I hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day weekend. I spent a good chunk of it laboring outdoors. After sitting at a desk and writing software code all week, I find physical labor enjoyable, if not exactly relaxing.
Almost three years ago, I hacked down one of the briar jungles near our creek. Before I started, the jungle looked like this.
Man, that was some work. I promised myself I’d never let it grow back, and I haven’t. Once those pesky briars get to about shin height, I cut them down again. Over the long weekend, I took The Beast in there and let it eat. I didn’t think to take a before picture, but here’s the after picture.
With that out of the way, I returned to the small jungle that had grown up inside the now-abandoned chicken yard in the front pasture. Here’s how it looked a couple of weeks ago.
And here’s how it looks now.
My biggest concern during jungle-whacking days used to be cutting off my own foot. But now we know the meat-allergy tick is in our area. Hmmm … lose a foot or never eat meat again … both fates are too horrible to imagine. I want to keep all my appendages and use at least two of them to eat steaks.
I don’t like to soak my skin with Deep Woods Off – maybe it’s harmless, but I don’t know. On the other hand, I really, really, really don’t want to wake up some morning and find a tick burrowed into my skin. That’s happened a few times since we bought the farm.
As a compromise, I prepare for jungle expeditions by spritzing my arms and legs with a natural insect repellent I’ve mentioned before: Maddie Hayes Naturals. The main ingredient is grape seed oil, the aroma is pleasant enough, and it seems to work – meaning I’ve never been bitten by a bug on my skin where I’ve sprayed the stuff.
But even when my skin is protected, I’ve discovered ticks clinging to my shoes or jeans. Bringing them into the house as stowaways is inviting trouble, but I don’t want to soak my jeans with grape seed oil. So the comprise is spraying my shoes and jeans with the Deep Woods Off. Grape seed oil on the skin, chemicals on the clothes. I can live with that.
Anyway, I managed to get through a long day of jungle-whacking without any tick or chigger bites.
We’ll plant something in the chicken yard (er, former chicken yard) this spring. The ground has proved itself to be incredibly fertile, but as Chareva pointed out, nothing else will grow in there until the weeds are gone.
As I was putting The Beast away, it occurred to me that I’ve had to kill some mental weeds as well while becoming a weekend farmer. The biggest weed was a species called I Don’t Know Nuttin’ About Tools And Stuff. That one grew in my brain for years, along with a species called I Don’t Like Yard Work.
Until we moved to the farm, my tool collection was nearly identical to my dad’s: a wrench, a hammer, a regular screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, and (most importantly) a telephone to call people who know how to build and fix things. Once in awhile I’d be tempted to expand the collection, but then the I Don’t Know Nuttin’ About Tools And Stuff weed got in the way.
I should have known better, of course. As I remind my daughters whenever they say they’re no good at this-or-that, nobody is born knowing how to do anything. I didn’t let the I Don’t Know Nuttin’ About That Stuff weed stop me from taking up software programming as I was pushing age 40, or from making my first film as I was pushing age 50. But for some reason, I still suspected guys who are good at building and fixing are blessed with a Tool-Guy gene I didn’t inherit.
Weekend work on the farm finally convinced me to pull that weed from my brain. As a result, I’ve become a fairly decent Mr. Fixit.
When I first attempted to take The Beast through the chicken yard a couple of weeks ago, something started smoking and the blades stopped turning. Three years ago, I would have taken it to a repair shop and paid whatever they charged. Last weekend, I partially disassembled the thing, located a shredded belt, and figured out which parts to remove to get to it. Then I bought a replacement belt for $8 at a hardware store and put everything back together. That actually made knocking down the weeds even more satisfying.
Enjoy the upcoming weekend … and if there are any I Don’t Know Nuttin’ About That Stuff weeds in your brain, you might want to take a few moments to pull them. They keep the good stuff from growing.
If you enjoy my posts, please consider a small donation to the Fat Head Kids GoFundMe campaign.
I’m interested in the natural bug repellent, I too live in untamed acreage, but the link isn’t working.
I’m glad you have overcome your I don’t know nuttin’ about… I wish I could get my granddaughter to believe she knows more than she thinks.
And what she doesn’t know, she can learn.
Sorry, I had a typo in the link. It’s fixed now.
Nice!
I’m interested in the natural bug repellent, I too live in untamed acreage, but the link isn’t working.
I’m glad you have overcome your I don’t know nuttin’ about… I wish I could get my granddaughter to believe she knows more than she thinks.
And what she doesn’t know, she can learn.
Sorry, I had a typo in the link. It’s fixed now.
Nice!
