Hey Lurch!               "Y-O-U      R-A-N-G?"   

  Welcome Lurch!   

I have a small surplus of okra and want to freeze some.  I assume it needs to be blanched?  I thought I'd steam it about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes, then immerse in cold water.  Good so far?  I think this blanching would be done with whole pods?  If so should they be frozen whole?  I thought if I were to slice them I'd put them in the freezer on cookie sheets until frozen, then transfer them to bags and they'd stay loose and easy to access over the winter.  Would slices still batter/cornmeal up OK to fry?  Is there a better way?  Thanks for you help.
Darryl

I have my entire garden and fruit trees on a drip system. I have it on two zones. One for the garden and one for the veggies. Each zone is in a loop with the small drip lines coming off the main feed. You can put 30-40 emitters on each zone. This system is really easy to install, move or rearrange. This is one of those situations where simple is better. Since I am away from home several days at a time I have mine on a timer system that works great. I have had no problem with critters damaging any of the lines.
You do need to put a pressure regulating valve on the zones tho since drip is low pressure.

...Giving up ones property and home, I believe to be one of the hardest decisions an older person has to make in their lives. Owning property and a home gives one a since of security. The longer you have owned that property and home makes the decision even harder. Home is a place but also a state of mind. Memories have been made there. After years of tending to a place, you know where every imperfection is and all the things that make it the Crown Jewels of homes.

...The place my parents owned, where I lived till I was 9 years old was special. I chased and captured many an old west robber like the Scarlet Kid ( my red headed cousin) and faced lots of men in gunfights in that backyard. I hid bank robbery money under big rocks at the base of the big old red oak trees. I flew from the top of the garage roof to the ground, just like Superman. My second and last childhood home holds many a story and adventure also, but not like the first.

...I know I will leave my present home of 36 years someday. I don't look forward to that day. This is the place, my home, where I have told the story of the Scarlet Kid and Supermike and all the other stories of my childhood home to my wife and daughter. They have heard about the Indian Chief that shot the flaming arrow from the barkyard of his second childhood home and set the 5 acre field on fire. We have eat many a meal with friends and family. We have shared many a heartache in this place, but the happiness has prevailed.

....J, from the stories you have shared, I sense an unhappiness in your heart. If the home place doesn't bring piece and only bad memories, maybe it is time for you to pack up the good times and take them with you to your new home. A place where you can share a long lived friendship with your buddy. A new home to make new memories and an easier life.

...I believe the old saying, Home is where your heart is. This might be the time to move your heart. Spend your elder years enjoying not suffering through another day of doing the routine. As for your family, They may figure out that, Distance makes the heart grow fonder. You might see them more when at your new Home.

...I will pray that you make the right decision my friend. I wish you the best.

You wouldn't be envious if you spent one summer in the garden with us.   

Welcome to a real good time!

Welcome Lurch.  I enjoy hearing all about how the other half lives (gardens).

I wish you all the best whatever you do.  At your age and family circumstance, you need to please yourself.  I've been active in real estate, for my own investment and living since 1985 and I'd just like to throw out a few points for you to consider.

Right now pretty much everything is suffering depressed prices due to the general economy and the fact that the banks don't want to make loans even to qualified people.  I think they are waiting for interest rates to rise and for a clear signal that the recession has ended.  Selling now may be leaving $ on the table.

The IRS won't tax you on the first $250,000 (double that if married) of profit on your personal residence.  They will get full capital gains tax on the smaller piece.  Just on that basis alone, it would be better to sell them separately.  One this year and one next year.  If at all possible it might be worth doing some creative financing such as a big down payment and so much per month.  That keeps the IRS from getting as much.

Splitting it into mini-farms, each with some road frontage would bring more $.  You'd have to pay up front for surveying but it's usually well worth it.  You could save one frontage lot to go with the back couple hundred acres and sell that to the developer.  The bigger the chunk, the lower the price per acre is the rule most places.  You might try drawing out various configurations on graph paper.

I firmly believe that the primary value we can own in this life is land.  More and more people are struggling to own a piece of ground out in the country because they perceive it to offer greater security.  Land will continue to go up and farmland may well go up faster than residential.  I don't know anything about your local conditions but these are almost universal considerations.

You're in a great position with lots of options.  I've been thinking of selling out and building me a small, state of the art energy efficient house but I'll probably just take the easy way out and stay right here.  Cropduster has a good idea.  Just please be careful.

Well it sure does snow a lot in Michigan.  Especially where you are talking about going.  I remember driving a big truck in the snow up to the Canadian border.  I thought I was going to the end of the earth.  Snow, snow and more snow.  And it was colder than a well diggers.....ah well you get the idea.

But It is nice to be in an area you love and enjoy, and it is nice to be with friends, or a friend who cares.  I wish you well in you decision.  I hope everything is what you want it to be.  Life is short.  Follow your heart, and enjoy your life.

Crazy

I decided to go out and till my entire garden today (except for the Okra that I was going to till two weeks ago but haven't because I am still giving it away) and get ready to put my Cabbage, Cauliflower and Lettuce sets in the ground tomorrow.  So I did.   

Now tomorrow I will give it one more turn of the till, with a small amount of fertilizer on top and then plant my little plants.  Then it is pick Okra and wait.  The Artichoke plants in the house are about 5" tall now.  Right at another month before they go out into the garden.  I may take a few pics tomorrow of the clean garden.  BTW, there is one volunteer tomato I left in the garden because it is about to set fruit!     It is a Roma.

I wish it had rained a week or two earlier.  I am behind a bit much this year.  Oh Yeah, I Harvested 14 Watermelons between 28 and 31 pounds.  We are going to press the juice for wine Tuesday or Wednesday.  Watermelon Wine!   

WELCOME Lurch!!!! 

yup, some good folks here w/some great ideas...