Country Life with Country Wife

Prepare to drool...

2012-01-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

Picked up the shipment from Johnny's at the PO today:

And the order from Territorial was in my mailbox this afternoon:

I also picked up that extra table today...you know...the one you talked me into? :) It is now home to 10 flats (720 cells total) already filled with soil and waiting, impatiently, for seed.

Seeeeeeeeds!!!!!!

2012-01-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Seeds have started to arrive! Two shipments arrived Saturday, and I still have a package waiting at the PO because it wouldn't fit in the mailbox. *giggles maniacally* And there are more on the way!! **swoon**

Here's my shipment from Baker Creek:

I've ordered from them before. I love the new packaging, but would it kill them to list "days to harvest" on the package?

They included this nice little bonus:

The shipment from Pinetree:

This one, from Pinetree, was a test order. I'd read a lot of bad reviews online. Some people said it took weeks to get their order. Mine only took three days.

Of course I've been playing in the dirt. Here's what I've started so far, and how many of each:

Roma tomato - 144
Japanese Black Trifele tomato - 24
Striped Cavern tomato - 18
Sub-Arctic Plenty tomato - 18
Tiny Tim Patio Tomato - 36
Tess' Land Race Currant Tomato - 30
Serrano Chili Pepper - 36
Burpee Green Gooseberry Tomato - 30
Japanese White Egg Eggplant - 72
King of the North Pepper - 23
Thai Hot Pepper - 42
Big Jim Chili Pepper - 72
Keystone Resistant Giant Bell Pepper - 72
Bloody Butcher Tomato - 12
Delicious tomato - 18
Rutgers Tomato - 12
Homestead Tomato - 12

Total: 671 seeds started

The Roma were started on the 23rd.

Now to get the greenhouse put back together! Eöl picked up some hardware, but the weather hasn't cooperated. We've had snow and 50 mph wind gusts. For now, the greenhouse is safely flattened on the ground. It's not doing my plants any good, but at least it's not blowing away...with me attached.

When I pick up my package at the PO, I know I'm going to do that junkie-jitter-dance-thing. I need to start more seeds, but I'm out of table space. I am seriously thinking of picking up a second table. The trays in the pic are on one of those long folding tables. I've gotten a lot of use out of it: canning, butchering, seeds, cookouts, and farmers market. Another one would be handy, right? I could use it in the greenhouse, as well as all those other great uses. Ok...you talked me into it. :)

More seed pics to come!

update

2012-01-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

Seeds are here. Dirt is ready. Updates to follow.

grrrrrr

2012-01-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

I'm currently suffering Seed Frustration. Here I was, with this huge list of tomato seeds; two pages!! I was kind of excited, although my first choice for seed purchase didn't pan out. I thought this may work out better, anyway, more variety even though I'd have fewer of each. But noooooo. I did a little research (thank goodness) before placing my order, and found out that this company has a bad rep for not shipping seed on time. Like I need it six weeks from now?? If I'm going to start tomatoes and peppers and get them to a marketable size, I need to start them soon. But maybe I could get some decent starts, even if it takes a few weeks, right? Nooooooo (again). This company also has a rep for poor germination. Thanks, but I'll pass.

It looks like I'm back to Johnny's. They have amazing seed. It's a little more expensive than the place I was going to order from to start with, and not as big of a selection of heirlooms and OP varieties as my second choice. But good seed is good seed. I know they ship in a timely manner, and the seed is reliable.

I'll probably order a couple of seed packets from one or two new places, just to get some variety. I always go overboard on my seed orders anyway.

**sigh** Is it so wrong that I still want the 45 varieties I had listed?

Well, crap.

2012-01-20T16:52:00.000-05:00

Back to the drawing board. I had this HUGE list of seeds for one company, and then I find out to buy from them I must sign my soul (not the car) over to Monsanto. Um...no. The seeds I selected weren't even hybrids, let alone Monsanto Monstrosities. W. T. F.

So...back to the seed catalogs. Since I can't get the larger quantities of the seeds I wanted, I am consoling myself with smaller quantities and more varieties. I have two pages of nothing but tomato seeds.