Re the I Don’t Know Nuttin; About That mindset, Carol Dweck’s book Mindset changed my life. I thought I was born with a genetic apptitude for this or that, and my parents labeling my sisters and me the Smart one, the creative one, the physically talented one didn’t help. But Mindset made me realize that everyone starts as a beginner in any area, and anyone can improve in any area.
Never heard of the book, but I’ll look for it.
I think part of the problem is that we grow up expecting to train for a career by age 25 or so. It’s amazing how many people think once you’ve hit middle age, it’s too late to pick up whole new sets of skills. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and all that nonsense.
I have a good friend and co-worker that contracted the tick-born allergy to red meat (and pork or lamb) three years ago. At least some people heal over time, but he hasn’t so far. If you think Tom is exaggerating the potential consequences of ticks, he is not.
The tick spray recommended by hunters that I know is one that contains permethrin as the active ingredient. You spray it on your clothes and not your skin. Your treated clothes are supposed to remain effective even after several washings, but my friends always retreat after washing.
My friend said that he almost didn’t go hunting the afternoon that he got his “fatal” tick bite because he was out of spray. He’s been regretting that decision for the last three years.
Yikes. I need to look for spray with permethrin.
It’s SAWYER Long -Lasting Insect Repellent for Clothing. Sells for about $20.
I use to work in land surveying. Even on extremely hot and humid days when we had to go into the brush, we wore sweats and our pant legs were tucked into our shoes. We didn’t use Off, either. We used Avon’s “Skin so Soft”. It worked really well, and we smelled pretty.
Skin so Soft is an insect repellent?
It’s not advertised as an insect repellent but it works as one.
Yep. At least it was back in the 80s. IDK if the formula changed since then.
Ah, yes. I remembered Avon Skin So Soft sunscreen being recommended to the Peace Corps recruits before being sent off to Africa. Fortunately for me, I ended up in an arid part of Mali.
On the chigger problem, I find that rubber (or other solid outer material) boots that come up to just below the knees essentially eliminate bites in that region. Mine are Muck Boot brand. Hip waders would probably be even more effective. Moon suit might be overkill.
I’d like to have a moon suit, however.
How about a bio-hazard suit? Probably easier to come by than a moon suit. And the Avon Skin-So-Soft hack has been around for years. I’m not sure they still make it though.
re: I’d like to have a moon suit, however.
Paint stores sell single-use light gauge poly coveralls for spray painting. I bought some for application of binary foam insulation in the barn. With care, they can be used multiple times in non-critical situations, but heavy brush might rip ’em up pretty fast.
Re the I Don’t Know Nuttin; About That mindset, Carol Dweck’s book Mindset changed my life. I thought I was born with a genetic apptitude for this or that, and my parents labeling my sisters and me the Smart one, the creative one, the physically talented one didn’t help. But Mindset made me realize that everyone starts as a beginner in any area, and anyone can improve in any area.
Never heard of the book, but I’ll look for it.
I think part of the problem is that we grow up expecting to train for a career by age 25 or so. It’s amazing how many people think once you’ve hit middle age, it’s too late to pick up whole new sets of skills. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and all that nonsense.
I have a good friend and co-worker that contracted the tick-born allergy to red meat (and pork or lamb) three years ago. At least some people heal over time, but he hasn’t so far. If you think Tom is exaggerating the potential consequences of ticks, he is not.
The tick spray recommended by hunters that I know is one that contains permethrin as the active ingredient. You spray it on your clothes and not your skin. Your treated clothes are supposed to remain effective even after several washings, but my friends always retreat after washing.
My friend said that he almost didn’t go hunting the afternoon that he got his “fatal” tick bite because he was out of spray. He’s been regretting that decision for the last three years.
Yikes. I need to look for spray with permethrin.
It’s SAWYER Long -Lasting Insect Repellent for Clothing. Sells for about $20.
I use to work in land surveying. Even on extremely hot and humid days when we had to go into the brush, we wore sweats and our pant legs were tucked into our shoes. We didn’t use Off, either. We used Avon’s “Skin so Soft”. It worked really well, and we smelled pretty.
Skin so Soft is an insect repellent?
It’s not advertised as an insect repellent but it works as one.
Yep. At least it was back in the 80s. IDK if the formula changed since then.
Ah, yes. I remembered Avon Skin So Soft sunscreen being recommended to the Peace Corps recruits before being sent off to Africa. Fortunately for me, I ended up in an arid part of Mali.
On the chigger problem, I find that rubber (or other solid outer material) boots that come up to just below the knees essentially eliminate bites in that region. Mine are Muck Boot brand. Hip waders would probably be even more effective. Moon suit might be overkill.
I’d like to have a moon suit, however.
