Fall Damage Revealed in Spring

Each fall we till the garden up and plant winter rye. It’s amazing stuff because it sprouts in fall and survives the winter months to continue growing in spring! There are a number of reasons for planting winter rye:

  • The ground cover holds the soil in place and reduces erosion.
  • It fixes nitrogen all winter long and acts as “green manure” when we till it in later in the spring.
  • Having something planted in the garden shades out the weeds, so we aren’t fighting the weeds as much.
  • Winter rye drinks up the excess moisture, so we can get into the garden earlier (without sinking up to our knees in mud).

There are probably other reasons for growing winter rye, but these four are the reasons we take time to plant it. Unfortunately, we had an early frost this last fall. So, the winter rye sprouted, but didn’t have time to establish itself before the frost hit. As a result, unknown to us, the winter rye died. So our garden is unprotected this spring and I’m already seeing evidence of erosion as shown here.

Erosion

There isn’t any time to plant more winter rye now. So, we’ll control the erosion in another way, by placing hay bails on the downward side of the garden slope. Using the hay bails will slow the water flow and at least keep the soil in the garden. Of course, the point is that nature doesn’t always cooperate with our plans, so it’s important to have a Plan B (the hay bails in this case).

The hay won’t go to waste. Later this spring, when everything is planted, we’ll use the hay to mulch the garden. Mulching reduces the need to water and keeps weeds under control, but more on that later. So, what do you do to control erosion and keep weeds under control in your garden? Let me know at [email protected].

Early Spring – The Flowers (Part 2)

It wasn’t long ago and my spring flowers were mere nubs in the ground. Well, things have certainly changed and now I’m seeing the first blooms! The crocus always seem to be the first to produce a bloom. Perhaps it’s because they have almost nothing in the way of leaves, so they focus all their energy on the lovely flowers they produce. I have two colors of crocus in my garden as shown here:

Crocus

Of course, it won’t be long and more flowers will make their appearances. I’ll keep you updated as more flowers create a riot of color in my backyard. Spring flowers are always so welcome because they signal the end of winter.

Now, if only the weatherman would get the message. We’re supposed to get snow tonight. It won’t hang around, but the very idea that it’s coming is a reminder that winter hasn’t quite made a disappearance yet. What are your favorite spring flowers? Let me know at [email protected].

 

Deleting a Session at the Command Line

A reader of my book, Windows Command-Line Administration Instant Reference, recently wrote in to say that the Net Sessions /Delete command apparently doesn’t work, which I found interesting because I’ve tested it on a number of occasions and found it always worked for me. It turns out that we had two different scenarios in mind. Normally, you’ll use the Net Sessions /Delete command to free up resources when a remote terminal has frozen or left the session intact in some other way. For whatever reason, the remote user didn’t log out and that means all of the file locks are still in place, for one thing, and that all of the session resources are in use, for another. Using Net Sessions /Delete cleans up this mess, but only at the potential expense of data loss and all of the other things that go with terminating a session without following the usual protocol.

In this case, the reader was simply trying the command to see if it would work. However, the command didn’t appear to work become the remote terminal was still active. Since Windows XP SP1 there has been an automatic reconnection feature.  You disconnect the session and Windows XP (and above) automatically reconnects it. You can read about it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323258.

Microsoft used to say that you had to turn this feature on manually (such as by using a policy). The fact of the matter is that the sessions automatically reconnect by default. You’ve probably seen it work already. For some reason, the network disconnects. However, after a few seconds, you magically see the network connection reappear. I know I’ve even seen it on my network. There isn’t anything magic about it—the session is being automatically reconnected in the background without any interaction from you. So…while the command does in fact work, it’s disabled by the automatic reconnection feature. Windows can reconnect faster than you can disconnect it.

Of course, this makes me wonder about other commands that apparently don’t work, but are merely thwarted by well-intentioned Windows behavior. Let me know if you see any behavior of this sort at [email protected].

Considering the Economics of Accessibility

People have asked in the past which book of mine is my favorite. I have a number of answers to that question. In one respect or another, all of my books are my favorite because they all answer different questions and help a different group of people. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the reason I write is because I truly enjoy helping others.

