Wags-End Homestead

Luddite

2010-11-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

I'm a Luddite, I admit it. I am
finally coming out of the Ludd closet. For years I have kept that
little fact a secret, even deceiving myself, but I can no longer live
the lie. I have reached my technological apex. If you aren't familiar with the term Luddite, then you will have to either Wiki it or wait until I blog more about it in future posts but I wanted to at least mention it before I posted the following pictures. In some way that statement will explain my fascination, no, obsession with old time objects, such as the flintlock below.

Now, keep in mind, this is not a genuine antique, and that is not only okay, it is preferable, because the contemporary made rifle can be used without fear of breaking it or degrading the antique value, and the best part is in the using. With many of the old fashioned objects, tools, etc, the fun is in the lifestyle they enable. Of course in this modern day we can pick and choose what what part of that lifestyle we want to participate in and what we want to leave in the past.

Another newly acquired item is the cauldron in the next photo. While the current use as a wood box is not in keeping with the traditional use for this item it best suits our purpose for the time being.

Nuts

2010-10-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

A fair harvest of Hazel nuts.

A couple of green nuts from earlier this year in photos above.

We have six large bushes that we planted over 20 years ago. We harvest about 2 gallons of nuts a year. Not a large harvest but I think it may have something to do with how they are pruned. We have let me grow up about 10-12' tall, multi-stemmed. They make a nice form but I suspect that shorter bushes more agressively pruned with yield more nuts. I am not about to change their shape now but would like to plant more bushes and test my theory. In the last photo above the nut bushes are seen above the lawn chairs, the bushes on this end are Lilacs.

Fall Colors

2010-10-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

A little chilly this morning but the sun is shining and there are still a few trees with colors displayed.

The last maple to loose leaves, the front yard.

The orchard.

Annebelle

2010-10-04T18:48:00.001-07:00

A victim of degenerative hip disease, Annebelle went to her rest today.

6 or 7 years ago we unwillingly took in Annebelle when the kids moved to town and they had no place to keep her. We really didn't want two dogs. In that time, her sweet disposition won over our hearts and she became a loved member of our homestead. It would be a lie and unfair to her if I said she was a perfect dog, but where a dog is concerned imperfections just make them more human.

Several years ago we learned she had hip displasia. The surgery that might or might not work was prohibitively expensive. We chose the financially more responsible path of daily painkillers. Those painkillers allowed her to have a more or less normal and happy life for an additional two years. Two years that now seem all too short.

I had forgotten about her appointment with destiny today until on my way home from work I saw her running down the road as fast as she could go, free as the wind and unencumbered with pain or defect.

Rest in Peace.

First Day Out

2010-10-02T16:05:00.001-07:00

Today was a gorgeous day for your first day outside.

A little unsure.

What's out there.

Don't push.

She says she is guarding the chickens. I think she is thinking of chicken dinner.

In the Doghouse

2010-09-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

Finally a more or less permanent doghouse. The poor dogs have been shuffled around for quite a while now. For a long time their beds were on the front porch. A less than idea spot for them because of the northern exposure and the mess that comes with dogs, hair mostly. We tried to move them to behind the woodshed but that was too far out of the stream of excitement for them and it was hard to get to when the snow was deep. Last winter we put their beds in the middle part of the woodshed, the part that I am promoting to a small shop. That worked out well but there is not room for all of us, so for the summer their beds have been in the woodshed proper. Of course that was only temporary because now I am starting to put wood in the shed. I have had plans to build this small structure in the front corner of woodshed and I finally got it done. All it needs now is some paint but that doesn't stop Cali from using it. So far it is a success.

The top part of the doghouse has a dual purpose. The front is being used to stack kindling. The part behind the kindling, see photos below, we will use to feed the cat, Tago. It has been an ever continuing battle to keep the dogs out of the cat food and also the Jay birds. We have probably spent more money feeding the Blue Jays and Camp Robbers than we have the cat. I wouldn't doubt that somewhere in the forest, close at hand, there are hundreds of pounds of cat food stored away for the hard times ahead.
The birds could still get to this new location but they will have to be very brazen to intrude so far into the realm of human and cat. We will also make a place near the food for Tago to sleep. I have my doubts if she will utilize it as willingly as Cali has her bed. Currently Tago owns a little corner by the back door but, to my idea, it is less than perfect. I think she would be warmer here, above the dog bed but cats have their own mind in such matters. Tago is entering her elderly years and I think she is more susceptible to the cold weather than she used to be. She has always been an outside cat, all cats are healthier living outside, but I still worry about her when we get the frigid sub-zero temperatures. She does spend some time inside during those spells warming up, and while well behaved, she prefers to be outside.

