Toadfish Monastery

Cheers for the recipe, Blue! It's a bit early for Christmas (although I do have snow on the ground and deer - not reindeer - in the yard at the moment), so is this one of those recipes that should be aged out a bit before Christmas? Mom's fruit cake usually gets made a couple of months early and is given a regular nip of rum to help it mellow before it is eaten.

I have opinions on appropriate technologies. I have quite liked the mix of ancient and modern tech in my Biolite camp stove, which can use burning wood to charge other things via USB. Bicycles may be the pinnacle of appropriate technology; a modern road racing bike is a tiny amount of mass relative to the human-powered speed it can achieve.

Best of all might be the axe; it's just a piece of wood and a piece of steel, is easy to maintain, and can perform all sorts of necessary (in my world) tasks, from turning trees into a garden fence to being a last line of defense against a bear attack. I have a Swedish-made hatchet that comes on most adventures with me, and a big razor sharp felling axe from the same company that absolutely terrifies me more than any other tool I own (including hunting rifles). Guns are easier to control and less likely to cause unintended amputations.

I will pray to the thunder gods that you do not have any actual electric fires! Hopefully I am on good terms with them still. I've had a few things blow up in my face lately (sometimes literally, there is some molten copper spatters on my safety glasses still).

Hello everyone!

My browser is telling me that this isn't a secure connection. Any ideas why? I'm not on a great connection so maybe it will clear the next time I'm on. My internet is the mobile network equivalent of dial-up most of the time.

I can confirm this. When they run away, I've definitely seen a bear ass.

They eat greens mostly in the spring, and love dandelions especially. High calorie foods are important pre-hibernation, but after exiting the den it's important to get the system moving again....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_plug

My guess is that the bear thought the lettuce was a particularly fancy dandelion, but found it not to its taste.

I follow a bear-like pattern of seasonal eating, lots of greens (including dandelions) in the spring, berries and fish in the fall (I do not hibernate and do not suffer from fecal plugs, thankfully). Lately I have been battling small rodents (voles and mice) over tomatoes and zucchini, and trying to come up with ever more elaborate and inevitably  inadequate defenses to keep the deer out of my stake-fenced garden. They were back over the weekend (I was driving across the entire province and back to pick up a couch) and seem not to be bothered by the beer cans with rocks in the bottom strung from fishing line around the inside of that garden, which was intended to startle them. There was a bear walking past the garden in a few pictures, but it didn't bother coming in.  The proper(ish) fence around the zucchini seems to be keeping the larger animals out. My 17 zucchini plants are so productive that I can't really be bothered to set mouse traps to kill the little nibblers (they mostly just damage the outer skin of the squash, which can be peeled away), but I killed an unfortunate amount in the greenhouse, which were subsequently added to the compost pile for extra nitrogen.

Last _{fires are getting worse around here... my sister's house was in the main battle zone in Kelowna and nearly burned down} Post

A proper garden isn't always a must. A good portion of my 'garden' is in large storage totes or 20L plastic buckets, in a rough-and-ready greenhouse. Soil is still required (I line the bottom with charcoal and drill drainage holes a couple of cm above the bottom).  After losing 10 lbs of tomatoes in 24 hours to a whitetail doe last September, I've had to keep them barricaded. The cucumbers are very happy with the situation, and with 3 bins containing 8 plants each, I am starting to eat my fill of small (pickling) cukes every day.  One of my tomatillo plants is over 7 feet tall. I suppose the gardening habit is not exactly a lazy pursuit, but it's rather sedate most of the time. It only occasionally involves firearms. 

I was away for the weekend and the deer have moved in early this year due to drought; they got into my admittedly weak fence around one garden plot (it's just sharpened stakes crossed along the front, and stakes with string along the back - also forgot to place stakes across the entrance) and started nibbling the zucchini plants in another mostly undefended bed. Spent the evening after work putting up some proper fencing mesh with rather temporary posts (fresh cut young aspen trunks) around that zucchini bed. If the chain link doesn't fall down and flatten my plants they should be safe.

