tuffy monteverdi

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Nathan Burton wrote:Money could save time, for sure. But how better could you possibly use that time?

It's  a good question. I think everyone's situation is different. Some have obligations with work and family that must take priority. And to be honest, not everyone has the "farmer gene."

Yes 🙌
Not everyone loves farming, even though it’s so important.
I do love parts of it, but I leave the parts I’m not keen on, to others.

As to the question “how better to use the time?”
Gosh so many ways: cooking for family, reading, writing, teaching, training my animals, making art, composing music, gainful employment that helps others (in my case Vet medicine), hiking in the woods, kayaking, building a boat, building a house, sauna and swimming, visiting friends, whatever gives one joy and fulfillment. It’s not me, but Some people truly love running a business. 🤷‍♀️

paul wheaton wrote:
“ I wonder if the laziest and most forgetful gardener can shift their staples to sunchokes, walking onions and kale. “



Personally I’d like staples to be alliums, potatoes/sw potatoes and aster greens like escaroles/chicories/dandelions, and yeah sunchokes are cool 👍 😊

“ Is growing your own food a waste of time?”

Generally never. But, It still depends on what one’s interests are.
It’s certainly not a black and white or either/or  issue.

I love raising animals in the full circle permaculture way, and I don’t mind perennial growing. But I don’t enjoy the whole annual-planting-maintenance-and-effort that is required for these kinds of crops. It’s just never been my thing. I don’t hate it, i might even “like” it a bit, but in my free time, I’d just prefer going on a hike or for a swim, or make some art, or train my animals.

I feel about annual gardening the same way I feel about building my own rocket heater: They are essential and fantastic, but I’m just not interested enough (compared to other fulfilling pursuits), and thus I’ll save up and pay someone else to build me a great one, and plant my annuals, and in turn, I’ll grow their perennials, raise and train and doctor their holistically pastured animals, etc..

So, we have a near perfect CSA here, and we buy most of our annual veggies from them. I support their farm and my local community by distributing what we grow.

That said, We do garden w annuals a bit, and one day I’d like to say I grew that perfect crunchy, bitter, but sweet, head of escarole…
But mostly we grow perennials like artichokes and lots of varieties of fruit &berries, vines, cacti and potatoes, but nothing requiring pampering or real “gardening” work, and nowhere near enough veggies to feed us year round (though we could probably live on the meat and fruit we produce if we had to).
I feel that appropriate perennials are real money in the bank long term, and the most productive use of gardening time - for me 👍

I’m ever so interested in trees, the keystone species here are Valley Oaks and Coast Live Oaks. Oaks and their possible associated shrubs, forbs  and grasses - especially if edible or forageable by animals, are absolute gold to me. And to local ecosystem health. I focus on that, a lot.

So yeah, annual gardening isn’t the best use of time for me, but it’s definitely never a WASTE of time.

Oh and here’s a Powerpoint I found on her old website, that applies to painting tools in general

https://www.greatarttools.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Pastel-Tips-and-Tools-Presentation.pdf

Sorry, forgot to mention:
The BestBrella, easel, attachments and tool storage systems apply to every artist’s Plein Air repertoire.

But the above stuff on Palette Garage is for Oil paining and pastel, not Acrylic.
Acrylic will have a whole different paint saving system.

Plein Aire Painting Resources
from Patricia Kellner (Patty K), inventor of BestBrella and Garage Palette

It’s unfortunate that Patricia Kellner has retired and is no longer making and selling the fantastic wind, UV and glare blocking umbrella (called Best Brella) with its truly sturdy and **fantastic**, **completely adjustable**, **strong** clamp. It’s THE BEST clamp ever.

If you can find this clamp and umbrella somewhere used, it would be a serious help in so many ways.

She also invented a very simple and effective “unused paint pot” storage system called Palette Garage.
One can probably put “two and two together” and make one with the resources I have listed here from her website, Pinterest, and YouTube postings.

She also manufactured and recommended special gloves for avoiding toxicity and keeping clean, that one could probably find similar elsewhere.
Info on this can all be read on her blog.

Patricia’s blog, where many great tips and tips for Plein Aire Painting and Drawing are located:
https://www.greatarttools.com/author/admin/

Gear
https://www.pinterest.com/pakellner/plein-air-gear/

Demo of BestBrella


Demo of Garage Palette



Constituents of Palette Garage (For DIY)

There are 3 sizes of the Palette Garage: 12”, 14”, 16”, all are on same page and photos are there too (they didn’t show up here for some reason):

https://www.greatarttools.com/shop/palette-garage/16-palette-garage-for-oil-paints-28/

https://www.greatarttools.com/shop/palette-garage/12-palette-garage-for-oil-paints/


12 Inch Palette Garage

SKU: 22
Category: Palette Garage
Description
* Paint tray measures 11.5″ —  the average inside dimension of a 12″ pochade box
* The tube measures 12.25″ to easily house the paint tray
* Clove oil wicks embedded in end caps
* The 15 ml bottle of clove leaf oil is enough to last you for years of palette garage use.
* Two 1″ spring clips are included
* Two sets of Velcro tabs are  included to help secure the paint tray if can’t position the clips to do the job


Description
* Paint tray measures 15.5″ —  the average inside dimension of a 16″ pochade box
* The tube measures 16.25″ to easily house the paint tray
* Clove oil wicks embedded in end caps
* The 15 ml bottle of clove leaf oil is enough to last you for years of palette garage use
* Two 1″ spring clips are included
* Two sets of Velcro tabs are  included to help secure the paint tray if can’t position the clips to do the job

My experience is that wind tips the easel over.

Plus it’s just too much to carry everywhere - too big and awkward, too heavy…

I have better luck using a Windsor and Newton travel box of watercolors and paper that has all 4 sides fastened down by glue (a watercolor tablet). A sketchbook works ok with clips.

Melting Ice caps are changing the weight and pressures on tectonic plates and land masses. This causes more volcanic eruptions and more earthquakes.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13583-melting-ice-caps-may-trigger-more-volcanic-eruptions/

Can some of the plants in this 200sq ft plot be medicinal? They would be edible, just not a food crop…

Thanks

Ara Murray wrote:

…brunost, (from Norway)  which is light brown and has a sweet caramel and savoury salty taste at the same time. Tiny portions are enough and I eat it on it’s own.

Agreed
In Denmark we have a similar cheese, Gjetost..

Both these two cheese are actually made from WHEY, rather than milk, which is interesting. Kind of like a super aged ricotta 😌

Whey is a by product of cheese making. It has the salts and sugars from the milk.

I eat it with butter on thin, dark, *dense*, sour rye - also Danish.