January 30, 2024 • 39 mins
Dive into an all-encompassing episode where we cast light on a myriad of intriguing topics. From the adventurous world of homesteading with the launch of our Versure Artisan and Farmer's Market to the potential future of the classic small pickup truck, we leave no stone unturned in this captivating conversation.
We dig deep into the car industry's shift from the small but mighty pickup trucks to the 'bigger is better' paradigm, underscoring the gradual replacement of these vehicle marvels by larger models, SUVs, and crossovers. Share our fascination as we discuss the versatility of recent models from Japan and China and the entrance of sustainable transportation movers like Ford and Rivian.
Join the conversation on TikTok @BrokensShovelFarm, Facebook, or email us at BrokenShovel802@gmail.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:13):
Happy tuesday everybody welcome to broken shovel homesteading for a sustainable future,
to date of release why are you laughing at
me again last week you did the whole the date of release is or all data is current
to sunday but then this time you're saying tuesday so you did you go back and
(00:35):
forth i'm wildly inconsistent i love date of release is is January 30th.
Date of recording is January 28th. All information is current as of the 28th.
And if you're going to do this, I'm going to railroad here for a second,
because if there are people around that secretly listen to this podcast that
I know, I want to share that the Verscher Artisan and Farmer's Market is fully official.
(01:00):
I am starting a farmer's market, Probably one of the more difficult things to
do in Vermont, but doing it.
519 through 915, 27 Verscher Center Road.
I'm super excited. You're going to hear a lot more about it.
We've got vendors signing up. We've got musicians signing up.
I have worked with the Select Board and an existing not-for-profit town,
(01:23):
Verscher, has taken me under their umbrella to get this done. I'm hyper excited.
On with the show. I want to say that it's very much a field of dreams situation
because there is always a demand for farmer's markets and the market.
Build it and they will come. Exactly.
(01:43):
Yeah. Like, and they, all the, the ones that quote, like the South Whartleton
farmer's market, which we talked about back over the summer and their,
their choices that made it fail.
And what's probably going to make yours a success is
like they they went to a friday market which put them in direct competition
with a very well established market whereas you're going to sundays where there
(02:08):
is nothing in regards to markets yep and and even like uh you know but there
are farm stands around but.
You know, that is reliable, and I encourage people to continue to go to those.
You're going to find things at those farm stands on farms that you might not find at the market.
But this is an opportunity to support more than one company and farm and artists and musicians.
(02:34):
And there's just so much more to a community event like this than there is to a farm stand.
And, you know, just the opportunity to do this with people and for people is just really exciting.
But today, not 519, I'll do a whole episode on farmer's markets at some point.
We should do that. We should.
(02:57):
So today we are talking about the sort of de-evolution of the pickup truck, I'm going to call this.
The slow death of the small pickup truck, the Ford Rangers, the Datsun B210 is a favorite of mine.
The Jeep, the Mitsubishi, the old tiny Toyota, the S10,
(03:23):
but like the Colorado, like my truck, my Colorado truck actually used to be
sized closer to the old Ranger size.
And I like that you use the slow death because this slow death has been actually
going on since the 70s and the 80s. Yes, yes, it has.
(03:43):
And we seem to be at a crossroads now of opportunity, but we'll get to that. Yes. Yeah, so...
These days of the small pickup are fading very fast.
In the U.S. In the U.S. Yes. Europe, Asia, everywhere else. They love the small truck.
(04:05):
Not even just the small truck, the tiny truck. The mini trucks. Yes.
Yeah. Not made to haul an 18-wheeler.
Not made to haul an 18-wheeler. Not made to go 75 while hauling said 18-wheeler.
So the once-thriving market in the U.S. for small pickups has shrunk to a shadow
(04:27):
of its former self, leaving behind a landscape dominated by behemoth full-size
trucks that guzzle gas like there's no tomorrow.
And we're going to talk about what drove that shift.
And we're going to start with the scapegoat most often used by manufacturers.
And we're going to start with the EPA and fuel economy. The CAF regulations,
(04:51):
or CAFE, sorry, CAFE regulations.
Yes. The corporate average fuel economy regulations is the one that all the
auto manufacturers and the term I like to use, car brains,
point to as to what killed the small, small truck industry.
(05:13):
Because we're currently seeing a resurgence in the quote-unquote small truck industry,
but they're really mid-sized trucks because the new Ranger is the same size as a 2000s model F-150.
Yeah, and they do just keep getting bigger and bigger over the last 20 years.
(05:34):
So yeah so the the larger trucks
have improved their mileage that is true but apparently
small trucks struggled to meet these targets that were put forth by the epa
and it put manufacturers in a situation where it was becoming more expensive
to make a small truck and now we they they just go with the big truck where
(05:59):
they can fit in equipment,
I guess, to help with emissions?
You know, that was kind of my main question. I couldn't really find an answer
to it. They are getting more efficient vehicles.
The thing is, is it's actually, they're moving the goalposts.
What I found is that, yes, they're basically, the numbers look the same.
(06:21):
That's only because the actual volume of the vehicle is getting larger.
So it's like, yeah, you're still getting the same mileage out of,
or you're getting slightly better mileage, but it's only looks better because
the physical size of the vehicle is bigger.
And you're getting more horsepower out of that same mileage.
(06:42):
So it's like they just keep moving the goalposts further and further away without
actually improving the mileage itself.
Okay. Well, and that kind of brings – when we talk about this,
the bigger is better mentality that has been sold to Americans.
Yeah. and it's bigger and better in the both the media and the ads advertising
(07:05):
of the manufacturers but i mean i also look at like look at how many actual
physical cars are made now.
There's not like the chevy the only one left on the chevy market besides the
the the camaro which which is its own side thing, but is the Malibu.
(07:28):
They've discontinued every other car.
Same thing with Ford. Ford has discontinued everything except for the Mustang.
Yeah, the Mustang is the only car car left that Ford made. Really?
No more no more yeah no more
and there's a number of other ones but they've also like mitchie b she's a great
(07:52):
example another great example they shifted like the eclipse the eclipse used
to be a great little little sporty car that was reasonably priced in 2018 they
did a quote quote-unquote, redesign,
and now the Eclipse is a crossover.
No kidding. So, yeah, the auto manufacturers have actually, in America,
(08:17):
stopped making cars because it is harder to meet fuel efficiency standards with
a car than it is with a crossover or an SUV.
Basically, they got loopholes written into the
regulations regulations that allow them to make big
suvs and etc that over making
(08:39):
cars okay so
let's let's talk about the mentality of the american first real
quick and this bigger is better it's the thinking
right so full-size trucks these are these are
selling points for a full-size truck not that i endorse them
more power towing capacity leather
seats built-in coolers now they have
(09:00):
staircases that go up the back of them there what
is it the shit the shit there are the gmc like
the 16 multi-function tailgate yeah and it's safety that's the the article a
lot of the articles i read said that it is easier to get safety features into
(09:20):
the bigger vehicles than it is to get into to the smaller vehicles.
Yeah. And you're more likely to even still attract people who are older or have
some mobility issues to get a large truck if you have ways of using it,
like putting a staircase on it.
