Category Archives: Uncategorized

I am building a small jonboat for my daughter’s pond.

It is just 8 feet long. Mostly plywood.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I call huckleberries any small, wild blueberries.  Well, I decided to find out which ones actually are huckleberries.

In the large patch near me there are at least 3 different types of berries.  Two of them look like normal blueberries but grow on low bushes or high bushes.  Strangely enough these are called High Bush and Low Bush Blueberries. The 3rd one is a very high bush.  The berries are darker.  Almost black.  And shiny.  Blueberries have a dull coating on them.  And these berries don’t have as much of a “crown” on them, as I call it, like blueberries do.

These are Black Huckleberries.  They taste different, but good.  The seeds are harder.  They have what I consider an almost cherry taste.

In my several acre patch of berries, the Black Huckleberries appear to be the most abundant.  Maybe because they grow above the rest.  The blueberries are often hidden under the huckleberries.  Also the blueberries seem to ripen sooner than the huckleberries.  Although some berries from all are ripe at the same time.  At this writing many blueberries are almost done while most of the huckleberries are just ripening.

But that varies a lot with amount of sunlight.

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These are huckleberries for as far as the eye can see.

The strange thing is that they are a wide assortment of types of blueberries.  Some huckleberries, some high bush, some low.  I use the generic term huckleberry for any wild, smaller blueberries.

Last year there wasn’t one berry.  This year they are loaded.  Now if I could just get some ripe ones before the bears strip them clean.  Bears don’t wait for them to ripen.…

Crows ate most of the corn seeds I planted before they sprouted.   The rest they pulled out after they were growing.   So I have resorted to the black arts before I replant.

(Note: The scary breathing is just the way my normal breathing sounds on video.  Another reason I like being a hermit.)

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Lily found a dead turkey.

So I collected a few feathers.

I found a use for one.

I call it macaroni.…

Last year it seemed almost every rain storm that came this way would disappear just before it arrived or it would pass to the north or the south.   The crops suffered greatly.

So this year I am setting up a way to easily water the field.

I am using a solar powered submersible pump and will be connecting it to soaker hoses that I can put along the field rows.

I may pump water from the spring to a storage tank and then gravity feed it.  Or collect rainwater in the tank and pump it to the fields.   I will see what works the best.

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I don’t often seek to communicate directly with visitors to this website.
But I am looking for land and need some help.

I truly love my little piece of heaven here at Pithole. But 3 acres is just too small. My neighboring property owners are good people but they are not looking to sell any of their land.
So I have decided to look elsewhere for more land. I have some savings and can spend about $40000 give or take maybe $20000 or so depending on the property.
I would like at least 10 acres, preferably much more. Mostly wooded but with at least a few acres tillable.  And it must be isolated.  Meaning nearest neighbor over 2 miles away and nearest town over 10 miles away.  The land needs to be suitable for living on permanently but rusticly.  Water needs to be available but sewage and electricity are optional.  I will be off grid as I am now.
At this point I am looking at places like West Virginia. Because it is beautiful and much like my current location and land can be had for $1000/acre or less.
Here in Pennsylvania land is way over-priced but I would happily remain here if I could find some good property at a good price.
I would consider other places such as Kentucky or Tennessee but not any further south. Also the northern Rockies would be great. Like Montana, Idaho or Wyoming.  But land out there is way too over-priced.
And finally New Hampshire or Maine.
So if any of you who have accidentally found this website and know of, or have, such land available please contact me. Either directly at hermit@pithole.com.   Or in the comments below.

I will ALWAYS keep my land open to anyone respecting my land.  Others can use my land to survive while passing through.  And I will never turn away a starving man or his family in temporary need.
-Edward Clark.…