The area behind the kindling will be for feeding Tago, the cat, and for her bed, should she decide to move in.

Tago peeking out from her current nook by the back step.

Chickens doing great

2010-09-13T17:33:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged so I thought I should do an update on the chickens, especially since I found out some people are actually reading this blog.

It's a little eerie to see such a lineup every time I go into the chicken house. There they are, their beady black eyes watching my every move just waiting for me to open the door. We are still feeding chick starter and they eat lots of it but I can tell from their appearance they are wanting meat...

...and my legs look like giant worms.

Once the outside is painted (mostly the part inside the pen) then I can let them out where they might catch any bugs that might happlessly wonder into the area. Every once in a while I will catch a grasshopper and throw it into the coop ahead of me, that keeps them occupied. One chicken will grab up the grasshopper and then the contest is on for how long he/she can hold on to it before another snatches it away and so on.

This is free chick that was sent. I haven't exactly identified it yet, any guesses?

Chicks & Toads

2010-08-06T17:00:00.001-07:00

The chicks arrived today.

The free chick. With every order McMurray Hatchery includes a free chick of another breed. It will be fun seeing what breed this one is.

Also of note today, one of our resident toads taking an afternoon shower:

Linden in Full Bloom

2010-08-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year our Little Leaf Linden tree is in full bloom. The bees love it.

The tree is about 30 feet tall, or more. It is covered in yellowish-green flowers. It is a buzz with activity. There are literally thousands of bees collecting pollen/sap in it.

I be no bee expert but this looks like a honey bee to me. There are no hives close that I know of, so I am guessing it be a wild honey bee. I have heard that if an empty hive is set up that wild swarms may occupy them. I am tempted to give it a try and see what may bee or not bee.

July 25 Update

2010-07-25T12:42:00.001-07:00

A few pictures to update:
Chicken House:
The chicken, while it isn't done, is mostly ready for some chickens. There are a few minor chores to do inside and the outside still needs paint and the wire attached to the pen frame.

This view shows the nesting boxes on the left and the door into the chicken side. The nesting boxes were made so that the back side opens up so that gathering eggs does not require going into the chicken side.

The nesting boxes from the chicken side. If I was chicken I think I would like them.

The frame work is up and as soon as it is painted the wire can be attached.

A view from the lower road. This is the end that the barn will be added to.

The chicks have been ordered. They will arrive late next week. We ordered 35 straight run of Buff Orpington. I still need to prepare a brooder area to keep them in and pick up some chick starter and grit. I also need to purchase the feeders and waterers. The overhead light fixtures also need to be purchased and installed. I should be able to do those things this week. (Have to.)

Clematis:
This clematis was planted many years ago. It has had quite the struggle. There were years we thought were its last but it seems to have acclimatized to its location and is doing well this year. This is the best it has ever looked.

Huckleberries

2010-07-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Stained fingers can testify that the Huckleberries are ripe at lower elevations.

Red, dusty blue and black. Whether they are subtle variations in the same berry, different levels of ripeness, or a different sub-species I don't know but they are all very good. I have heard it said the indians had many names for huckleberries, maybe they knew more about them than we do.
Mrs. Wags & I joined a couple of the girls this afternoon and went several miles up the road to some state ground, where my wife's family has picked berries for over 40 years. The semi-open southern slope has just the right amount of ingredients for a pretty fair crop of berries. For our two hours of picking we brought back about 1 1/2 gallons.
While I always like getting out in the woods but I am not a marathon picker. A couple of hours and I am ready to call it quits. I wouldn't be very good at picking berries for a living. On a good day I might make $30. If desparate and in a really good patch I might be able to pick twice that many.

Have you ever noticed that wild roses sometimes grow in amongst the huckleberries?

Chipping Sparrow

2010-07-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to snap a few shots of the parent sparrow.