So it created this weird price paradox, right?
(09:44):
So pushing larger models
like this that the dealers and manufacturers are
offering all these discounts and toyota thon and all
that crap i personally don't celebrate toyota
thon but some people take it very seriously i actually
i have i have one number actually on that one
so the difference so the call the the bare bones out
(10:07):
of the factory no bells and whistles whatsoever chevy
colorado with the v6 engine starts out
at 25k from Chevy the Silverado which is a much larger vehicle same exact engine
but with bigger body bigger cab bigger bed and all that it starts out at 27k a 2k difference.
(10:33):
And that's the thing is like with the American brain is that,
oh my God, for $2,000, I get that much more truck.
Right. Well, that brings me to my point. Why buy compact when you can buy King
size and, you know, and that's, you know, we see it in the candy aisle now or at the grocery aisle.
TVs, TVs are a great example of this.
(10:56):
Yeah. The technology is so much better on a television that you don't necessarily
need a bigger television, you know? Nope. I mean, And I can buy a 72-inch for $700 now.
Actually, I think my current one I got for $600.
I walked through Walmart recently and was just flabbergasted at how inexpensive the TVs are.
(11:19):
Yeah, and they're huge. That's the thing. They're inexpensive and huge.
Yeah, and practically disposable at this point right now.
So just wait until that comes back to bite us in the ass.
Uh yeah so yeah so
now the days of the small pickup being the default choice
for weekend warriors and practical practices
(11:39):
is gone suvs and crossovers
captured that market yep similar cargo
space better fuel economy and passenger
comfort right so so the small pickup truck turned
into the suv and the big pickup
truck yep yeah and i want to like so
know then another another car that i i pointed out the
(12:00):
d so the ranger is one that that has come
back from retirement but it's about the the new rangers is about a like across
the board averages out is five percent
bigger so when we was retired in 12 brought back in 19 and yeah Yeah,
(12:21):
the new one is about 5% bigger across the board. No kidding. Yep.
And a lot of the articles that I read saw that the death knells really started
back in the 70s and 80s when the quote-unquote chicken tax was enacted,
(12:46):
which is a very high import tax that was placed on vehicles coming from overseas.
Which is at which point we saw the Jeeps, less of the Jeeps,
less of the Mitsubishis, less of the Toyotas, because manufacturers.
They don't like having, they don't like building factories if they don't have to.
(13:07):
So they made these they made these
smaller trucks in asia or europe and
then would import them to the united states but then
when the chicken tax was enacted they they stopped
being able to import them but then also didn't want
to repurpose or build their factories to.
Make those vehicles here because they're like well why are
(13:29):
we going to have two factories building the same vehicle right yeah
and and that's why we still one of the major contributing factors
to why we still see see these practical trucks overseas and
and you and i had a great time this morning sort of sending uh talking
about some of these mini trucks and and work trucks
and things and yeah which the auto that's
an auto manufacturers lobbied to make those
(13:51):
vehicles illegal on the road
there are states that actually have laws on the books that
you cannot you cannot have those on the
roads vermont is not one of those states you can
register them as an off-road vehicle in vermont and
run them on any any roads in the state yeah yep
and i'm i'm gonna start putting some money in my
(14:13):
piggy bank for one i think i think this is a big life goal
even imported from overseas with this 25 import tax they're still like when
you're the the they're only 10k 10k coming over so oh my god another two thousand
five hundred dollars on the price on this import and you're still saving.
(14:34):
What 10 000 10 20 000 yeah yeah
it's it's cuckoo bananas and they are very
fuel efficient i saw a lot of the ones the newer ones are
27 to 35 miles to the gallon
yeah and come on it's the perfect vehicle for a
farmer's market it's it's like it's the
dream you would fold down the side pull everything off yeah
(14:55):
because you can get the hot what is it the the hot soup van
one yeah real really chill like yeah
for that for that kind of purpose and i mean i we.
Said the fire truck the fire truck looks like yeah one that
actually has a the cargo actually with the
scissor lift yes yes me and meg
are looking at that one super cool yeah they're
(15:16):
really cool they they mainly come from uh japan
and china right now um dahatsu mitsubishi
are uh two of the big manufacturers manufacturers of
them yeah and they're very reasonably priced
like even like the the new 2023 models like
fully decked out ones with like heaters comfortable
(15:37):
seats and all that 22 000 yeah
it's amazing it's amazing do you
want to talk about do you want to talk about that toyota or
do you want to talk some more numbers here uh yeah let's
talk about the toyota that i that's never going to come to america
that's really cool because it's it's a
step above the mini truck it's actually a
(15:58):
small truck but it's like so modular like
i read about that i'm like wait i can get this feature
or this feature like it's actually like it's like the old
ranger where it's like yeah out of the factory
like it's got nothing it's got a stick shift and
an odometer and that's pretty much it yeah so what we're talking about here
(16:18):
is the toyota imv zero is that a zero oh zero which is the zero yep which is
the what the the their next step after the the helix or.
Helia what is that one the one they were i didn't look at the article i didn't
look too much into it and and i'm going to kind of cherry pick some info from
(16:39):
this article which is on roadtrack.com And this article was written by Mike
Austin, published back in November.
And I love this opening line. No screens, no radio. Heck, it doesn't even have a tachometer.
It's so that's my right off the
bat my ranger does have a tachometer but
(17:00):
yeah my ranger like my my my 97 ranger
is like that it is it is a there was there was no radio there was there's no
power anything like hand crank windows there's no power steering yep another
quote from this article the The IMV zero was developed in Thailand,
(17:21):
a country so mad for pickups that they made up almost half of new vehicle sales.
Toyota sold one hundred and forty five thousand four hundred and thirty five
helix there in Hilux, maybe in 2022, which was about 17 percent of the total market.
And it was I want to quickly jump in. And so this actually goes,
(17:43):
like, the demand is, like, so the auto manufacturers in the United States are
claiming that, oh, the demand on these in the sales aren't as good.
But then they actually bring the Maverick, like, Ford Brake brought Maverick
onto the market, which is sized like a small pickup again.
Yeah. And they cannot keep up with demand. Last year, they sold 50,000 of these,
(18:09):
and just they cannot keep up with making these.
But they're still sitting there going claiming the woe
is us we can we there's no demand for these
and it's like yeah and then of course the article i'm reading
actually says is that yeah so they
they put this truck on the market and there's a
demand for a small fit like a small pickup from
(18:29):
for small use and it's just like like you
literally like in the headline it sounds like the demand is not
there but then your first line says that they
put it on the market and the demand was there oh yeah
go back yes go back to this because i like that your toyota yeah
so like you were saying it's it's got a huge amount of versatility and adaptability
(18:49):
and customization options and so that this is what i want to talk about the
price real quick it's ten thousand dollars yep for the base model okay i don't
even think the baseball it doesn't even have a bed on Well,
it certainly doesn't have power windows or door locks, and I mean power door
(19:09):
locks, or cruise control.
It doesn't have any trim.
The instrument cluster dial that would normally show RPM is just a big blank
circle. It doesn't have a shift light.
