chromedome

I expect it's an electric or mechanical issue; a failed switch or a bad solder joint or a failed capacitor or something like that. I wouldn't be buying a new Vitamix to use with the old SS jars unless I found one at the same kind of price point (ie, $25 CAD at Value Village) and that's pretty unlikely.

When you're preserving like it's 1999...

A few weeks ago my GF questioned why I was watering plants in my garden, because "it's supposed to rain all week." I explained to her that from a gardener's perspective, 4 of 5 days with "chance of showers" does not constitute raining all week. This past weekend provided a startlingly good illustration of that point. On Saturday we had lots of rain: the forecast called for 40-50 mm (call it 1 1/2 to 2 inches), and I'm sure we got every bit of that. On Sunday I made a late planting of carrots, and while the top cm/half-inch or so of soil was nicely soaked it was still dry and crumbly below that. My soil is pretty absorbent now, at least in the beds, after a couple of years' constant upgrading, so that was a sobering reminder of the need for consistent watering. No photos today, but since I'm here and posting I'll note that the cukes are slowing down, the bush beans are still producing though in diminished fashion, my late planting of bush beans is taking off now that their roots have reached the rabbit-manure layer, the tomatoes and pattypan squash are still going great guns, and I have lots of kale and chard with late plantings coming along. The late planting of peas is now beginning to yield, and my winter squashes (spaghetti and buttercup) have set plenty of fruit which are filling out nicely. In the case of the latter, I'm now pruning the ends of the vines to discourage vegetal growth and snipping any remaining buds. I want all of the plants' energy going into the squashes at this point, thank you very much. Also my late-planted broccoli have now surpassed the transplants I bought at the local nursery's end-of-spring clearout in size, and considerably in vigor. The late-planted spinach is yielding nicely, and the cauliflower plants are growing rapidly as well. I've never had much success with those latter two when I've planted them in spring; it seems our springs are just too short and erratic weather-wise. Henceforth I'm not even going to bother, I'll plant them both in mid-summer since that seems to be working.

That's such a power move by any manufacturer. I'm genuinely surprised more of them don't do that! I had a similar experience with Sun Blaster, a grow light manufacturer. At our apartment a few years ago I had a windowsill where I thought I might try a few herbs and lettuces. So I bought one of their T-50 fluorescent tubes, but after a year or so it started acting up. I dashed them off a testy email, and a rep responded within the hour asking for my shipping address. A replacement light arrived two days later, with no mention of a receipt or a warranty or anything else. I had a problem, they dealt with it. Happy customer.

I have two of those in my barn, which randomly stopped working for no readily apparent reason. One of them has subsequently had stuff spilled on it and may no longer be viable, but I hope to carve out time to dismantle and troubleshoot the other. Truthfully I seldom used it for anything except crushing ice (my GF's meds often give her dry mouth, and she really likes a cup of ice powder; basically a snow cone without the artificial flavors and colors), but it excelled at that and presumably at some point I'd have found other uses for it. That whole "make hot soup through friction" thing never appealed to me, I must say. It's bloody loud, so leaving it on for an extended period is a non-starter for me. I'd rather make my soup conventionally, and enjoy the peace and quiet as it simmers.

It's great when the little ones start to take a live interest in it. Right now our grandson (6) is hitting that phase. Asked what he wants at mealtime, he'll usually lead with "healthy stuff" or "veggibles from the garden,' instead of the convenience foods he used to ask for. My stepdaughter is just as mystified as us over this transition, as she hadn't been making any special effort to spur this fixation. Our best guess is that it's just the accumulation of everything he's overheard over the years. The practical outcomes have been interesting. For one thing, he has an unlikely fetish for kale. I've given him carte blanche to help himself to a few leaves straight from the bed, any time he feels like it. A couple of weeks ago he noticed my lacinato kale for the first time (it's a couple of rows away, near the cucumbers, and gasped "Papa! Blue kale!" in tones of awe and delight. Of course he wanted to try it, and was crestfallen that it tasted like the other kind. I explained that the blue kind is more delicate and flavorful when cooked, though there isn't much difference raw. The moment that really made my grandparental heart go pitter-pat was a few weeks ago when I was weeding my herb bed. The little guy asked what each herb was, starting with the mint that I was vigorously culling (I'd planted it in a sunken pot for containment, but had neglected to consider the pot's drainage holes). He tasted his way through two kinds of mint and then sage, cilantro, rosemary, summer savory, thyme, lovage and dill before we were through. That was a proud moment for me, but the highlight came after about the fourth herb. I don't recall exactly how he phrased it, but he said that he needed to take a moment and eat something else because the herbs were all starting to taste the same. So he helped himself to a leaf of kale and munched on that between samples. He didn't know the term "palate cleanser," but he recognized the necessity and attended to it. Papa was so proud...

I will never again leave the lid off of my jar of natural "just peanuts"-style peanut butter overnight. ... ... ... ...which, in turn, means I should never again wake up to find a very despondent and fatigued mouse trying to keep its head above the oily surface.

When grinding large carcasses, replace the hand crank with your impact wrench. The neighbors will be jealous.

Ah, to be a researcher in the age of microbiomes and genetic sequencing. Everybody knows there are a few Nobels to be had from it, but it'll take a few decades to see which lines of inquiry take the field into entirely novel directions. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02778-8

Not as inspiring as what's immediately upthread, but before heading down to NS for this month's trip I managed to crank out a dozen pints of dill pickles. I got the timing right, this year, and my dill and cucumbers are both in "overdrive" mode at the same time. They're just run of the mill quick dills using white vinegar, but I did lay my hands on some "pickle pipes" for my mason jars at off-season clearance pricing, so when I get home I'll probably make at least a few pints of lacto-fermented dills for my own satisfaction. I also have a glass fermentation crock my GF bought me as a surprise gift. I don't have it in front of me right now (because I'm out of province) but IIRC it holds about 4 litres/1 gallon. I'll probably do a small batch of kraut in that one.

"Ick factor" indeed. https://undark.org/2024/08/21/plastic-waste-transformed-into-food-for-humans/

This is Ontario only, but the European Butcher brand of back bacon is being recalled for Listeria. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/european-butcher-brand-back-bacon-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

So Anova has been making friends and influencing people, I hear... https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/smart-sous-vide-cooker-to-start-charging-2-month-for-10-year-old-companion-app/