I am not too upset about them nibbling the peas in the first bed (I've eaten at least 1000 pea pods already), but they completely wiped out several heads of radicchio and severely pruned some lettuce stalks that I was letting go to seed for next year's supply. Those lettuces survived a bear attack earlier in the season, so I hope they will bounce back enough to put out a few seeds. If they're simply jumping the fence, I expect a return visit, but I didn't see any evidence of them on the game camera today.

Last _{forget produce, boar is edible. So is deer, and bear.} Post

Quote from: Swatopluk on July 11, 2023, 06:19:07 AM
The forests are still needed all by themselves but if we want to get rid of extra CO2, we'd need to manage  them on a large scale and the stored carbon taken out of circulation. Old- style logging would not be the way to do that.

Although for other reasons this has precedents. In tsarist Russia forest management was planned centuries in advance (in particular for the use of the navy: trees suitable for the keels and masts of ships of the line need centuries to reach the needed length).

Last _{And tropical rainforests are not really suitable since they have essentially no topsoil to grow new trees out of.} Post

Biochar can help a bit with long-term sequestration and is good for soil building. I don't have an efficient, low-smoke method of making charcoal yet (i.e. a gasifer-retort that can sustain a burn with wood gas), but I have needed to burn a lot of cleared wood and fire-hazard deadfall, so I've been experimenting with charcoal pit composting, with an eye to soil building. The results have been very favorable. Basically, I've taken some good-size septic test pits (about the size of a shallow grave) and filled them with charcoal from my burn barrel, then started burying kitchen waste in them.  The first pit I worked with started out as the drop zone from my construction-phase outhouse, so it's got a few extra nutrients in it, but I found it a convenient place to dump compost in the winter. The second one has been mostly coffee grounds and vegetable scraps with a bit of easily decayed garden waste.

The charcoal keeps the odour down and so far has kept the bears away, although the squirrels were raiding the first pit for coffee filters... caffeinated squirrels, yikes! Better than caffeinated bears, I guess. It's been a non-issue on the second pit as it's more accessible and I just bury each addition a few feet down. It's turning into a fantastic growing medium, with potatoes, squash and tomatoes sprouting spontaneously.  I've let one squash plant just do its thing in there, and it survives with no additional water or fertilizer. I'm not sure it will have enough sun to fruit, but I'll just see what happens. I can always compost it.

Most of the wood I've been burning has been from fast-growing deciduous trees, so it's a very renewable source. I've got a large amount of alder on the land, which grows quickly, fixes nitrogen, and tends to fall over or die back before it gets very large. I'm going to start actively coppicing a section of it this fall and will lay a big stack aside to burn over the winter. I got a bit depressed spending evenings in the house last winter, so it will give me an excuse to get outside around a warm fire a few evenings a week (I often work in the cold, so it's not that tempting to go snowshoeing in the dark, but having a good fire is more attractive).

I'll probably just get a new (i.e. old and used) burn barrel for the job, as the one I was using for waste disposal has angled fins cut in it to increase oxygen flow and can throw 10 ft high cyclonic flames when I get it cranking. I fed it additional oxygen with a blower and could crank through a huge pile of damp wood  in a day, but it reduced most of it to ash and had a low charcoal yield. A blind barrel is better because as you keep adding wood the lower layers become anoxic and won't combust, but usually hold enough heat to keep charring the material. Just needs to be capped tightly and/or doused with snow after a burn, then dumped before the next fire.

As stated, the whole point of the exercise is to build soil for gardening, and char has a much longer retention life than other ways of using the wood. I'll need some decayed organic matter as well, though. In the market for a wood chipper, too, but they're expensive for a decent unit...  have a bunch of aspen logs in long-term decay piles which the fungi and ants make fairly quick work of. I'm going to raid the surrounding forest for a bit of already decayed wood, and have started growing stinging nettle as a compost plant. Can also get a few truckloads of horse manure for free, and maybe some cow manure too. As it stands, between my current bit of garden, a small-ish greenhouse and what grows naturally on the land, I haven't had to buy vegetables since April, and have been eating berries every day since mid June (which should continue into the fall, although I may have to go a bit further afield for huckleberries - they grow in the same area as my mushroom patches). Not having to depend on food shipped from the US in refrigerated trucks helps quite a bit with my carbon footprint, I should think.

