Waiting for the next round

Nirvana • Jun 19, 2010 12:01 am
We had around 7pm EST, what they are calling the equivalent of a category one hurricane! 90 mile an hour winds and silly me in the middle of the woods with no basement! :eek: Yes I am inland 80 miles east of Chicago.

I am on generator power and the first time I connected to the internet it was a rip roaring 19BPS!!! I am waiting for round 2 of these storms which they claim will only be 50-60 mile an hour winds! Whew that's a relief! :eyebrow:
monster • Jun 19, 2010 12:04 am
you're not that far from us! I enjoyed that storm (hit us around 9:15). Hurricane Schmuricane. although the fireflies stopped glowing in the worst of it.
Nirvana • Jun 19, 2010 12:07 am
We have no lawn furniture in our fenced backyard, probably somewhere in the mint field. 60,000 + without power.
monster • Jun 19, 2010 12:11 am
ours was nailed down. looks ike about 30, 000ish without power here. we had a few mini-cuts, but our lines are underground
Nirvana • Jun 19, 2010 12:19 am
We are the last house at the end of our electric line in the least populated township east of the Mississippi. I may get electric by Sun after I roast tomorrow all day! :rolleyes:

I hear the thunder coming on! My poor generator is on its own! If I disappear its probably a drowned out generator . . . I hope! :thepain:
HungLikeJesus • Jun 19, 2010 3:19 pm
Was that lawn furniture worth a mint?
monster • Jun 19, 2010 5:26 pm
South bend area?
glatt • Jun 21, 2010 11:26 am
Nirvana;664363 wrote:
probably somewhere in the mint field.


You have a field of mint? That's awesome! Do you sell it to someone? I guess I never thought about it, but I suppose it makes sense that some people grow mint commercially. Does it bring in the same prices as other crops?

We've got a few square yards of mint by the side of our house. Spearmint and peppermint.
jinx • Jun 21, 2010 11:29 am
We had peppermint growing at our last house. It was a constant battle to keep it from taking over everything.
glatt • Jun 21, 2010 12:08 pm
It smells awesome when you mow the stray plants that are trying to escape the bed.
Nirvana • Jun 21, 2010 12:28 pm
We send our mint to a distillery and the oil is sold for use in candy and toothpaste. It makes more $$$ than corn and soybeans but you can only grow it 4 years in a row.
glatt • Jun 21, 2010 12:49 pm
How do you harvest it? I guess going out there and pinching off a few leaves would be kind of slow. Do you do it by hand or is there some machine that will do it?
Pie • Jun 21, 2010 1:02 pm
bagging lawnmower? :eyebrow:
glatt • Jun 21, 2010 1:17 pm
exactly. I have no idea. Like can you bale it up the way you would hay? Do you cut it and let it dry and then bale? Or do you need it to stay fresh an moist, like lettuce?
Shawnee123 • Jun 21, 2010 1:19 pm
You need to soak it in cider.
Nirvana • Jun 21, 2010 1:22 pm
Its mowed much like hay and then wind rowed and it lays a day to wilt. Then its chopped and blown into a mint wagon that can be attached to the boiler at the distillery.
glatt • Jun 21, 2010 1:44 pm
Cool! Thanks. That kind of stuff interests me.
xoxoxoBruce • Jun 21, 2010 3:57 pm
Me too. :thumb:
Pete Zicato • Jun 21, 2010 4:20 pm
We had been having problems with ants in the kitchen. I read somewhere on the net that ants will avoid mint. So I planted some mint along the kitchen side of the house.

I dunno if it was the mint, but we hardly ever see ants in the house any more.
Shawnee123 • Jun 21, 2010 4:22 pm
AWESOME to not get ants!

I didn't get ants this year either. Dunno why.
monster • Jun 21, 2010 5:11 pm
Nirvana;665002 wrote:
Its mowed much like hay and then wind rowed and it lays a day to wilt. Then its chopped and blown into a mint wagon that can be attached to the boiler at the distillery.


distillery? it's used to make mint liqueur?
monster • Jun 21, 2010 5:12 pm
Shawnee123;665102 wrote:
AWESOME to not get ants!

I didn't get ants this year either. Dunno why.


Because that huge [COLOR="LemonChiffon"]spider [/COLOR]hiding under your table ate them all.......
Nirvana • Jun 21, 2010 5:14 pm
monster;665124 wrote:
distillery? it's used to make mint liqueur?


No but I suppose it could be :)
Gravdigr • Jun 21, 2010 5:33 pm
Did I just read earlier this week that there are less than 500 mint farmers in the U.S.?
Gravdigr • Jun 21, 2010 5:34 pm
maybe it was this.
Lamplighter • Jun 21, 2010 6:05 pm
Mint is a "weed" in our lawns and yards in PDX that kicks off attacks of asthma whenever I get around to mowing. For $10K I'd be willing to set aside a barrel-full once a summer.
Nirvana • Jun 21, 2010 7:31 pm
Gravdigr San Pierre is about 28 miles from me and North Judson about 5 miles closer.
monster • Jun 21, 2010 9:35 pm
Nirvana;665127 wrote:
No but I suppose it could be :)


then what is the mint you grow used for?
Nirvana • Jun 21, 2010 9:41 pm
Toothpaste , gum, candy
monster • Jun 21, 2010 9:47 pm
ooh, thanks, never even thought of those. I wonder if I've ever bought a product made from mint you've grown? I love peppermint.
Cloud • Jun 21, 2010 10:35 pm
who's buying? (bounce)

oh, wait . . . not that kind of round.

durn.
xoxoxoBruce • Jun 22, 2010 1:50 am
Lamplighter;665151 wrote:
Mint is a "weed" in our lawns and yards in PDX that kicks off attacks of asthma whenever I get around to mowing. For $10K I'd be willing to set aside a barrel-full once a summer.

I doubt your lawn is big enough to produce a barrel of mint oil.
Clodfobble • Jun 22, 2010 9:17 am
Nirvana wrote:
...but you can only grow it 4 years in a row.


Why is this?
glatt • Jun 22, 2010 9:34 am
Yeah. That's curious. We've had ours by the side of our house for like ten years.
Shawnee123 • Jun 22, 2010 9:39 am
I just figured it was normal crop rotation, because of nutrients?
Gravdigr • Jun 22, 2010 11:14 am
Shawnee123;665364 wrote:
I just figured it was normal crop rotation, because of nutrients?


That's what I was thinking...maintaining healthy soil.
xoxoxoBruce • Jun 22, 2010 1:22 pm
No you didn't, you thought after 4 years, Mars invaders would have found the field, and would eat Paddy O'Furniture. Fess up. :lol2: