the (now enclosed) front porch. Kids can come in, only after they pass the test (and my kids, especially my son, are flat, freaking paranoid WRT this bug.) I’ve a nephew who had it, a niece who has it now, and another nephew who passed away less than two weeks ago.

    “Up early this morning to take advantage of the cool (<70) morning out here to rearrange the shop. Takes time and actual work."

    I envy you — blew my right shoulder a couple months ago, blew the left one a couple weeks back (probably from overloading, from favoring the right one) and am in therapy for both, which sucks. Attn. young'uns: When "they" say you don't heal as quickly when you get older, they're not kidding.

    "I’ve been putting casters under some of the machines."

    I'm not at all sold on this idea. It makes it much easier to arrange stuff, but how often are you going to move things once they're arranged? I'd rather use a hand-truck, or a wheeled crane and furniture dollies (y'all begin to see how I damaged my shoulders, now), and drag stuff into place with a lawn tractor.

    "Still vexed by where to put 4X8 sheets of plywood."

    That's because sheet paneling is a PITA. Stored flat, it doesn't warp or delaminate; stored on-edge, it's easier to find the piece you want, and takes up less space…

    My suggestion: Build a rack, suspended from your ceiling joists. Buy two Harbor Fright bicycle lifts ( https://www.harborfreight.com/bicycle-lift-95803.html ) and two 12' white pine 2x4s. Cut the 2x4s @ 9'. lay the 2x4s out parallel, with the 3' 2-bys as spacers, a foot or two in from the ends of the 9-footers, and screw in-place to form an "eared" rectangle. Rig the lifts to function synchronized and attach an anchor to each corner. Unless you track it, each lift will service two racks. Always have a sheet of 3/4" on the bottom of a rack, even if the rack is dedicated to 3/16 Lauan. The white pine is very lightweight, but strong enough to lift several sheets of wet 3/4 CCA60 plywood (provided you use appropriate hardware, like fender washers and bigassed screws or truss "T" plates for the crosspieces…)

    "Key problem in shop design is you want 8-feet (or 10-feet – more is better) front and back of each of the wood machines."

    I "fudged" this by building a "corner door" and building the feed table so outfeed went out-side, across a portable roller stand. "Wood shop outfeed" will happen again in my lifetime, Lord willing, and I'll probably use this same system, but pave the area outside the shop and use roller conveyor (since I now have some laying around…)

    …Not sure what to do about the seeds. They're notional — I've had seeds germinate & grow, that'd been laying around in an old open jar for years, and I have fresh, "guaranteed" seeds exercise their guarantee with regularity.

    Lizzie is 94 so her warranty has definitely expired, but (unlike her progeny) she's a tough old bird, and seems to me to be in extraordinary health, both physically and mentally. She could drop dead tomorrow (as could any of us), or live another 7 or 8 years, or another 20, FTM…

  19. I have a rack for plywood in my shed. It is about 5 feet wide. The plywood stands up on end and sticks straight out. This way I can remove any single sheet. A few treated 2x4s on the concrete floor, 90 deg. to the ply.

  21. Hey george I’m sorry for my last email I really miss your daily mix of news and knowledge and wisdom !

  22. You don’t have a lumber room? It should be right next to the steel room. Preferably attached to the shopor at least close by. Gee, I thought everybody had those. When the boss complains about how big they are and how much you buy to put in them and that the overhead door you insgalled on the lumber storage room is nicer than the one where she parks her car is when you know they are just about right.

      • Or install a new overhead door on the garage complete with a fancy shmancy remote opener….and paint the kitchen.

      • My ideal solution – half implemented – is to build a lean-to on the north side of the shop, or whatever is the coolest side available. Concrete base is ideal, but ground covered with plastic is probably OK. Weld up a stand to hold your flat stock so that you can have many varied sheets available, like the Home Despot racks. You can do the same for your 2x stock. I’d cover all round with tarps if you don’t have time or energy to build extra walls. Make sure you can get your tractor forks in place to load and unload the racks. This also works for pipe(PVC doesn’t like sun) and any other long or sheet goods.

  23. We are living in times of historic change that few are fully aware of as yet. I propose that in the near future we will be adopting new calendar designations. It’s 2020… now ‘Year 1’ AD…. “After Downfall”. Anything before this year will be known as ‘BC’….. “before Coronavirus”. Yes, things will be changing that much. This virus will not be going away in our lifetimes. How long those ‘lifetimes’ will be depends on how well we take care of ourselves.

  24. Dad used to keep the sheet goods in a hanging shelf he built between the ceiling and the garage door when it is up. I bought a Drill Doctor last month. Sharpened up all my bits. I like it. Any one else have any opinion on it? Used to touch them up on my bench grinder. The DD even does the ones I busted off and the ones I melted drilling thru metal

  25. simple germination test would help solve many problems, Put 20, 30 seeds between two wet paper towel and keep moist. Count how many germinate. When planting several hundred acres you do not want to use bad seed. If germination is poor plant more seeds per ft.

  26. One other thought if you are just thinking survival learn how to grow potatoes. In history they are what made the difference in peoples calorie uptake.

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