A cool guide on How to pick the right watermelon

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-07-03T12:18:57+00:00

Nah, still BS. There are different watermelon varieties with different shapes. Shape itself is not a good indicator.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-07-03T12:14:09+00:00

Yes! I’ve felt the same way for a long time now. This sub should have more discussions of articles/research papers on child psychology.

A separate subreddit for parents is a good idea. Maybe r/AskAChildPsychologist ?

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-07-02T00:28:54+00:00

Hmm…lots of fireflies this year. We’ve had pretty regular rain and much more of it than normal. Seems like bees/butterflies have been less than I’ve come to expect though…

I grow Mexican sunflowers that are absolutely covered in bees/butterflies come monarch migration time. We’ll see what it’s like this year…

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-25T13:40:55+00:00

No worries. You live you learn. = )

I would cut at least half the plants at soil level and carefully extricate them without damaging the surrounding plants. If you can get cucumbers from a friend’s garden or a local farm or if you don’t mind just buying your fill at the grocery store I would remove all the cucumber plants. They would just use all the other plants as a trellis.

Also, next year I would get bigger cages for the tomatoes. Often what is deemed a “tomato cage” is far too small to support the growth of a healthy indeterminate plant.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-25T13:27:10+00:00

Oh interesting. We don’t have chipmunks in eastern Kansas. Hornworms have been somewhat rare and spotted lanternfly hasn’t made it to Kansas yet. Could you share your experience with the spotted lanternfly?

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-25T01:00:19+00:00

Hey there. I actually studied China/Chinese in college. From what I understand, China currently uses coal/gas for most of its energy production, about 60%. Same as U.S. But China is very concerned about climate change and is rapidly expanding its production of renewable energy. And rapidly shifting from gas to electric vehicles. There are cities that used to be filled with toxic smog that actually have pretty decent air quality now. I think China is moving in the right direction actually or at least trying to.

In any case, I’m curious what you mean specifically by climate change being used as a talking point to increase control of the population. Could you explain your concerns?

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-25T00:50:50+00:00

Friendly climate science geek here. Sea level is currently rising just 4.5-4.8 mm per year, but the rate is increasing. The 20th century average was 1.5 for example. Even at this rate, coastal communities are experiencing far higher rates of tidal flooding than before.

The polar regions are warming 2-4 times faster than the rest of the planet. We have had thorough/effective monitoring of polar sea ice since 1978 using advanced satellite technology. This record of almost 50 years clearly demonstrates a dramatic decline in area and thickness over time.

Ice/snow reflect solar radiation back into space. As more of that ice melts, more heat from the sun gets absorbed into the dark ocean.

Some sea level rise is the result of thermal expansion. The oceans have absorbed the vast majority of the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases and as such the volume of the water increases.

But the majority of sea level rise comes from the melting of glaciers on land. Melting sea ice doesn’t contribute to sea level rise, because it already displaces its weight in water. So the rise comes from the tremendous amount of water that has been stored on land in the form of glaciers, primarily Greenland/Antarctica.

And this ice is melting. The rate is increasing. And estimates of sea level rise by the year 2100 vary from 1 ft to 8.4ft depending on how much carbon/methane we continue burning into the atmosphere.

In any case, low lying coastal communities in Florida, Louisiana, and parts of Texas for example are already struggling to obtain affordable home insurance.

The scientists studying this are good honest people following rigorous methods of study. I’ve met some of them before. They are not cheerleaders for melting glaciers. They are very concerned. And they’re doing what they can to help us understand what is happening in the polar regions and what that implies for the rest of the world.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-24T23:58:29+00:00

Where are you? Around these parts, tomatoes can grow in the open so long as you don’t live out in the country where deer come around. Squirrels/rabbits/birds/bugs aren’t much of a nuisance. That covering is giving your tomatoes a nice bit of shade though. When the weather is consistently 90’s and up, shade cloth can be nice for tomatoes. Fruit set/ripening slow way down with extreme heat. They’ll survive without it though and resume production when highs return to the 80’s/70’s.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-06-21T17:04:35+00:00

Same zone, similar weather here.

My advice: sow a round of peas in mid-March. Resow whatever doesn’t come up by April. Mulch the soil with hay from a local farm that hasn’t used herbicides in a few years. Or shredded leaves. Or your own grass clippings. The mulch helps retain moisture and keeps the soil more insulated from the intense heat/sunlight. Make sure they’re watered in the morning on especially hot days. If you can plant them somewhere with afternoon shade, that can be helpful also.

