Pearl Sutton

I think the odds of a new dust bowl are higher than I would like, quite a bit due to water use. I have flown and driven from NM to MO, and CO to MO many times, and what you see is miles of circular aquifer run sprinkler systems. All it takes to stop those is is a power outage, or the water running out, both very likely.
A random google maps link somewhere in Kansas shows a bunch of dark green, irrigated off the aquifer, circles. That's standard, to tap the aquifer, because the rainfall will not grow the crops they plant.

The Ogallala aquifer is being drawn down at an alarming rate, and it looks a lot like where they circle irrigate.



In my eyes, there are too many factors that can stop that irrigating, then all that soil starts blowing, as it can't grow what was planted, and effort has been made to eradicate anything else growing there. The topsoil losses in this country are already horrifying, and adding more to it is a long term problem.



I'd love to think that more people are leaving stubble in the ground, but when the ground between the rows is bare, the roots are only holding so much. And I know if I drive in this area, the fields are now (early Dec) sitting there with naked soil showing.

The tornado pattern is shifting, due, in part, to drier conditions in the plains. ‘Tornado Alley’ may be moving east I personally think that hedgerow removal and monocropping expanding heavily in that area is quite a bit to blame, as there are fewer obstructions to break up the wind pattern. As the older farmers die off, the big companies are buying the land, clearing and leveling it, and expanding their reach. It would take very little to make that area start blowing too.

I would LOVE to think that things are not ripe for it again, but I know how fast it accelerates once the process starts.

I'd love to see more permaculture running, to break this whole pattern up. Plant what can grow with ambient water, add back hedgerows, trees, use smaller fields and solid crop rotation that keeps the soil deeply covered.

Toby: welcome to Permies! It's a fun place to learn a lot of things!

Tattler lids have the reusable seals, I won't use them on anything I might give away, I can't afford to lose them. I'd love the glass lidded jars, but have never seen any affordably, whereas I can buy canning jars for under 50 cents each second hand.

Probably the answer to the question why aren't Weck jars  used in the US comes back to money and marketing. The Ball and Kerr folks spent a lot of money to get the government to help them market their product as a safe system. So now the low  hanging fruit financially for us broke types is their product. I'd snag Weck jars if I ever saw them second hand, but no one gets rid of them :)

M. Phelps wrote:

have you read: the secret life of plants?

i too believe plants have more senses than we give them credit for

I read that book many years ago, and I definitely think plants respond to good intentions. I was at the Denver Botanical Garden with my sister, who thinks I'm a flake. There was a plant wired up to a biofeedback type sensor with an audio output. She poked the plant, nothing happened. I petted it, told it it was beautiful, commiserated with it about being on display for people who didn't care. The audio output was purring. The plant liked me.

Wayne Fajkus:  I'm voting for freeze it now, can still be canned later. The longer it hangs out in the fridge the more bacteria growth possible. Freezing keeps it where it's at until it can be canned up, or just left frozen. Several days is iffy, and more chance of problems. And if the new canner has issues (the canner was new, doesn't inspire confidence the replacement will be perfect,) they haven't lost the whole batch.
That's my logic. I tend to mitigate potential problems rather than assume no problems. Easier to correct if there are issues of any sort. even something as easy as something that makes it so it can't be canned when the canner gets there, illness in the family etc, CYA is always  my first choice.
:D

I'd freeze it, the sooner the better. Way too iffy, and the risks are too high.

Welcome to Permies!
Lots of great information here, and neat people who know cool things.

:D

Haha! Welcome to Permies! I'm flattered you liked my silly thread :) Lots of neat things here, good to have to join us!
:D
Pearl

The other day I was going into an office, walking up the wheelchair ramp, under a big mulberry tree. I heard a weird sound, never heard a bird say that before, looked to see what bird it was. It was a squirrel, on a branch, staring at me, and saying ka-ka-ka-kaaaaaahhhhh! The final sound was an odd growly hiss.
Excuse me? Have I offended you? ka-ka-ka-kaaaaaahhhhh!
What did I do to deserve being yelled at? ka-ka-ka-kaaaaaahhhhh!
Hmm, weird! ka-ka-ka-kaaaaaahhhhh!

I moved, made a noise, and the tomcat from next door ran out from under the ramp, stopped about 20 feet away.
The squirrel turned to face the cat, ka-ka-ka-kaaaaaahhhhh!
I now know a word in squirrel!
The things I learn....
:D

Judielaine Bush wrote:I read a number of blog posts about making preserved lemons and then followed in my own way. This site - https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-moroccan-preserved-lemons-2394973 - is close to my route. I did not add spices because one site advised how versatile  the unspiced lemons are.

Nice!! I'll have to try that way. I've always spiced mine up, because I am a spicy type.

Ruth Meyers wrote:I just have to say:

I love you guys!

Nobody around here - not even my kids - gets me.  You do!
I feel affirmed here.

Ruth Meyers: Welcome home! :D