chromedome

Well, now. This is a line of research I hadn't stumbled across before, and it's certainly intriguing. If they can figure it out, it will provide a new path to hybridization that could create stable crops with seeds that can be saved for reuse. https://www.science.org/content/article/game-changer-scientists-are-genetically-engineering-crops-clone-themselves

I believe I've mentioned a time or two that our white buck, Snowball, is a big fella even by Flemish Giant standards. Here's the photographic evidence:

I suspect we may be related...

The notion of a Spam-carving contest put me in mind of this comedy about butter-carving competitions from a decade or so ago. Well worth watching, btw, if your sense of humor skews just that little bit dark. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1349451/

My daughter sent me this one (c/o the "Dubious Restaurant Design" office):

Two to be aware of, this weekend: "Alasko" brand IQF raspberries and "Antioxidant blend" are being recalled for potential norovirus contamination. They were mainly sold into the foodservice channel, it appears, though you may also have seen them sold as bulk freezer packs in retail stores. The recall affects everybody from Ontario east. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/alasko-brand-iqf-whole-raspberries-and-iqf-antioxidant-blend-recalled-due-norovirus?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23 The other one is Saladito brand lupini beans in a jar, which are being recalled for botulism. They were only sold in Quebec, apparently, but I'm throwing it in here (despite the lack of an ongoing Quebec presence on the boards) because a) sometimes eGers vacation there, and also b) products from Quebec often find their way into Ontario as gifts and such. Though I know that Anna N, for one, can be marked safe from receiving beans as a gift. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/saladitos-brand-lupini-beans-recalled-due-potential-presence-dangerous-bacteria?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

It feels odd to say this, given that we haven't even reached the solstice yet, but we're well into our last breeding cycle for this year. Little grey doe Silverbell's kits have been weaned, we have new babies from the black does, the brown does are due in the next day or two, and our remaining white doe (Sugar) will have hers around month-end. That means her litter will be ready for harvest around the end of October or beginning of November, at which point we'll get everything buttoned down and snugged up for the winter. This also means we'll be rehoming our current generation of breeders in favor of new stock, which will be just a bit melancholy. They all have their own distinct personalities, of course, and we've grown fond of them. The bucks in particular are very sociable and enjoy being petted and handled. But refreshing your breeding stock is always a part of good husbandry, and you do it more often with small animals that have rapid reproductive cycles. We've already rehomed Silverbell into a household where she'll be a pet. Our brown buck was a pet before he came to us, and may go as either a pet or a breeder. We aren't going to be raising any brown bunnies next year, so there's also a possibility that we'll offer all three as a package deal for someone who wants to start raising rabbits. Going forward we're going to have a buck and two does in each of white, black and grey. This is because (as mentioned previously) my GF has plans for the pelts. Originally she'd planned on white and black only (and yes, we'd joked about her Cruella de Vil color scheme) but little Silverbell was so beautiful that she decided there was room in her vision for shades of grey as well. We already have our second-generation breeders in hand, though most of them aren't yet of breeding age. The exception is our two black does, who are sisters and were kept back from one of our earlier litters. They're already second-generation. The grandkids named our new black buck Pepper, which was in fact the same name as our original black buck (the one that had the misfortune to meet the mastiff in person). He never had the opportunity to contribute to the gene pool, so allowing the new guy to become his namesake won't confuse our record-keeping. The grey buck and does don't have names yet, though one of the bucks will probably be "Smokey" because my granddaughter likes that name. Our juvenile white buck is an interesting case. Most white rabbits have pink eyes, but his are a startlingly deep, vivid blue. It struck me there was an obvious association there, so I've dubbed him Frank after "Ol' Blue Eyes." He's quite the little charmer, very affectionate and keen for attention. So are the new greys, but Pepper is a bit stand-offish so far. It'll be fun getting to know them all over the coming months.

There's tobacco farming in southern Ontario as well, but I guess that would probably have been less of an adventure (probably less money, too!).