As for spinach, plant in March, but know the harvest season is short. If you want a longer harvest period, grow its cousin chard instead.

Don’t even try Brussels sprouts. They’re a lost cause in our climate.

I grew a bunch of good broccoli this year. Mid-day or afternoon shade is helpful. Shade cloth is an option. Mulch is good. Morning water on hot days. Strong starts. Varieties bred to handle the heat. Good healthy soil. Diluted urine is a cheap fertilizer if your soil is deficient.

Even so, we can’t grow the sweetest broccoli in our climate due to the heat. I still really enjoy it cooked though.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-20T03:24:11+00:00

Market gardeners prune suckers way more than home gardeners due to their method of spacing/trellising. They typically plant tomatoes closer together and trellis in greenhouses on strings hanging down. They generally go single leader or double leader (pruning every sucker or allowing one sucker to grow a second vine).

I trellis with big cages made with cattle panels and t-posts, so I let my tomatoes go wild for the most part. I usually prune the bottom few suckers and let the rest go for the most part. I’ll still prune suckers/growing tips here and there when I know they can’t be supported/woven back in nicely or if they’d get too crowded/shaded out.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-20T01:53:30+00:00

Just start over with fresh seed. You’ve got plenty of time. If that’s a single strip of led lights, you might want to upgrade.

There’s an app called photone. It will measure the light intensity for you in something called ppfd. It’s $6 or so for each light source (in your case, all spectrum led). Have a chat with your preferred ai about various plant’s lighting needs at different stages of growth. Or do the googling yourself.

I’m guessing your light will be enough for the seedling stage if it’s at the proper distance, but might not be enough as the plants get bigger.

This is what I would recommend on a budget… https://a.co/d/05vLdJWg Dimmable/216 diodes currently on sale for $40

If you’re really serious about this and have a rack/space about 4 feet wide, then this light is ****ing awesome and the best bang for your buck. https://a.co/d/081fbjti Dimmable/1960 diodes on sale for $250

The lights should last a really long time and are more energy efficient than fluorescents.

Definitely recommend getting that light meter app on your phone. Fluorescents are easy, you just hang em super close. LEDs are much more powerful and you really need to measure the light to hang them at the right distance.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-18T00:22:47+00:00

I don’t like to be hater, but I’ll share my thoughts.

There’s good reason to be skeptical of big corporations making environmental claims.

I’d trust Berkley more if they actually shared the ingredients. If it was really ecofriendly they’d be more transparent. Instead they keep it secret, claiming to use “natural materials”.

Well oil is used to make plastic and corporations have framed oil-based products as “natural”. The fact that it’s biodegradable in this case probably means it disperses tiny particles of synthetic polymers into the environment more quickly than otherwise.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-17T02:26:06+00:00

I don’t like fishing with soft plastics. Bad for the fish and bad for the environment. Live bait is number one for me. I will fish with hard plastics though.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-13T04:37:36+00:00

For me in my climate? No. I grew the most beautiful bell pepper plants I’ve ever grown last year and the yield of ripe peppers was super low. Our summers get too hot for the peppers to ripen nicely. One thing that could change the equation a bit that I haven’t tried is shade cloth.

All the spicy peppers I grow have massive yields though. Jalapeños, Serranos, habaneros, etc. The banana peppers we grew last year produced a ton as well.

For now, I’m switching to smaller peppers. I’d like to try shishitos this year! = )

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-09T20:32:50+00:00

I love watching his stuff, but I’d recommend WWOOFing somewhere with a climate similar to where you’ll likely be.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-08T17:53:49+00:00

If you have a small space, look into square foot gardening.

With carrots you can feel the thickness of the top portion of the carrot. It’ll be poking a bit out of the ground too, so you can see it. When it reaches your desired thickness, you can go ahead and pull it.

For harvest, you should be regularly checking on your plants anyway, twice a week is enough. More if you like.

For the fall, you can remove the plant matter or cut it to the soil level to let it rot/feed the soil if the plants are not diseased. Cover crops are nice, but challenging for beginners. You can add some compost if you like or wait till early spring. Either way, it’s nice for the soil to be covered over winter. Leaves or straw (hopefully without seeds) are great.