I'll be doing more seed crops...meaning I will plant certain crops to harvest mainly for seed for the following year. That works out pretty well, since I get a packet of seeds for a few bucks, but not many seeds, then one tomato can yield a LOT of seed for future use.

That doesn't work quite as well with squash, though. Squash tends to cross. I ended up with some interesting varieties last year. I had delicata that crossed with acorn, which looked an awful lot like the carnival variety. I think that's how those came about, originally, but went on to become a more stable variety. Some hybrid plants are prone to reverting to parent fruits. It's all pretty interesting. Fortunately, I don't mind crossed squash, and enjoy the occasional surprise variety. The striped spaghetti squash were really pretty.

But when it comes to selling plants at market, most people prefer to know what they are getting. Sometimes, there are surprises there, as well. I bought some Oxheart seed, and when the plants fruited, what I got was most definitely not Oxheart. Thankfully, my customers didn't complain.

I had a problem just last year, when I planted a slew of cherry tomatoes, and ended up with, well, not cherry tomatoes. I'm hoping for better luck this year. I don't feel too bad, since I know this happens even at big commercial greenhouses. Nature can be tricky.

Oh...yeah...about the greenhouse.

Squish.

Yes, squish. The wind was insane, caught the plastic, and broke a leg on the frame. That, my dear, is what I get for buying the cheap frame. The whole thing is salvageable. We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better, stronger, faster...um..the bionic greenhouse? As long as it doesn't cost six million, right? lol Sorry...caught up in a flashback there. So...as soon as the snow melts, the greenhouse will be reassembled and reinforced. No more wind nightmares. It really was a nightmare...I had to run out there and take the damn thing apart during the wind storm just to keep the rest of the frame from being torn all to hell. Ever been inside a bag of microwave popcorn? That's how it felt, with the plastic blowing this way and that, ballooning around me and smacking me around. ( I can't hold it..she's breaking up! She's breaking up!) (Where is Steve Austin when you need him??) And then I had to crawl out from under all the plastic and pile everything I could find on it to keep it from blowing away...and taking me with it. Oh...for pete's sake...stop laughing.

I'll be starting seeds this coming week, greenhouse or no...I have spring fever.

Must. Play. In. Dirt.

Seed Addicts Anonymous and getting rich at the Farmers Market

2012-01-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

Seed Addicts Anonymous...I should join. I have almost finished my seed lists. Yes, lists, plural. I have a list for each seed catalog, and there are...umm...four or five that I'm actually ordering from. I sit down with a notebook and a huge pile of seed catalogs, find something I like, then cross-reference that selection with the other catalogs, looking for the best deals and more information on certain selections. I'm ordering from a couple of new places this year (not new companies, just ones I've never ordered from before), and I hope that works out well.

I'm getting frustrated with the Baker Creek catalog. Most seed catalogs have details about the plants: zone info; days from seed to harvest; determinate or indeterminate, etc. Baker Creek has wonderful stories about walking along a dusty path and finding this amazing fruit, but that doesn't tell me if I can grow it here.

I'm looking forward to this year's Farmers Market. If I can make enough money to cover what I've spent on seed, I think I'll be doing well. You know, that brings to mind something I've read in many homesteading books: selling extra produce at roadside stands and the like.

A lot of those books lead one to believe that you can make a decent amount of money selling at markets. That really depends on your location and how much you have to sell. If you are near enough to a big city, you may make a decent market wage, provided you have enough produce to make it worth your while. I could, in theory, drive to Cleveland or Columbus and do the market there. It's a pretty big investment, since a season at those markets can run over $500 in stall fees, where our local market costs a mere $15 a year. Also, some of the larger markets require a vendors license, health inspections, etc, each of which comes with its own fees.

Personally, I prefer to keep it local. I'm sure, even in the big cities a hundred miles from home, compared to major grocers my produce would be local. But here in our small village, when asked if I'm local, I can proudly say, "Grown less than two and a half miles from where you are standing."