And the 2024 Corolla starts at $22,995.
(19:31):
And I really encourage you to look this thing up. Now, it will be sold in Mexico.
And the hopes of Toyota, I think, secretly is that they find an audience in the United States.
But there's so many things in the way, like this 25% chicken tax.
The EPA regulations, because the less you meet the EPA and the NIST safety regulations,
(20:02):
that's another factor, is the safety regulations as well that we didn't mention as much.
But yeah, you keep adding up more and more fees onto it that it just becomes
impossible to import because the fees kill it.
Well and and i call this
(20:23):
the the amazoning of our culture too if
you order this vehicle and you're willing to pay the chicken
tax well guess what you're going to wait a very long
time this thing is going to be on
a literal slow boat from china it is
going to move you know you're going
to have spent all this money and be waiting weeks if not months for this to
(20:47):
to arrive i was looking getting some curved roofing panels for a project we
want to do this year and i'd have to order them from england mostly and it was
like the shipping times was like well i'll just find another way.
So and it's not even that's not me being amazon-y that's that's that's just
well i'm not gonna wait also yeah like there's we do we try not to get or we
(21:12):
do we do get really political on here we try try not to hit certain.
We try to avoid certain topics, but like the, the whole that everything's not
getting to us as fast right now with like.
Things have been shipping longer in general for a while, but right now they're
using the whole Red Sea situation as their current excuse as why things are taking longer.
(21:36):
Yeah. Yes.
But you can go to Mexico, spend a weekend in Mexico and drive back a truck if
you're willing to pay the tax.
Exactly. Or by the way, I mean, shoot, we've been going back to the mini trucks.
There's places in America. What is it?
Minitruckusa.com. Yeah. You go on there and you can go buy one right now.
(21:57):
You'll pay a little bit about $10,000 for it, and you're going to drive and pick it up.
And then good luck getting it across state lines because you can't bring it on the interstate.
So one of the things they actually say, you have to have a flatbed to bring
it back to where you're going.
There were some delivery options on some of those websites.
(22:17):
There were, which is basically put it on a flatbed and drive it up here.
Yes. so now the the this the
imv zero is small i want
to make that clear it's two feet
shorter than a tacoma and 10 inches
more narrow and 10 inches lower so
it's it doesn't feel small from
(22:40):
the driver's seat they say but the engine is 137
horsepower who needs more than that
like that's that's another thing i just dislike is like the horsepower
jump in vehicles because like going back
to that that they the 12 ranger to
the 19 ranger the 12 ranger like
that that v4 engine the two point what was the 2.1 liter engine they had in
(23:05):
there like this baby little engine that got got had only had like 150 horsepower
to it whereas like the new ranger like out of the the door has 250 to 300 horsepower.
Right. Okay. Well, and you know, I think this is a good jumping off point.
We didn't really talk about this before, but getting a vehicle that actually
(23:27):
meets your needs and not is not a vanity vehicle.
You and I have both purchased recently new vehicles. I I've gotten a used vehicle.
I think yours was used as well.
Mine was barely used.
Yeah. Uh.
I, you know, parts of the choices of what we made were because of a where I live, be what we do.
(23:53):
And see, it's a great vehicle. And my mechanic said I'd be an idiot not to buy it.
So we're buying a forerunner, which has tremendous amount of towing power,
four wheel drive for mud season and bad snow and all of those things.
And is really a lot more vehicle than either of us have ever had before.
(24:14):
We've never really made that jump. We sort of made do with smaller things like
a midsize SUV and a small pickup.
But now we're doing one vehicle and we want one vehicle that's going to be able to do everything.
So I want to be able to tow 5,000 pounds if I have to.
I want to be able to go pick up my own firewood if I'm not able to produce at
(24:35):
home, that kind of stuff.
Stuff and so the vehicle choice is faster
like makes that need a little higher because like if
you want to get the tractor worked on you really need to
be able to get it somewhere and god forbid a trot
ears to come get bring their flatbread to take it out my goodness
yeah no they charge so much to get like
their stuff is like better like if there's any other way to get like
(24:57):
i love trot ears they're great no they're not
they do good i mean back in the day when i had it
when i had back in the day yeah before they got purchased by this
by the bigger company right now the local place
we're talking i'm talking about this place on day up on dairy hill
in south royalton yeah for for those listening that
like they used to be a very local owned we my mom bought her
(25:20):
for like three mowers from them and then.
But finally just got to the point where they weren't as good anymore
and yeah we now we have a cub cadet well and
it's you know i've stopped going there basically basically
because you know if you're just looking for a spring they're
not even gonna try they're they're unless you're
buying you know hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
(25:42):
of things at this point they're just not interested in you and
they have it so that's the worst part is like they have
it like i've seen their inventory warehouse it is
oh my i love going i don't know it's something about being someone who's worked
on engines and stuff to go into those parts warehouses and just be like just
aisles and aisles of pieces of things just like i it's like oh so fun and nice
(26:06):
that reminds me i've got something i gotta tell you that's happening,
in bursar which isn't quite formed yet but i'll tell you after the show yeah
so you know i lived in the bay area and you'd see these huge humvees and gigantic
monster trucks and i'm thinking like Like, why do you need that?
Which I find super ironic because one of the first manufacturers that really
(26:30):
– they completely switched over their fleet, Hummer.
Yeah. Not the military side. No. The civilian side, they are all EVs. Yeah.
I don't believe they make a gas civilian anymore. We should look that up right quick.
Yeah. And while we're talking about EVs, I'm just going to sort of talk about
(26:54):
the glimmer of hope while you look that up.
The future of the classic small pickup, a potential lifesaver for this style
of vehicle, could be electric vehicles.
Smaller electric trucks could offer the perfect blend of efficiency.
Maneuverability, and sustainable transport.
Manufacturers like ford and rivian are sort
(27:16):
of getting it getting their toes wet on this
with some you know pretty decent first attempts
i think you know but it's first gen it's going to
take a little while now if it
will actually revive it is to is to be seen
yeah and like i and i unfortunately see car
manufacturers currently trying these
(27:38):
same tactics that they use
to kill the small truck industry on evs
because despite all the so the
2020 production goals toyota ford
chevy tesla all of them set these great goals based on the state recommendations
(27:58):
of we want to convert our fleets to to evs by 2030 to where there are no gas
sales by 2030 well they so first First,
the media continues to push this
narrative that the EV batteries aren't as good. The range isn't great.
What if you get stranded out in the middle of nowhere without their charging station?
(28:21):
Oh, there's not enough charging stations.
Oh, but it takes too long to charge up. So first you get this mindset of like
you're going to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere without a charge.
And then they price them significantly higher than the gas equivalent.
And now they're claiming, so Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Tesla have all rolled back
(28:43):
their production goals, claiming
that, oh, well, sales weren't as good as we thought they would be.
So we're going to roll back the goals we had for converting to EV.
And it's like, you literally shot yourself in the foot on this.
And now you're claiming that, oh, not as good.
So we're going to just got to do away with it. I mean, they're not doing away with it.
(29:06):
They're just, they're very much ramping down the speed at which they were converting. Yeah.