We have large blueberry and cranberry sectors in the local agricultural economy, and in 2020 when COVID hit our provincial government - in its state of ignorance-is-bliss - assumed that, if they weren't letting foreign workers in to do the harvesting, there would be a large body of un/underemployed locals willing to take up the challenge. This ignored a couple of salient points that might have registered, had said govt been collectively in better touch with reality: 1) most of the un/underemployed locals live in urban areas and/or lack their own vehicle/the kind of budget necessary to drive out to the berry farms, especially given the wages involved vs. the price of gas; 2) the locals stopped doing that kind of work about, oh.... 60 or 70 years ago, which is why the farmers started bringing in migrants in the first place; and 3) THERE IS A FRICKIN' SKILLSET INVOLVED, and the farmers work with the same group of laborers year after year so they don't have to retrain it constantly. Given that the current government could not hold power without the rural vote, it was quick to rectify this error in the ensuing berry seasons.

I guess medicine and epidemiology count as science, so I'll put this here. A look at the cost of "presenteeism" in the restaurant world: https://qz.com/paid-sick-leave-for-workers-could-prevent-40-of-restau-1850506870

My mom's osteoporosis is bad enough that she could actually break her jaw on an extra-crunchy nut (or apple, or...). So yeah, she's extra-circumspect. Better safe than sorry.

I still haven't forgiven him for eating the last mango in Paris...

Something is almost always better than nothing. When I had no yard and no community garden plot, I put lettuces in pots on a windowsill. It wasn't a practical solution to my salad-greens supply, but it made me feel better.

For Ontario residents, Nature's Pick brand of pre-cut squash pieces is recalled for listeria. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/nature-s-pick-brand-fresh-cut-cubed-butternut-squash-recalled-due-listeria?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

My GF and I keep somewhat different hours, as her biology (and work schedule) skew slightly more nocturnal than mine. Last night she was coming to bed around midnight, and heard a shrill "EEEEEEE!" from the direction of the rabbits, followed immediately by another. She ran to the door with a flashlight and saw a raccoon departing at speed, presumably having made the acquaintance of our electric fence. The mastiff was out through the door at full stride in a heartbeat, pursuing the little fleabag like an avenging fury, but it apparently had enough of a head start to get to safety in a tree. I suspect that particular raccoon, at least, will have little appetite for any further visits.

LOL However enthused my GF might be about the idea, we share a home with my stepdaughter and three grandkids. So no. And that's before we even get to the respective costs of all-over sunscreen and bug repellent. As it happens my father's copies of Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News were literally some of my earliest reading, so at the age of 7 or so I could have given you a pretty good rundown of Stout's ideas and methodology.

"No till" is very much the plan, yes. I'm currently using plain ol' corrugated under the beds to suppress weeds, but have evaluated other options as well (and will continue to do so). Current plan is to build deeper, more permanent beds as I go, adding manure/compost and soil each year.

To tell the truth, I can't imagine what an appropriate emoji might be. ETA: ...though my current earworm is now one of Jerry Lee Lewis' biggest hits...

Sometimes Twitter still spits out a gem...

I have that book as well. It's one of my favorites; came as a boxed set with the "everything is better with butter' volume.

LOL Not looking to get into it at that level. I'm currently using the waste from the animals to build the soil in my garden, which is not currently in good condition. The year I first dug a garden here (the property's been in my GF's family for several years now, so I've had the use of a patch) I dug over a 4X8 foot bed and hauled away 5 (IIRC) large wheelbarrows of just the larger stones. My frame of mind at that juncture could be characterized by the Brits' idiomatic "Sod this for a lark!" and so I've been using raised beds since. This year I was able to (finally!) budget for a load of topsoil, which in combination with the bunnies' droppings should set me up well for the coming years. The droppings are mixed with scraps of hay that also fall through the cages, so I'll get some grass popping up wherever I use it without composting it first, but I'll live with that. I've got a compost pile started, which hopefully will get hot enough to kill the grass seeds and make it only a transient problem. We hope to add some laying hens to the mix over the next few weeks, and chicken droppings will certainly help heat up the compost. The plan is that next year I'll have a "this year" pile (aged) and a "next year" pile with current droppings. Rabbit droppings can go directly onto the garden, so I can use them even if I run out of compost that first year, but chicken droppings emphatically can't without being composted first. The chickens may indeed get to forage on the patches recently vacated by the outdoor bunnies, but that's as close as I'll get to any kind of formal system. And of course the grandkids will still want to run on the grass in bare feet, so there's a limit to how much manure we want in random spots around the yard.