Summer Evening Shots

2010-07-09T20:43:00.001-07:00

Finally, after months of rain, we've had a few nice days of sunny and warm weather. Below are a few snapshots I took this evening.

No, these are not chicken eggs. You probably knew that. A small bird has made a nest in amongst our Tayberry bushes. I tried to take a picture of the adult bird but it is very fast and doesn't stick around. I think it is a Chipping Sparrow.

The white rose bush is in full bloom. It is a very beautiful rose and very healthy and hardy. It is unfortunate that it only blooms once a year.

A close-up shot of the white rose bush.

Early Summer Update:

2010-07-03T11:02:00.001-07:00

It's been a very wet and chilly spring and early summer. We've had a few days of sunshine and warm days but close to record rainfall. The garden isn't looking too bad for early June, unfortunately it's July. I am not optimistic about what the garden will produce.

Potatoes and onions.

The Tayberries are loaded and still blooming.

The peas are looking good.

Radishes and various lettuces.

Cabbages

The tomatoes have a long way to go. The volunteer onion looking very good.

The chicken house has been getting the inside painted. Only one more coat on the one side is left and then I can finish it out and then some chicks. While we were hoping to get a much earlier start with the chickens this year I have just been too busy to get it done earlier.

Some various photos on a rainy afternoon

2010-05-27T16:53:00.001-07:00

The quince bush.

Tulips

A long awaited chore completed

2010-05-26T18:04:00.001-07:00

On vacation this week, which for me, means doing some chores around the homestead. I have been waiting a long time to replace the pressure tank in our water system. I had plans to couple 2 new tanks together to double the amount of draw down but because of limited space I ended up only putting in one tank. The new tank was a lot larger than the old tank and I had to remove the door and part of the framework to get it in the small building. I also had to remove the lower shelf that goes around the inside perimeter.

This new tank will draw down about 35 gallons before it kicks on the pump. If I could have gotten 2 tanks in it would have doubled that to 70 gallons. As it is, it is still better than the old tank which probably wasn't even half of that on its best day, which is long in the past. While the draw down helps to minimize the number of times the pump kicks on another important feature is the reserve water it stores for power outages. Later this year I would like to get a power disconnect installed on the power panel so that I can add a generator and recharge the tank as necessary during a power outage. The lack of water during a power outage is the most onerous part of having no power. Kerosene lights are tolerable and the food in the fridge will keep for several days and the freezer will keep its contents frozen for at least 4 days, even in the summer, if it isn't opened. I know, we've been there. But no water creates an immediate major inconvenience. Oh for gravity flow water!

The old tank, as you can see, is well past its prime. It was part of the water system when we bought this place over 25 years ago.

The phlox grows along the entrance to pressure tank building.

My Gunsmoke Days

2010-05-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Spring Turkey

2010-05-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Wags-End captured this photo through the laundry room window today.

and a few more...

Evening Grosbeaks really morning birds

2010-05-16T09:33:00.001-07:00

I don't know why they are called 'Evening' Grosbeaks, they were quite active this morning, early!

Pears in bloom

2010-05-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

The pear tree is in full bloom. The apples are not long to follow.

The prunes are also blooming.

Chicken House is almost ready:

2010-04-24T17:16:00.001-07:00

I haven't had much time to work on the chicken house this spring but I do have it ready to paint on the inside. We have decided on a nice eggshell white (even though the chickens we will be housing here will be laying brown eggs). After the interior is painted the dividing wall will need the chicken wire stretched on it and the door made and hung and then the nest boxes assembled and painted, then we will be ready for little peepers. Hopefully by June.

This side is for the chickens.

This side is for grain storage. We will use some metal barrels with secure lids to keep pests out.

This photo shows the chicken door opened. It slides up and down in the wooden track. I will attach a hook to keep it open.

Spring Garden Update:

2010-04-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

The following photos will show we started some of our plants indoors too early. I hope when the time comes (maybe another month yet) to plant them outside that they will survive the transplanting.

Not the only cucumber growing on the started plants.

The pumpkins have been blooming for weeks.

Some peppers and cabbages. I am not going to show the tomatoes, they are the only ones not growing, many have died.

Latest Visitor

2010-04-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Wags-End captured this photo of a recent visitor.