Yeah. It's a strange confirmation by us. Yeah.
It's very, very much so. And it very much like, yeah, they just,
they, they, they're self-sabotaging the EV industry for the sake of oil,
(29:27):
of gas, maintaining the combustion engine, which is also like there.
I mean, the combustion engine hasn't had any real innovation since the thirties. Yeah.
I mean, the catalytic converter is about it, right?
Yeah. The thing is like a 32% of it's 32% efficient. Like, even though like,
(29:48):
yeah, they're getting better mileage, the combustion itself is only 32% efficient.
And it's like, imagine if they actually focused on increasing the efficiency
of the combustion itself, rather than just making all of these bells and whistles
added onto the engine to get the maximum out of that 32%.
All right.
(30:11):
Well, real quick, let's preview next week's episode, and then we'll talk about
what's going on at home and some really fun stuff that's coming up.
So next week, we're going to talk about solar in Vermont.
And the way I'm looking at this episode is history, where we're at now and future,
(30:33):
what are the impacts, land being used, et cetera.
And just sort of take a focus look at Vermont.
We can probably compare a couple of statistics for reference point,
but I think I'd like this to be a very Vermont-centered episode.
Yeah, I think we can make that work. Like the...
(30:53):
One thing I'm going to definitely talk about is that the Public Service Commission
pandering to the electric companies in regards to these solar projects.
Yeah. And the changes made to the programs to favor them over having residential panels.
(31:15):
Right. Well, oh, that's what that is.
Yeah. So let's, we're going to talk solar. it's gonna
it's we're running we're heading into february it's
it's getting bleak here in vermont so let's talk
about some sunshine yeah anything fun going on
at project wise for you have you started on the
basement project yet no i keep looking off
(31:38):
i'm just i'm i'm really badly burnt out
with life right now i'm just like i'm just meandering through
i'm getting the basics done i'm keeping the house tidy getting my
crap done at work but yeah outside of that i'm just kind
of like i need to i just
don't have the motivation to well and winter is
hard and we should talk about this at some
(32:00):
point because it really does it it
infects you in so many in so many ways physically mentally emotionally it is
a tough tough thing to to go through and you know i have have to take handfuls
of vitamin d every day just to just to get out of bed sometimes so.
(32:22):
Yeah my mom's been giving me crap because i keep
not fixing the snowblower and the it's going
to keep getting worse i can handle shoveling by hand like
i just i just don't shovel like i just don't do the
whole driveway i don't use my whole driveway yeah
in the winter anyway so i only do the spot where the
truck comes out and then i do the paths for the dog by just
(32:43):
stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp yeah it's
like that's a great workout for my legs because it's like it's it's
like yeah i'm stomping through snow like my quads
feel it afterward yeah yeah i mean we go for hikes every day and even if it's
just on the road heading uh out down the class four it's it is a struggle and
(33:03):
it might only be a few inches but it you know it adds to the the heart rate
resistance it's like It's like having resistance bands.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And your boots are heavier. And you're actually,
if it's slippery conditions, you're actually engaging different muscle groups
in your legs to try to maintain balance. It's a whole thing.
(33:25):
Yeah, I think I've made my big announcement here with the Versher Artisan Farmers
Market coming up. I am just over the moon excited.
I am nuclear powered at this point.
I cannot slow down.
My big thing is I deployed the Bradford hub.
Oh, yeah. Very exciting. I got to go there today. Work-wise with Jeff,
(33:47):
if you live in the Bradford-Fairley area, sign up for EC Fiber. There you go.
Because I want my job in 2026.
And, oh, the other cool thing. We're finally messing with some of our dye plants.
Ooh, nice. Yeah. You did a lot of growing for that over the summer.
(34:08):
Yeah. But then you kind of like, because you were going to make those Etsy dye packs.
Yeah and it's still on the horizon but
it's it's such a you just need so much
so much and it's probably a lot of work because you're grinding up all the all
the stuff having to boil stuff certain ways and all the processing and yeah
you have to wait a really long time you know we're working with dry plants from
(34:31):
this summer today mag busted out the weld and so it was pretty cool So she,
you know, to mordant it,
which is to treat the fabric in such a way that the dye is going to stay.
The fabric is going to take the dye.
She had to boil it in alum, which was, you know, gross smelling and feeling.
(34:53):
We'll be doing it outdoors from now on.
And then we dried that and waited.
And then today, I'm sorry, yesterday, she crowned up and processed all of the weld.
Then that's soaked in water overnight. And then she had to boil it for an hour.
And then we started dipping the fabric. And this weld on cotton,
(35:18):
I'll send you a picture, highlighter yellow.
I mean, it is so yellow. So we'll be probably redoing it, putting this yellow
fabric into an indigo dye,
or the other plant that produces blue and is a better plant to grow here is woad.
(35:40):
We've used woad today. Woad, W-O-A-D. And that produces a blue.
As we know, yellow and blue makes green.
And it should make a Robin Hood green.
Yeah we should do a talk about the dyes
and stuff in natural dyes because like how how blue
(36:00):
is such a hard color so it's
yellow yellow is too but yeah but blue doesn't
like i mean i always like to tell people i learned this from
fireworks the reason you don't see
a lot of blue fireworks is because there's a
lot not a many chemical or metallics that
(36:20):
burn create that blue color and
then it's like like i when i learned about this they said go outside
and really take a look at what is
blue in nature and there's not
a lot of blue unless you're actually artificially placing
it but then you have purples you have reds you
have yellows you have oranges but blues not so
(36:42):
much not so much you'll get them in cobalt and
things like that but for the most part no which i don't know if i've ever said
this to you and i'm going to say this out loud on the show as ridiculous as
it sounds how come more animals haven't evolved to be green okay like we have
these green forests and everything else how come we don't have a green fox.
(37:05):
I don't know i just it but it came to me one day it may it may have been an edible involved.
It's that's like my buddy my like i remember driving
driving back from a festival it like
we stayed too long at a festival like
we did the first night of this festival did the second
day but then waited way too late in the day to decide to leave because it was
(37:28):
just like it was an october festival and it was one of those cold october so
it's like yeah at night it got below freezing in october and it was miserable
like even even tripping balls like it's like you I'm not happy right now.
So we left, but I remember driving back and we're just kind of driving back
and we're just talking randomly about like how humans are, our eyes are designed for low light.
(37:54):
But we we spoil them
by produce by by literally over saturating our
night with light and yeah
we're being high high driving and looking at the
stars and just like you realize that we do like like with high beams and driving
at night like we'd actually be better off with with not having lights and relying
(38:17):
on our natural natural low light taking in but But because of Carbrain and stuff,
we actually have to have bright, flashy lights and light everything up like the daytime.
Yeah, and this reminds me, blue eyes actually see better at night.
Well, I think that's it. I think that is a firm meander.
(38:42):
And if you are a person who listens to the show and doesn't have to talk to
me every day about it, please look up the Versure Market. Pretty much Google
Versher Market, and it's going to start coming up.
But yes, it is the Versher Artisan and Farmers Market.
We are looking for vendors, volunteers for my committee, because I can't do this all by myself.
