[Clayart] re-purpose sorta off topic

[mae spencer]

Amen,
, we are on the same page on most things, but I really do experiment quite
a bit, just because the unknown holds so much intrigue.


On Thu, May 26, 2022, 1:41 PM mel jacobson <melpots at mail.com> wrote:

> I have found that many potters are natural at
> re-purposing their chemicals and clay.  It seems
> that the lack of ball clay and other chemicals seems
> to be fixing itself.  My commercial friends are getting
> their orders filled for ready made clay.
>
> I know I have enough scrap clay up here at the farm to keep
> me going for the summer.  I have built two more drying slabs
> of plaster to speed up the process. My pug mill has been busy.
>
> With the rise of prices, we all have to get our re-purpose minds
> working overtime.  A can of Campbells tomato soup was $2.18 the other
> day. no thanks.  I am making my own soup stock with chicken skin and
> bullion.  We have added a great many veggies to our gardens. I am trading
> pots for pounds of venison.
>
> I heard a funny comment the other day. "We have to teach farmers to use
> their own fertilizer, not buy it."(big city person}  Sunday after church I
> was sitting with
> three 60 year old farmers.  Real farmers.  I said. "Will any farmers be
> affected
> by the price rise is commercial fertilizer?"  They looked at me like I was
> off balance. "Hell no was the answer."  Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa have
> very rich soil.  It is cared for.  A farmer would not dispose of an ice
> cream
> pail of cow poo.  It all goes on all the fields.  They rotate everything.
> Many of
> them as prices have been going up plant rye in the fall, and plow it over
> before they plant.  They re-purpose everything. They told me that in bad
> soil
> with big commercial farms they have to add nitrogen.
>
> All septic systems have to be pumped out several times a year and some
> counties
> near the rivers will monitor your intake of water...All of that is put on
> fallow
> fields. Two days of sunshine will clean the field..And the farmers and
> their families
> and pets stay off those fields for about six months.
>
> We raise thousands of turkeys near my farm.  The "Turkey Store" plant is
> 18 miles
> from my home.  When their raising pens are empty of birds, the entire
> floor is cleaned
> and the "guano" is like gold. Not a shovel full is wasted.
>
> The big farms in our area are sometimes incorporated. It is just good
> sense. The farms
> are run by the grandchildren of our local farmers. They are young people
> that run farms
> as business. They usually go to small colleges in our area and major in
> "AG".
> Not many city kids major in AG. NOt a farmer anyplace wants to go back to
> "Family Farming"'
> That would be cows, chickens, pigs, horses, five grain crops and self
> storage. No one
> can do that much work.  Now they study "hydronics, hedge fund selling, and
> the price of corn.
>
> A totally true life story.  Dale Cuper, a neighbor stopped for coffee two
> years ago.
> He was upset. He milks with help, 100 cows  (twice a day).  He said that
> "cow 96 died during the night.
> He had milked her for years. He knew how many pounds that cow gave him
> over her lifetime
> and the number of calves she had given him. IN most cases, farmers love
> their animals. Dale Cuper
> sure does.
>
> So many people instead of bitching are learning to cut back, re-purpose
> and make do. As potters
> we already know much of it. It is a life style that I am proud to be a
> part of.
>
> Why do I talk all the time about speeding up your firing time. Learn to
> down fire, get the cones over
> as fast as you can.  Use the waste heat of your kiln to super dry pots.
> Get them out in the sun
> and wind. Re-cycle all of your clay. Keep your glazes clean.  Make what
> you need, and maybe not
> make six new glazes, use your best glazes that sell all the time. Don't
> waste anything.
> mel
>
>
> website: www.melpots.com
> www.melpots.com/CLAYART.HTML
>
>
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