Krauerking

I rent in an urban area and was given a backyard full of 6 foot tall weeds. Over the winter I managed to somewhat reduce their numbers and have been fighting them down since but also I didn't really have any money for gardening so I just went with direct inground with a bag of miracle grow for fertilizer and some cheap mulch for bedding.

Pretty much a scraps garden. I have green onions and regular onions, garlic cloves that sprouted, bell pepper and jalapenos, a potato plant, 2 basil and 3 Thai basil, a daikon scrap I'm letting flower I hopes of seeds I can plant next year, and all my beans and peas on the fence over there.

I also planted a blueberry bush that I realized I really should have kept in a pot cause I realized how long that thing is gonna grow for.

I also threw potatoes under the bush in the far back that is doing pretty good and a strawberry I won't ever be able to eat the fruit from because the critters get up earlier in the morning than me.

So, I have always wanted to do multi filament printing. The thought of doing multicolor or washable supports has been such a cool idea and I tried to make that a reality all the way back when I bought my Geeetech A10M... And oh boy did I hate it. (Don't do single extruder multi filament kids, it ain't worth the headache.)

So, with only my trusty prusa mk2 at my side I'm thinking of finally getting an IDEX machine and trying again right this time. Then I looked at the price of the Prusa XL and died a little.

So, this is where I am gonna ask for some help.
I saw that Flashgorge is selling their Creator Pro 2 for only $400 and with a cheap upgrade for a magnetic plate seems like it would be an awesome deal even if it's a bit small of a build size.

Or I could go 3rd party and get the JGMaker Artist D Pro IDEX 3D Printer (which I have never heard of) for the same price but with a heck of a lot more build space.

Or I could swallow my pride and a shit ton of credit card payments and do just the 2 head semi-built prusa XL for 3x the cost.

So essentially has anyone tried the Flashforge Creator Pro 2 and thinks it would be worth it for basically half off?
Have 3rd party Chinese brands gotten more trustworthy and actually able to print decent at these insanely low prices?
Or is it still one of those you pay for what you get and if you want good multi filament printing you have to pay for it?

I mean come on! Like, sure ok then, please go on ahead.

So it's the season, just carved the first pumpkin of the year and decided to use the insides and leftovers to make a pumpkin-pumpkin spice syrup that is truly heavenly.

14oz of pumpkin guts and roasted flesh boiled and pureed in the water
28oz of water
28oz of raw sugar
2 full sticks of cinnamon
9 Cloves
4 large slices of candied ginger
4 cardamom pods
1 vanilla pod split insides removed and then the pod itself as well

Used an immersion blender to puree the pumpkin further with just the water at first then added everything else and boiled, simmered for about 15 minutes lid on and then cooled and strained.

*You can use dry spices and vanilla extract I'm just a sucker for raw ingredients, and cooking like I'm a witch apparently.

The syrup is so so good. I combined it with apple cider and very caramel forward rye whiskey I have and am in love.

Do you guys have different versions you make or thoughts on the syrup for other cocktails to try? I'm trying to figure out what to do with a liter of the stuff.

I would share a photo of it but I'm honestly holding it in an old Rao's sauce jar cause I didn't realize all my swing top bottles were dirty ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯
But yeah it's not nearly as pretty as the stuff other people do.