(39:04):
And of course, musicians, you can email vershermarket at gmail.
Don't forget about Broken Shovel, though. Google Broken Shovel 802,
and you can email the show at brokenshovel802 at gmail.
And I think this show is going to start getting longer and longer the more projects I take on so,
(39:27):
but yeah great times and as always thank you Eric very informative yes.
Music.
(00:13):
Happy tuesday everybody welcome to broken shovel homesteading for a sustainable future,
to date of release why are you laughing at
me again last week you did the whole the date of release is or all data is current
to sunday but then this time you're saying tuesday so you did you go back and
(00:35):
forth i'm wildly inconsistent i love date of release is is January 30th.
Date of recording is January 28th. All information is current as of the 28th.
And if you're going to do this, I'm going to railroad here for a second,
because if there are people around that secretly listen to this podcast that
I know, I want to share that the Verscher Artisan and Farmer's Market is fully official.
(01:00):
I am starting a farmer's market, Probably one of the more difficult things to
do in Vermont, but doing it.
519 through 915, 27 Verscher Center Road.
I'm super excited. You're going to hear a lot more about it.
We've got vendors signing up. We've got musicians signing up.
I have worked with the Select Board and an existing not-for-profit town,
(01:23):
Verscher, has taken me under their umbrella to get this done. I'm hyper excited.
On with the show. I want to say that it's very much a field of dreams situation
because there is always a demand for farmer's markets and the market.
Build it and they will come. Exactly.
(01:43):
Yeah. Like, and they, all the, the ones that quote, like the South Whartleton
farmer's market, which we talked about back over the summer and their,
their choices that made it fail.
And what's probably going to make yours a success is
like they they went to a friday market which put them in direct competition
with a very well established market whereas you're going to sundays where there
(02:08):
is nothing in regards to markets yep and and even like uh you know but there
are farm stands around but.
You know, that is reliable, and I encourage people to continue to go to those.
You're going to find things at those farm stands on farms that you might not find at the market.
But this is an opportunity to support more than one company and farm and artists and musicians.
(02:34):
And there's just so much more to a community event like this than there is to a farm stand.
And, you know, just the opportunity to do this with people and for people is just really exciting.
But today, not 519, I'll do a whole episode on farmer's markets at some point.
We should do that. We should.
(02:57):
So today we are talking about the sort of de-evolution of the pickup truck, I'm going to call this.
The slow death of the small pickup truck, the Ford Rangers, the Datsun B210 is a favorite of mine.
The Jeep, the Mitsubishi, the old tiny Toyota, the S10,
(03:23):
but like the Colorado, like my truck, my Colorado truck actually used to be
sized closer to the old Ranger size.
And I like that you use the slow death because this slow death has been actually
going on since the 70s and the 80s. Yes, yes, it has.
(03:43):
And we seem to be at a crossroads now of opportunity, but we'll get to that. Yes. Yeah, so...
These days of the small pickup are fading very fast.
In the U.S. In the U.S. Yes. Europe, Asia, everywhere else. They love the small truck.
(04:05):
Not even just the small truck, the tiny truck. The mini trucks. Yes.
Yeah. Not made to haul an 18-wheeler.
Not made to haul an 18-wheeler. Not made to go 75 while hauling said 18-wheeler.
So the once-thriving market in the U.S. for small pickups has shrunk to a shadow
(04:27):
of its former self, leaving behind a landscape dominated by behemoth full-size
trucks that guzzle gas like there's no tomorrow.
And we're going to talk about what drove that shift.
And we're going to start with the scapegoat most often used by manufacturers.
And we're going to start with the EPA and fuel economy. The CAF regulations,
(04:51):
or CAFE, sorry, CAFE regulations.
Yes. The corporate average fuel economy regulations is the one that all the
auto manufacturers and the term I like to use, car brains,
point to as to what killed the small, small truck industry.
(05:13):
Because we're currently seeing a resurgence in the quote-unquote small truck industry,
but they're really mid-sized trucks because the new Ranger is the same size as a 2000s model F-150.
Yeah, and they do just keep getting bigger and bigger over the last 20 years.
(05:34):
So yeah so the the larger trucks
have improved their mileage that is true but apparently
small trucks struggled to meet these targets that were put forth by the epa
and it put manufacturers in a situation where it was becoming more expensive
to make a small truck and now we they they just go with the big truck where
(05:59):
they can fit in equipment,
I guess, to help with emissions?
You know, that was kind of my main question. I couldn't really find an answer
to it. They are getting more efficient vehicles.
The thing is, is it's actually, they're moving the goalposts.
What I found is that, yes, they're basically, the numbers look the same.
(06:21):
That's only because the actual volume of the vehicle is getting larger.
So it's like, yeah, you're still getting the same mileage out of,
or you're getting slightly better mileage, but it's only looks better because
the physical size of the vehicle is bigger.
And you're getting more horsepower out of that same mileage.
(06:42):
So it's like they just keep moving the goalposts further and further away without
actually improving the mileage itself.
Okay. Well, and that kind of brings – when we talk about this,
the bigger is better mentality that has been sold to Americans.
Yeah. and it's bigger and better in the both the media and the ads advertising
(07:05):
of the manufacturers but i mean i also look at like look at how many actual
physical cars are made now.
There's not like the chevy the only one left on the chevy market besides the
the the camaro which which is its own side thing, but is the Malibu.
(07:28):
They've discontinued every other car.
Same thing with Ford. Ford has discontinued everything except for the Mustang.
Yeah, the Mustang is the only car car left that Ford made. Really?
No more no more yeah no more
and there's a number of other ones but they've also like mitchie b she's a great
(07:52):
example another great example they shifted like the eclipse the eclipse used
to be a great little little sporty car that was reasonably priced in 2018 they
did a quote quote-unquote, redesign,
and now the Eclipse is a crossover.
No kidding. So, yeah, the auto manufacturers have actually, in America,
(08:17):
stopped making cars because it is harder to meet fuel efficiency standards with
a car than it is with a crossover or an SUV.
Basically, they got loopholes written into the
regulations regulations that allow them to make big
suvs and etc that over making
(08:39):
cars okay so
let's let's talk about the mentality of the american first real
quick and this bigger is better it's the thinking
right so full-size trucks these are these are
selling points for a full-size truck not that i endorse them
more power towing capacity leather
seats built-in coolers now they have
(09:00):
staircases that go up the back of them there what
is it the shit the shit there are the gmc like
the 16 multi-function tailgate yeah and it's safety that's the the article a
lot of the articles i read said that it is easier to get safety features into
(09:20):
the bigger vehicles than it is to get into to the smaller vehicles.
Yeah. And you're more likely to even still attract people who are older or have
some mobility issues to get a large truck if you have ways of using it,
like putting a staircase on it.
So it created this weird price paradox, right?
(09:44):
So pushing larger models
like this that the dealers and manufacturers are
offering all these discounts and toyota thon and all
that crap i personally don't celebrate toyota
thon but some people take it very seriously i actually
i have i have one number actually on that one
so the difference so the call the the bare bones out
(10:07):
of the factory no bells and whistles whatsoever chevy
colorado with the v6 engine starts out
at 25k from Chevy the Silverado which is a much larger vehicle same exact engine
but with bigger body bigger cab bigger bed and all that it starts out at 27k a 2k difference.
