Volunteer Pines

In the south, pines are weeds.  There are some varieties that are nice, and all are useful for lumber or pulp, but for a homeowner with land, they're just a pain.  When I bought my house a few years ago, it was pretty clear of volunteer pines.  The house had been vacant for a while, and the upkeep was limited in some respects, but the approach to the house and the back yard were in relatively good shape.  A few years later a number of pines had grown up, and I cut a lot down with my clearing saw.

Fast foward two years, and the ones I didn't get last time have grown up (in some cases they were too small to cut with the saw (the stems just bent away from the saw blade)].  Then others have grown up as well, and some of the ones I cut two years ago coppiced (small shoots grew out from the trunk below where I cut, in turn growing taller themselves).

So I went to work.  One area was dense enough that I was able to make pretty short work of them with a pair of loppers.  The stems were so soft that I could cut even fairly large ones easily.

Based on size, these were probably up to about four years old.  Most were probably a couple of years old, which sounds about right given the last time I cleared the area.

A few were as large as 2" in diameter near the base, but most were  1.5" or less.  Probably a third of them were slender stems with plants that were 18" to 2' in height, just 1-2 years old.  And there were some sprouts, which I just pulled.

After about an hour of work, the area above looked like this:

Most of them are on the ground and stacked in the foreground of the photo. You can still see additional standing pines to the left and more up near the house.  After another hours' work, the lower ones are all gone and about half of the ones up near the house have been felled, as well.  They're all loaded on the truck now for a trip to a mulching place.

Before hauling them, I'll strap them down to hold them in place.  This is probably 300-400 trees.

After this, I have plenty of other pines.  There are some in an overgrown pasture that are now over 10 years old, so they're pretty large.  And I have others that are 5-10 years of age, plenty tall in their own right.  The older ones have some value as firewood, but the stems in the truck above are too small to make that worthwhile.  Stripping the side branches and cutting the stems to length wouldn't be worth the effort.

Still More on Thistles

Here's a case study on thistles gone rogue.  This is a picture of a field, not someone's yard:  But they haven't mowed during thistle blooming season for the last few years and now have a problem.   It's hard to see how this field will produce much but thistles in a few years.

At one time it was a field of purple blooms, but there's nothing attractive about this.

Update on my own thistles: I mowed them down as noted previously, and they haven't sent up any more vertical stems.  However, they haven't died, either.  I expect them to be back next year.

I'm fortunate that I don't have any thistle growing in inaccessible or far-flung areas.  I could use my scythe or weed eater to take care of them almost anywhere, but it's better not to have to worry about it.

Bread Fail-2

Previously, I've written about failed loaves of rye and wheat bread.  Last week I had probably the worst ever loaf come out of the oven.

It was pretty sad.  It's a 100% whole wheat loaf (actually, it's 100% Emmer).  Breadtopia has an Emmer sourdough recipe that looks like it turned out somewhat well, but it's also fairly compact and doesn't show much rise.  My bread looked like this when sliced:

This made for a week of disappointing sandiwches.  The flavor was pretty typical of 100% whole wheat bread, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your preferences.  Aside from the all-whole-wheat factor, there were a couple of additional things that might have played a role:  1) I over-hydrated the dough.  I knew I should've restricted the water a little but didn't.  My Mockmill grinds grain somewhat more coarsely than some whole wheat flours I have seen, and the coarser grind doesn't absorb as much water. 2) My flour might have been unduly coarse.  I might need to adjust the stones in my mill.

A third possible contributing factor is the climate.  It's summer now, and my house is warm, which can lead to excessive pre-baking rising of the dough. If the dough rises aggressively before going in the oven, my experience is that further rising once it's baking is curtailed.  That can be addressed through a shorter counter-top rising period, but I usually let it rise overnight, so it's going to be sitting on the counter at least 7-8 hours in most cases.

The next week (this morning), I decided to go back to a basic 50/50 mix.  The results were much better:

Sediment Filters and Old Plumbing

I have a well update.  When I noted previously that I had sediment that was coming through despite a (nominal) one micron filter, I was wondering if I'd need to get even stronger filtration or a multistage filter system.  I started researching them online.

I think I just wasn't running the water enough after changing the filter.  I swapped out a couple of filters and finally let it run for a while as Benjamin Sahlstrom suggests.  The water may be a bit fouled at first after changing the filter, but it soon clears.  It seems that all is well, although there is definitely sediment getting through:

The red in the picture above is fine silt, which settles to the bottom of the toilet tank (several months' worth).  I have tested my filtered water and found that I have about 13 ppm of silica.  That's definitely higher than most public water systems would have, but not all--see, for example, the water quality report for Lenexa, KS: 10 ppm silica, range 2-17 ppm; recommended federal level 50 ppm or lower.  The main problem is that the silica will probably cause components in the dishwasher and washing machine to wear faster, and to some degree it may accumulate in the water heater--though the latter can be flushed.

Over time, the sediment does add up.  Below is what an Aquaboon one-micron wound string filter looked like after about 4 months (with a new one for comparison).

It looks worse than it actually is.  I was wondering if I had lost water pressure and so changed it; the new filter showed that it hadn't significantly impeded flow yet, even though it looked completely silted up when it was in the housing.  There was a fair amount of sediment in the bottom of the housing, but that doesn't really matter.

