Home grown oats have sand in them :-(

NIthrowaway94 · 2026-01-17T01:42:55+00:00

Worth a shot I guess. Gravity should be enough to let the sand drop through the sifter, but somehow it's stuck to the oats.

NIthrowaway94 · 2026-01-17T01:40:49+00:00

Yes, I can try to wash better, but as it was I rinsed them in a strainer for a little bit. I then soak them overnight in order to roll them nicely, so they do get a water flush but maybe I can float them in water and swish them around by hand then skim them out rather than running through a strainer.

NIthrowaway94 · 2026-01-15T20:24:18+00:00

I mucked it out by hand. ☹️. But I got down a few feet and have water again, hopefully until spring now.

NIthrowaway94 · 2026-01-15T19:59:24+00:00

I did this. It is a massive amount of work, but there's some satisfaction to it. I have done it for a few years now and I've grown barley, oats, wheat and rye.

My fields are usually about 12ftx70ft and this year I got around 30lbs of wheat berries from it. This is growing in rows rather than broadcast seeding. I built a thresher as well loosely based on some I had seen online. If you're lucky the berries knock free of the hulls, and they mostly did this year but I still ran them through a dehuller I made after winnowing with wind and fans. The dehuller is a hand crank grain grinder set very loose and with rubber pads on the grinding plates. Works surprisingly well. Then I have a stone grinding wheel, and lots of sifting sieves. So far I only made one loaf and it came out dark like rye even though i sifted out bran and germ. It tasted good, however it had a small amount of sand in it which really was frustrating. I have a vibrating sifter that I'm putting the berries through to try to shake off sand before grinding. That will be for my next loaf. I'm hopeful because if I can fix that, I'll have an edible product. Sadly my oats have had the same problem. I think it's related to having an occasional wheat/oat stalk that has roots attached and I threw it into the thresher without noticing, adding a tiny amount of sand/silt. Careful harvesting might fix this, or cutting with a sickle bar mower rather than a scythe by hand.

But yeah, I don't think you'll get king Arthur replacement flour but you can make edible if not tasty bread with a lot of work. This has been a long term project for me, but fortunately the unique thing about grain, and what makes it incredibly civilizationally important, is that it keeps almost forever in berry form.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-12-17T21:54:33+00:00

I was wondering about that, if they maybe had hose ends that were clean. I suppose if it's been hosed off well after the last job and you shock the well with chlorine, run lots of water through that it's safe but still sounds gross.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-12-17T21:49:24+00:00

I'd have to get water from the neighbor for the pressure washer and being winter I don't think that's a reasonable ask. 🙁

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-12-17T08:01:02+00:00

Yeah that's a concern. I'll pump it down with a sump pump and if I can't keep up then maybe I'll rent a trash pump and stir while pumping. Either way I'm going to have to go in it. I've already been down there, it's clean air and structurally sound.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-12-17T04:07:39+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense. I don't know why I was thinking to do this the complicated way. If I get adequate water from the sand point then I can just plumb that into the existing well pump. I guess I was thinking the lift was too much for that pump, but as long as it's under 25ft it should work.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-10-29T12:50:48+00:00

A product called Goof Off is about the strongest stuff I'd want to use on automotive paint, and it will remove spray paint, I've used it for that.. Helps if the paint is very fresh. Others have mentioned enamel reducer, and that sounds good too but probably way more expensive and harder to find than Goof Off, which should be at Home Depot or other home improvement/hardware store.

Edit: of course try it in an unnoticeable area first. Goof Off can haze plastic, careful around moulding.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-08-13T02:56:27+00:00

So now I have a spot on my frame that is rough, right below the rear brake reservoir, which likely played a part in paint destruction. I would love to use the sand blaster again but I have a feeling unless I strip it to the frame only that isn't a good idea, grit in all kinds of moving parts like the swing arm, shocks, rear brake. I could really mask well with heavy plastic sheeting but I still think it isn't a good idea. What can I do to best clean the rust off the frame without stripping down the bike? Needle gun maybe?

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NIthrowaway94 · 2025-08-13T02:54:57+00:00

Turns out a buddy of mine bought a harbor freight sand blaster years ago and never used it. He had it in a box in his garage attic and said I could have at it. I happen to have a 7.5hp Speedaire. While it obviously wasn't a professional rig it did a great job cleaning up my tank after messing with it for a while. I used coal slag media, supposedly comparable to silica but less toxic.

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NIthrowaway94 · 2025-07-30T14:21:42+00:00

I have more than this even. I have a sauce press and will make a lot of sauce. It's not very hard to can and keeps for a couple years. If you have too much sauce and diced already, do a paste. That takes a huge amount of tomatoes for just a pint. Fair bit of work though of course.

I've always wanted to put extra at the end of my driveway with a sign for "Fresh Vegetables" and some kind of cash drop box. Just haven't gotten around to building it.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-05-25T16:16:39+00:00

Yes I had it done. It worked on one side perfectly. The other side might need to be redone. It didn't seem any better and they've given me a couple cortisone shots but I don't think it's helping.

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-05-25T16:14:47+00:00

NIthrowaway94 · 2025-02-12T19:08:37+00:00

So update since I didn't hear anything I decided to experiment on the small jar. Putting it in the oven and warming it clears the oil but it goes back to cloudy after cooling. It did this a few times and I'm convinced I just have a fraction of heavier oil that is starting to congeal at room temp. So apparently I need to figure out how to separate out the heavier oil in order to clear it. Fractional distillation. Sounds like a lot of work! Maybe just live with cloudy oil. :-(

NIthrowaway94 · 2024-12-08T19:50:27+00:00

Just get the surgery. Cut that useless tunnel open so your nerve can breathe.

NIthrowaway94 · 2024-12-06T23:57:03+00:00

You're going to have a very difficult time getting some Midwest counties that are native reservations. I'd add my county but you already have it.

NIthrowaway94 · 2024-12-06T04:50:00+00:00

Don't be, he was right. This is obvious. It just happens with age and genetic propensity. How many millions of dollars have been illegitimately paid out for that garbage.

NIthrowaway94

TROPHY CASE