(10:33):
And that's the thing is like with the American brain is that,
oh my God, for $2,000, I get that much more truck.
Right. Well, that brings me to my point. Why buy compact when you can buy King
size and, you know, and that's, you know, we see it in the candy aisle now or at the grocery aisle.
TVs, TVs are a great example of this.
(10:56):
Yeah. The technology is so much better on a television that you don't necessarily
need a bigger television, you know? Nope. I mean, And I can buy a 72-inch for $700 now.
Actually, I think my current one I got for $600.
I walked through Walmart recently and was just flabbergasted at how inexpensive the TVs are.
(11:19):
Yeah, and they're huge. That's the thing. They're inexpensive and huge.
Yeah, and practically disposable at this point right now.
So just wait until that comes back to bite us in the ass.
Uh yeah so yeah so
now the days of the small pickup being the default choice
for weekend warriors and practical practices
(11:39):
is gone suvs and crossovers
captured that market yep similar cargo
space better fuel economy and passenger
comfort right so so the small pickup truck turned
into the suv and the big pickup
truck yep yeah and i want to like so
know then another another car that i i pointed out the
(12:00):
d so the ranger is one that that has come
back from retirement but it's about the the new rangers is about a like across
the board averages out is five percent
bigger so when we was retired in 12 brought back in 19 and yeah Yeah,
(12:21):
the new one is about 5% bigger across the board. No kidding. Yep.
And a lot of the articles that I read saw that the death knells really started
back in the 70s and 80s when the quote-unquote chicken tax was enacted,
(12:46):
which is a very high import tax that was placed on vehicles coming from overseas.
Which is at which point we saw the Jeeps, less of the Jeeps,
less of the Mitsubishis, less of the Toyotas, because manufacturers.
They don't like having, they don't like building factories if they don't have to.
(13:07):
So they made these they made these
smaller trucks in asia or europe and
then would import them to the united states but then
when the chicken tax was enacted they they stopped
being able to import them but then also didn't want
to repurpose or build their factories to.
Make those vehicles here because they're like well why are
(13:29):
we going to have two factories building the same vehicle right yeah
and and that's why we still one of the major contributing factors
to why we still see see these practical trucks overseas and
and you and i had a great time this morning sort of sending uh talking
about some of these mini trucks and and work trucks
and things and yeah which the auto that's
an auto manufacturers lobbied to make those
(13:51):
vehicles illegal on the road
there are states that actually have laws on the books that
you cannot you cannot have those on the
roads vermont is not one of those states you can
register them as an off-road vehicle in vermont and
run them on any any roads in the state yeah yep
and i'm i'm gonna start putting some money in my
(14:13):
piggy bank for one i think i think this is a big life goal
even imported from overseas with this 25 import tax they're still like when
you're the the they're only 10k 10k coming over so oh my god another two thousand
five hundred dollars on the price on this import and you're still saving.
(14:34):
What 10 000 10 20 000 yeah yeah
it's it's cuckoo bananas and they are very
fuel efficient i saw a lot of the ones the newer ones are
27 to 35 miles to the gallon
yeah and come on it's the perfect vehicle for a
farmer's market it's it's like it's the
dream you would fold down the side pull everything off yeah
(14:55):
because you can get the hot what is it the the hot soup van
one yeah real really chill like yeah
for that for that kind of purpose and i mean i we.
Said the fire truck the fire truck looks like yeah one that
actually has a the cargo actually with the
scissor lift yes yes me and meg
are looking at that one super cool yeah they're
(15:16):
really cool they they mainly come from uh japan
and china right now um dahatsu mitsubishi
are uh two of the big manufacturers manufacturers of
them yeah and they're very reasonably priced
like even like the the new 2023 models like
fully decked out ones with like heaters comfortable
(15:37):
seats and all that 22 000 yeah
it's amazing it's amazing do you
want to talk about do you want to talk about that toyota or
do you want to talk some more numbers here uh yeah let's
talk about the toyota that i that's never going to come to america
that's really cool because it's it's a
step above the mini truck it's actually a
(15:58):
small truck but it's like so modular like
i read about that i'm like wait i can get this feature
or this feature like it's actually like it's like the old
ranger where it's like yeah out of the factory
like it's got nothing it's got a stick shift and
an odometer and that's pretty much it yeah so what we're talking about here
(16:18):
is the toyota imv zero is that a zero oh zero which is the zero yep which is
the what the the their next step after the the helix or.
Helia what is that one the one they were i didn't look at the article i didn't
look too much into it and and i'm going to kind of cherry pick some info from
(16:39):
this article which is on roadtrack.com And this article was written by Mike
Austin, published back in November.
And I love this opening line. No screens, no radio. Heck, it doesn't even have a tachometer.
It's so that's my right off the
bat my ranger does have a tachometer but
(17:00):
yeah my ranger like my my my 97 ranger
is like that it is it is a there was there was no radio there was there's no
power anything like hand crank windows there's no power steering yep another
quote from this article the The IMV zero was developed in Thailand,
(17:21):
a country so mad for pickups that they made up almost half of new vehicle sales.
Toyota sold one hundred and forty five thousand four hundred and thirty five
helix there in Hilux, maybe in 2022, which was about 17 percent of the total market.
And it was I want to quickly jump in. And so this actually goes,
(17:43):
like, the demand is, like, so the auto manufacturers in the United States are
claiming that, oh, the demand on these in the sales aren't as good.
But then they actually bring the Maverick, like, Ford Brake brought Maverick
onto the market, which is sized like a small pickup again.
Yeah. And they cannot keep up with demand. Last year, they sold 50,000 of these,
(18:09):
and just they cannot keep up with making these.
But they're still sitting there going claiming the woe
is us we can we there's no demand for these
and it's like yeah and then of course the article i'm reading
actually says is that yeah so they
they put this truck on the market and there's a
demand for a small fit like a small pickup from
(18:29):
for small use and it's just like like you
literally like in the headline it sounds like the demand is not
there but then your first line says that they
put it on the market and the demand was there oh yeah
go back yes go back to this because i like that your toyota yeah
so like you were saying it's it's got a huge amount of versatility and adaptability
(18:49):
and customization options and so that this is what i want to talk about the
price real quick it's ten thousand dollars yep for the base model okay i don't
even think the baseball it doesn't even have a bed on Well,
it certainly doesn't have power windows or door locks, and I mean power door
(19:09):
locks, or cruise control.
It doesn't have any trim.
The instrument cluster dial that would normally show RPM is just a big blank
circle. It doesn't have a shift light.
And the 2024 Corolla starts at $22,995.
(19:31):
And I really encourage you to look this thing up. Now, it will be sold in Mexico.
And the hopes of Toyota, I think, secretly is that they find an audience in the United States.
But there's so many things in the way, like this 25% chicken tax.
The EPA regulations, because the less you meet the EPA and the NIST safety regulations,
(20:02):
that's another factor, is the safety regulations as well that we didn't mention as much.