My reasons for writing “Accessibility for Everybody: Understanding the Section 508 Accessibility Requirements” are many. However, one of the biggest reasons that I wrote it is because there are good economic reasons to make applications accessible to everyone. Not all of these reasons have a direct monetary impact, but I do express them in the first chapter of the book. The fact of the matter is that if your application isn’t accessible, you’re costing your company time and money. If you’re a store owner, you’re losing money every second that your organization uses applications that aren’t accessible.

Many
people associate accessibility with those who have special visual or
audio needs.  However, accessibility affects quite a large group of
people, including those who are colorblind. Did you realize that about 8% of the male population is colorblind,
which means that if your application isn’t accessible to this group
that you’re losing out on 8% of your sales right off the top? Can you
really miss out on that many sales? In short, accessibility is truly for everyone and everyone includes you.

It amazes me that some organizations just don’t seem to get it. Accessibility affects more than those people across the street; they affect you personally. At some point in life, you’re going to need an accessibility aid. Our eyes get older and can’t see as well, the ears refuse to hear, things wear out. So, the accessibility features you add to an application today will ultimately help you in some way. It’s the reason that I read about lawsuits such as the one between the National Federation of the Blind, NFB, and Google, and have to scratch my head. I have to wonder why such a lawsuit is even necessary.

Another reason I wrote my book is to show how easy it is to make applications accessible and to inform my readers about the laws regarding accessibility (laws that our government doesn’t enforce).  Creating an accessible application with the tools available today isn’t a major undertaking. In many cases you’re looking at a few extra minutes to add features such as speed keys and titles that a screen reader can read (the same titles appear as balloon help that sighted users also rely upon). It’s true that applications that make heavy use of full animation or video can become harder to make accessible, but these applications are in the minority. Most business applications require very little extra work.

If you think buying a book to learn about accessibility is just too expensive, I encourage you to make use of the free resources available on the Internet. Companies such as Microsoft want you to create accessible applications because they realize that it’s in their best interest to do so. These resources are incredibly easy to use and they make life easier for everyone. I’m always happy to hear about your insights regarding accessibility, so feel free to contact me at [email protected].

 

Early Spring – The Garden and Orchard

Spring really begins to take off with the introduction of new growth in the garden. Our permanent bed has a number of items in it; some start early, while others wait a while to make their presence known. About the earliest arrival in the garden is the rhubarb; a favorite of mine. Nothing quite matches the sour taste of rhubarb, especially the first growth of spring. Rhubarb looks like little red balls when it first appears, and then you begin seeing leaves like these shown here:

Rhubarb

Of course, it’ll be a while before I’ll enjoy any fresh rhubarb. I’ll show you how it looks later. One of the ways I like it best is freshly picked with just a tad of sugar. It’s also good in rhubarb rolls and we make wine from it (among other things).

Another early arrival are Egyptian walking onions. They’re called walking onions because they literally walk from place to place in your garden. The top of the onion sprouts a seed head. When the seed head become too heavy for the stalk, it ends up on the ground and replants itself; no extra work on your part! Here’s what the walking onions look like in the garden:

WalkingOnion1

When these onions get large enough, I’ll dig up just a few and enjoy them very much as I would green onions. The Egyptian walking onion tends to be a little stronger and a little larger than the green onions you buy in the store, but you can use them precisely the same way. Here is a patch of ground that shows the seed heads as they appear in spring:

WalkingOnion2

Each one of those tiny little heads will become another onion. We should have quite a wealth of them this year. The Egyptian walking onion is our second taste treat from the garden. The first taste treat is horse radish. The horseradish isn’t quite up yet; at least, it isn’t far enough up to tell what it is. Normally, you’d dig it up this time of year though, grind it up, add some vinegar, and enjoy.

Another spring delight is asparagus. I’ll be sure to upload some pictures of it when it comes up. Asparagus is planted very deep and doesn’t make an appearance yet for at least another two weeks (probably longer).

Part of the springtime ritual is pruning the trees. We have 32 trees in our orchard. This last Saturday we pruned the apples. Each tree has a unique pruning strategy and you’ll find that pruning strategies differ between gardeners and a lot of people have to get tree trimmers near Clovis to help them because they’re unsure how to go about pruning and trimming their trees. Here’s a typical apple tree after pruning.

Apple

See how the apple looks sort of like an umbrella or perhaps a gnarled old man? The approach we use works well for hand picking. It’s an older technique that many modern orchards have replaced with a technique better designed for picking apples from a truck.

We prune our apples every other year; the off year. Apples produce well one year and then take a bit of a vacation the next year. Yes, we’ll get some apples from our trees, but not as many as on a good year. Of course, prudent canning techniques ensures everything evens out. What sorts of spring delights do you experience? Let me know at [email protected].

 

Considering the Move to IPv6

I was getting my technical reading done this morning and ran across yet another article about IPv6 by Woody Leonhard entitled, “Caution: Bumps in the road to IPv6“. One of the main focuses of the article is that you should check your IPv6 compatibility using the features provided by Test Your IPv6 Connectivity. The article also assumes that you have IPv6 installed on your local system if you’re using a newer version of Windows. Of course, most people do have IPv6 functionality on their Windows 7 systems, but what if you don’t? How can you even check for IPv6 functionality?

Performing a local check is relatively easy. Open a command line, type IPConfig, and press Enter. You’ll see a listing of your IP configuration similar to the one shown here:

IPv601

In this case, you can see that the connections do indeed have IPv6 connectivity. If you need additional information, you can type IPConfig /All and press Enter instead. Of course, the presence of the information doesn’t always mean that the connections are working properly. In many cases, you can fix IPv6 problems by using the IPConfig /Renew6 command. There are separate versions of the command for IPv6 and IPv4—the IPv4 version of the command is simply IPConfig /Renew, so make sure you use the correct version.

The IPConfig utility is good for quick information and fixes. If you want to perform something a little more detailed, you need the NetSH utility instead. For example, if you want to install IPv6 on a machine, you type NetSH Interface IPv6 Install and press Enter. Interestingly enough, you need to simply know about this particular command because it doesn’t appear when you type NetSH Interface IPv6 and press Enter (which shows the other available IPv6 commands) as shown here:

IPv602

However, you do get a wealth of information from NetSH. Type NetSH Interface IPv6 Show and press Enter to see the entire list of Show commands listed here:

IPv603

One of the least appreciated and underused NetSH commands is NetSH Interface IPv6 Dump. This command creates a batch script for you that recreates the configuration on the current machine as shown here:

IPv604

So, if you type NetSH Interface IPv6 Dump > IPvConfig.BAT and press Enter, you end up with a batch file you can use to create a successful configuration on other systems. The Dump subcommand is available in a number of NetSH contexts and you should employ it freely. You can find myriad other uses for NetSH in Chapters 2 and 24 of Windows Command-Line Administration Instant Reference. The IPConfig utility appears in Chapter 9. Let me know about your unique uses for both of these utilities at [email protected].

Early Spring – The Flowers

If you look around my house right now, you’d think it’s still winter. After all, we have plenty of snow (even though the higher than normal temperatures have melted a lot of it). Here’s what it looks like around my house right now:

SpringSnow

Sure, we have plenty of bare spots, but the snow banks are still quite high. With the temperatures we’ve had this week though, I think the snow isn’t going to be around much longer. Of course, the ground under that snow is still frozen and we’re only now starting to experience the faint beginnings of mud season—that time of year when one can lose a hefty boot in the muck with ease.

Fortunately, there are plenty of signs that spring is arriving. On Saturday I looked at the flower bed around our well. I could see the humble beginnings of shoots coming out of the ground as shown here:

SpringFlowers1

You can see three little red shoots in the middle of the picture. Those shoots will eventually become flowers. Today I looked at those same shoots and they’re much bigger. In fact, the amount of growth is incredibly considering the ground is still mostly frozen. Here’s the growth since Saturday:

SpringFlowers2

In fact, the entire hill is bursting with shoots. Everywhere I looked I found more shoots. Here’s another area and it has green shoots!

