Good morning!!!!

[Larro Darro]

lot of tobacco still grown around me. Saw them harvesting it two days ago using an ancient tractor pulling an even more ancient combine, wasn't even sure what it was, very small scale. Farmer complaining the tobacco had been beaten down by recent storms. Nothing like Roundup Ready tobacco being grown in a pesticide medium.
Cancer anyone?

Now Drew, don't be talking bad about tobacco. Our country was founded on it, and without it, {beer and Lotto} we will never get poor people to pay taxes. Not to mention the great work it is doing to save Social Security Smoke on America:2cents:

 

[rswyan]

Pulled off the left front wheel on the Sprinter ... pedal was pretty low and was getting a lot of throbbing when it was depressed (runout) Probably a good thing ... pads were almost completely gone and the rotor had a lot of rust on it, even on the area where the pads make contact.

Already had a set of pads here at the house, figured I'd go ahead and replace the rotors ... probably too thin to have them turned by the time I knocked off all the rust.

Went to an Autozone that was supposed to have 2 of them ... they only had one. Worked out ok though ... as I swung by another Autozone on the way back home and picked up the second one. That made the 4th and 5th purchases over $20 ... so I earned another $20 credit. Price was also cheaper than what it showed online by $7 per rotor.

Checked the maintenance log ... looks like the front pads and rotors were last replaced @ 174,674 miles ... so that means I got around 261,300+ miles out of them which ain't bad ... but still not quite as good as the rear pads (replaced for the 1st time @ 271,167 miles )

Light is starting to fade, so I'll wait to the morning to put it all back together.

 

[farmer2009]

There use to be a lot of tobacco in northeastern NC when I was a kid, by the time I was 18 or so, you couldn't find any locally. I know then there was a total acreage allowed and it was split into allotments, not sure the criteria to get allotted.

Tobacco used to be run on a quota system. It had a federal price support system. You owned quota, but could lease it or raise it. If leased it had to go through the FSA office. Burley was a poundage quota while dark was on acreage. Every year the tobacco companies had to say how much they intended to buy. Quota's were either raised or lowered according to these intensions. One year we took a 48% cut in quota. That was about 2000. There was a buyout that began in 2004. It ended the federal price support system and deregulated the industry. Now you can work all year and if the company has enough tobacco or doesn't like yours (quality) they can send you home with the tobacco and no check. No longer forced to buy it. Now everybody is contract growers. But it allowed the guys that wanted to get big to do so. But it also allowed those that wanted out to do so. We took the buyout and quit raising it.

Still have all the equipment for it also. One row setter, and cultivator. All the frames. Most of the tear poles have been removed from the barns though. I see tobacco barns all over that are now falling down from disrepair. A couple I can think of we hung a lot of tobacco in. They were on rental ground.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Got the lawn mowed, never rained.

Ordered new fuel tank with gas hoses for the string trimmer. Line inside the tank also came off, or broke. Easier to buy the assembly.

 

[Larro Darro]

Tobacco used to be run on a quota system. It had a federal price support system. You owned quota, but could lease it or raise it. If leased it had to go through the FSA office. Burley was a poundage quota while dark was on acreage. Every year the tobacco companies had to say how much they intended to buy. Quota's were either raised or lowered according to these intensions. One year we took a 48% cut in quota. That was about 2000. There was a buyout that began in 2004. It ended the federal price support system and deregulated the industry. Now you can work all year and if the company has enough tobacco or doesn't like yours (quality) they can send you home with the tobacco and no check. No longer forced to buy it. Now everybody is contract growers. But it allowed the guys that wanted to get big to do so. But it also allowed those that wanted out to do so. We took the buyout and quit raising it.

Still have all the equipment for it also. One row setter, and cultivator. All the frames. Most of the tear poles have been removed from the barns though. I see tobacco barns all over that are now falling down from disrepair. A couple I can think of we hung a lot of tobacco in. They were on rental ground.

I did a lot of research into the North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland tobacco business in the early 1700's. I wrote some stories set in 1718, most of which were set a few miles upriver from Drew's place. In many ways, the business didn't change all that much for a hundred years or so.

