HEY JAY BLAIR!!!

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Nice article in the new issue of Countryside there, Worm Boy!! Dang, if I didn't want to take the mag to work with me so bad tonight, I'd leave it on the back of the toilet with one of those fall-out cards accidentally stuck in at your article. I'm still trying to talk the man into worms..... You make it sound easy (and cheap!) enough that he might even be willing to give it a try!

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2001

Answers

Yes, congratulations, Jay. It sure is fun to see the articles from the people that you "know"!

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2001

I haven't got mine yet.

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2001

I haven't received my issue yet either :-(!

-- Anonymous, August 08, 2001

Hey Jay aka worm boy, your article in country side was really good,. Sherry

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001

I STILL haven't received my issue!!

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001


That's because you live way far away from Wisconsin, the center of the Universe, doncha know! :-P

-- Anonymous, August 09, 2001

Thank you, but I must give the most credit to the worms for performing so well under the lab conditions. And credit also must go to all the members of the forums here for participating in my progress and direction threads. It was an enjoyable experience doing the research and compiling the data. I'll be doing future research on vermiculture, but am working on another project for next year.

As far as the low start up costs, if you knew my wife you would understand (I think her first words as a child were "Its not in our budget" :>). While being low on monetary costs, it does run high in time, patience and dedication to maximize herd cultivation. Even now, I keep cultivating my herd to reach the commercial quantities I would like to achieve.

Our operation is now providing our needs for our garden with a small surplus and is still growing. All this from the initial cost of less than $10 and whatever bins I could salvage.I I plan to eventually go full commercial, concentrating my time on cast and bait production and let my wife and son handle most of our BISF produce production so that we can be 100% self sufficient from our place here.

I got a real laugh from the "worm boy" reference. When I took a couple cultivation bins to my sons' science class last year, his classmates started calling him that while also asking if they could come help on our place :>)

Thanks for the reconition. Guess I'll print this out so that I can shred it for bedding (I always like sharing good news with the worms )

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2001


That was amusing, Jay! Do tell us what the worms have to say about the news!

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001

Jay--Really enjoyed the article, I learned alot I never knew. By the way, I think I was separated at birth from your wife! Just ask my hubby. I'm contributing a few more inches of paper so your worms have plenty of news to spread around!

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001

Thanks for the extra paper, vickie :>) BTW the next worm project when I get the time will be to modify my bin design to provide a methane collector and storage bottle. A few of the bins in which I have altered the feed mix to produce a more nitrogen rich cast are also producing noticable levels of sewer gas(maybe its just the worms pooting a lot). It was a good thing I noticed the methane production and modified my venting technique.

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001


Congratulations Jay! Great article. I agree that it's nice to read about the work of someone I "know".

Suggestion for your next article: Tell us about how you dry so much of your food stuffs. Question: To make dried stringbeans (leather britches) do I have to string them and hang to dry or can I use my drying box. Might sound like a stupid question but whenever I string them and hang them in the attic I forget they're there until it's too late.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

Wishing you enough.

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001


Dianne,

I did leather britches on our trays the first season. The elder woman next door said they turned out proper, but with us being younger, we are spoiled from being raised on commercially processed foods. With this taken into consideration, Lynn and I have opted for prepping them "french cut" style and blanching as you would for canning or freezing, then putting in the dehydrator to dry. When I package them with the sealer, I also add a pinch of store bought dried minced garlic,onion (I can get 5 shaker bottles for $1 here locally and dehydrating onions is like being teargassed)and other seasonings. When we use them, I either rehydrate them overnight in the fridge or simmer them for about 30 minutes before cooling as you would fresh beans.

Our "secret" for mass dehydration is simple. Since my CP related physical deterioration and arthritis limit my abilities in the garden to my raised beds for about 30 to 45 minutes at a time mostly, when the harvest is running full tilt Lynn and D.J. take on the bulk of work in the gardens and I concentrate on running our dehydrators 24/7 with Lynn checking on the forced air units while I'm at work on the graveyard shift, bulk packing as the trays are completed , reloading, then single serve repacking as time becomes available. BISF planting, a mix of covection and forced air dryers with a total of 30 interchangable trays, a 25 cent seal a meal II to make the poly bags and a $5 decosonic suction sealer (both bought at yard sales) is all it takes.

In response to your last statement,I only pass on what I have learned. I have always just considered myself a student only, "taking chances and making mistakes" (yes, D.J, and I always watch Magic School Bus). I have always believed that "failures" do not exist. Failures are nothing more than the first progressions of success. Anytime I achieve something without failure, I know that there is room for improvement. I hope that I never completly grow up, because so many grown ups quite learning and children never know something isn't supposed to work.

Sorry that this response stretched so long. You folks here at the boards teach me a lot every day also. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001


Thanks Jay. I have a store bought dryer with about six or eight trays and I have a home-made one DH copied from an old Organic Gardening Mag years ago. Personally, the homemade one works better and faster but the store bought one has more room. I think I'll try drying the stringbeans as you suggested. You're right. Mistakes are just the first part of a success.

Wishing you enough.

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001


Darn it, my copy STILL hasn't come!!

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2001

My issue FINALLY arrived today!! Guess the postal dog sled was broke down :-)!

-- Anonymous, August 13, 2001


My issue was sitting in a pile of mail that we picked up from the Post Office (on returning from vacation) and I didn't even SEE IT! Yikes. I missed at least 3-4 days of good reading!

I liked the worm article! Good job! I am still digesting (!) it, though.

I also really like Ken's articles on Croatia. I am also going to build a greenhouse like the one in the magazine, too.

Good stuff. btw, we are finally going to build Dave Belanger's cider press this year...ran out of time last year.

What a great magazine! Too bad the forum gets weird sometimes..

-- Anonymous, August 13, 2001


Finally got the magazine and got to read your article Jay.....nice job!!! So much good stuff in this edition.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2001

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