SpringFlowers3

It won’t be long and winter will be a memory around here. The flowers are always the second sign of winter’s demise (the first being buds in the woods). So what is spring like where you live? Let me know at [email protected].

 

Knitting for the Gentleman Farmer

The winters can get long here in the country; encouraging even the most determined person to eat to excess. From previous posts, you know that one of the things that I’ve accomplished is to lose a considerable amount of weight without dieting even one day. Part of my weight loss strategy is to find something to do that doesn’t involve excessive eating.

One of the crafts I’ve tried is knitting.  Unfortunately, I’ve found that knitting needles don’t work very well with larger hands (nor do crochet hooks it seems).  Fortunately, I’ve found a good substitute, the Knifty Knitter.  It’s a hoop or elongated loop with pegs sticking out of it.  I’ve found it very fast and easy to use.  There is an interesting history behind this device, but I’ll leave that for some other time.  I originally objected a four hoop set that can be used for a number of purposes such as hats.  However, with a little ingenuity, I’ve also been able to make slipper socks with it like these:

Socks

After a while, I also purchased several elongated looms.  I purchased the set, which works fine for garments such as scarves and blankets. In fact, just this weekend I finished this blanket for my wife:

Blanket

The blanket is made from four panels that I created with the longest (22″) loom.  It uses the double knit pattern, so it looks like it was knit on both sides and is quite thick.  My wife says it’s quite warm.  Because the blanket uses a double thread throughout, it’ll also wear quite well.

I’ve also made a number of sets for people. The biggest set I’ve made so far is a hat, scarf, and blanket set for my niece and her baby.  The set turned out quite nice and I was pleased that she seems to like it so much.  Here’s the set:

KnittedSet

Of course, this isn’t the only craft I’m involved with, but it’s the one that I can perform when I have just little bits of time here and there. Future posts will tell you about other sorts of crafts that I enjoy in an effort to keep the hands productively busy and the mouth free of food. Let me know about your crafts at [email protected].

Early Spring in the Woods

I’m sure many people are ready for spring. I know that I am. The ground is getting muddier by the second and the large drifts of snow have that decidedly tired and dirty look. Of course, winter will hang around for a while yet. We’re supposed to have another snow storm tonight. Just how much snow we get depends on the vagaries of nature. I don’t mind the snow; just don’t give me any ice.

Today was sunny and warm; well, warm for this time of year. I think the temperature got all the way up to 40 today, so there was more than a little melting underway. After checking my e-mail, getting all of my morning chores done, and making sure my wife didn’t need to go to town, I decided it would be a fine day to get up into the woods. I didn’t actually get there until afternoon, but I was still able to get quite a bit done. I keep cutting until the saw runs out of gas, then I start lugging the wood down the hill, 80 pounds at a time. Did I mention that my day in the woods normally involves walking six or seven miles (half of which involves lugging this 80 pound load)? It isn’t a bad workout for a 50+ year old man. This is the view from the hill where I’m cutting wood now.

WoodsToday

A day in the woods wouldn’t be complete though without some time spent looking at nature. I didn’t run into friend badger today. In fact, badger isn’t my friend and I try to give him a wide berth. I did see Woody though. Woody is the pileated woodpecker that hangs out in our woods. I tried to get a picture of him, but he’s shy. However, here’s a picture of his current favorite tree:

WoodysTree

Actually, Woody has a number of trees he attacks, most of which are snags like this one:

Snag

I have a personal rule that I don’t cut any trees that someone is using, so I’ll leave this snag in place. Eventually, someone will move into the holes that Woody has made. I’ve found all kinds of interesting things in trees over the years. We have several bee trees in the woods right now and I depend on the bees in them to help pollinate my garden and trees, so I definitely won’t cut the bee trees down.

One of the more interesting things I noticed in the woods today is that the buds on some of the trees are starting to swell. Of course, this is a sign that spring is near. The berry brambles are also turning quite red; another good sign. Here are some of the buds that I saw today:

SwellingBuds

I hope you enjoyed your tour of the woods today. I promise other trips as time allows. The woods is one of my favorite places to go. We not only get wood from there, but also a number of food items. I’ll show you some of them as I gather it this summer. Let me know about your favorite places in nature at [email protected].

