Good Morning!!!!!!

[delcecchi]

Celery juice contains nitrates, or is it nitrites?  So they get the same result, but get to put "all natural, no nitrates" on the label, like using cane juice or concentrated gape juice instead of sugar.

[The General]

Well hopefully everyone made it through yesterday and doesn't have any damage or got hurt.  It was pretty calm by me even though the next town east had the tornado.  We had about 7/10ths.  Today is supposed to be nice and I'm hoping to hit the course after work. 

[Reinhard]

Ya we really didn't get much rain here.  Distant thunder from other cells however.  As far as the celery juice or powder, the USDA currently does not recognize naturally occurring nitrates as effective curing agents in meats, so if using celery juice or powder the products need to be cooked and marked uncured.  Plus the use of natural products, such as celery juice powder,  which contains nitrates are NOT recommended for making bacon for example.  This is because bacon is cold smoked for long hours for the most part.  I cold smoke my sausage also so this would not work for me.  I think I'll just stick to the proven ways of safe set guidelines for my smoked bacon or sausage.  I think you could use this for "hot" smoking however.  good luck.

[Jerkbiat]

Morning. Not much new here just another day at work. I am hearing from fellow coworkers that the blue berries are abundant. May need to get out there and pick some this weekend. Have a good day all.

[markn]

Morning all, 4.25" of rain the past two days according to my rain gauge(Alex area). Enough for now I hope. Headed to Hubbard Co. Friday to cut grass at deer camp, may have check on the blueberrys there. Thanks for the tip jerkbait. Have a great day....

[Dotch]

A lot of racket about midnight but only .13". Not complaining. We have plenty of moisture for a while. Hay got chopped and blown in the neighbor's silo ahead of it so have to be happy about that. I really didn't miss baling it. Think I'd trust RH more than 'CCO. They don't ever have any info about RH's nudist neighbors.

[delcecchi]

Ya we really didn't get much rain here.  Distant thunder from other cells however.  As far as the celery juice or powder, the USDA currently does not recognize naturally occurring nitrates as effective curing agents in meats, so if using celery juice or powder the products need to be cooked and marked uncured.  Plus the use of natural products, such as celery juice powder,  which contains nitrates are NOT recommended for making bacon for example.  This is because bacon is cold smoked for long hours for the most part.  I cold smoke my sausage also so this would not work for me.  I think I'll just stick to the proven ways of safe set guidelines for my smoked bacon or sausage.  I think you could use this for "hot" smoking however.  good luck.

So much the better to sell to the "naturals", getting to mark it as "uncured" but it still looks good and tastes the same.   

http://www.makethenaturalchoice.com/OurStory
Everyone deserves to eat better. Our mission is to make a lunchmeat that has no preservatives and no artificial ingredients added, and that’s both enjoyable and affordable. That’s easy to find and easy to understand. We’re committed to delivering a consistent, honest product made with clean ingredients. Where nothing is hiding and no one is left wanting. Because we all deserve to eat better.

"
    We find pleasure in the simplicity of the brand and the product itself. It has integrity: safe, clean, great taste."

    Mike Forbes
    Corporate Manager of Regulatory Affairs

[LPS]

Celery juice subject....   Ya I won't be doing it but was surprised to hear it.  I too will stick with the real stuff. 

[glenn57]

Blueberries.... nummy. Getting 60 lbs here in a week or 2. 40 lbs for us 20 for a co-worker. No picking and no bugs or poison ivy to deal with.

[Jerkbiat]

But you are missing all the fun and adventure of the forest. Thinking little berry picking and bear scouting.

[glenn57]

Oh I hear ya! but timing is everything and it's not on my side! we do that alot when I am at the cabin!

[glenn57]

Hmmmm, Mrs boar musta pulled someone's internet priveleges!

[Boar]

mrs glenn aint smacked you hard enough yet....

[The General]

Hmmmm, Mrs boar musta pulled someone's internet priveleges!

Boar wears the pants in his family when the wife tells him to.

[glenn57]

mrs glenn aint smacked you hard enough yet....

not that she hasn't tried!!!

[glenn57]

Hmmmm, Mrs boar musta pulled someone's internet priveleges!

Boar wears the pants in his family when the wife tells him to.

[dew2]

 Been without internet since the storm! Frontier net worse ever the outage was near the cities!! Just got it back with a nootation it will be down later for a permanent fix.
 Off to a med center for my final CAT scan today.Last one I was told I would need the whole surgery over again Thats 2 years down again!! Fingers crossed!! Have a good day everyone!

[LPS]

Morning.  That sucks with the internet doesn't it.  Man has that become a big part of our lives.  Too bad about the surgery options Dew.  Have had a few myself and each one was a complete success.  I am thankful for that.  We barely got any rain here the last few days.  It has been real windy though.  At least that keeps the squitos somewhat at bay if you are outside.  Well can't wait for the weekend. 

[Dotch]

Bummer dew. Not to be nosy but what are you doctoring for? Best wishes for a successful surgery. 
Raining again here this a.m. Not a lot but enough to keep us inside and wondering how long it will last. Looks to be about out of here. St. James got pounded earlier so am wondering if that wasn't what interrupted the internet here. Century Link has their main internet stuff there. Checked the "official" rain gauge and it shows .06". The fancy electronic gauge showed nothing even though it's supposed to be calibrated down to hundredths. And they want to make farm management decisions based off of the readings from those things? Oh well, at least the air isn't so heavy now and the temperature is a comfy 70 degrees.   