 

[toppop52]

Tobacco used to be run on a quota system. It had a federal price support system. You owned quota, but could lease it or raise it. If leased it had to go through the FSA office. Burley was a poundage quota while dark was on acreage. Every year the tobacco companies had to say how much they intended to buy. Quota's were either raised or lowered according to these intensions. One year we took a 48% cut in quota. That was about 2000. There was a buyout that began in 2004. It ended the federal price support system and deregulated the industry. Now you can work all year and if the company has enough tobacco or doesn't like yours (quality) they can send you home with the tobacco and no check. No longer forced to buy it. Now everybody is contract growers. But it allowed the guys that wanted to get big to do so. But it also allowed those that wanted out to do so. We took the buyout and quit raising it.

Still have all the equipment for it also. One row setter, and cultivator. All the frames. Most of the tear poles have been removed from the barns though. I see tobacco barns all over that are now falling down from disrepair. A couple I can think of we hung a lot of tobacco in. They were on rental ground.

Thanks for the info, I've been off the farm for about 47 years.

 

[toppop52]

I did a lot of research into the North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland tobacco business in the early 1700's. I wrote some stories set in 1718, most of which were set a few miles upriver from Drew's place. In many ways, the business didn't change all that much for a hundred years or so.

Early 1700's? Wow, you're a lot older than I thought!
Post us a story, I'd love to read it!

 

[Larro Darro]

Early 1700's? Wow, you're a lot older than I thought!
Post us a story, I'd love to read it!

I think I created a new genre, the business adventure travel genre. I spent a lot of time at, it but they were really not very good. If you really want to read it, I did post the first one. Google Third Boy, chapter one, and you will find it on the Navel Fiction Board at NavWeapons {or some such} From there you can find the rest of it on the board. That one is set on the Ems River near Emden East Frisia.

It was three or four stories in before I got the boys to Bathe Towne Northern Carolina.

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning. For the last week or so I have been taking a once broken and now re-profiled narrow bladed drain spade with me on my morning walks in the hope of killing off for good some of the creeping thistle growing around the banks of the ponds.

I have been following Ed's advise and cutting them just below the surface, instead of simply taking them down with the brush cutter. Without a thistle decapitating app for the phone, it's hard to tell how many I have chopped down this way and doubt I will be able to get them all before they start to go to seed. At first I wondered why on earth I was putting in all this effort, though now on a cool morning like this, it is actually a very satisfying way to start the day.

Wngsprd, if you want another alternative to the gym, you could give this a try, although Coco would probably think you had gone crazy. If Ed did all his acres this way, he must have biceps like Popeye. No wonder he needs (and certainly deserves) so many naps.

The tobacco info is interesting, never thought about how it is grown before. I don't smoke, but find the smell of unburnt tobacco quite pleasant. Does it smell the same when growing, or only when dried ?

 

[Eric Salop]

RS, thanks for taking the McMasters pics. Good job you told us they had carpet on the floor (and by coincidence, our local carpet shop is also called Masters), at first I thought they had a serious issue with liquid spills ! :laughing:

 

[RoyJackson]

2016-07-10, 0529

57 right now...heading up to a pleasant 69 and maybe some more rain showers.

Had a pretty productive day yesterday...even considering the rain. Did some serious cleaning up and reorganizing in the garage. Also picked up a cheap tarp to cover the chipper, since it's still rigged to the tractor.
No particular plans yet...

 

[ronjhall]

Poured frist cup of coffee. 60° with clear skies this morning. Heading to 82° sunny skies. Not much planned today. Walk and rest seems like a good plan.
Eric, I normally cut mine and neighbors fields before Thistle goes to seed. But not this year. Probably will not get to it until August. Next year will have a good crop of Thistle.
Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

slowly waking up with first cup of coffee at my sister's in Princeton NJ. Her husband is off on business and she appreciated the company. We talked a lot about their new home in Muir Beach CA and how they were going to have to shed a lot of "stuff" before they could move into a 1600 foot house with no garage and little storage. But what a view...

She showed me her new Volvo XC90, the SUV, and it was quite impressive. And big...but she's acquiring grandchildren at a steady pace so that's what the SUV is for. She thought it was funny that she raised her kids just fine with sedans and stationwagons, but now that grandchildren are coming along, the SUV is a must. They have driven nothing but Volvos for twenty years and their salesman here in Princeton goes to my Quaker Meeting.
So no question of fair deal; they got their best deal up front, no haggling. Like Saturn used to be...

Going to be a long day. Breakfast with friends, Church, lunch with MIL (where tomato aspic is still alive and well...), meeting with more Church friends in the afternoon, and then dinner out with old neighbors. Good thing I have no plans on leaving early tomorrow.

