Midnight Raiders

This morning I rose, fetched a cuppa steaming joe and surveyed my garden to ascertain what needed to be picked and processed in the next day or so. 

This scene greeted me.  More than half of my beets plucked from the ground with the tops chewed-off and deer tracks all over the garden in the damp dirt.   Grrrrr. 

This is quite brazen and ranks right up there with other capital offenses.  The penalty for garden-raiding is death.

Worse yet were all of the little deer tracks mixed among the adult deer tracks.

This act was committed by an obvious crime family.

I suppose I'll be pickling beets this weekend...

Friday Music

According to the internet this song performed by the virtual band the ‘Archies’ was produced by Jeff Barry – and originally released on the album Everything's Archie.  The final product was the result of a collection of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. 
 
Lead vocals were by Ron Dante along with Andy Kim and Toni Wine - studio multitracking held this catchy tune together by a thread.   Released in late May of 1969 the song achieved small success on the charts in the early summer in some radio markets.  It was re-released mid-July 1969, on the Kirshner label - when it went on to spend four weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.  The song eventually rose to the 1969 US number-one single of the year.  It persists - ranked at number 78 on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Singles. 

Not a poor showing for a fake band.  

Sorry for the ear worm people and check-out the Cougar in the shoddy staged video...

Welfare

This email arrived in my inbox Tuesday morning.

You're probably asking yourself how it is that I receive emails from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Isn't that sort of stuff for farmers?  The answer would be that I am a farmer - a tree farmer.  And as such am subject to a few of the same rules that corn, pig and cotton farmers are subject-to.

Unfortunately - and unlike - the corn, pig and cotton farmer I will not be reimbursed for self-inflicted losses that have arisen as a consequence of increased Republican taxes assessed on imported steel and aluminum. 


click on the image to read the double-speak



When the Republican administration decided to raise taxes on these imported commodities other nations - like our friendly neighbors to the north and south - responded in-kind.  Allow me to share an example that strikes very close to home.

Ninety percent of the milk produced in Wisconsin is made into cheese.  And ninety percent of said cheese is exported for sale elsewhere.  Heretofore, and prior to the tax increase, Mexico alone imported forty percent of that cheese.  All of that math may make your head ache yet the bottom line is that in response to these new Republican taxes - Canada, Mexico and other countries have responded with taxes of their own on our cheese, pork, cotton and soybeans that they cheerfully purchased from us in the past.  And as a consequence, the prices of these commodities have dropped like a dead duck shot from the sky and long established US export markets are now in peril of being lost to European and South American producers of these commodities.  Hard-working agribusiness in the United States is taking it in the shorts.  And the entire obscenity is self-inflicted.  Pure, economic malpractice.

Astonishingly, the answer to this is that Republican government has decided to use depression era Roosevelt administration legislation to make billions upon billions of dollars in welfare payments to farmers to assuage their economic loss.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Republicans will make welfare payments to people who have suffered financial loss at the hands of their tax increase.  I've lived a long time and not previously seen such economic weirdness as this come along.  Of course, what do I know.  I am only a lowly tree farmer.  Anyone who plants a crop for harvest thirty to a hundred years from now is likely certifiably nuts. 

Nevertheless, this Chamber of Commerce Republican thinks today's Republicans have lost their collective minds.  They ARE certifiable.  It is a strange world indeed when previously normal Republicans behave like post-soviet, central planning, socialist, apparatchiks.   

This is so incredibly bizarre that some days I feel like I've stepped thru the looking glass...

Confession

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl."   

The priest asks, "Is that you, little Joey Pagano?"    

"Yes, Father, it is."   

"And who was the girl you were with?"  

"I cannot tell you, Father.  I don't want to ruin her reputation."   

"Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now.   Was it Tina Minetti?"   

"I cannot say."  

"Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?"   

"I'll never tell."   

"Was it Nina Capelli?"  

"I'm sorry, but I cannot name her."  