Another thing that most books don't point out is that many people visit farmers markets for bargains. They don't realize how much work goes into growing, harvesting, prepping for market, hauling, setting up, etc. They seem to think that our produce should not only be fresh from the garden that very morning, it should be cheaper than, say, Walmart. Most of the time, it actually is. But I did hear one lady complaining about paying 75 cents for a huge, lovely red pepper, when she could get it for that price at Walmart. Oy. It wasn't my pepper, in case you were wondering, but still...if she'd rather have something soaked in chemicals and shipped from heaven knows where..probably China...then she really should just stay out of the local market.

When it comes to selling produce at the market, there's a lot of competition. It's hard to get a good price out of something when every other table at the market has the exact same thing. My best sellers have been those things that no one else grows - unusual varieties of squash, tomatoes, etc.

As for setting up a roadside table near your homestead...well, most homesteads are too far from major thoroughfares. Sometimes there are laws against doing that, anyway, so you'd have to check for your area.

Either way, I've rarely heard anyone say they made a killing at the Farmers Market. I did hear about one lady that made quite a bit by purchasing produce at auction and hauling it to one of the bigger markets. How does that make it local? I feel it's a bit fraudulent, when people think they are buying something you grew, but you are just the middle man. Turns out I'm not the only one that feels that way. Many of the markets are doing garden inspections to verify that you grow what you sell. I realize that sounds a bit overboard, but when you have people showing up at market, complaining about a sore back from picking beans, and then selling beans they bought at auction, well, you just have to do what you have to do. Dishonest people make life harder for the rest of us.

Anyway, when it comes to the market, it's hard work, and you won't walk away with a lot of money, but you'll meet interesting people, learn a few things, and have fun.

yawn

2012-01-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

I need a nap. I have been so busy lately, and not sleeping my requisite 8 hours per stretch. Some days, I'm lucky to get four in a row. I'm tired, it's raining, the house is toasty, and I feel like I could lay in front of the hearth, cat-like and snug. (More like Garfield than a sleek house cat. Bleh.)

Yesterday, though, I felt so energized. It was a GORGEOUS day. The sun was shining; the sky was blue; the birds were singing; and the air smelled of spring and green things. But it was one of those crazy, hectic days that required running here, there and everywhere, so I didn't get to spend much of it outdoors.

The plastic is on the greenhouse. It's not quite finished; we are going to add some extensions made of pvc and 2x4's, since the plastic is plenty big enough. Right now it's 200 sf, but the added space will come close to doubling that. I'll have room for my potting supplies, a potting table, and so. many. plants. **drooling** The greenhouse is even close enough to the house that I can run an extension cord for heat lamps.

If you could only hear the mania in my voice when I talk about this greenhouse. Bwahahahah! I'm like some mad scientist with a fresh batch of victims....I mean experiments...I mean chemicals. Oh, heck, I don't even have a great analogy for it. If you are a complete and utter garden maniac, you are probably bouncing around in your seat, yelling, "I know what you meeeaaaannnnn!!!!" If not, you'll most likely never understand, but you can come by the Farmer's Market and buy your three tomato plants from me, or other maniacs just like me.

I wanted to spend today working in the greenhouse, getting things set up, taking inventory of supplies, and all that fun stuff. But it's pouring rain, and getting my supplies from the far end of the property and into the greenhouse would be a slick, mud-filled adventure. Instead, I'm inside, doing the mundane stuff like putting away last year's files and starting new ones for this year. B-O-R-I-N-G!!!

What's ironic is that I used to love office type work. For many years, that was my job: Executive Administrative Assistant. Or: Girl Friday, for those of you old enough to recall that phrase. Mentally exhausting work, complete with Secretary's Butt... a sort of expansion of the hindquarters, brought on by extended periods of sitting, sitting, and sitting some more. Wait..now that I think about it...I was thinner then..no muscles...and the butt happened when some sadist put in a vending machine that had Peanut M&Ms. That bastardo!!

Little Sis was too young to remember my having an office position. Not long ago, she boggled at the very idea. "You had an inside job??" she asked in utter disbelief. Inside meaning indoors, not some insider trading hoopla, lest there be any confusion. But yes, I told her, I once worked inside a building, all day long. She just shook her head as if I'd told her the Easter Bunny was going to deliver pizza in 30 minutes or less.

