What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

They warranty the panels up to golf ball sized hail, but I understand where you are coming from.... Personally, I'd rather have two forms of backup for power generation. Since I don't have year-round moving water on my property, that rules out hydro power so the only other option is wind. I went to college for electrical engineering and physics. My senior research project was a band-gap engineering to improve the efficiency of semiconductors & batteries through other materials. i.e. I know all too well how $.i.**y and inefficient solar really is due to the current engineering, although it is getting better.

Some niceties they are throwing in with the deal - they will give me all new LED lightbulbs in the house (already have them but hey...I'll take free lightbulbs) and they are going to recaulk inside and outside all my doors and windows. Again, something I could do myself but if they are going to do it for me....go for it! They also offered me a free Google Nest thermostat and I said NO WAY! I work in cybersecurity. That thing isn't coming anywhere NEAR my house.

Golf ball? That ALL?!?!? My roof is rubber composite and for up to 2 inch.
Golfball is common here, sadly.
We had a storm go north of me three days ago with 6.5 inch hail. That smashes through the steel on a barn.
Worked too hard yesterday. Then as I was settling down to work on dinner, someone bought a large piece of machinery from us and we needed to load and deliver it. Today I ache like I was rolled by a semi truck.
Feeding, weeding, and waiting is all that's left for garden work for the summer.
I still need to check and repair the orchard irrigation.

 

[WthrLady]

This gave me a chuckle

 

[Sueby]

Oh! What year corvette? That's my favorite car ever

I don't remember. But here it is. DH just swapped in an aluminum Chevy small block & it's not quite finished yet, shouldn't be much longer.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Think I got overheated...very "upchuky" feelin ugh.
Is there a way to tell which tomato plants are determinate vs indeterminate once growing cuz mine got all mixed up in seeding of course!
Reason I'm askin is cuz one your prune back and one ya dont and afraid I'm gonna kill the ones ya don't cuz I've been doing it to all of em.

 

[WthrLady]

Nope. Only if you know which one is which variety. Upside is you don't HAVE to prune indeterminate ones, so just stop pruning everything.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I work in IT, one of the main things I do is antivirus so I have a slight understanding of just how vulnerable we are, but nothing like you. It's scary. DH & I had the discussion the other day that in the event of an EMP the only transportation we would have would be the Corvette & the 2 tractors. Not very practical to get far!

Better off getting a horse for transportation.
Gasoline is from pumps that are computerized not to mention the processes that Crude Oil needs to go through and I'm sure have components of computerization.

 

[Sueby]

Better off getting a horse for transportation.
Gasoline is from pumps that are computerized not to mention the processes that Crude Oil needs to go through and I'm sure have components of computerization.

I'd have to steal a horse, lol, we don't have room for one. But we do have lots of guns & ammo.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. We got a rather noisy thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Then me and my little dude Max were "serenaded" by a wailing in pain coyote for about 20 minutes. It was just a wee bit scary and creepy. All in all we got nearly a half inch of rain with more expected later today. I did some weeding this morning but that may be all the garden work I do today. I just finished putting the bread dough together and finally have my second cup of coffee. Baking bread and cleaning inside today. That's all. I don't stress a whole lot on the doom and gloom so much. I have a portable generator and a transfer switch. This covers my simple needs to keep the refrigerators and freezer working. I have oil lamps and flashlights and a portable butane stove if I don't feel like firing up one of the grills. When I first bought this house I planned to put solar panels on it. But honestly, I think the technology will be improving soon and I would prefer to wait until after I put a new roof on the house. Another option is a solar generator that doesn't need gasoline or propane. I understand they do cost a bit more than the others, but it is something to consider.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I work in IT, one of the main things I do is antivirus so I have a slight understanding of just how vulnerable we are, but nothing like you. It's scary. DH & I had the discussion the other day that in the event of an EMP the only transportation we would have would be the Corvette & the 2 tractors. Not very practical to get far!

I keep picturing that scene in War of the Worlds where the mob attacks Tom Cruise & his family for their car....except they'd be trying to climb on your tractor. Pretty much every car these days would be rendered undriveable in an EMP. As far as the electric grid, water, and sewage systems....well, the vulnerability there is in the old, antiquated control boards that have absolutely no protection from EMPs. The fed agencies have tasked critical infrastructure to start identifying these vulnerabilities and replacing them for nearly 15yrs now. In the beginning, many were replaced with network-enabled boards & components to allow for monitoring of the systems. Sounds great in theory, but as you realize as someone in IT, it also means unintended personnel can ALSO monitor & potentially attack those systems. Even air-gapped ones. Sewage plants are the ones that have me most concerned. Those systems are controlled by hydraulic lifts. If those lifts stop moving for more than 4 hours, the raw sewage turns into something similar to concrete. Now you have a rip and replace scenario.... Think of any city that's more than a few square miles in size and you now have a serious humanitarian crisis on your hands as raw sewage begins backing up everywhere. Yeah...not good. Makes me happy I live in the country and on a septic system.

As for transportation....well, I have horses so there's that advantage. If the world were to get that crazy, they might actually have a positive ROI for the first time in their spoiled lives.

 

[Sueby]

We have a septic system here too. We have lots of fuel on hand, solar in the toterhome, 3 generators & a bunch of food. In all honesty if things got so bad that I couldn't survive here till stuff is up & running again, I'd just off myself. I have no desire to fight & run or anything crazy like that. I've lived a good, full life, see ya on the other side. But I do love these dooms day discussions we have every now & then!