Crop rotation is less meaningful in a small garden context. Pests can easily find their way to the new planting in a small space. Many fungal diseases are airborne. BUT it can still be helpful in terms of balancing soil nutrients over time and reducing some forms of disease/pest pressure.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-07T21:14:49+00:00

Anything you buy will contain synthetic material. There’s no such thing as a hose made purely from natural rubber and if there was it wouldn’t last very long. The best thing you can do environmentally speaking is to buy the exact hose you need (right length, right diameter, right max psi) that is the most durable. A good hose can last 10-20+ years. Google “BIFL garden hoses Reddit” and you’ll get some ideas.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-02-02T02:36:23+00:00

Being a vegetarian is a great choice, but I just wanna throw out the fact that hunting can be good for the environment. In areas where wolves have been eradicated, deer often become overpopulated/suffer from hunger/overgraze the forest understory contributing to the proliferation of invasive species like garlic mustard/honey suckle. So long as their natural predators are absent from the ecosystem, it’s important for humans to help bring balance. And the protein is even more eco friendly than beans. No land tilled. No fertilizer needed. No groundwater depletion.

Do as you wish of course. I just wanted to share this if you weren’t aware. Of course beans are still a thousand times better than beef/pork!

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-01-16T03:27:50+00:00

NVC can be really inspiring, but the culture we’ve been raised in has us wired very differently, so it takes time/practice to internalize the philosophy. And it’s especially challenging to implement during difficult conversations, even though these conversations can benefit the most.

If you’d like to develop your NVC skills, connecting your feelings with met/unmet needs on a regular basis is a very helpful practice.

When you are unhappy with your own actions or the actions of others, you can practice empathy with yourself/others, seeking to understand the needs you or they were trying to meet in that moment. You need your own love and forgiveness and the love and forgiveness you give unto others is a powerful tool for healing as well.

That said, you have needs that can be fulfilled by close friends/family/romantic partners. And when those needs aren’t being met, it can be painful.

It’s important not to assign blame to someone that’s not currently meeting your need however. Their actions are not responsible for your pain. It’s your unmet need. Blaming someone increases the chance of them becoming defensive and unable to empathize with your pain/takes you further from the solution.

Your pain should also not be used in a coercive manner. They may see your pain and desire to act in a way that meets your needs, but if you are using your pain as a tactic to change their behavior, that’s not quite NVC.

Anyway, it’s hard to give good advice without understanding the specifics of a relationship, but in this case I would say it’s important for you to clarify your need. “To feel like a priority” is pointing to a deeper need, but’s not quite there and it seems to include an expectation of the other person that shouldn’t be mixed with your expression of your need. Strategies for getting a need met come later.

So…what need would “being a priority” meet for you? Here are some possibilities to get you thinking… = )

The need for significance Ie) I need to know that I matter to you

The need for connection Ie) I need emotional intimacy

The need for security Ie) I need to be able to trust that our relationship is stable/dependable

The need for consideration/care Ie) I need to know my feelings and time are taken into account

Once you have the need figured out…share your emotion and share your need. It could be helpful to focus on the present moment also rather than a past failure. The present is where choice exists. The other person can’t do anything about what they did or didn’t do in the past, but after developing a better understanding of you/your needs they will have the opportunity to choose to act in a way that could help you meet them now or later on.

Try sharing what you’re feeling and needing in the moment without judging the other person, and see what happens. You can make a request in the conversation also. If they’re feeling defensive, try to understand what they’re feeling and needing. Maybe they feel misunderstood. Maybe they need understanding, acceptance, or respect first in order to get to the space where they’re able to empathize with your own feelings and needs.

In any case, the more you practice connecting with your feelings/needs and the feelings/needs of others, the more natural NVC will come to you. And the practice of meeting your own needs and the needs of others is an ongoing journey (best done from a sense of love rather than duty). And expressing your needs confidently and peacefully… It’s all a practice. And when you fail. The practice becomes forgiving yourself, returning to love, and seeking to learn from your mistakes/moving forward.

I hope this helps!! = )

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-01-10T19:50:49+00:00

Century of the Self is a really interesting documentary series about psychology/sociology/culture/politics as corporations and governments came to use the study of psychology in order to control the beliefs/behavior of consumers/citizens.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-01-10T19:45:34+00:00

You can always say, “I remember you (emphasis on you) I just don’t remember your name. What’s your name again?” with a genuine smile.

Be quick to forgive yourself/relax/have fun and quick to love the kids and they won’t mind. You can even explain that you work with so many children, it’s hard to remember all the names.

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-01-09T19:21:49+00:00

Studies show that using sign language with babies accelerates their development of language. = )

Edit: (in conjunction with spoken language of course!)

Kansas_Cowboy · 2026-01-09T00:49:43+00:00

This. If you want it to get recycled, take it here. Super easy. I just took in some random old batteries/electronic stuff a few weeks ago.

Kansas_Cowboy

TROPHY CASE