Leprechaun

2010-03-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

If you close one eye and squint with the other eye you'll see a picture of our resident leprechaun.
Happy St. Patrick's day.

Garden Starts

2010-03-08T16:45:00.001-08:00

With less than great results last year when we started our own seedlings, we ended up with only a few of the many plants we started that actually grew very well and made it to the outside garden and survived. This year we decided to enhance our process. We bought a seedling heat mat that heats the starts from the bottom and keeps them about 90 degrees.
Look at the pictures below, these seeds were planted last Tuesday, 5 days ago.
Cucumbers, cabbage & cantaloupe.

Tomatoes:

If these keep growing at this rate I am sure we will picking cukes and tomatoes before we can plant them outside.
The weakness now will probably prove to be the light. We do have a couple of full spectrum bulbs over the top of these but I do not think it is enough. Next year we may spend the money on a table light system that provides more light, this year we will see how these do with what we have. At the worst we will buy starts again.

A Brief Update

2010-03-07T09:11:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to show I am still here.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so spring like and different than the last two Marches. Last year and the year before we were still buried under snow. We have had hardly any snow this winter.
We put in our first outdoor workday of the year yesterday. While the chores were not too onerous we still felt sore when the day was done. Some of things we were at:

Adjust doors on the chicken house, they had swollen over the winter and did not fit well.
Get the last window in the chicken house.
Clean up scraps of wood leftovers from chicken house construction.
Adjust door on the cat house. Same problem as the chicken house doors.
Put up some decoration on the Multi-use shed. A couple of old saws that hang on the wall. These I had taken down last fall prior to the painting project.
Tessa cut off the old dead Peony stalks from last year.
Wanda cleaned up the pile of leaves from the backyard I had raked up the other day.
Organise storage shed, just in time for more junk from house to arrive.

A lonesome feeder

2010-01-30T13:05:00.001-08:00

This cute little bird feeder we got for Christmas. We have had very few guests so far. There was a few Chickadees a couple of days ago. Perhaps it's the mild winter.

Some road work this last summer

2010-01-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

This past summer we undertook some much needed road work. We had been using our driveway for over 20 years without much more than the initial work it took to cut it into the hill. At first it was quite muddy but over the years most of the mud has washed away leaving ruts and half buried boulders. It was fine for me, I figure with a driveway like that only those who really want to visit will undertake the challenge. The big problem was plowing snow. We hire out the task of snow removal and the plower didn't like hitting the rocks with his plow, can't blame him. So with that said we decided to put some money into it and have it topped with a thick layer of crushed rock. I will have to admit it was nice, almost city-slicker nice.
Here are some before pictures, they really don't do it justice, its rougher than it looks:

Here it is getting the topping:

About the same time we decided to start a road across the hillside below the orchard. We never really made it as far as the orchard, we will have to save that part for another year. We stopped at the water line that comes from the well.
A before picture:

After the work. The orchard is behind the sheds on the left. This road will eventually extend further in the direction you are looking, below the orchard where it will turn to the right and cross over the gully. The idea will be to build up the road at the gully and use it as a dam for pond we hope to dig out.

This coming summer we are planning on constructing a cellar directly the left in the above photo, about where the bush is. You can see the location better in the 'before' picture. There are about 1/2 dozen trees to remove. The cellar will extend above the grade a bit, the floor of it just above the new road. The upper part of the cellar will need to be covered with dirt and seeded to grass. It will make a hump about 6' high and steep enough that no one can accidentally drive over it. You will have to use your imagination until I can start the project and post some pictures.

Adah Lou Who from Whoville?

2010-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Testing editor

2009-12-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Just a test of my blog editor. This picture is the backyard at Wags-End earlier this fall.

One of my favorite meals

2009-12-12T14:11:00.001-08:00

Here is a simple meal that I would like to share. It's easy to fix and pretty good, in fact it is one of my favourites. The ingredients, listed below, are all optional, meaning you can add or delete according to your own preference. I don't usually add any meat to this but I don't see why some hamburger, roast or ham couldn't be added.

In a casserole dish layer in:

cabbage

lima beans

oinions

garlic

sun-dried tomatoes

mushrooms

zucchini

brussel sprouts

broccoli

add about 1/2" water

sprinkle with sea salt

cover and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until tender

It's delicious heaped on a thick slice of homemade bread!!