 

Dealing with Overabundance

Gardening is never a precise science. In fact, there isn’t any way to make it a precise science, despite the best efforts of growers worldwide to do so. There are too many variables to consider and each season is unique. A heavy snow winter can delay spring, which reduces the time in which you can plant some early season vegetables. A humid, cool summer favors some vegetables; a dry, hot summer others. The presence or lack of insects makes a difference too. Too many cloudy days changes the environmental landscape, as do myriad other environmental factors. Every season is unique and brings unique challenges.

It’s hardly surprising then that some seasons tend to produce an overabundance of certain vegetables. For example, last year was an especially good year for okra. I don’t think I’ve ever seen our okra plants get that tall or produce such an abundance. That has partially meant having a lot of gumbo this past winter. Rebecca also made pickled okra for me, a delicacy I seldom get.

In many cases, overabundance means having leftovers at the end of the year. In fact, we usually try to plant with a three-year plan in mind. The tomatoes that grew so well this year, very likely won’t grow all that well next year. (Tomatoes are one of the few vegetables that you can count on producing something every year, even if they don’t produce enough to meet your annual needs.) So, during a good year, we can the excess because canned foods have a longer shelf life than frozen and once canned, they require no electricity to keep them fresh. According to eHow you can store high-acid foods for a year and low-acid foods for two to five years without any problem.  Practical experience shows that canned goods will keep longer than that when stored properly, but we throw anything over five years old into the compost heap to become new vegetables.

Try canning your food in various ways. For example, tomatoes are easily canned as whole peeled tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, tomato juice, tomato jam, ketchup, and in many other forms. Rather than buy these items from the store, make them up in advance during canning season so they’re ready whenever you need them. Now, whenever you need a quick meal, you already have it stored in your larder; making that trip to the fast food restaurant unnecessary.

Some food items won’t can properly or the loss of vitamins is so exorbitant that canning makes the result less desirable nutritionally. Anything that’s high in vitamins A or C, thiamin, or riboflavin is less desirable canned than frozen. Consequently, we try to freeze these foods more often than not to preserve their nutritional value. However, this choice has consequences too. Freezing incurs a constant storage cost and there is limited space for freezing in the typical home. Frozen food also has a significantly shorter shelf life than canned food. We try to empty the freezer by the end of each season and will can some remaining foods just to keep from losing them.

This is where many people end their efforts to store excess food. There are many other techniques you can use, however. One of the techniques we use is dehydrating the food. zucchini cans terribly and the frozen result isn’t much better. However, zucchini plants typically produce very well and they’re quite nutritional when you choose larger plants (rather than the baby zucchini favored by stores, which aren’t much better than drinking water). I’ve found over the years that much of the food value in squash is in the seeds. Dehydrated zucchini served in place of potato chips is an exceptionally nutritious (and tasty) snack food that I love and it provides an outstanding way to preserve excess zucchini. Eggplant also preserves well this way, as do many other plants. We dehydrate them and eat them as a low calorie snack food during the winter months.

Another interesting way to use excess vegetables is to make wine. I tried my hand at tomato wine this year for the first time and the results were amazing. Each gallon of tomato wine requires an entire quart of tomato juice, so it’s possible to preserve quite a few tomatoes using this technique. I’ve also made wine from excess pumpkin, along with all of the usual (and a few unusual) fruits. I understand many people use other vegetables to make wine. A friend of mine makes turnip wine.

You can always give your excess to other people. It’s interesting to note that not everyone in a particular area will have your success in a given year with a given vegetable. Last year was a horrible year for tomatoes and zucchini for us. Yes, we received some of each, but not nearly enough to meet the year’s requirement, much less enough to put away for the future. We were able to trade extra food such as potatoes with other people for extra food they had gotten from their gardens. The result is that everyone ended up with a more balanced larder.

These are just a few of my ideas for dealing with overabundance. What are the techniques you use? Let me know at [email protected].