Discussions
Reply to: California megafloods! New research, articles, prepping challenges, etc. Posted August 13, 2022

That was an interesting article in Mother Jones. Living in the Central Valley with than expected. a father that worked on the “water” business for 36 years gave me a multifaceted view of water issues. I’ve heard stories of the 1969 winter with 300″ of snow in parts of the Sierra. Then to see in come downhill sooner and with greater volume and overfill our dams and river channels was eye-opening. I got to see the Tulare Lake Basin fill again, only later realizing how much farmland was inundated and put out of production. I can believe it will happen again and with a population less prepared. As a side note there are stories of paddle wheel steamers that provided transportation services from Bakersfield and Fresno to San Francisco, so high water wasn’t abnormal. In the wet year of 1981 a gentleman paddled a kayak from Fresno to San Francisco. some of the trip was upstream in newer channels and the kayak aided in portaging around irrigation headgates.

Reply to: Climate change & gardening Posted July 27, 2022

We’re in the CA Central Valley also, but must be south of you. Our nighttime temps are 68+. We get no Delta influence and little wind. Something we did for the second year is to cover our front garden with shade cloth. Last year was 70-80 % cloth. This year we used 40% reduction and covered a bigger area with better results. Cucumbers and zucchini would “wilt” much of the day which stressed the plants. This year little to no wilting and that is with less watering. The big thing is the ambient air temp is significantly lower under the shade cloth. My wife was weeding in the middle of the day under the cloth. We are considering permanent poles or hoop houses with shade cloth. FYI We live on a 50′ x 150′ lot in town with no grass and virtually everything else planted including the driveway.

Reply to: Review: I used the Big Berkey water filter every day for the last year and now I can’t go back Posted May 21, 2021

After using the Berkey filter for 10 years I have a few questions. I agree that a stand is needed to aid in the use of the filter. That made a huge difference in our situation and how we located the filter on the countertop.   The other change we made was to get the sight glass spigot. I would not have a Berkey without a sight glass. We have one of the larger Berkeys and the logistics of lifting the top half to check the water level creates a disaster waiting to happen. We use  a self made stand and this puts the top half over 6 feet off the ground. The awkwardness of climbing up to lift and look at the water level is unreasonable if not dangerous. The biggest question I have is you don’t give a clear cut reason for your objection to the plastic used in the spigot. We’ve used ours for 10 years without issue and would buy another if the original were to break. Is there something I’m missing in regards to the plastic? 

Reply to: Never too many buckets: Ten uses for my favorite tool Posted July 31, 2020

Thank you for the great summary of bucket uses. I use them for baseball storage and a seat when I coach. With organizers my nail, nuts and bolt have a place. We use them for long and short term food storage. The garden sees them everywhere inclusing urine fertilizer mixing. My question though is a bit different. Our buckets don’t seem to last more than a few years. The painful part is the plastic piece that is the handle disintegrates from the sun in much less time than the bucket leaving a metal bail to carry the bucket with. I know it’s a picayunish thing to complain about. I’ve been trying two alternatives and I’m curious if you’ve tried either.  The first is the Yeti brand 5 gallon bucket. I found them on sale and bought one to try. Yes, it was almost 10x the cost but a few things stood out. The material of the bucket was thicker and the handle was a web material and much easier to carry with a heavy load. Three years into use and still no cracks or problems. The second is a 17.5 gallon muck tub. Generally used for horse barn use, this has been a boon in the garden. Plant trimmings, rotten fruit, etc. can be carried with the rope handles or there is a wheeled dolly that securely holds the tubs. Great for hauling materials to the compost bin, including the chicken coop or chicken harvesting leftovers. We usually have one of the tubs kept clean and uncontaminated for use at parties for cold drink storage. Our feed store carries the Little Giant brand and the 17.5 gallon/70 quart is just over $30 with tax.  Thoughts?

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Reply to: California megafloods! New research, articles, prepping challenges, etc. Posted August 13, 2022

That was an interesting article in Mother Jones. Living in the Central Valley with than expected. a father that worked on the “water” business for 36 years gave me a multifaceted view of water issues. I’ve heard stories of the 1969 winter with 300″ of snow in parts of the Sierra. Then to see in come downhill sooner and with greater volume and overfill our dams and river channels was eye-opening. I got to see the Tulare Lake Basin fill again, only later realizing how much farmland was inundated and put out of production. I can believe it will happen again and with a population less prepared. As a side note there are stories of paddle wheel steamers that provided transportation services from Bakersfield and Fresno to San Francisco, so high water wasn’t abnormal. In the wet year of 1981 a gentleman paddled a kayak from Fresno to San Francisco. some of the trip was upstream in newer channels and the kayak aided in portaging around irrigation headgates.

Reply to: Climate change & gardening Posted July 27, 2022

We’re in the CA Central Valley also, but must be south of you. Our nighttime temps are 68+. We get no Delta influence and little wind. Something we did for the second year is to cover our front garden with shade cloth. Last year was 70-80 % cloth. This year we used 40% reduction and covered a bigger area with better results. Cucumbers and zucchini would “wilt” much of the day which stressed the plants. This year little to no wilting and that is with less watering. The big thing is the ambient air temp is significantly lower under the shade cloth. My wife was weeding in the middle of the day under the cloth. We are considering permanent poles or hoop houses with shade cloth. FYI We live on a 50′ x 150′ lot in town with no grass and virtually everything else planted including the driveway.

Reply to: Review: I used the Big Berkey water filter every day for the last year and now I can’t go back Posted May 21, 2021

After using the Berkey filter for 10 years I have a few questions. I agree that a stand is needed to aid in the use of the filter. That made a huge difference in our situation and how we located the filter on the countertop.   The other change we made was to get the sight glass spigot. I would not have a Berkey without a sight glass. We have one of the larger Berkeys and the logistics of lifting the top half to check the water level creates a disaster waiting to happen. We use  a self made stand and this puts the top half over 6 feet off the ground. The awkwardness of climbing up to lift and look at the water level is unreasonable if not dangerous. The biggest question I have is you don’t give a clear cut reason for your objection to the plastic used in the spigot. We’ve used ours for 10 years without issue and would buy another if the original were to break. Is there something I’m missing in regards to the plastic? 

Reply to: Never too many buckets: Ten uses for my favorite tool Posted July 31, 2020

Thank you for the great summary of bucket uses. I use them for baseball storage and a seat when I coach. With organizers my nail, nuts and bolt have a place. We use them for long and short term food storage. The garden sees them everywhere inclusing urine fertilizer mixing. My question though is a bit different. Our buckets don’t seem to last more than a few years. The painful part is the plastic piece that is the handle disintegrates from the sun in much less time than the bucket leaving a metal bail to carry the bucket with. I know it’s a picayunish thing to complain about. I’ve been trying two alternatives and I’m curious if you’ve tried either.  The first is the Yeti brand 5 gallon bucket. I found them on sale and bought one to try. Yes, it was almost 10x the cost but a few things stood out. The material of the bucket was thicker and the handle was a web material and much easier to carry with a heavy load. Three years into use and still no cracks or problems. The second is a 17.5 gallon muck tub. Generally used for horse barn use, this has been a boon in the garden. Plant trimmings, rotten fruit, etc. can be carried with the rope handles or there is a wheeled dolly that securely holds the tubs. Great for hauling materials to the compost bin, including the chicken coop or chicken harvesting leftovers. We usually have one of the tubs kept clean and uncontaminated for use at parties for cold drink storage. Our feed store carries the Little Giant brand and the 17.5 gallon/70 quart is just over $30 with tax.  Thoughts?