sgt.barney

Don't know about "best", but certainly funniest. Climbing up the face of Devil's Tower in Wyoming last year (700 ft vertical climb) and some random drunk tourist pointed to Sarge and said "He's got more balls than me to do that ..." Well ... No. Actually he doesn't. For those that don't get it: Look at Sarge's current profile pic and think about it real hard ... Ballsy Wallsy

NOPE it hard. Easy Peasy

My "cash in" is at the dinner table and The Docs office (good numbers from healthy eating and exercise in The Garden) It is all the cash in I need. Easy Peasy (1st person Sarge)

Holy sh!t - The Sarge forgot some promotions. Here's your two-week stripe + rocker Easy Peasy

The Garden, proper, is about 50 feet x 100 ft (smallish for where we live in rural, agricultural Ohio).... but we fit in food crops everywhere we can and where most don't - for instance the "landscaping shrubs" around the front are Blueberry bushes, the flower pots have Peppers growing, the flower boxes have Herbs and Spices,the "ivy" growing up the fences is /are Runner Beans, the hedges in front are Hazelnuts the Shade trees are fruit trees, etc. Even the pretty flowers are edibles (Sunflowers and Sunchoke ( Jerusalem Artichokes)) When we plant trees in the woodlot (we heat with wood) every year (we try to do 10 to 12 new in the orchard, and 50 in the woodlot) we do mostly Sugar Maple (syrup, anyone? ) or edible nuts like Walnut, Chestnut, etc. But ... when you add in The Orchard, The Vinyard, and the Perennial Patch ... there's just under 3 acres of The Homestead dedicated to food production... so ... yeah - pretty big for a hobyist. There's still 6 more acres of yard, 4 of it "tillable" and available - Sarge will let you garden there for free if it means he no longer has to mow it every week. ;) Easy Peasy

A junkie will latch onto any rationalization, Tiffany. Recognize what you are doing here. You're giving yourself a "valid" reason to give up the quit. Stop that shit right now. Easy Peasy

After a few decades of adding a handful of items a year, one kinda runs out of traditional garden stuff. You've gotta search out the weird, unusual, rare stuff. Trust The Sarge - nobody on this side of The Pond grows those either and most haven't heard of 'em. Jeezus Beezus!.

Slow day in the garden today ... but even slow days produce something. 5 Cayenne Chillis and a mid-sized Canteloupe. Wonder what Canteloupe tastes like with Cayenne? :huh: Easy Peasy

Pest control? Grandpappy Sarge taught this to Wee Lad Sarge: Plant 5 times what you want to haul out of the garden. You will, many years, only get 20% of the harvest for yourself. 1 share goes to the bugs. 1 share goes to the disease. 1 share gets eaten by critters (rabbits, birds, squrrel, etc.) 1 share gets beaten down by the weather 1 share for you - what's left is all yours. This has served Sarge well over the years. Plant waaaaay more than you think you need and you will be fine. (like - 5 times more). Plant just exactly what you think you need and you will be sorely disappointed when everything else takes its share before you get yours. Easy Peasy

They overwintered at the recommended temperature and humidity in the Seed Refrig/Freezer for 5 months. Sarge is an amateur orchardist with 80-ish fruit trees of all sorts in the orchard and on the property. Easy Peasy

Start small. Expand next year. Rinse. Repeat as necessary. Move to a bigger place when the produce outgrows the front lawn. ;) Easy Peasy! Seriously? If you plan on living there a while, start with the perennials (things that come back year after year). A blueberry bush takes 4 or 5 years before it really starts producing, but it's good for a metric crap-ton of blueberries for 40 or 50 years after it's planted. Asparagus takes 3 years before your first harvest, but then it's no work (don't have to re-plant) for the next 15 to 20 years. Sarge started with all the things that are planted once, but keep on going and going and going, year after year after year. Aim for two or three new types of plants each year. This year Sarge planted Goji (wolfberry), 3 types of Honeberry (a fruiting holeysuckle-family perennial), and Paw-Paw trees. The Paw Paw seeds were a failure - failed to germinate seeds. Learn how to save seed and propagate your own. The Hazelnut Hedge (make your own Nutella (hazelnut and cocoa) on the Eastern fenceline of The Sarge Homestead would have cost over $600 to fully populate the first year if he bought all the plants. Instead, Sarge bought 3 individual 1-year twigs for, like, 18 bucks + shipping and over the last three years has been propagating himself. Now he's got a quarter mile fenceline that will produce a couple hundred pounds of nuts every year in ... maybe 3 more years. All for 18 bucks. Google is your friend here, so is youtube. It's a time-sink, too. Don't think you can "set it and forget it". It'll never work if you do. Disease. Bugs. Rabbits/squirrel/dear. Weather. Bad Luck. The neighbor's dog. The neighbors' kids. They're all conspiring to ruin your harvest and your job is to succeed. This doesn't happen passively. Easy Peasy

Pffft. The Sarge left because he was accused of being a bully and banned. Easy Peasy

The Sarge posts this not to celebrate, but to witness[1]. All you folks out there just starting out or who haven't yet started[2], there will come a day[3] when you can say same-same. Does this qualify as a MonsterQuit™ yet ? [999] Easy Peasy FOOTNOTES: [1] Definition #1 Here [2] You know who you are, quit lurking and sign up. [3] Much sooner than you think ... if you just get started. [999] It's a day early, only 999 today (1000 tomorrow, so sue me!)

Easy Peasy

Mrs. Sarge adds to the mid-life misery: Thyroid issues ... Easy Peasy

Nanoo nanoo, Your Eminence-ness Easy

Cheesy SqueezeMe

You need search no further than Beth ' s original post. (HINT: They're being dyslexic - it's CBW, not CWB.) Easy Sleezy

Tell us how you really feel, Beth, only this time don't hold back so much. Easy Sleezy

Also - you can change the default photo while previewing the status update by scrolling with the arrows on the pic. The only other pic available is some woman unknown to The Sarge. Easy Peasy I'll make a Damned movie clip if y ' all still don't get it.

OK ... for the... uhh.. challenged: go to FB, create a new status update containing nothing but the text "www.quittrain.com" (without the quotes). Save status update. Enjoy your burrito. Easy Peasy

So ... uhh ... why, when one links to this site on FB are there two images to choose from? The default being a giant beef supreme burrito and the second being what appears to be some random member profile pic? Enquiring minds want to know .... Easy Peasy

Easy Peasy

This morning's haul from The Veggie Garden: First day of Cayenne Peppers!! All three of 'em ;) Easy Peasy

Don't forget to protect that from the birds if you want the seeds for chewing on. We use those mesh bags onions/potatoes/apples etc. come in from the store. Just save 'em all year and near as we can tell, they'll last a lifetime. The plastic doesn't appear to break down in UV too quickly. Ours are just now flowering - first one was day before yesterday [2014.08/05]. Easy Peasy