Carla Burke

I have to admit - off-roading, on our place does scare me, a bit. I ride my own Harley street bike, and when we moved here, our gravel driveway and the (not exactly 'maintained') gravel road we live on scared the hell out of me. But, over this past riding season, I've gotten used to it. A big part of the fear comes from knowing that if I drop it, I'll have to pick it up, possibly while injured. But, my bike weighs 850#. I can pick it up, on solid ground, but on gravel, it will slide, and on hills, it will slide down, possibly into a spot I might not be able to pull it out of. This little thing FLOATS! And, has tires wide enough to grip better than the narrow street tires. I'd imagine it will be scary a thrill, but one I would grow into, as my skills build.

Street legal would make it even more useful, for us - we could ride it down the gravel road to the mailbox, or the other way (where the 'road' gets REALLY rough) to a not-doing-so-well-friend's house, to check on him. I love that it floats, lol. One of those ridiculously steep slopes is a cone shape, with a pond, at the bottom. If either of us dropped it, and it ended up down there, a floating bike would be much better than a sinking one.

Very cool bike! It could be incredibly beneficial on our place, too - It's too rocky, woody, & very steep ravines, for almost anything else. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

Tim Kivi wrote:

Carla Burke wrote: figs are considered tropical, but the Chicago Hardy Fig is so named, because it's even hardy, all the way up there.

Figs are Mediterranean, not tropical. Their natural environment is very dry.

There’s a difference between tropical and sub-tropical. When people say ‘tropical’ they seem to mean sub-tropical. Tropical flora need very high humidity and warm weather year-round. Sub-tropicals prefer humidity and warm weather but can handle cool weather and dry air under the right conditions.

Under the right conditions you might manage grow the following sub-tropicals in a cold snow-free climate:

Mango
Avocado
Macadamia
Cherimoya
Bananas

I’m in a zone 10 Mediterranean climate and find the hardest part of sub-tropicals to be not the temperature but the need for high humidity and their sensitivity to sunburn.

For an Australian equivalent zone you can look at what people go in Victoria and Tasmania.

I stand corrected! ;)

figs are considered tropical, but the Chicago Hardy Fig is so named, because it's even hardy, all the way up there.

That's exactly what both ebay & craigslist are for. I don't sell there, at all (on either), But, I know several people who supplement their income, get money for the holidays (or whatever), or even use it as their primary income. Whether it's worth it or not, is an entirely personal thing, that only you can decide. I'm not sure how the taxes work.

I would add some diatomaceous earth to their feed and dust them with some. If the bugs are what is causing it, it will get rid of them. You might also sprinkle it around in their shelter & run.

The only blender I know of that works well for grinding grain, is the Vitamix, because the 'blades' aren't really blades, but essentially, hard metal blocks, that pulverize the grains, instead of chopping them. An actual edged blade will get destroyed by the hardness of the grains, pretty quickly, and the motor will burn out, in the effort. Typically, blenders are a fairly light duty item, with their most difficult tasks being coping ice and pureeing fruits & veggies. Grains are a whole different ballgame. A Vitamix can even pulverize soap nuts - which is how I destroyed my last blender (oops!), which was a high powered one, but with sharp - edged blades. I can't recommend doing it.

My nose is ridiculously sensitive. Normal, natural scents are usually fine, for me. We just picked up our first goats, and drove 7hrs with a buck in rut, in the back of a minivan. He was fragrant, lol - but, not offensive, to me. Being in the same confined space with perfume, cologne, or unwashed-for-days-sweaty-human-body-odor would have been intolerable. The perfumes & chemical scents make me sick; as in, horrible headaches and wicked nausea. The stink of unbathed human can be equally unsettling. Normal, daily, haven't been doing much kind of smells are no biggie. But, dude, seriously. If you smell like stale sweat, urine, gasoline, the livestock you've been spending time with, the cars you've been working on, or butt? ~points~ There's the shower! I make & use gentle soaps that I've either left unscented or lightly scented with essential oils or herb infused oils. I may go **up to** 3days, between showers, depending on what I've been doing. If I'm gagging, either you're going to shower, or one of us is leaving.

Yeehhhh, that's kinda what I'm thinking, too. I mean, I'd have top really work at it, too find a better price, I think...