[Clayart] re-purpose sorta off topic

[robert hackert]

Hi Mel. Good to see you are posting. Availability, here in SW Florida of clay has been an issue. High water Clay in Clearwater was at one point 20,000 lbs short of clay. They are now down to still empty shelves, on particular bodies.
Makes me mourn selling my PP.
Rob Hackert
North Port, Fl

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 26, 2022, at 2:40 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
> 
> 
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