"Was it Cathy Piriano?"  

"My lips are sealed."   

"Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?"

"Please, Father! I cannot tell you."   

The priest sighs in frustration.  "You're very tight lipped, and I admire that.   But you've sinned and have to atone.   You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months.  Now you go and behave yourself."   

Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"  

"Four months vacation and five good leads..."

Getting On The Trump Train

Recently spied in town was this.....

Some young bucks getting a junker automobile with a couple of flat tires in sufficient running order to participate in a demolition derby.

Beware the unintentional metaphor sardonic...

Door County Monsoons

With all due respect to Noah of the Old Testament it has been raining almost constantly since last evening and after checking the rain gauge we're up to about 4.25 inches (so far).

Corn and beans around these parts have been looking parched and sickly.  We really needed the drink...

A New Location

A couple of additional photos from the new (old) location.

Camera is facing east and strapped to an ash tree 10 feet east of the north-south trail in the middle tree plantation.  As I have learned over the years it is best to scout a traveled game trail for a camera location. 

Alternatively, build a trail.  Sometimes I think the local wild critters have a lazy streak.  If you chop, hack and bush hog a trail thru the thick cover they'll almost immediately adopt it as the favored route of passage.  Just like these wild turkeys.





And to also satisfy any jones you have for whitetail deer cuteness - a couple of twin fawns....

click on images to enlarge

In A Pickle

The cucumber vines are about finished for the season - looking yellow and played-out as a consequence of the drier than normal summer of late.  I'm going to keep them around for purposes of salad and dipping cucumbers - as for the pickles I'm done!

A couple of weeks ago I put-up a batch of 27 pints of the ever-popular crispy, crunchy dill pickles. 

And this weekend I shoehorned another batch of crispy, crunchy sweet pickles and today a final batch of crispy, crunchy kosher-style dill.  Yeoman's work considering there was a wedding and all of the attendant festivities to work-around as well.

Technically, they're not officially kosher as I don't have access to a rabbi.  Nevertheless, the recipe is faithful to the faithful's recipe.

That makes something on the order of 64 pints of homegrown, free-range, organically-raised and hand-packed pickles. 

Beets are on deck. 

And it is beginning to rain.  Flash flood warnings are issued.  Let the monsoons begin....

Useful Flowchart

For those readers with an appreciation for engineering....

Old Location

In keeping with the trail camera action posted recently there is something from an old location that has been continually monitored for several years.    

This particular spot happens to be where three trails converge on the curve a couple hundred yards from the house.  As  you hike west from the back yard past the rain garden the trail curves gracefully to the north-bound path to cross Silver Creek.  Alternatively, you could take one of two left-hand turns to the southwest and head in the general direction of The Taj to hook-up with three more trails to take you to other (nod to Anthony Bourdain)  parts unknown.

It’s a busy spot for sure and is host to raptors, coyotes, deer, bunnies, possum raccoon, an occasional butterfly and this spring a romp of river otters.  It is covered by a newer Moultrie trail camera that has been a patient sentry for more than a year.  It’s one of two A-30 models that I obtained on sale at Fleet Farm for something less than $90 apiece.  According to Moultrie……

The A-30 is the spiritual successor to the wildly popular A-5 and A-20 game cameras that improves image quality for day and night with the Illumi-night image sensor.  Resolution is increased to 12 MP, triggers speeds are reduced to less than 0.7 seconds and detection range extends to 60 feet. With a 2-year warranty, the A-30 exemplifies Moultrie’s legendary reliability while offering more bang-for-your-buck than ever in a trail camera.   

click on images for a closer look

 

After more than a year of continuous use this camera has more than 40% of its original battery life left in reserve.  Amazing.  Here are a couple of shots that I’m just tickled to have fetched in the last couple of weeks.







Raising a toast to the local brood turkey flocks and an old man and his faithful Labrador retrievers.....

Friday Music

The early 1970s was a golden time for country rock mostly as a consequence of the popularity of the Eagles, Poco and Pure Prairie League.   With roots going back to the mid-1960s this band was officially launched in 1970 with Craig Fuller (vocals and guitar), Tom McGrail (drums), Jim Caughlan (guitar and drums) and John David Call (steel guitar). 

The name comes from a fictional 19th century temperance union featured in the 1939 Errol Flynn cowboy film Dodge City.   The first album featured the image of a trail-worn cowboy lifted from a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover.  That cowboy would appear upon every subsequent Pure Prairie League album.  

Pure Prairie League scored five consecutive Top 40 LPs in the 1970s and added a sixth in the 1980s. Experiencing numerous break-ups, reunions and deaths the band continues to tour.   

Amie was released in 1973 as the band’s debut single to little effect.   RCA records released Amie as a single for the second time in late 1974 where it peaked at 27 on the Top 100 Chart at the end of April, 1975.  Whew!  

This live cover was recorded a year ago by Foxes and Fossils and is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of listening-to.  Enjoy….. 

Cage Free Crackers

Thanks to the thoughtful people over at PETA - after 116 years of captivity - animal crackers have been emancipated.  Yup, freed from their cages.  That's right.  Animal crackers are in the news.  
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals argued that the portrayal of the ubiquitous Barnum traveling circus of animal crackers confined behind bars was cruel and unusual punishment.  PETA’s argument was that the cracker animals ‘have no semblance of a natural life’.  As a consequence Mondelez - owner of Nabisco Brands – set them free.      

The new boxes are already arriving in stores this week. They show a zebra, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe and a gorilla roaming free, side-by-side, in peaceful harmony, upon a beautiful, sweeping African savanna.     

What someone should remind PETA about is that they have set free both predator and prey.  That zebra is going to get the short end of the stick from the lion.  So much for cruel and unusual punishment….

Getting Your Nitrogen Fix



Photo: Howard-Yana Shapiro

 

Plants such as beans, peanuts and clover have a symbiotic relationship with rhizobium bacteria, which produce nitrogen for them. The plants grow root nodules where the bacteria take up residence and sip on plant sugars while converting nitrogen in the air into a form the plants utilize.  This process is called nitrogen fixation.   

 

As a gardener I have learned that it is useful to include legumes such as peas and beans in a crop rotation as it adds nitrogen back to the soil without the use of chemical fertilizers.

 

Now there is more news of an ancient corn variety grown in southern Mexico which produces a sweet mucus that feeds bacteria.  The bacteria - in turn - pull nitrogen out of the air and fertilize the corn.  If scientists can breed this trait into conventional corn it could result in reduced fertilizer use (and adverse environmental impacts) leading to a revolution in agriculture.    

 

Learn more about this here….

Stuff'em If You got'em

Really, really yummy, good summertime treat.

click on images to enlarge



Our own locally-killed, venison-stuffed, garden-grown sweet bell peppers with garden tomatoes and onion.

Raising a toast to back yard homesteading...

A New Location

Actually, an old location that needed a new trail camera.

There is a path I clear ever year from west to east and back thru the middle tree plantation.  It is a quarter mile in length and intersects with three north-south trails.  All the intersections are covered by gun towers and there are numerous hiding spots along the quarter mile length for a ground blind or an archer in a ghillie suit. 

In the past couple of weeks I rotated a couple of new Moultrie trail cameras into the lineup.  They're A-25 models that I obtained on sale at Fleet Farm for something like $68 apiece.

According to Moultrie...

The A-25 has 12-megapixel resolution and a trigger speed of just .7 seconds. Includes Long-Range Infrared Flash that reaches out to 60 feet, exactly matching its detection range. The A-25 is also our lowest priced Moultrie Mobile compatible camera, offering outstanding affordability and value.

What I know is that I'm back to five working cameras now as the hunting season is about to begin.  The A-25s produce very good pictures at an exceedingly affordable price.  I expect that battery life will be terrific too.