But yeah, you keep adding up more and more fees onto it that it just becomes
impossible to import because the fees kill it.
Well and and i call this
(20:23):
the the amazoning of our culture too if
you order this vehicle and you're willing to pay the chicken
tax well guess what you're going to wait a very long
time this thing is going to be on
a literal slow boat from china it is
going to move you know you're going
to have spent all this money and be waiting weeks if not months for this to
(20:47):
to arrive i was looking getting some curved roofing panels for a project we
want to do this year and i'd have to order them from england mostly and it was
like the shipping times was like well i'll just find another way.
So and it's not even that's not me being amazon-y that's that's that's just
well i'm not gonna wait also yeah like there's we do we try not to get or we
(21:12):
do we do get really political on here we try try not to hit certain.
We try to avoid certain topics, but like the, the whole that everything's not
getting to us as fast right now with like.
Things have been shipping longer in general for a while, but right now they're
using the whole Red Sea situation as their current excuse as why things are taking longer.
(21:36):
Yeah. Yes.
But you can go to Mexico, spend a weekend in Mexico and drive back a truck if
you're willing to pay the tax.
Exactly. Or by the way, I mean, shoot, we've been going back to the mini trucks.
There's places in America. What is it?
Minitruckusa.com. Yeah. You go on there and you can go buy one right now.
(21:57):
You'll pay a little bit about $10,000 for it, and you're going to drive and pick it up.
And then good luck getting it across state lines because you can't bring it on the interstate.
So one of the things they actually say, you have to have a flatbed to bring
it back to where you're going.
There were some delivery options on some of those websites.
(22:17):
There were, which is basically put it on a flatbed and drive it up here.
Yes. so now the the this the
imv zero is small i want
to make that clear it's two feet
shorter than a tacoma and 10 inches
more narrow and 10 inches lower so
it's it doesn't feel small from
(22:40):
the driver's seat they say but the engine is 137
horsepower who needs more than that
like that's that's another thing i just dislike is like the horsepower
jump in vehicles because like going back
to that that they the 12 ranger to
the 19 ranger the 12 ranger like
that that v4 engine the two point what was the 2.1 liter engine they had in
(23:05):
there like this baby little engine that got got had only had like 150 horsepower
to it whereas like the new ranger like out of the the door has 250 to 300 horsepower.
Right. Okay. Well, and you know, I think this is a good jumping off point.
We didn't really talk about this before, but getting a vehicle that actually
(23:27):
meets your needs and not is not a vanity vehicle.
You and I have both purchased recently new vehicles. I I've gotten a used vehicle.
I think yours was used as well.
Mine was barely used.
Yeah. Uh.
I, you know, parts of the choices of what we made were because of a where I live, be what we do.
(23:53):
And see, it's a great vehicle. And my mechanic said I'd be an idiot not to buy it.
So we're buying a forerunner, which has tremendous amount of towing power,
four wheel drive for mud season and bad snow and all of those things.
And is really a lot more vehicle than either of us have ever had before.
(24:14):
We've never really made that jump. We sort of made do with smaller things like
a midsize SUV and a small pickup.
But now we're doing one vehicle and we want one vehicle that's going to be able to do everything.
So I want to be able to tow 5,000 pounds if I have to.
I want to be able to go pick up my own firewood if I'm not able to produce at
(24:35):
home, that kind of stuff.
Stuff and so the vehicle choice is faster
like makes that need a little higher because like if
you want to get the tractor worked on you really need to
be able to get it somewhere and god forbid a trot
ears to come get bring their flatbread to take it out my goodness
yeah no they charge so much to get like
their stuff is like better like if there's any other way to get like
(24:57):
i love trot ears they're great no they're not
they do good i mean back in the day when i had it
when i had back in the day yeah before they got purchased by this
by the bigger company right now the local place
we're talking i'm talking about this place on day up on dairy hill
in south royalton yeah for for those listening that
like they used to be a very local owned we my mom bought her
(25:20):
for like three mowers from them and then.
But finally just got to the point where they weren't as good anymore
and yeah we now we have a cub cadet well and
it's you know i've stopped going there basically basically
because you know if you're just looking for a spring they're
not even gonna try they're they're unless you're
buying you know hundreds of thousands of dollars worth
(25:42):
of things at this point they're just not interested in you and
they have it so that's the worst part is like they have
it like i've seen their inventory warehouse it is
oh my i love going i don't know it's something about being someone who's worked
on engines and stuff to go into those parts warehouses and just be like just
aisles and aisles of pieces of things just like i it's like oh so fun and nice
(26:06):
that reminds me i've got something i gotta tell you that's happening,
in bursar which isn't quite formed yet but i'll tell you after the show yeah
so you know i lived in the bay area and you'd see these huge humvees and gigantic
monster trucks and i'm thinking like Like, why do you need that?
Which I find super ironic because one of the first manufacturers that really
(26:30):
– they completely switched over their fleet, Hummer.
Yeah. Not the military side. No. The civilian side, they are all EVs. Yeah.
I don't believe they make a gas civilian anymore. We should look that up right quick.
Yeah. And while we're talking about EVs, I'm just going to sort of talk about
(26:54):
the glimmer of hope while you look that up.
The future of the classic small pickup, a potential lifesaver for this style
of vehicle, could be electric vehicles.
Smaller electric trucks could offer the perfect blend of efficiency.
Maneuverability, and sustainable transport.
Manufacturers like ford and rivian are sort
(27:16):
of getting it getting their toes wet on this
with some you know pretty decent first attempts
i think you know but it's first gen it's going to
take a little while now if it
will actually revive it is to is to be seen
yeah and like i and i unfortunately see car
manufacturers currently trying these
(27:38):
same tactics that they use
to kill the small truck industry on evs
because despite all the so the
2020 production goals toyota ford
chevy tesla all of them set these great goals based on the state recommendations
(27:58):
of we want to convert our fleets to to evs by 2030 to where there are no gas
sales by 2030 well they so first First,
the media continues to push this
narrative that the EV batteries aren't as good. The range isn't great.
What if you get stranded out in the middle of nowhere without their charging station?
(28:21):
Oh, there's not enough charging stations.
Oh, but it takes too long to charge up. So first you get this mindset of like
you're going to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere without a charge.
And then they price them significantly higher than the gas equivalent.
And now they're claiming, so Toyota, Ford, Chevy, Tesla have all rolled back
(28:43):
their production goals, claiming
that, oh, well, sales weren't as good as we thought they would be.
So we're going to roll back the goals we had for converting to EV.
And it's like, you literally shot yourself in the foot on this.
And now you're claiming that, oh, not as good.
So we're going to just got to do away with it. I mean, they're not doing away with it.
(29:06):
They're just, they're very much ramping down the speed at which they were converting. Yeah.
Yeah. It's a strange confirmation by us. Yeah.
It's very, very much so. And it very much like, yeah, they just,
they, they, they're self-sabotaging the EV industry for the sake of oil,
(29:27):
of gas, maintaining the combustion engine, which is also like there.
I mean, the combustion engine hasn't had any real innovation since the thirties. Yeah.