Starting to look a little like Christmas

2009-12-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

First, I would like to congratulate Lance on becoming debt free. You can read more about it at his blog in the links to the right under "Living the Dream". Now that you no longer have any personal debt Lance, you can start in on your share of the national debt, let's see, that would be about $80,000. Keep in mind you will have to pay at least $10,000 per year to stay even.
A couple of Christmas pictures from around Wags-End:

A robin in the snow

2009-11-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

This guy (or gal) missed the flight south. Perhaps the Radiant crabapples were just too good to leave. I hope there are enough to last till spring because it is a long way off.

2009-11-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy summer. I've spent most weekends and vacations working on various projects. This weekend I took a break from that and have been mostly lazy and done nothing. Probably not a good idea since we are heading into winter and there will be plenty of time doing nothing and we will dream about getting back to work and seeing progress on our numerous, ongoing projects, but having said that it was still nice to catch up on news and play around a little with my new linux system. I do have a few things to post that may be of interest.

As I mentioned above I have converted my main home system to linux, ubuntu distro. I have played with linux for many years and have installed it hundreds of times on my boxes all with varying degrees of success. After a particularly persistent virus attack on my windows system a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to repartition my hard drive so I made accommodations for a linux partition. After getting XP back on I found an ubuntu disk and installed it. It was positively the best install I have ever done, almost everything worked from the installation. I am now dual booting into either linux, which I am using everyday, and XP which I will only use when I want to play a windows based game. Everything was configured easily, the only thing not working is my scanner and there doesn't seem to be a linux driver for it so I will have to boot into XP if I want to use it. There are enough linux apps to cover most every basic XP based program that I should not pine for the XP system, although some of the apps will take a little learning. The fun part is the highly customizable desktop. See picture below.

Chicken house/barn:
I haven't done any more work on the chicken house since my last post on it but it is more complete than the picture below. I post this picture to offer a different view and to bring attention to the roof which extends over the outside chicken run.

Some might wonder why I would go to the expense of creating a covered outdoor run for them, it certainly wasn't necessary but it will provide some outdoor access during the winter when there would be heavy snow cover. The primary reason though was because our future plans are to make it part of a larger structure, the barn. Our idea was to provide for access to the total building (chicken house and barn) under one roof to minimize the amount of snow removal. See the image below for a conceptual drawing of this future building.

November 1, 2009

2009-11-01T15:05:00.001-08:00

November marks the start of winter for us. It is really the first days that snow could fall and remain for the duration until spring. Today, however, was very nice, mostly sunny and comfortable. A good day to burn a brush pile. It was almost too wet, some of it will not burn but spring projects will see it grow again for another try.

Apple Cider Day

2009-10-24T17:30:00.001-07:00

What a beautiful day to press apple cider. It poured rain for half the night but when we awoke this morning the sky was clear blue.
It was about 10:30 before we actually got started on the pressing.

Here's our setup:
The two tubs in front are for washing and rinsing the apples.

The grinder and press:

The ground apple mash. I am not sure that this ginder reduced the apples to a fine enough pulp or not. We tried to run it through again but that did not make it any finer and it didn't feed well. Grinding was the hardest part of the whole process. I don't know if other grinders are better or worse than this one but I think an electric motor on it would make things a lot easier.

The mash in the press:

Juice coming from the press:

Juice has been put in containers and is ready to go in the freezer. We got about 17 gallons today, we still have 4 more large boxes of apples to press.

It was a lot of work and there were 6 of us washing, rinsing, quartering and removing bad spots, grinding, pressing and filling jugs. It certainly isn't the easiest way to make cider but it was a lot of fun.

Hot Bread

2009-10-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

Hot buttered bread. There's an old wives tale that says it isn't good for you to eat hot bread, I disagree.