I'll be posting photos from time-to-time including one like these from the new (old) location.

click on images for a closer look

 

The Little Melon That Could

Even gardening sometime brings a surprise your way.

Both of my compost bins have been in steady use and bring a bonus this summer.  One of them has a couple of enormous tomato plants growing in it so it will be interesting to see if there will be fruit to bear.

The other composter has sprouted melons.  Honey dew if I had to hazard a guess.  They're about the size of softballs and growing by the day.

They're probably cross-pollinated so there's no telling what it might taste like.  Nevertheless, I'm going to sample these when they've ripened.

Stay tuned....

Summertime Treat

For breakfast today.

Take two slices of organic rustic white bread and toast.  On each slice spread a thin layer of mayonnaise.  Add a generous layer of Marchant's smoked Door County bacon.  On top of the bacon add sliced, vine-ripened garden tomatoes.  Add to the tomatoes a layer of fresh-picked garden Bibb lettuce.  Top with the remaining slice of toasted bread.  Enjoy with a steaming cuppa joe.


When the cold and blustery February winds beat-upon your home and rattle the windows in six months you will remember fondly the deliciousness of this moment and fight the urge to commit some crime for a handful of fresh garden tomatoes.....    

More of the Brood Flock

The trail camera closest to the house has been busy lately with plenty of wild turkey action - including at least one mama hen with her poults.

This series of photos was taken a week ago Sunday morning about 8:30 over a period of more than ten minutes.

click on images for a closer look

 

Judging from the number of poults in these images this may very well be a couple of brood flocks or a bigger brood flock than I originally imagined.  If I had to hazard a guess it is the latter rather than the former.

For sure the second hen to wander on to the scene is a Boss Hen - the dominant matriarch of the local turkey clan.

 

Evidence of this is her strutting and displaying behavior. 

Interesting stuff to witness second hand and gratifying to see the local turkey population flourishing.  Glad these birds took the opportunity to loiter as long as they did... 

The Garden Chronicles

 click on images for a better look

 

So far, so good, with the garden this  year. 

It was smart to install the green beans in three separate plantings spaced three weeks apart.  Those Blue Lake beans like to ripen just about all at once in the space of one to two weeks.  Last week was the end of the first row and after picking enough beans to fill a giant canvass bag I uprooted the row and sentenced it to the composter.  Row number two should begin next weekend.  The broccoli is done for the season so those plants have been removed. 



Cukes are producing fantastically.  And I planted a final sowing of radishes, spinach and all three of the usual lettuces,

The tomatoes are coming online - although I'm disappointed in the size.  Lack of rain perhaps?  They taste fine however.

And how about this from the fridge in the garage..... 

From top to bottom - a box of fresh cucumbers, green peppers and a crisper filled to the top with pickles for pickling.

Vive le jardin magnifique!

Friday Music

This song was composed in 1961 by Phil Medley and Bert Berns.  Originally recorded by the Top Notes it charted as a cover single by the Isley Brothers in 1962.  The song has since been covered by any number of artists including the Tremeloes in 1962, The Beatles in 1963 and the Who in 1970 and 1984.  The Beatles released this tune in the states as a single early in 1964.  

Twist and Shout was the only million-selling Beatles single that was a cover record, and the only Beatles cover single to reach the Top 10 on a national record chart.    

The song failed to hit #1 because the Beatles had another song occupying the top spot - Can't Buy Me Love.  The British Invasion brought Beatlemania to America.    

Cheeky intro from these mop-headed Liverpool lads performing for the Royal Variety Show in November of 1963……

Don't Poke the Eagle

John Brennan - former CIA chief whose security clearance was revoked - struck back at President Trump today. 

 

Brennan called the president’s claims of no collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election hogwash and suggested that President Trump was simply attempting to silence anyone who would dare challenge him.     

