Category: slabtown

Corn slop

girl on a ladder next to a cornfield
Corn uses about 151,000 gallons of water per month per acre.
A data center uses about 166,700 gallons of water per acre per month.
In good times, corn grows rapidly. With warm temperatures (77–91°F) rain and fertilizer it commonly elongates 1–2 inches a day. During the rapid growth phase roughly V8–V12 (V8–V12 refers to vegetative growth stages of the corn plant. Corn stages are numbered by the number of leaves with visible collars (the thickened band where the leaf blade meets the leaf sheath), after the growing point is above ground), rates of 3–5 inches per day have been observed and documented in time-lapse and field measurements.

Thousands of U.S. patents have been granted specifically for corn hybrids.
Tracking data for field corn hybrids shows roughly:
– 1986–1995: 8
– 1996–2005: 167
– 2006–2015: 1,377
– 2016–2025:1,855
This totals on the order of 3,400–3,500 hybrid patents issued to date. Utility patents on hybrids became available after key 1980s rulings and have grown dramatically.

Corn grows around the clock. At night, and stem/height elongation is often notable. Classic observations (and modern work on the “evening complex” of proteins) show that many plants, including corn and related grasses, put on significant height growth in the hours after dusk and toward dawn when the internal clock and lower evaporative demand allow cell expansion.

A single corn stalk/plant typically transpires on the order of 10–15 gallons of water over its life. Older literature sometimes cited higher figures (up to ~50+ gallons under different assumptions or longer seasons).

(So sayeth grok)

stalled thunderstorm

Its been a dry spring in Virginia. Limited April showers have resulted in challenging conditions for plants. I’ve been drip irrigating juveniles in CHO. In the Tidewater there is a group of a few hundred adolescent trees I look after.Rain began falling at 1430 hours

Between 1430 and 1830 six inches of rain came down.

It’s pretty flat in Slabtown. takes awhile to soak in sheet flow in the yard

all things wet and wonderful

 

Pro Camera One Roll Project

For their one roll contest I thought Pro Camera would select a CHO-style photo like this exposure from the DJT DC 6/14/2025 event. Instead they chose old white guys…
These two. I met the old-feller on the right when I was six, met the one on the left when I was twenty-three.
They are wild, philosophical, and fun.
They can edit, sail, hammer, talk, teach, and rabble rouse.
we are going down a road together
Above, my friends’ grandfather, at his farm. The Pro Camera Team’s pick of a corn-photo of Mr. Frank’s descendants 100 years later is an example of the film silver halide magic, Stitching across time.
I started chasing shadows in 1968. I’ve been a farm-laborer, photojournalist, toiletologist, dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC tech, auto mechanic, CAT scan tech, computer worker, dog walker and tree-planter. Photos are a favorite thing, my heart and memory.

jpg compression artifact

JPEG compression artifacts are visual distortions that occur when an image is compressed using the JPEG format, which is lossy compression method. These artifacts become more pronounced at lower quality settings or with repeated saving.
What Are JPEG Compression Artifacts?
• Blockiness: JPEG divides images into 8×8 pixel squares, and heavy compression can cause visible edges or “blocks” between these squares, especially in areas with smooth gradients (e.g., skies).
• Color Banding: Subtle color transitions may appear as distinct bands due to reduced color information.
• Blurring: Fine details can be lost, making edges or textures appear soft or smeared.
• Noise or Halos: Around high-contrast edges, you might see ringing or halo-like effects.–Mr. Grok