I mean, the catalytic converter is about it, right?
Yeah. The thing is like a 32% of it's 32% efficient. Like, even though like,
(29:48):
yeah, they're getting better mileage, the combustion itself is only 32% efficient.
And it's like, imagine if they actually focused on increasing the efficiency
of the combustion itself, rather than just making all of these bells and whistles
added onto the engine to get the maximum out of that 32%.
All right.
(30:11):
Well, real quick, let's preview next week's episode, and then we'll talk about
what's going on at home and some really fun stuff that's coming up.
So next week, we're going to talk about solar in Vermont.
And the way I'm looking at this episode is history, where we're at now and future,
(30:33):
what are the impacts, land being used, et cetera.
And just sort of take a focus look at Vermont.
We can probably compare a couple of statistics for reference point,
but I think I'd like this to be a very Vermont-centered episode.
Yeah, I think we can make that work. Like the...
(30:53):
One thing I'm going to definitely talk about is that the Public Service Commission
pandering to the electric companies in regards to these solar projects.
Yeah. And the changes made to the programs to favor them over having residential panels.
(31:15):
Right. Well, oh, that's what that is.
Yeah. So let's, we're going to talk solar. it's gonna
it's we're running we're heading into february it's
it's getting bleak here in vermont so let's talk
about some sunshine yeah anything fun going on
at project wise for you have you started on the
basement project yet no i keep looking off
(31:38):
i'm just i'm i'm really badly burnt out
with life right now i'm just like i'm just meandering through
i'm getting the basics done i'm keeping the house tidy getting my
crap done at work but yeah outside of that i'm just kind
of like i need to i just
don't have the motivation to well and winter is
hard and we should talk about this at some
(32:00):
point because it really does it it
infects you in so many in so many ways physically mentally emotionally it is
a tough tough thing to to go through and you know i have have to take handfuls
of vitamin d every day just to just to get out of bed sometimes so.
(32:22):
Yeah my mom's been giving me crap because i keep
not fixing the snowblower and the it's going
to keep getting worse i can handle shoveling by hand like
i just i just don't shovel like i just don't do the
whole driveway i don't use my whole driveway yeah
in the winter anyway so i only do the spot where the
truck comes out and then i do the paths for the dog by just
(32:43):
stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp yeah it's
like that's a great workout for my legs because it's like it's it's
like yeah i'm stomping through snow like my quads
feel it afterward yeah yeah i mean we go for hikes every day and even if it's
just on the road heading uh out down the class four it's it is a struggle and
(33:03):
it might only be a few inches but it you know it adds to the the heart rate
resistance it's like It's like having resistance bands.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And your boots are heavier. And you're actually,
if it's slippery conditions, you're actually engaging different muscle groups
in your legs to try to maintain balance. It's a whole thing.
(33:25):
Yeah, I think I've made my big announcement here with the Versher Artisan Farmers
Market coming up. I am just over the moon excited.
I am nuclear powered at this point.
I cannot slow down.
My big thing is I deployed the Bradford hub.
Oh, yeah. Very exciting. I got to go there today. Work-wise with Jeff,
(33:47):
if you live in the Bradford-Fairley area, sign up for EC Fiber. There you go.
Because I want my job in 2026.
And, oh, the other cool thing. We're finally messing with some of our dye plants.
Ooh, nice. Yeah. You did a lot of growing for that over the summer.
(34:08):
Yeah. But then you kind of like, because you were going to make those Etsy dye packs.
Yeah and it's still on the horizon but
it's it's such a you just need so much
so much and it's probably a lot of work because you're grinding up all the all
the stuff having to boil stuff certain ways and all the processing and yeah
you have to wait a really long time you know we're working with dry plants from
(34:31):
this summer today mag busted out the weld and so it was pretty cool So she,
you know, to mordant it,
which is to treat the fabric in such a way that the dye is going to stay.
The fabric is going to take the dye.
She had to boil it in alum, which was, you know, gross smelling and feeling.
(34:53):
We'll be doing it outdoors from now on.
And then we dried that and waited.
And then today, I'm sorry, yesterday, she crowned up and processed all of the weld.
Then that's soaked in water overnight. And then she had to boil it for an hour.
And then we started dipping the fabric. And this weld on cotton,
(35:18):
I'll send you a picture, highlighter yellow.
I mean, it is so yellow. So we'll be probably redoing it, putting this yellow
fabric into an indigo dye,
or the other plant that produces blue and is a better plant to grow here is woad.
(35:40):
We've used woad today. Woad, W-O-A-D. And that produces a blue.
As we know, yellow and blue makes green.
And it should make a Robin Hood green.
Yeah we should do a talk about the dyes
and stuff in natural dyes because like how how blue
(36:00):
is such a hard color so it's
yellow yellow is too but yeah but blue doesn't
like i mean i always like to tell people i learned this from
fireworks the reason you don't see
a lot of blue fireworks is because there's a
lot not a many chemical or metallics that
(36:20):
burn create that blue color and
then it's like like i when i learned about this they said go outside
and really take a look at what is
blue in nature and there's not
a lot of blue unless you're actually artificially placing
it but then you have purples you have reds you
have yellows you have oranges but blues not so
(36:42):
much not so much you'll get them in cobalt and
things like that but for the most part no which i don't know if i've ever said
this to you and i'm going to say this out loud on the show as ridiculous as
it sounds how come more animals haven't evolved to be green okay like we have
these green forests and everything else how come we don't have a green fox.
(37:05):
I don't know i just it but it came to me one day it may it may have been an edible involved.
It's that's like my buddy my like i remember driving
driving back from a festival it like
we stayed too long at a festival like
we did the first night of this festival did the second
day but then waited way too late in the day to decide to leave because it was
(37:28):
just like it was an october festival and it was one of those cold october so
it's like yeah at night it got below freezing in october and it was miserable
like even even tripping balls like it's like you I'm not happy right now.
So we left, but I remember driving back and we're just kind of driving back
and we're just talking randomly about like how humans are, our eyes are designed for low light.
(37:54):
But we we spoil them
by produce by by literally over saturating our
night with light and yeah
we're being high high driving and looking at the
stars and just like you realize that we do like like with high beams and driving
at night like we'd actually be better off with with not having lights and relying
(38:17):
on our natural natural low light taking in but But because of Carbrain and stuff,
we actually have to have bright, flashy lights and light everything up like the daytime.
Yeah, and this reminds me, blue eyes actually see better at night.
Well, I think that's it. I think that is a firm meander.
(38:42):
And if you are a person who listens to the show and doesn't have to talk to
me every day about it, please look up the Versure Market. Pretty much Google
Versher Market, and it's going to start coming up.
But yes, it is the Versher Artisan and Farmers Market.
We are looking for vendors, volunteers for my committee, because I can't do this all by myself.
(39:04):
And of course, musicians, you can email vershermarket at gmail.
Don't forget about Broken Shovel, though. Google Broken Shovel 802,
and you can email the show at brokenshovel802 at gmail.
And I think this show is going to start getting longer and longer the more projects I take on so,
(39:27):
but yeah great times and as always thank you Eric very informative yes.
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