Elusive

Every other day for the last week or so I’ve decided that there was something more that I needed in case our ‘temporary COVID setback’ turned into something more unsettling. First it was salt, then two days later I thought that more flour was needed, and finally, yesterday I went out for more canning lids.

Today I began thinking of yeast, and then realized that this constant rethinking of needs, all centered around piddly stuff, was just an expression of my insecurities and I’ll be damned if I’m going to drive 25 miles into town and 25 miles back for more yeast. Instead, I just searched the interwebs and found how to make/preserve yeast at Off The Grid News ; problem solved.

I mentioned the other day that I put some lettuce out and, though it is in well in advance of when the pro’s suggest it should be, two of the five varieties have already sprouted and have popped their little heads above the soil.

New York #12. Seeds were purchased in 2013
Jericho Lettuce. Seeds were also purchased in 2013

The other three varieties that I planted are Prize Head (also 2013 seeds), and two 2020 purchased seeds: Red Romaine and All Year Long.

I started cleaning out those three planting beds that were not weed-blocked/mulched last year because they held strawberries The berries did real poorly and every plant look as if it had some type of disease. I chalked this up to a poor supplier and forgot about them. While cleaning up the boxes I found these guys tucked-in with weeds.

By the way; the black lining in each of the boxes keeps the soil off of the wooden frame. Lesson learned: soil against the frame will rot the frame!

As a final note, if you are beginning to think about prepping and an off grid life, I strongly recommend you look at the ‘A-Z Foodgrower’ articles that Wirecutter maintains. It’s a real eyeopener and will clue you onto some considerations that might otherwise be overlooked…..which is why I planted old lettuce seeds instead of the new ones I’ve gotten since.

Math is Hard

There was a poll conducted a few years back that showed that 80 percent of the people surveyed believed they were smarter than average.

LB was probably one of those surveyed.