How about a bio-hazard suit? Probably easier to come by than a moon suit. And the Avon Skin-So-Soft hack has been around for years. I’m not sure they still make it though.
re: I’d like to have a moon suit, however.
Paint stores sell single-use light gauge poly coveralls for spray painting. I bought some for application of binary foam insulation in the barn. With care, they can be used multiple times in non-critical situations, but heavy brush might rip ’em up pretty fast.
Also, the painter suits are white, which for some reason ticks love white clothes.(maybe it’s the color of untanned legs in the Spring when they first hatch out!)
What a great post about mental weeds and keeping you from doing things. I’m pushing 40 in a couple years, and software dev or front end work or UI/UX design is really what I want to be doing but part of me says ‘too old.’ Didn’t realize you were close to 40 when getting into software dev work. Great reminder. Thanks.
Naw, it’s not too late by any means. I started tinkering with programming in my late 30s. Landed my first full-time contracting gig at Disney Studios at age 41.
You can download a lot of development tools for free these days, including Visual Studio. Buy some books, maybe subscribe to Virtual Training University (vtc.com) for $30/month and get cracking.
The technology is always changing. Even if you had studied programming 15 years ago, a lot of what you learned would be obsolete by now.
Thanks Tom!
Hi Tom,
Catalyst in Australia showed a good way to remove ticks without getting the meat allergy.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4177191.htm
Didn’t know the meat-allergy tick was Down Under as well. Freeze it, don’t squeeze it looks like good advice.
My brother-in-law has the red meat allergy. Many folks don’t believe there’s any such thing, but most of those folks ALSO don’t believe there’s such a thing as Celiac’s either.
About 8mos ago my wife made some “chicken-italian sausage” for dinner…some pasta, nice sauce…
My brother-in-law declared them the absolute best chicken/italian sausage we’d ever bought.
There was a reason. It wasn’t chichen sausage, it was real, pork sausage. About 4hrs later, he had hives, arms/chest were all swollen/red/itchy…and he was in great discomfort.
For the ticks, they are ANOTHER great reason to take a look at heirloom turkeys. Turns out turkeys LOVE ticks!…It’s like popcorn for them.
Good turkeys AND far fewer ticks?…that right there is a win-win 😉
That does sound like a win-win. We tried letting guinea fowl run around the property to eat the ticks, but ended up feeding coyotes instead.
What a great post about mental weeds and keeping you from doing things. I’m pushing 40 in a couple years, and software dev or front end work or UI/UX design is really what I want to be doing but part of me says ‘too old.’ Didn’t realize you were close to 40 when getting into software dev work. Great reminder. Thanks.
Naw, it’s not too late by any means. I started tinkering with programming in my late 30s. Landed my first full-time contracting gig at Disney Studios at age 41.
You can download a lot of development tools for free these days, including Visual Studio. Buy some books, maybe subscribe to Virtual Training University (vtc.com) for $30/month and get cracking.
The technology is always changing. Even if you had studied programming 15 years ago, a lot of what you learned would be obsolete by now.
Thanks Tom!
Listen to Firebird, Tom! Back before my disastrous two month taking statins when I was able to get around, I ran a small back yard nursery selling heirloom veggie plants in the early spring and otherwise working with the operation the rest of the time. Anyway, there is a certain time of the early spring when we in north central Florida are just infested with these big awful looking spiders! (Like 3 – 5 inches across back in the vegetation.) They are breeding by the trillions at that time of year evidently. And even though early spring in north Florida can be obnoxiously hot and humid compared to everywhere else, I had to wear long sweats or jeans tucked into boots and long sleeves with gloves up over the cuffs. Otherwise, when you went in at night you just might shake out a spider or two out of your clothes and worse, they bite. Contrary to what a lot of people say around here those d*** things ARE poisonous- they just don’t kill you! They made giant places on your skin that were sore for days, and leave ugly scars forever. Bug repellent on clothes that are well tucked in is about the only defense! Probably for those ticks, too!
Knee-length boots sound like a good investment. I can’t tuck my jeans into the boots I wear now, and it would be easy for a critter to crawl up my legs.
Hi Tom,
Catalyst in Australia showed a good way to remove ticks without getting the meat allergy.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4177191.htm
Didn’t know the meat-allergy tick was Down Under as well. Freeze it, don’t squeeze it looks like good advice.
My brother-in-law has the red meat allergy. Many folks don’t believe there’s any such thing, but most of those folks ALSO don’t believe there’s such a thing as Celiac’s either.
About 8mos ago my wife made some “chicken-italian sausage” for dinner…some pasta, nice sauce…
My brother-in-law declared them the absolute best chicken/italian sausage we’d ever bought.