[delcecchi]

0.06 inches of rain would affect farm decisions?

[Boar]

praying for ya dew.!!!!

[Dotch]

0.06 inches of rain would affect farm decisions?

It does when it's off every time it's measured as this one has been del. A few tenths or more here and there per rainfall event can amount to several inches over the course of a growing season. I've recorded 35 rainfall events thus far since April in town and more than that at home since the gauge wasn't operational until April 7th here. That can make a major difference when it comes to recommendations for mobile nutrients such as nitrogen or in estimating crop condition. That's why after being asked, we decided to take on maintaining and reading another gauge here in town for Waseca county and the State Climatology Dept. I've been recording data for one at my farmstead since 2008 and have that data for our use at my fingertips. Great for settling arguments. He who has the most quality data wins!  Electronic gadgetry is fine but when it's consistently inconsistent as some of the gauges and techniques in the commercial systems have been, they have to go back to old school to correct their data. Climate Corp for instance is trying to estimate rainfall from satellite imagery and if you want to talk about erroneous data to base management decisions upon, there you have it. I have that service on my phone as well just to check it against my official gauge that's mounted in the middle of the area they're reporting. They've been off over 2" off not just once but several times! Can you imagine how much additional nitrogen might be recommended by using data like that? Their disclaimer at the bottom in the fine print is that they refine their numbers after a number of days and that if you think their numbers are off, you should notify them. Right. I sign up for a service and you want me to notify and correct your data for you? I don't think so. 

Lots of fascinating weather info and data on this site. I'm proud to be one of over 1500 volunteers in MN providing this data. It's used to determine flooding potential by the NWS when we have heavy rains, predict runoff in the spring from the snowfall measurements as well as for drought/water deficits. It's also used by commercial services to correct their data as you can see! 

http://www.climate.umn.edu/HIDENsityEdit/HIDENweb.htm

Since I am a bit of a weather freak, I also maintain a Skywarn ID to call in significant weather events such as, rainfall amounts, hail, tornadoes, etc. to the NWS in Chanhassen. Sometimes they even call me.

[delcecchi]

So, the gauge in question is consistently low?  Interesting problem of how to measure small rain events.
Thanks for interesting post.

[Dotch]

No del, it's just sorta all over the place and seems to be getting more erratic as the season wears on. Think the particular model in question uses the tipping bucket mechanism for measurement. Always possible some wiseacre may have stuck something in it over Farm and City Days. I purposely tucked the most recent plastic gauge well off the street to help avoid vandalism or tampering.  What I am guessing is the electronic gauges may need re calibration and probably some periodic maintenance just like the old school gauges. It may be full of dust or beeswings from the elevator next door, bird poop, or other assorted crud. The plastic model we use has a 4" diameter collection funnel with roughly a 1/4" hole in it which drops the precip into a center cylinder for measurements of up to one inch. For precip over an inch, the overflow is collected in the outer cylinder then measured back using the center cylinder. I need to clean the robin poop out of the funnel religiously to keep the hole from being plugged. Also clean the algae out when it starts to build up in the center cylinder. We always strive to maintain the quality of the data at a high level.   

[LPS]

Morning.  I ordered a rifled slug barrell and a Nikon scope for my 870 20 gauge.  Where I grew up in Luverne all we could use was slugs.  After years of shooting our bird guns a buddy and I got Ithaca Deer Slayers and man did they change everything.  We had to start aiming at vitals instead of volleying 2 or 3 shots at the body of a deer and hoping one of them hit somewhere.  I have always wanted to do the 20 gauge thing. 

The weekend is getting closer.  I have to work on Sat but am looing forward to Sunday to get some things done here.  I am also going to look at a 2002 Alumacraft 175 with a Honda 130 hp 4 stroke.  Does anyone have one of these.  Would like to know how you like it. I will post this elsewhere too, like in the boating forum. 

[Boar]

SGood luck Barry, hope it works out. Morning all. Wet here, lots of rain not sure how much but give ya an idea of how dry it was, my sump pump hasn't budge, I even checked to make sure its running and the want even any wather in the bottom, so this rain is much needed in this area. heading towards the weekend. working on a few things, hope to get out anc check some cams this weekend. I bought a new towy for the castle. alled    ICNUTZ, its a two and three nut system that allows the nuts to slip over the slow gear of the winch system the had a 1" socket and drill adaptor to raise the castle, with a 18v olt drill, haven't tried them out yet, but will this weekend. kinda spendy tho. Have a great day.

[Jerkbiat]

Good luck on the boat. Morning all. It is amazing how dry west central MN is/was and up here we are just drenched. The ground is saturated. When we get a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain there are puddles in the fields. It also makes it hard to get anything done outside after work. Glad you got some rain down your way Boar. I know it was needed. Still hoping to go pick some blue berries this weekend. If it don't rain. Have a good day all.

[HD]

Barry, I  believe that member "Wyofish" has a Honda on his boat. I personally have not had to work on one,  so I don't know of any issues. He drives his boat up in Canada with us every year, so maybe he'll chime in, or you can pm him for insight.

[glenn57]

morning all!!!!!!!! back in ramsey for a stint. working for the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! richmonds river lake days starting soon.

dotch............that was an AWESOME several posts about the rain gauges!!!!!!!!!! very interesting! thanks for the good read..............to bd boar needs pictures!!!!!

[cookie]

Jerkbait is there some good patches up your way South or north?