I guess I should get back to work on these files. urgh. Or I could go outside and look at my greenhouse. Or I could work on my seed list. Yes, I think I will go work on my seed list...in the greenhouse...because I really loathe office work and would rather play in the mud!! WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

The first buzzard of spring, a welcome, and a hug

2012-01-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

Just this week, I have seen a total of five turkey buzzards. I don't think I've ever seen vultures before March. What the heck?? This is insanely early for the vultures to return. I wonder if this means an early spring?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

___________________________

In other news:

Welcome new readers!! I want to give a great big THANK YOU ((((HUG)))) to the luv that posted the link to my firewood post, making it my "most read post" ever. I've never been called "feisty" before...I like it! :)

2012-01-06T20:15:00.001-05:00

Today was gorgeous!! The sun was out, the snow was melting, and the air had that smell that always reminds me of a defrosting freezer: damp, chilly, and warm at the same time. It just smelled like spring....in January?

We've had one snow so far, other than a couple of dustings. The ground has only been frozen for a few days all winter. I'm not complaining, I'm just hoping that the trees don't bud too soon and lose their blossoms, as well as this year's fruit harvest, to a freeze later on. An average winter here has snow on the ground from November to April. This is a nice change.

The worst part about today was that I was completely exhausted. For reasons both boring and mundane, I was up till 3:30 a.m., and then had to be up this morning at 7 a.m., once again for boring and mundane reasons. I desperately needed a nap, but didn't want to waste such a beautiful day. I compromised with a 30 minute ~~coma~~ power nap, and spent the rest of the day outside.

I brought in the wood and did some other every day chores, then decided it would be a great time to put fresh hay in the critter houses. When I want back around to lock up the critters at dusk, I found that my mud-slogging-itchy-hay-hauling was not as appreciated as you would've thought.

The ducks were horrified.

"Drake, dahling! Come here, quickly!" chirped Mrs. Muscovy, "This simply will not do! We've been redecorated! Oh, it's horrid!!"

The young chickens in the tractor were also upset:

"Dude!"

"Gag me with a pitchfork! Why is our house all full of green, itchy stuff?"

"Oh. My. Gosh. This. Is. Gross!"

"I am totally sleeping outside. You cannot make me go in there. I just had my feathers done."

Just kidding. I love Cyndi Lauper.
We should all age so well.

"Chicks just wanna have fun."

At least the geese were happy:

"Yo, Vinny! How you doin'?"

"Yo, T! How you doin'?"

"Yo. Dat lady put new hay in da house. No more mud for youse guys, she says."

"Fuggedaboutit!"

Ok...I guess it's weird I hear critter voices in my head, and they all have their own nuance and character. But after a total of four hours of sleep, well, I'm lucky that's my only problem.

How to (or how not to) buy firewood -Updated

2012-01-02T20:25:00.000-05:00

I've edited a few things, thanks to tips from Roo and The Colonel. I appreciate the input, you two!!

You'd think it'd be easy, right? Just call up the local firewood guy, and voila! you have a nice, toasty winter. Um...not quite. Not unless you happen to know a great local firewood guy to start with, anyway.

Last year was the first year we bought wood. Before that, we did the wood ourselves. Let me tell you, that job is not all it's cracked up to be. Not when the only mechanical device involved is your chainsaw, and the rest is all manual labor. It's even worse if you don't really have a clue what you are doing, which we didn't; we made it up as we went.

When we first moved here, we didn't know jack about firewood. I didn't even know what a cord was. Ok...you can stop laughing now. For those of you that are just looking confused: a cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet, generally measured in a stack 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 8 feet long. You can stack your cord of firewood any way you like, but the measurements of a true cord will always be 128 cubic feet. That's length multiplied by width multiplied by height, LxWxH, for those of you that don't recall that from basic algebra. Don't feel bad. I had to struggle to recall it myself. Here's a handy cord calculator, thanks to The Colonel. He'd suggested it before, but I'd forgotten all about it.