Last _{very quick} Post

Amperage questions I can answer, but don't ask me about smart devices. I finally gave in and allowed the boss to get me a tablet for work. I call it Mr. Creepy, keep it blindfolded and gagged (tape on the camera and kept on airplane mode), and lock it in the mud room when I'm not actively using it.

I don't have the bandwidth to fully rant on phones right now... finally had a 10+ year old LG flip phone die and had to switch to a 4G KaiOS flip (then bought a Nokia flip hoping it would be better) and am utterly disappointed by the new versions. The Motorola W385 I had in 2007 was nearly perfect in terms of functionality, and it's been downhill ever since. The new one (Nokia 2780) won't allow me to type the word 'I', with a capital I, using less than 4 keystrokes when texting. It has also helpfully auto-suggested the word 'Klan' with a capital K. Maybe that's why I had to buy it from Amazon.com and get it shipped from America, as it was completely unavailable from any Canadian source.

Here, amp ratings should be printed on every device. It's sometimes in an inconvenient place on larger appliances, but for things with adaptors it will usually on the adaptor itself.  There should be no issue with the original group of items, especially since your mains power is 230V (so the same appliance would draw about half the amps as here). Per Zono's example, a 1000 watt resistive device would draw ~4.35A. Inductive devices such as motors have a higher inrush current, but it's transient. My laser printer is rated at 5 amps for 120V, and would be 2.6A there.

Be careful with extension cords, as they are often the weak link in the chain. NEVER use them with high wattage appliances such as portable heaters, don't run them under mats, carpets or other heat-insulating materials, and make sure if you have ordered them online that they are properly approved and have a certification sticker on them. I suppose you may get EU certified products sometimes, which will be fine, but if it's dropped shipped from China you should be wary. The gauge of cheap cords is usually much smaller (higher number) than the equivalent house wiring. I'm going by Canadian standards (US is equivalent) but a 14 gauge wire is desirable, 16 ga is standard for extension cords but sub-par for larger appliances, and higher numbers are probably dangerous (OK if it's part of a light fixture or is the cord of a small appliance).

Those numbers are American Wire Gauge, so I'm sure it's a completely different unit there.

Be also wary of any drop-shipped appliance or device as they are often unapproved. It's a constant headache because homeowners order lights online that I am not permitted to install, and get upset with me about it. 

Fans should be no issue on extension cords as portable residential fans wouldn't draw more than an amp or two (and less there). If you do get an air con unit at some point, it will draw a lot more power and might need its own circuit, or at least to be combined with low-draw items.

I'm slightly more concerned about your 34 wall sockets, depending on how many circuits are involved. Multiple wall sockets are much better than an octopus orgy of splitters, powerbars and extension cords, but I assume that their are multiple outlets per circuit. Probably nothing to worry about if there are 3 or more circuits involved, and you should just blow the breaker (or fuse??) if you overdo it. Too much on a single outlet is more of an issue than an overloaded circuit. Portable heaters here tend to be pushing the boundaries of what's safe and can cause issues; for your 13 amp circuit I'd feel safe with anything 2000W or under, and be a bit concerned over 2400W. Hopefully this doesn't apply.

Hopefully I haven't overexplained and totally confused the situation... I'm a sparky by trade and we are prone to that. 

Quote from: Swatopluk on May 30, 2023, 10:48:11 AM
Edit: living in a big city harvesting herbs is a bit of a problem. Not for lack of them, mind you. But I assume that they are full of toxic pollutants (PAH, heavy metals etc.)