 

Fran Townsend – Homeland Security Advisor in George W. Bush’s Whitehouse - had this to say:  The fact that the president did this himself leaves him open to the criticism that it looks politically motivated.   

 

Here's what I think.  This is more about symbolism that practicality.  Brennan is retired and he doesn't receive regular (much less daily) security briefings.  Revoking a retired CIA Director's security clearance isn't going to shut him up.  Moreover, if you piss-off a CIA spook you best cover your tracks. 

 

I may be just a simple James Bond aficionado - yet has anyone in this administration considered that this guy is - A SPY?

 

Who has a huge pile of friends who are SPIES? 

 

I'd rather enjoy a colonoscopy than poke a nest of spies. Imagine all the smoking bimbos out there to be resurrected.

Going to town tomorrow for additional supplies of Merlot and popcorn.  This Palace Intrigue is hilarious....

Clairvoyant?

It is not often that I make predictions.  Nevertheless, I am going to go out on a limb with a wild-ass, two-part whopper.

Paul Manafort's tax, bank fraud and money-laundering schemes will go before a jury of his peers to stand judgment in federal court to answer to charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

He will be found guilty as charged.

President Donald Trump will pardon Paul Manafort.

You read it here first...

When You Can't Catch An Uber

You hear about this phenomenon from time-to-time - this is the first time in my life I have actually witnessed it. 

A guy going to town on his lawn tractor.

State Highway 57 is a four lane divided thoroughfare so it takes some nerve to cross on a vehicle capable of only 7 miles an hour.....

How to Freeze Garden Broccoli

Yesterday I published my secret to making the best crispy crunchy dill pickles in the world. 

Today is how to put-up your homegrown broccoli for when Old Man Winter is rattling the windows and you have a hankering for something fresh from your garden.

Early in our relationship Jill professed to a dislike of broccoli.  True story.  Until she had fresh-picked broccoli from the garden.  After-which she embraced broccoli as a cruciferous vegetable.  I completely understand her original opinion as her previous options were quite limited.

The reason supermarket broccoli can be mediocre (or downright bad) is that it is old.  Grown somewhere out west - say California - it is picked, packed, shipped by truck to a distribution hub.  After many days it is eventually delivered to the market and displayed in the produce section for any number of additional days before someone comes along and purchases it.  In a word it is OLD and STALE.  And as a consequence all of it's natural sweet goodness has disappeared.

Homegrown, freshly picked, tastefully prepared and eaten broccoli is terrific as it retains and holds all of its natural goodness.

click on images to enlarge

 

Isn't that one of the most handsome heads of broccoli you've ever seen?  That's mine and it has been such a good year for garden broccoli that I had some extra to put-up in the freezer for a future date.  Fresh-picked and promptly frozen broccoli is pretty good too.  Here is how to do it.

Break-apart your broccoli head into manageable florets and soak in a salty brine.  This will drive any critters out that might be lurking in a crevasse.  Drain the brine and soak and rinse twice in cold tap water.  In the meantime start of pot of water on the stove top to boil.





Drain your broccoli in a colander and introduce manageable amounts to the boiling water for no more than 90 seconds.  Immediately remove from the boil and plunge them into a sink of cold tap water.  This process of scalding followed by immediate cooling (called blanching) places the plants enzymes into suspended animation without loss of vitamins or taste.  It is critical not to cook the broccoli completely so keep the scald short and the return to the cold water bath immediately.

Drain your broccoli in a colander (again) and scatter on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Place the sheet of broccoli in the freezer (uncovered) until each floret is frozen solid.  This takes less than an hour.

Edit to add:  A reader has pointed out that broccoli will continue to release gases if not frozen before packaging,  Do not skip this step. 


After the florets are solid - package in manageable portions and vacuum seal them with your FoodSaver®. 

Date the packages and keep frozen until ready to use.  When you are preparing stir-fry on a cold February afternoon you can enjoy your garden goodness too.