Unit8R

12 hour hickory smoked pork shoulder yesterday, enjoying today for all three meals with dill potato salad, homemade brioche buns and secret sauce.

My gals bday, requested spag... homemade pasta (Durum wheat) with meatballs (venison, pork parm) and home made Italian sausage

Curried lentils and rice (spicy!). brother asked why I'm eating all this weird stuff lately, had no answer.

Got the raspberries in a good place after thinning, compost and mulch (and weeding!). They suffered last year with all the rain (never watered the garden once) as they don't like "wet feet". Hopefully better this year! Nothing like coming off stand during archery season and hitting the patch in the warm sun.

Shrimp Pho,, Lady back from warm climes, demanded something hot (not me)

Could be first ever mention but here goes. Pan-Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu. Yep, was lucky enough to bag one of those Tofus today. Followed this more or less: https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/pan-fried-sesame-garlic-tofu/ it was crunchy and spicy and (get this) served on a bed of brown rice, green lentils and split peas. Ha!

(for lunch) Onion soup made with venison stock sans cheese (trying to drop the winter weight). Made it on this warm day for cooler days ahead, but it aint gonna make it.

I've convinced myself that eating smoked goods in the stand masks my scent!

End-o-Backstrap with asparagus and beans and rice. Some time ago I asked about aging venison and as usual got many great answers like hanging when below 40 degrees, placing in an old frig that does not dehydrate etc. Then someone said: "or you can age in the frig after defrosting". I have had great luck with that method, this strip of strap had nice aged color about a half inch in (couple weeks in frig still wrapped in clear wrap and freezer paper as I do when processing) and super tender even given the cut.

So easy, even a caveman can do it with modern tech (6 feet of hot Italian). had to jack up the heat twice via test patties.

Bought this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BSULSHA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is organic approved and applicable right up to harvest which gives me doubts but will keep me alive to fight another year, and this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BX4RNW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is oil and used when dormant (again next year). Good luck!

Frittata with homemade sausage

Well I'm a newbee and your question proves it. I researched my Fruit Tree Spray (shown below) and seems we needed something else as explained here https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/peach/peach-leaf-curl.htm Also https://bonide.com/disease/peach-leaf-curl/ gotta do some research and feel we are late again. Hope some guru enlightens us. Thanks for asking and the wake up!

Me Too! I put the red and green flakes in a coffee grinder to make then very small in order to get throughout all the meat better... took the top off the grinder and the fumes put me on the floor! Seems low smoke is called for. I've smoked store bought and were great.

Just sprayed young peach trees for leaf curl. My "Backyard Fruit Production" book said to do it in April but a Mennonite lady with lots of "street cred" said to do it in March around here... duly noted in the almanac for next year.

Assembling the cast of characters for hot Italian Sausage weekend. Still earning my smoker stripes. Now have the Inch and a qtr collagen casings and a couple attempts under my belt, they were so-so but gone quickly nevertheless! Using this recipe https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/35989/hot-italian-sausage/ seems the largest variable/unknown is the pepper flakes' heat, I'm going with homegrown green and red flakes that are WAY hot. sorry for bad pic, if I ever stop buying hunting, fishing, BBQ toys I'll get a decent phone.

Smoked beer chicken noodle soup on a damp day

You must be up top of Italy Hill as they infest heavier up high like the hills around Naples. Web says infestations can last up to 10 years but most likely 2-3 years in the destructive larvae stage. My bet is that this year will be worse than last and lower elevations will get hit a bit harder. Just my two cents.

All very informative, thanks. Will walk/watch this summer with binocs. I remember an episode of Grow m Big TV on chestnuts and was surprised to learn they essentially covered the northeast... googled and found: "More than a century ago, nearly 4 billion American chestnut trees were growing in the eastern U.S. Within the last 40 years, they have all but disappeared.".

Crazy can't sleep thoughts... Eight years ago I came back home to NY from Colorado where oak brush was a super important food for a wide range of animals... no acorns, no bear cubs. That first year back I needed a batting helmet for all the acorns falling and subsequent years not so many, but some, until the past two years where there have been none. Plenty of hickory nuts but no acorns. I've learned that they skip a few years to let the squirrels, deer and all decrease in population and then produce a "mast" year and go nuts (sorry for the pun) and produce a bunch while populations are low to give best chance of sprouts. But now the gypsy moths are back and we are at a high enough elevation where they are in pretty good and expected for a couple more years. Question is did the oaks know that the moths were due so slowed up and decided to hold off the mast year or is it coincidence? Any knowledge on how many years they may skip? If I see none by mid summer I'm moving a stand from the oaks. Thanks in advance.

Unsure offhand but bought all at Tractor Supply. Rolls of welded wire, posts , the gate and zip ties. It was three years ago so gonna be more now with all the price increases. The garden is 25X25 so can get prices online and do the math. Hope that helps.

We did that as we were creating a food plot instead of a garden. I've watched rabbits and deer walk around it multiple times looking for a way in. we enclose everything in wire cages, young fruit trees, willows, etc... anything they can reach. An elderly lady once said to me "They only eat what you pay for".

Found this popular YouTube vid which uses a wood frame with string coming down to the plants as a replacement for cages... the plants climb the string. Thinking of trying it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-7RoH_uic

My beer chicken tipped over... do you think it could possibly not like Genny? Impossible

dinner, salad, just stealing when lady not watching salmon as opposed to gravlax style cold cured in the fridge which slices very thin.