Even after the well was refurbished, water coming out of one of the outdoor taps--i.e., unfiltered--was dirty-looking. Much of that may have been attributable to some of the supply fixtures--galvanized steel and, for two outdoor hydrants, cast iron:

All of that is now replaced (with new galvanized in the case of the hydrants), and the water is looking much better.  There's still some cloudiness, but it is unfiltered, after all...

More on the Storage Life of Dehydrated Refried Beans

I noted a couple of years ago that I had some cans of dehydrated refried beans that were put up in February, 2009.  I am down to just one can left, but recently opened the next to last one.  It was fine.  If there has been any deterioration in quality, I can't detect it.  As I mentioned before and elsewhere, my house routinely hits 80 and higher in the summer (though usually not warmer than 83), so the storage conditions have definitely not been completely ideal.  Even so, they were okay.  Since I'm now about out, it's time for more.

The same things I noted previously still apply: they're a bit saltier than some brands of ready-to-use refried beans; also, I don't follow the process on the label above (1 1/2 cups of dry flakes with 1 cup of boiling water, stir and let sit for 10 minutes).  I make up smaller quantities for the microwave using an ad hoc amount of water, so I get inconsistent results.  Maybe the label directions would work better.  That notwithstanding, if they are a little too thin, letting them stand for a few minutes does thicken them up.  Continuing to heat them in a microwave does, too, but they start to crackle as they get heated further.

I generally use them for burritos, but even in a bowl eaten straight up they're fine.

Solid Surface Countertops

A few years ago I was doing some remodeling.  One of the things that needed replacing was the countertops.  The existing kitchen cabinets were taken out, and the base cabinet configuration was changing--even if it hadn't changed, the existing laminate counters were not in optimal shape.

The house I was living in at the time had plain white laminate counters in the kitchen, which actually worked pretty well.  In almost 20 years of use, they had very few scratches or other signs of wear.  However, I decided to go with a solid surface for the new ones.

Various places compare the myriad countertop options (marble, granite, engineered quartz, laminate, solid surface, concrete, tile, etc).  It looked like the solid surface ones would work well.  They're vulnerable to scratching--see below--but can also be repaired through sanding/buffing if there's an obvious scratch or other problem.  And they are a lot less heavy than granite or any other similar material.  They also aren't all that costly, although they can be depending on the design and where/when they are bought. Corian, Lotte (Staron), and LG (Hi-Macs) are three types.  Big-box stores like Lowes and Home Depot carry one or more of them, and they have periodic sales.

Scratches.  Solid surface countertops do scratch.  They're more susceptible to scratching than granite/quartz or laminate.  Mine, after a few months of use, do have scratches that are visible--but you have to look for them.

One thing I saw repeated frequently was the admonition to go with a lighter color, because scratches wouldn't show up as readily as with darker surfaces.  Some warned that darker colors would show lighter scratches and look bad in short order.  Some offer glossy finishes instead of matte.  These would also be more susceptible to revealing any scratching.  So, I ordered a bunch of 2"x2" samples and scratched them with a box cutter blade.  Scratches were easier to see in darker shades, so I went with a relatively light color (with some disappointment; some of the darker ones were very nice).

Below is a black countertop in an office building restroom--it was installed more than 10 years ago.  Scratches are evident, but it doesn't look too bad despite heavy daily traffic.

I think this is the Corian color Deep Anthracite; the Corian Web page notes, " May require additional maintenance."

Below is a closeup of my counter: LG Moon Haze.  The scratches--what ones there are--can't really be captured on camera at this point.

I have cool fluorescent-like LED lights in the kitchen; the surface looks less yellow than it does on the LG site--it's more off-white with crystals.  I like it (which is fortunate, because I'm stuck with it now).

Several months in, there are no evident problems with the installation. The picture above shows that the backsplash was not integral with the horizontal surface itself: it's just a separate piece that was caulked to the wall.  That was substantially less costly than doing a single casting.  Also, the edge is the basic one; additional options are available but they all cost more.  What I have looks fine to me.

Another Weed Flower

I've written about blooming weeds before, such as jewel weed.  Blackberry can be considered a weed, too; it is in bloom in late April / early May in north Georgia; it spreads aggressively; it also sometimes yields good fruit.

Another weed that both blooms and has the potential to spread is thistle.  There are a lot of varieties, and I'm not sure which one is in my back yard.  I have a couple of plants back there that seem to recur, although I cut them before they set seed.  Most thistles are annual or biennial, so I'm not sure why this happens every spring in the same place. One that is at least somewhat perennial and can spread by roots is Canadian thistle.

That notwithstanding, the blooms are large, pretty, and have a nice fragrance.  If they set seed, though, watch out. one plant can produce tens of thousands of seeds per year.

There are open fields not too far away that are heavily-infested and unattended, so they're getting worse with every passing year.

Here's another view of the plant that shows its form better; Canadian thistles have smooth upper stems, so that checks.   In the background of both shots you can see another non-native invasive that is truly worthless, privet.  I have a lot of it around and I'm going to try to cut a lot of it back this year.  While it does bloom, I don't really like those flowers at all.  Bizarrely, privet is still sold in nurseries...

Shown below is a stand of thistle near an Interstate on ramp.  Although the display may be reasonably attractive in the photo, if it isn't mowed soon a million seeds will be produced within a couple of months (possibly quite literally a million--or more).

While one or two plants can be nice, I'm fortunate I don't have more of it.

Update: Okay, so maybe it's not a good idea to have even one or two.  About three weeks after the above pictures were taken, the first flower had turned to seed, although new blooms were still opening.  I didn't get to it and bag it before some seeds escaped...but not many.  Alas.