The Wood Pile

2009-10-17T12:10:00.001-07:00

It has taken most of the week and a lot of hard work but the logs have finally been turned into wood. The woodshed is full and there are a couple of nice ricks sitting outside.
I figure this is close to 5 cords.
That is Cali next to the wood pile.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

2009-10-17T11:59:00.001-07:00

Having a special diet can sometimes (most times) be a pain, but having to come up with my own bread recipe was a definite benefit. I make this in a bread machine, sorry but I'm not going to make bread twice a week by hand. I would rate a bread machine right up there with a washing machine and definitely higher than a dishwasher for must have appliances.
The recipe, added in order given:

1 1/2 cups tepid water
1/4 cup half & half cream/milk
3 3/4+ cups of whole wheat flour (almost 4 cups)
1/3 cup oatmeal flour (this adds a nice texture to the bread.)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup honey
2 heaping tablespoons coconut oil (non-hydrogenated)
2 teaspoons yeast

You can reduce or eliminate the oatmeal flour if you want but you will need to add a corresponding amount whole wheat flour so that the total flour equals 4 1/4 cups.
We are not currently grinding our own wheat flour because we have a full bin of purchased flour but as soon as that is gone we will be buying wheat and grinding it ourselves. It takes a lot of work and energy to grind even small amounts by hand. Our grinder is made so that it will accept a motor and we may in the future set it up with one.
Use the whole wheat baking setting on your bread machine, if you have more than 1 setting you might choose the longer one. It takes almost 4 hours for ours to complete the process.

Grinding oatmeal into flour.

It takes a lot of grinding to get the flour shown below. Thanks Tessie.

Adding the honey

Ready to put in the bread machine.

The finished loaf of bread.

Woodshed

2009-10-11T16:55:00.001-07:00

Here’s a picture of the woodshed/storage shed/shop/office. It’s hard to imagine that little building performing so many different functions.

The firewood is stored in the lean-to on the right side. I also keep the garbage cans there (brown cardboard barrels in the foreground). The sticks stored in the rafters over the wood are for my future walking stick projects I am planning for some winter work once the shop is completed. The wood pile is growing, another load went in today. All total the shed will hold about 4 or 5 cords, which will meet most of our heating needs.

The lean-to on the left side of the picture is the storage shed. The low ceiling is a real head clunker. I wish I had built the whole thing 2 feet taller but when we built it we used what we had on hand and what we could afford.

The center section, with the window and doorway with no door yet is to be the shop. It isn’t anywhere near useable yet, too many other projects taking precedent. It used to be where we stored the wood when originally built but has been (or soon will be) promoted. Currently the shop has boxes of apples stored on one side and the other side are the dog beds. The dogs don’t know it yet but they are moving out before long. I will build them a dog house in the front section of the woodshed just opposite the garbage cans. I think it will be a lot warmer and cozier than where they are now.

My office is in the center section, back half. It is not very big but easy to keep warm and just right for me. I will not show any pictures of it because I am not a very good housekeeper.

It may be hard to tell from the pictures but the whole building is in the process of being painted. There is not much left to do but the cold weather has put a stop to it. One or two more days of warmer weather will see it done, if it doesn’t rain.

The hot tub felt wonderful last night. The sky was clear and the milky way put on a brilliant display. We saw 4 or 5 falling stars and multiple satellites passing over. Half a dozen deer grazed in the field below the house although they were hard to see in the dark but we could hear them moving about.

Brrrr!!

2009-10-10T19:01:00.001-07:00

If you can’t tell from there, that’s ice in the barrels. Not terribly uncommon this time of year but it was only 15 degrees last night and that seems a little unseasonal. I don’t think it even got to 40 today and forecast is for more cold tonight. Hence the frenzy of activity now getting ready for more cold and eventually snow!

The first load of wood went into the woodshed today. The logs have been cut for several months but when I cut it to stove length and split it today it felt a little heavy. I threw a couple chunks in the stove not long ago and they seemed to burn good, but then there was a nice layer of coals under them too. I think they will be okay as they are but they will season in the woodshed pretty quickly now that they are quarter-split. There was a little more cedar in the log pile than I would like to have seen but I won’t run out of kindling. The logs were a byproduct of some road work we had done this summer so whatever species had to come out- came out.

I haven’t posted on the garden in quite a while but it’s a given that it’s toast. We had our first frost several weeks ago and have several since with the worst last night, the 15 degrees I mentioned above. We have hundreds of tomatoes laying about the dining room under layers of newspaper in varying states of ripeness. Unless they decide to rot rather than ripen I will have fresh tomatoes for a month yet. I also moved a container planted tomato into my office and put a grow light over it. It has several dozen baseball sized tomatoes on it that are starting to ripen. I am hoping to keep it alive as long as possible. It is somewhat of an experiment to see how long I can keep it producing.