There was a reason. It wasn’t chichen sausage, it was real, pork sausage. About 4hrs later, he had hives, arms/chest were all swollen/red/itchy…and he was in great discomfort.
For the ticks, they are ANOTHER great reason to take a look at heirloom turkeys. Turns out turkeys LOVE ticks!…It’s like popcorn for them.
Good turkeys AND far fewer ticks?…that right there is a win-win 😉
That does sound like a win-win. We tried letting guinea fowl run around the property to eat the ticks, but ended up feeding coyotes instead.
Listen to Firebird, Tom! Back before my disastrous two month taking statins when I was able to get around, I ran a small back yard nursery selling heirloom veggie plants in the early spring and otherwise working with the operation the rest of the time. Anyway, there is a certain time of the early spring when we in north central Florida are just infested with these big awful looking spiders! (Like 3 – 5 inches across back in the vegetation.) They are breeding by the trillions at that time of year evidently. And even though early spring in north Florida can be obnoxiously hot and humid compared to everywhere else, I had to wear long sweats or jeans tucked into boots and long sleeves with gloves up over the cuffs. Otherwise, when you went in at night you just might shake out a spider or two out of your clothes and worse, they bite. Contrary to what a lot of people say around here those d*** things ARE poisonous- they just don’t kill you! They made giant places on your skin that were sore for days, and leave ugly scars forever. Bug repellent on clothes that are well tucked in is about the only defense! Probably for those ticks, too!
Knee-length boots sound like a good investment. I can’t tuck my jeans into the boots I wear now, and it would be easy for a critter to crawl up my legs.
There’s a tick that can make you allergic to red meat? Yikes! At first I thought you had to be kidding, but WebMD says it’s for real, and calls the little varmint the lone star tick. Living in Texas, I don’t like the sound of that. On a low-carb diet, I’d starve!
There’s a tick that can make you allergic to red meat? Yikes! At first I thought you had to be kidding, but WebMD says it’s for real, and calls the little varmint the lone star tick. Living in Texas, I don’t like the sound of that. On a low-carb diet, I’d starve!
Youtube has made me a far better handyman than I ever was before. Whatever it is you want to do, there is usually a Youtube video showing you exactly how to do it.
I looked for a YouTube video on how to change that belt. Didn’t find one. After I figured it out, it occurred to me I should have had the camera rolling to create the video.
Youtube has made me a far better handyman than I ever was before. Whatever it is you want to do, there is usually a Youtube video showing you exactly how to do it.
I looked for a YouTube video on how to change that belt. Didn’t find one. After I figured it out, it occurred to me I should have had the camera rolling to create the video.
Tom, I love your videos. I have learned alot about low carb diets from you, Thanks
I live in Clarksville, TN, just up the road from you. I am jealous about your soil. Here we have nothing but red, rocky clay. I can not even dig more than about 4 inces by hand. So we are putting raised beds in the sping. any tips will be appreciated.
I’m surprised the soil is different up there, given the short distance.
Chareva’s been good results with mixes of soil, compost, and wood chips. Owning chickens helps too — after they live in an area for awhile, the soil is rich.
Tom, I love your videos. I have learned alot about low carb diets from you, Thanks
I live in Clarksville, TN, just up the road from you. I am jealous about your soil. Here we have nothing but red, rocky clay. I can not even dig more than about 4 inces by hand. So we are putting raised beds in the sping. any tips will be appreciated.
I’m surprised the soil is different up there, given the short distance.
Chareva’s been good results with mixes of soil, compost, and wood chips. Owning chickens helps too — after they live in an area for awhile, the soil is rich.
Been a while since I’ve read your blog, I’m glad to see you’re still at it. I love your analogy about the mental weeds. Pull enough of them out, maybe our brain sizes will increase back to that of our ancestor’s 20K years ago?
There is great satisfaction to be had in tackling a mechanical device and fixing it up, especially when you’re going in and not knowing how or even if it’s possible. And once you’ve done it, the experience is tucked safely away somewhere in them thar brain cells.
Yup, fixing stuff is like the other farm work for me: I enjoy it way more than I would have suspected.
Been a while since I’ve read your blog, I’m glad to see you’re still at it. I love your analogy about the mental weeds. Pull enough of them out, maybe our brain sizes will increase back to that of our ancestor’s 20K years ago?
There is great satisfaction to be had in tackling a mechanical device and fixing it up, especially when you’re going in and not knowing how or even if it’s possible. And once you’ve done it, the experience is tucked safely away somewhere in them thar brain cells.
Yup, fixing stuff is like the other farm work for me: I enjoy it way more than I would have suspected.