I had foraging spots in downtown Calgary when I lived there... asparagus and mushrooms, fruit and berries, a few other things. I recall picking shaggy manes off the IBM office lawn in my dress shoes after work. Whether you consider Cowtown a big city is another story; moose and bears occasionally wandered into downtown. It's a fairly young and clean city for corporate types who plot the pollution of the rest of the world (it's the oil & gas hub).  I don't like to harvest near busy roads or old industrial sites, although my need to feed will occasionally override that for small quantities of treat foods like asparagus.

Quote from: Griffin on June 09, 2023, 03:02:35 PM
Are the wild fires anywhere near you Aggie?

The major British Columbia fire would be several countries away by European standards, and most of the extreme and unusual fire action is back east, half a continent away.  That's for the moment; I live in the forest so it's a constant worry. It was a dry fall, a winter with a low snowpack, and there was not nearly enough rain this spring, so it only takes one lightning strike to be in the thick of it.

Two summers ago, I went camping with friends but got ran out when a storm sparked a new fire right over the ridge from us. We were at the side of a lake and kept an eye on the smoke plume, as the wind was away from us. When the wind switched and smoke started pouring down the valley towards us, we decided to bail out. The wind was raging and I was as worried about getting hit by a tree on the ~50 km drive out of the woods as I was about the fire.  As I was approaching home, I saw more orange glow and flames...  the mountain about 3 km down the road from my house was on fire. Luckily, that burn did not spread and we had a hard rain that night to help extinguish it (maybe with help from helicopter water drops), but it was a tense night.

My parents and sister's family live in ponderosa pine lands; it's a fire ecology zone that naturally burns the grassland and small trees every 10 - 30 years to clear out space for the larger trees (which have thick bark and can withstand smaller fires). Every summer is a potential firestorm, although there has been more management of fallen debris over the last few years. The real danger has been from over-suppression of fires leading to excessive fuel buildup.


Last _{my other worry is the lack of water in the well this year; typically it flow over the top for about two or three months in spring/summer, but has not crested the top this year.} Post

Quote from: Swatopluk on May 22, 2023, 08:43:48 PM
Of the Chinese it is said that they eat anything with legs that is not furniture.

I heard this as "anything with four legs except the table" from a Chinese friend, but now routinely apply it to myself. Also several things with two legs and of course many with fins.

I happen to have an ox tongue in the freezer at the moment, having already eaten the tail and heart (I've never learned to cook or enjoy liver, and prefer organs which are muscle-based). I've been eyeing up bull trout livers, but haven't actually tried one yet. I do like tripe (usually in pho) but haven't attempted to cook it myself as it's quite a procedure to do right. Intestines can be good, provided someone else is doing the cleaning and cooking....  I avoid nervous system material as much as possible, as I'm paranoid of prions, but will risk it for oxtail.

Oxtail has gotten hideously expensive and hard to find here, as I'm convinced that we immediately ship most of it out to countries who traditionally got sent the 'cheap' cuts and still appreciate them. Ironically, it can be had fairly cheaply from premium-grade small producers who are mostly profiting from selling organic steak to the bougies, where it's still considered an off-cut. It makes the best beef soup. I love braising out a tough cut with lots of connective tissue.

There are some weird market distortions with regards to meat. The one I find the strangest is that all but the very cheapest of processed meats (chicken wieners) are more expensive than good, fresh cuts on a per-gram basis.... sometimes more than reasonably good beefsteak.

The industrial versions of what we call bologna or wieners/hot dogs generally contain considerable pink slime and mystery meat content unless they are made by a small butcher (where the good ones are usually called "European wieners") so I can never bring myself to buy them, even though it's a traditional food for roasting over a camp fire.  It's difficult to understand because these are often considered poverty foods, but you'd be poorer in pocket as well as health for choosing them over chicken legs or pork chops.

As for flora... I use at least 50 species of wild and naturalized (weedy) plants for food. Spent part of yesterday harvesting thistle roots, and am currently eating a wide selection of wild greens from around the yard.  Went on a bit of a spruce tip daquiri kick earlier this spring, as spruce syrup and dark rum make a lovely pairing. I'm cautiously expanding my fungi roster, think I consume around 8 or 9 species when I can find them now.

