Pasture clearing update and cleaning up some loose ends

 

Look at the size and amount of shredded brush in the foreground!

Progress continues on recovering the pasture. These pictures were taken after 4 hours, by-the-clock, of brush-hogging.

Based on the number of rings of the brush I cleared for SB's garden in the spring, I believe the land was abandoned about 13 years ago.

The area beneath the power lines are heavily loaded with brush. I assume that most of the seeds were imported by the birds that roosted on the lines.

The area in the center of the pasture is mostly goldenrod and bluegrass/red fescue.

On the side opposite of the power wires is a drainage ditch and beyond that, on the other side of the property line is willow/cottonwood swamp.

I asked Josh where a fellow might go to rent a brush-hog like the one he is using. He suggested Michigan Cat. 

The apple tree mentioned in the previous post. Ditch in the foreground and cottonwood trees in the background. If you zoom in, you might be able to see some apples still hanging.

 

The trunk on the left is about 12" in diameter. I estimate the age of the tree to be 30-to-40 years.

Crunchy pickle update

I opened a jar of the 2025 pickles. My goal was to make crunchy pickles. Changes to the process included adding 1% food-grade calcium chloride (a type of salt) to the pickling juice and to process the cans at 180F rather than boiling water bath (210F at my elevation).

Yes, Virginia. The pickles are crunchy!

D-Ring shoe eyelet update

I purchased D-rings from Amazon and they were easy to install by crimping the speed-lace hooks down with a pair of pliers.

However, they spun within the crimped hooks and did not stay oriented the way that I wanted them too.

I was able to remedy that by stretching a rubber band and then working it under the hook in a way similar to using dental floss. I released the ends of the rubber band and they swelled up and filled the loose space between the hooks and the straight leg of the D-ring. That stopped the mis-orientation problem. 

Durable boot-laces update

Not worth the trouble. They don't hold a knot very well.

Muzzle-loading update

A spent 30-06 Springfield cartridge holds about 68 grains of ffg black powder when filled to the rim of the mouth and a snip of masking tape keeps in in the cartridge.

A spent .300 Winchester magnum cartridge holds 90 grains. 

In the last 20 years there has been a trend to push velocities up to 2400fps and powder loads to 150 grains.

That is ironic because the 45-70 is often described as "a thumper" and the original load for the 45-70 was a 0.45" diameter soft, lead bullet and 70 grains of black powder.

The only two potential downsides of a pedestrian, 70 grain load is the rainbow-like trajectory and limited expansion of the bullet at extreme ranges. Within ranges of 80 yards, 70 grains of black powder in a muzzle-loader will kill whitetail deer just fine.