The days are getting shorter now, but they’re plenty long, and the continuing pattern of afternoon showers is keeping everything damp.

We’ve never been big fans of conventional potatoes; we’re not excited about the carbs, and we’ve always preferred sweet potatoes. But if you call yourself a reasonably proficient grower of your own food, you ought to be able to grow potatoes, don’t you think?

We’re at that stage with chickens where each new day brings more knowledge, experience, and savvy. This week we had the chance to visit with Dr Joseph B Hess, a professor in the Auburn University Poultry Science Department.

A good pair of scissors is a joy. The ones I inherited from my mother were just that, and they cut wonderfully. That is, they cut wonderfully until I left them outside on the trellis for more than a year.

From the cast aluminum pot we got from Amanda’s great aunt that we use for every soup we make to the knowledge about passive solar energy that keeps us comfortable year round, and for hundreds of other legacies in between, we stand on the shoulders of the giants who have […]