As the halls of the Monastery have witnessed, I've spent many year pondering the big questions such as What is the Meaning of Life, Why is There Something Rather than Nothing, and What Happens When We Die? Having found satisfactory personal understanding of these and other perennial ponderings, the big question that I continually wrestle with is Can I Eat It? 

Last _{my father's side narrowly escaped the Holodomor, so perhaps I come by my food obsessions honestly} Post

Quote from: Swatopluk on May 07, 2023, 03:35:15 PM
Since it seems to be primarily the lady pigs that produce the milk (and would lay the eggs) the pork could come from the boars.
Only a few of the latter are necessary alive to inseminate the sows.
Btw why is there no common commerical sows' milk?

My mistake. I assumed that such a finely engineered animal would be parthenogenic.

Quote from: Swatopluk on May 12, 2023, 09:16:52 PM
the author of the original novel is prime suspect of also being the author of one of the most notorious p0rnographic German novels*.

We don't discriminate between wildlife novels and explicit ones here in Canada.



During covid isolation my running joke was that the only white tail I was getting was whitetail. 

Last _{then they started reporting whitetail deer as vectors} Post

Is it Prince George II of Canada in that case? We already have a Prince George here, although it's not considered to be a regal city. Regina, Saskatchewan is called the Queen City; not sure Liz would have approved of its "Show Us Your Regina" tourism slogan. I don't want to know if Dildo, Newfoundland has any relation to the royals and will leave that to the tabloids.

Quote from: Swatopluk on May 09, 2023, 01:44:32 PM
On the other hand 'rod of mercy' sounds like a paradox, unless it's about 'spare the rod, spoil the child'.

That's an important proverb. Teach a child to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.

_{I gave my nephew a fishing rod for his 5th birthday. He was perplexed by the object. My father's comment to my sister was "Congratulations, you've raised a 5 year old who doesn't know what a fishing rod is."  I still need to teach him how to fish as I don't think he's actually caught anything yet.}

Ah, but there's an issue with that animal... How can you get the pork without destroying your egg, milk and wool supply? Perhaps we can engineer one that forms benign growths of belly tissue similar to acrochorda that could be removed without any major harm to the animal. Bacon buds, anyone?? 

Here, your average redneck would more likely be using roe to catch something worth eating than consuming it directly, but most rural folk have at least gutted a few fish. I take the same perspective on eating insects... why bother eating cricket meal when I could just put one on a hook and get a whitefish? (I use grasshoppers for bait, close enough)

I wouldn't raid bird nests for eggs, but have been enjoying land foods again now that winter is over. Have been eating quite a few dandelion crowns & leaves, plus have harvested hop shoots, morels and feral asparagus in the past week. Need to get my fishing rod out again as I'm down to the last piece of bull trout.

I have some cured whitefish and trout roe in the fridge that I've been pondering making into gummies for bait, as an experiment. I don't like the idea of using plastic roe bags in the waterways, as is typical.

Last _{not a bad harvest considering there was snow around the house less than 2 weeks ago} Post

I'm guessing it would be at least a dozen budgie eggs to one chicken egg. I have not attempted omurice with them.  There are no eggs this time.

I'm taking care of 6 birds, which started as a single pair (some have been given away). Not sure what happened to the original female but the current one is second generation, with all the males either brothers or father, so further offspring are not desired. I was a little distressed to see eggs being laid during my last bird-sitting session and not sure what to do with them. Throw them out? Allow her to hatch them? The female was trying to nest them on the cage bottom (not having a nesting cavity available), and the owners definitely didn't want more birds.   Well, I've had chickens in the past and I'm more of an omnivore than most people.... and how often do you get the chance to try a budgie egg?

Further eggs took care of themselves, or rather were taken care of. Turns out some of the males were egg predators and ate the rest. I suspect it was the grandfather/father most of the time.  Very Jerry Springer.

Last _{probably nouveau riche.... a bumpkin would be familiar with roe (but prefer to wade)} Post