Back when we were city folk, and really hadn't a clue, we bought wood this way, just to light up our decorative fireplace:

You sure as heck don't want to try to purchase a winter's of wood that way. I can only imagine the cost of a cord when you are paying that kind of exorbitant fee.

Take a peek at your local Craigslist or other firewood ads. Some firewood dealers will try to sell you a rick, a rack (not the kind to fill out your bra; you'll have to see someone besides a firewood dealer for that), a truckload, or a face cord (4 feet high, 8 feet long, and however wide the one stack of logs works out to be). As it happens, in Ohio, all of the above are not allowed. Firewood must be pre-packaged, as in the above pic, sold by the cord (or fraction thereof), or sold by the ton. The ton must be weighed on a certified scale.

Keep in mind, a full cord of firewood can not be hauled in one load in a pickup truck. You'll probably run across at least three people with a truck load of wood for sale that will try to tell you different. A cord of wood weighs about 3500 lbs, and most trucks can't handle that, even if the cord would fit.

Before we found our reliable wood guys, we dealt with some not-so-reliable types. Our first load of wood was supposed to measure two cords, loaded into a dump truck. When it arrived, it was dumped in a pile, so we had no idea how much wood was actually there. It was covered in snow, soaking wet, and chock full of ants. Zillions of ants. So many ants that I only brought the wood inside as I was ready to toss it into the fire. Lesson one: inspect the wood before it's dumped, and don't be afraid to say, "Get that shite off my property!!"

Once we stacked the wood, we discovered that it was barely a single cord. Lesson two: Just because the measurements of the truck multiply out to 256 cubic feet, that doesn't mean you are actually getting that much wood. Picture this: Wood tossed willy nilly into said cubic footage, versus wood stacked neatly into same cubic footage. Which one do you think will be closer to the actual two cords? Of course the neatly stacked wood will fit more into the space, as there will be less air space between logs. That said, how many wood delivery guys do you think stack wood neatly into a truck? So far, the answer would be NONE. Lesson learned.

Our next firewood adventure was with a guy that advertised a guaranteed amount. Great. He showed up, dumped the wood, got paid, and left. I stacked the wood and discovered it was over 1/4 short. Grrrr! I called him and he said he'd make it up on the next load, gave me some stuff about a "thrown cord" being an allowed measurement, but blah de blah. His next load we took in good faith, and it measured a full cord...still 1/4 short considering what he owed from the last trip. I chalked it up to experience and moved on.

Finally, we got lucky. A dear friend of mine, Roo, and her husband, The Colonel, live on a tree farm. When The Colonel has time away from work, he clears certain trees, not suitable for lumber, from his woodlot and cuts them for firewood. We were fortunate enough to have him sell us a few cords of the driest, cleanest, hottest burning wood we've yet to run across. The only problem so far is the rather awkward issue of telling my dear friend that her husband has the best hardwood around. Um...double entendre, anyone? Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor. ;)

We found a second wood guy through Eöl's work, and he's been wonderful, as well. Between the two, we managed to purchase 13 cords of dry, seasoned, split hardwood, before the first snow even fell. If you've ever struggled to get your own wood cut and split before snowfall, you know that sense of warm fuzziness I'm talking about.

If you are unfamiliar with firewood, but are thinking of heating that way, here are a few things you should know:

Unseasoned or green wood will only produce 2/3 of the heat of seasoned wood. Seasoned firewood has a moisture content of less than 50%. (I got this fact from the Ohio website, but The Colonel says that dry would should be 18-22% moisture. He's the expert! Probably why is wood is so awesome. (Sorry, Roo. ;) ) Seasoning hardwood takes several months, and in some cases a full year, depending on storage, type of wood, and moisture content.
A cord of wood stacked green will shrink a bit. One site said 8%, another said 10%, but I'm going to check with The Colonel on that one.
When a seller advertises dry wood, ask if he means dry as in seasoned, or dry as in it is still green but has been under a tarp or stored in a shed.
Transportation of firewood across county lines, in many areas, is illegal. The emerald ash borer and gypsy moth are the main reasons here in Ohio, but be sure to check your local laws.
Check your state's Dept of Agriculture website for more information on firewood laws in your state.
Hauling wood uphill, in the snow, on a sled, absolutely, without a doubt, is one of the suckiest things I've ever had to do, but you'll never truly appreciate firewood until you've done it.