After the first frost hit us several weeks ago the deer decided they weren’t staying out of the garden any longer so we lost our fall lettuce crop and any remaining beans. I salvaged the red cabbage, the green cabbage and brussel sprouts succumbed to cabbage loopers, next year I will have to order in some Bacillus Thuringiensis to combat them. When the worms first appeared I went to the garden supply store and asked for some Bacillus Thuringiensis for my lepidroptera and they just gave me a blank stare. Needless to say I did not find any locally. The worms did not bother the red cabbage hardly at all, maybe they didn’t like it.

We did get a nice crop of white onions. We hadn’t planted a large number but most of them grew to medium size and are currently drying out some as they lay on the piano bench.

The tobacco never really matured like I thought it should so consequently it was never pulled and set to dry. It looks pretty bad now and is probably a complete loss. That is the big problem we are having here on the end of our ridge, our season is just not long enough and the nights during the summer are just not warm enough. The two conditions work against us. Most everything grows pretty fair but just not fast enough to do much before the season ends. If we want to have a good harvest we are just going to have to erect some type of greenhouse structure. I haven’t settled on any particular plan yet but it will probably be something cheap and easy. I have talked to different people about what they are doing so I have some ideas. Next spring I will have to decide and get something in place. Another spring project will have to be some kind of real deer-proof fence. I only have a portion of the orchard and garden area semi-fenced now and it is more of a psychological deterrent rather than a real barrier. I have put up some plastic orange construction fencing, if you look closely at the background in the icy barrel picture at the top of this post you can see it. It only keeps out the deer until they decide they really want in.

I have the next week off from work so I will be home getting wood and getting things ready for winter. I have a lot of projects planned and will try to post something everyday.

The upcoming week’s project list:

The apple press has arrived. Must apply food safe urethane gel to wood parts.

Press out the apples. Tessa has been faithfully picking the apples. I think she only has one tree left. I am expecting about 20 gallons of juice.

In anticipation of a whole beef that is now at the butcher we realized our already full freezer was not going to hold it, so we ordered a new one.

The grain mill is now mounted on a counter in a little pantry area we have. We have used it a little to grind some oats to add to homemade bread. I will try to do a post on making bread. We have developed a really good and healthy whole wheat bread recipe for the breadmaker and I would like share it.

My wife, Wanda and my daughter Tessa have been painting the woodshed/storage shed/shop. I need to make a door for the shop section and replace some hinges on the storage section.

The outside freezable water faucets have all been shut off.

The hoses need drained and put away.

The chicken house still needs one more window installed. I went with the acrylic panels. I hope that wasn’t a mistake. They were awful cutting and getting them framed. Door and window latches have been installed.

I hope to cut and split a load of wood and get it into the woodshed everyday. Day one down and one load in. I think I will sneak up to the neighbor’s hot tub tonight and take a long soak. They are gone to Hawaii on vacation for the week so I think their hot tub will get a lot of use.

Chicken house update, Sept 26, 2009

2009-09-26T16:20:00.001-07:00

Most of the outside work on the chicken house is done now. Still left to do outside is:

Install light
Attach door latches
Install window panes, acrylic, I think.
Install window latches
Install fencing for run (next spring)
Paint (next spring)
Lay in some stones for step (next spring)

On the inside:

Put up nailing blocks
Insulate
Put up sheeting
Construct door for chickens to access outdoor run
Paint (next spring)

Chicken house update – Thursday

2009-09-17T20:23:00.001-07:00

The chicken house is really progressing. Almost all of the external sheeting is on and so is the tar paper on the roof. It is now ready for the metal roofing. I’ve got 3 more days at home to work on it and then it’s back to the money job. Work on the chicken house will progress a lot slower then but at least I expect to have it so it can withstand the coming winter weather.

Chicken house update:

2009-09-14T13:18:00.001-07:00

The chicken house is progressing a little faster now that the foundation is done and I have some time off from work. It is ready for sheeting.