 

[wngsprd]

Good morning. For the last week or so I have been taking a once broken and now re-profiled narrow bladed drain spade with me on my morning walks in the hope of killing off for good some of the creeping thistle growing around the banks of the ponds.
View attachment 474166
I have been following Ed's advise and cutting them just below the surface, instead of simply taking them down with the brush cutter. Without a thistle decapitating app for the phone, it's hard to tell how many I have chopped down this way and doubt I will be able to get them all before they start to go to seed. At first I wondered why on earth I was putting in all this effort, though now on a cool morning like this, it is actually a very satisfying way to start the day.

Wngsprd, if you want another alternative to the gym, you could give this a try, although Coco would probably think you had gone crazy. If Ed did all his acres this way, he must have biceps like Popeye. No wonder he needs (and certainly deserves) so many naps.

The tobacco info is interesting, never thought about how it is grown before. I don't smoke, but find the smell of unburnt tobacco quite pleasant. Does it smell the same when growing, or only when dried ?

Part of my daily walk is to search for a weed to pull that I always called "stalky weed." Its seed stalk can grow over 7 ft tall and so it stands over the rest of the fields...I usually try to pull it when it is 3-5 feet tall before it flowers...it takes quite a pull when it is big, but appears to not regrow - only from seed. My wife finally decided to look it up on the internet recently and I was so disappointed with the name...sounds too tame...prickly lettuce...but the leaves do look like types of lettuce. I'll leave the thistle to you.

 

[daugen]

RS, how did you rack up that many miles in your Sprinter? Were you trucking/delivering?
Kinda doubt an Econoline would have held up that well....

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good morning. For the last week or so I have been taking a once broken and now re-profiled narrow bladed drain spade with me on my morning walks in the hope of killing off for good some of the creeping thistle growing around the banks of the ponds.
View attachment 474166
I have been following Ed's advise and cutting them just below the surface, instead of simply taking them down with the brush cutter. Without a thistle decapitating app for the phone, it's hard to tell how many I have chopped down this way and doubt I will be able to get them all before they start to go to seed. At first I wondered why on earth I was putting in all this effort, though now on a cool morning like this, it is actually a very satisfying way to start the day.

Wngsprd, if you want another alternative to the gym, you could give this a try, although Coco would probably think you had gone crazy. If Ed did all his acres this way, he must have biceps like Popeye. No wonder he needs (and certainly deserves) so many naps.

Eric, I always used a garden hoe, a nice heavy one like you would use to weed your garden with. Sharpen it well and swing so the blade is almost level to the ground and just slice them off a bit below ground level. Don't need big biceps just lightly swing the hoe. The naps ate from my wonderful encounter with Lyme disease. It makes naps almost a requirement. Ed

 

[wngsprd]

RS, how did you rack up that many miles in your Sprinter? Were you trucking/delivering?
Kinda doubt an Econoline would have held up that well....

Just read your post, RS, and I'm impressed, too...435K is great! Sounds like you take good care of it.

I must the only one who's not heard of McMasters...I'll Bing them and see what's there.

Drew, sounds like the Jag did the trick - I bet it was fun to drive - glad 95 was mostly kind to you yesterday...it is almost always bad on a summer Saturday around here.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good Morning all. 64 this am going to 84. Hope the humidity is lower today. Other than the required daily things I have to do I plan to spend some time with a good book. After the moving is done I hope to set up a hand tool wood shop in the basement and make a guitar or 2, so I am reading about hand tools.

Drew, sounds like a fun visit, enjoy.
Ed

 

[wngsprd]

Great weather outside this morning for July - 64 cool degrees and just enough clouds for the rising sun to paint a glorious start to the day.

Should only hit 88 after a couple of mid-90s days, but no good chance of rain for the coming week.

Started the day yesterday catching up on string trimming - took 2 gas tanks to get it all done.

Then decided to spray a few food plots yesterday with 2% gly...these are some that have had a puzzling growth of Buttonweed take over...guess it came in with a sack of seeds. The stuff is quite persistent and can completely take over other plants and form a carpet, so I dedicated this spring/summer to getting rid of it rather than planting. My hope is this is the last step, and I can plant a fall crop of beans, buckwheat, sorghum and peas soon. Also, will plant one of them in crimson clover.

Ended up with about 15 gallons left from a 50 gallon tank so I drained it into empty 2.5 gallon containers.

 

[Buppies]

Today is clean up day then off on six hour trip back home and back to real life. Yesterday was brutally hot 99 but felt like 107 today not as bad