Well moo! It’s what powers soil and the silage and everything else that grows in it to make good ice cream. That’s what the Morning Ag Clips email said in it’s headlines when it popped up at 3 AM just in time for rising and shining of the Teat Strippers. I was up by around 5 AM, which is much too early when I’m going to bed around 10 PM most nights, but I like getting a jump on the day when it’s still cool out.
Getting up early is good ⏰ as I had been falling out of the routine lately with staying up later and later with the long summer nights. But the truth is early to bed and forcing yourself to get up early with the assistance of an alarm makes for a better day, especially when it’s so hot out during the middle of summer. And so is manure. 💩 Really running a few tons of grain and food scraps through hogs can really rebuild a piece of worn out ground good. 🐽 That Morning Ag Clips story was about yet another study about how nitrogen is stored and multi-year implications of spreading manure on fields.
I’ve been quite interested lately in composting toilets and humanure, 🚽 as it seems like so much of a waste that it’s all getting burnt or send to landfills in cities, and septic systems just hold the solids until their sent to sewage treatment plant and then landfilled. Some of it is eaten by bacteria, but a lot of it becomes just part of mounds on outskirts of town. When it could be fertilizer when used properly. Despite the ick factor, there is actually little evidence that composting toilets 🚻 spread disease when studies have looked at park workers who deal with composting toilets and outhouses year round. You don’t want people shitting in creeks and raw spreading of shit but once it’s rotted and gotten hot, there isn’t much less. Helps if you keep the urine separated out, and mix in lots of sawdust and some lime. Green sawdust is normally bad news for compost, but it’s great when you have lots of nitrogen to bind to. 👃
Started out the day with cornmeal and onion pancakes 🥞 with some broccoli, oatmeal mixed in and topped off with Greek yogurt and hot sauce. Not a bad way to start the morning, and it includes some protein too. Apparently the health newsletter I’m subscribe in is pushing the narrative that Americans aren’t eating enough protein, which is basically a lie 🤥 unless maybe you’re a very strict vegetarian. I’m not though the only time I really eat meat is when I’m out visiting people – I swear half of America that’s all they eat is meat every day 🍖 – and I do like that occasional slice of bacon 🥓 up at camp fried up with zucchini and onions. I’m not opposed to protein, but I think eating lots of fiber is far more important for a healthy diet. 💪 It’s so easy to get enough protein in your diet if your American, but it’s not always easy to get enough fiber. While fiber mostly comes out the other end, if you are getting it from natural sources 🥕 🍏 🥦 it almost always is loaded with essential vitamins, fills you up quickly, and keeps things moving along well. And just think of all that humanure if you compost it.
Finally going to get the chance to ride in today. 🚴 Last week I rode in all five days, but this week with the Save the Pine Bush hearings to attend, I haven’t really ridden my bike since Friday. The weekend was too hot and stormy. ☀️ Maybe I was just lazy. Friday I’ll probably drive in again if I’m planning to go out to Schoharie to camp 🏕️, have a fire 🔥, swim 🏊 and stock up at farm stands. 🌽 Last weekend before vacation, it’s a chance to check up on my equipment before I head out to the Finger Lakes. Red will do good once I get over my own mental issues. 🧠 See what you need is a Better Help and a new truck, even if I’ do like my Big Jacked Up Rust Bucket Truck. 🛻
I still have take off that week for summer vacation, 🏖️ it’s going to be a week from Friday July 25 through Sunday August 2nd. It will be nice, I was worried about tying myself down that weekend in case it’s crap weather but that’s the last one I have left to do it in this summer as the following weekend is NASCAR weekend at Watkins Glen and I want nothing to do with that. 🏎️ It’s really too hard to know about the weather for vacation, but I have to commit to it and if it’s rainy, 🌥️ I’ll just hang out at camp, do a lot of reading and relaxing as I watch the wet grass puppies do their thing. 🐄 And maybe enjoy some grass myself.
I was thinking I need to replace the rope 🪢for the front line that my kayak uses to tie to my truck. While this rope rarely gets much load, it’s mostly there are as a safety line it’s pretty well shot after probably 15 years of use at this point. I’ve never replaced it as it has a bike-tube sleeve over it to minimize abrasion. I left it out, I have the rope, just have to cut it to size. The old rope can be used for tarps or hanging flags at camp. 🚩 I also need to switch the cable over for the front derailuer of the bike. Pick up a spare tube so I have it as a back up and either get that hand pump or buy one as an emergency while riding on vacation. I also want to replace that back tire on the bike, 🚲 I should swing by the bike shop and see if they have one. Or maybe I can order online? I should look and see what the Amazon has. I had consumerism but I want my bike in top shape if I plan to do a lot of riding on vacation, especially if I decide to do more of the Pine Creek Rail Trail.