Running list of thoughts through the day

One comment that MTV made that is sticking with me is "You cannot have deducks before you have ducks." Translated: Deductions are worthless if you don't have revenue or profit.

Vast swaths of society claim they are valuable because they are a "deduction" or victim. What value do they create. Rap music? Don't make me laugh so hard I pee my pants. Instagram influencers? Consuming is not creating value. Combining lower-value, higher-entropy inputs into higher-value uses does create value.

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Dry weather favors ground-squirrels, aka chipmunks. My yard is riddled with their holes. I suspect wet ground results in high mortality due to juvenile pneumonia. I think chipmunk parts might make dandy catfish bait.

I am also seeing more yellow jackets in spite of the earliness of the season. Yellow jackets and bumblebees are typically ground nesters.

I am also seeing many Red-wing Blackbirds at the feeder. We are feeding a 60%-40% mix of black, oiler sunflower seeds and cracked corn.

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I seem to have gotten my arms around my fireblight issues between the arid weather and ruthlessly cutting out the FB strikes. I topped out more than one pear tree to get ahead of it, although the weather probably had more to do with my recovery.

If all goes well I will be able to ripen and taste Tashkent quince.

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I know it sounds like bragging, but most women, when they hear their man has a side-chick get very angry. Mrs ERJ didn't bat an eye when I told her I had 25. She surveyed the situation and observed "It would be aesthetically pleasing if you had a few white, side-chicks. Just keep them in the garage." What a woman. WHAT a WOMAN!!!

I picked up a twenty-five chicks at Family-Farm-Home farm store. They were 25% off because they were "senior" chicks. They were NOT old chicks (which sucks because week old chicks are much hardier than newly hatched).

Sprite asked for 15 girls to refresh her laying flock. She did not want Leghorns because they have huge combs and don't do so great in cold weather.

One of the breeds in the "senior" chick holding pen was black sex-link (Oh, Lord, please do not let Mrs ERJ look at my browsing history) chicks which can be visually sorted for boys/girls. I picked out 15 girls. The sign did not say if the chicks were pullets or cock chicks. I expect half of the remaining nine chicks to be boys which we will keep for meat.

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If you look at a field filled with cabbage at a truck-farm, you will be amazed at how closely packed they are.

I subscribe to the belief that leaves make sugar and sugar makes flavor. My cabbage is much more widely spaced than commercial growers. I am sure that I am giving up calories/acre. If things get really squirrelly, I have the option of harvesting and dehydrating the wrapper leaves on the cabbage for soups and flavoring.

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Why are round-balers so expensive?

I need to get smart about them.

We have a significant number of small-holders who have cutters, crimpers and tractors but most of them swooned at the price of the baler. I smell a business opportunity.

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Five more rows planted in the fenced-in garden. I have room for two rows of carrots and then it is full until the green beans get yanked.

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The four rows of sweet corn and cucumbers have not germinated yet. I wonder what is up with that.