New Arrivals Today

2009-09-08T16:50:00.001-07:00

New toys (tools) arrived today.

This first picture is our new apple/fruit crusher. The press hasn’t arrived yet, it is backordered until the end of September. That should give me enough time to decide where I want to mount this. The second picture shows the inside of the hopper and teeth where the action happens.

This is the new grain mill.

We picked the first ears of corn yesterday. I have it on good word that they were as tasty as they were beautiful. I can’t eat corn, because of allergy to it but these tempted me. It was cold this morning, 33.6 degrees, don’t know how many more we can expect to pick.

I am watching the thermometer on a nightly basis hoping to save every tomato that I can. It is unfortunate that we are just coming into our tomato production.

Of course tomatoes aren’t the only thing that will suffer…

Walls framed

2009-09-08T16:26:00.001-07:00

The long weekend saw the walls mostly framed up. Still some plates to nail on and doorways to frame. Then will come the rafters.

The Chicken House

2009-09-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

It’s been a long time coming but finally work is progressing on the chicken house. It seems I’ve been working on it all summer and haven’t gotten very far and it’s already September. I was supposed to have this done before winter arrived so we could have chickens in the spring but I am going to have to hurry with only about 2 months left before snow can be expected and then there is the wood to get cut up, split and in the woodshed. It’s a good thing the logs are cut and curing somewhat.

The first picture shows the beginning of the foundation.

The next picture shows the concrete floors poured. The floor level with the blocks will be the grain room. The lower floor will be the chicken house proper. This floor is lower to facilitate with the cleaning out process. Just a quick scoop around the floor with a flat shovel and out the chicken door and then a little hosing down and should be nice and clean, we’ll see how it works out.

After we poured the lower floor this morning I made a trip to the lumber yard and should have enough materials to frame in the walls this weekend.

Applesauce

2009-08-29T17:44:00.001-07:00

When you have lots of apples you have lots of things you can do with them. Making applesauce consumes apples fast. Lodi apples aren’t much for juice and they don’t keep well as apples.

The apples are first quartered and cored and then cooked down until they are soft.

Then they are run through the colander and cinnamon can be added for flavor.

Two bags packed with sauce and ready for the freezer.

Weekend Garden Report August 29, 2009

2009-08-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Bachelor Buttons and Cosmos are thriving.

Dolgo Crabapple is loaded this year. It won’t be long and they will be ready to pick.

The Pear tree is not loaded but has a nice crop.

The Connecticut pumpkin is looking good.

This French variety of pumpkin, Rouge vif d’Etamps, has a ways to go, I am doubtful if it ripen before cold weather sets in.

Some of the tobacco crop is starting to mature as indicated by this plant starting to yellow. This is my first attempt at growing tobacco. I planted 8 varieties but lost track of which was which when I transplanted them to the garden. I recently plucked the flowers from them hoping the plants would start to ripen.

The fall crops of lettuce and radishes are looking good.

Today’s harvest, a bowl of green beans, a pepper and a zucchini (not shown).

Living in the North and at 3000’ elevation makes corn an iffy crop for us but it looks like we might pick this before long.

Perhaps the best use of apples

2009-08-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

2009-08-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Lodi apples are the first apples of the season for us. They are similar to Yellow Transparent. We have 3 semi-dwarf Lodi trees. The 1 pictured was the most productive, the other two were about average.

Saturday we picked 10 boxes off the 3 trees.

Some of the apples we will process for drying.

This simple gadget cores, peels and slices in one operation.

Cutting the good part in half.

Ready to be placed on the dryer tray.

A dryer tray loaded up.

Our old Harvest Maid is still going even with the duct tape. Here it is filled with apples which will only take about 24 hours before another load can go in.

The scraps ready for the compost heap.

I finally did it.

2009-08-23T11:52:00.001-07:00

Okay, I finally did it. I have started a blog. I was inspired to do so by Granny Miller's blog. Granny Miller has chronicled their life on a small farm and filled her blog with many tips, how-to's and accounts of everyday experiences. Though she is no longer blogging the archives are still there and well worth your visit. Though my blog may not have the same depth of experience I hope that it might provide some useful information for the reader as well as provide a way for me to keep track of our accomplishments and provide proof that we are really moving forward toward our goal of becoming more independent as homesteaders.