This is what a cord of firewood looks like, dumped in a tidy pile in the driveway:

See how the logs are all stacked neatly together? That's how wood should be stacked for measuring if you are unsure of your delivery amount. You've probably seen wood stacked in a sort of criss-cross method, where each layer goes a different direction for more airflow, and would not give an accurate measurement. I'm only pointing this out because I didn't know it at first, either.

This is Eöl, standing on at least two cords of wood. The snow was packed, and digging the wood out wasn't a lot of fun. I'm thinking it's time to build a woodshed.

If you are wondering how many cords you will need for an entire winter, that's a darn good question!! Ask around to your friends that burn wood, and double it. Better safe than sorry, right? For us, we do burn more wood in our smaller home than a friend of mine burns in her much larger space. She has a whole-house wood-burning furnace, and not nearly as many windows as we have. Her home is also newer and better insulated. (But I can cook on my wood stove, as well as heat the house, and she doesn't have that option.) There's also the factor of perceived comfort. I spent so long freezing after we moved to Ohio, that I'm pretty happy when I can roam the house in only one layer. Our home is set up for passive solar, which is just a high tech way of saying we have a lot of southern facing windows, and when the sun shines and the wood stoves are fired, it's so hot I put on a pair of shorts. Can I get a hallelujah??

For our area, wood has turned out to be the warmest and most affordable option. As city dwellers, we spent over $450 a month in natural gas alone, and still froze our tushes off. With wood, our entire winter is paid for in advance. If I buy more than I need for the winter, it's not going to rot or anything before the next cold snap. And don't forget, wood is a renewable resource.

Those of you out west probably burn pine. Nothing wrong with that. Hardwood is just what we burn 'round these parts.

A note on creosote: I've heard a lot of people say it's caused by burning pine. Nonsense. From wikipedia: Burning wood and fossil fuels at low temperature causes incomplete combustion of the oils in the wood, which are off-gassed as volatiles in the smoke. As the smoke rises through the chimney it cools, causing water, carbon, and volatiles to condense on the interior surfaces of the chimney flue. The black oily residue that builds up is referred to as creosote, which is similar in composition to the commercial products by the same name, but with a higher content of carbon black.

You'll still have some creosote, even if you are Eöl and can start a super hot fire with nothing but your smoldering good looks. Be sure to keep your chimney clean!

If I've forgotten anything, drop a comment or email and let me know. I'll probably make a few edits anyway, if I can get The Colonel to take a peek at this.

Sources: Missouri extension, Ohio DOA Firewood Tips, some hands-on experience, and a few tips from The Colonel. ETA: The Colonel recommends FirewoodCenter.com for more information.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T17:56:00.000-05:00

Here it is...the first day of 2012. Let's all join in the Doom Song, shall we??

To illustrate my concern, I've spent today frantically... being as lazy as possible. *shrugs* It's the last day of Christmas shutdown for Eöl, so instead of worrying over the housework and prepping for the return to the real world, we spent the day doing pretty much nothing. We took a walk in the woods, got caught in some weird snow/rain/drizzle/downpour, watched the 45 mph gusts of wind bend the trees, then warmed up by the fire. Overall, it's been a really nice day.

Hoping everyone's New Year is off to a peaceful start!

Porn and garden plans

2011-12-31T19:57:00.000-05:00

"Yeah, baby!"

*turns page*

"That's what I'm talking about!!"

*turns page*

"Come to mama!!"

*turns page*

"Gross!," says Big Sis, "WHAT is mom looking at??"

Little Sis rolls her eyes and replies, "The seed catalogs are here."

Yep, gardener's porn. I can't help myself. All of those pics, so succulent, so tempting....*drools*

*hangs head* I think I need help. *sobs*

lol...I crack myself up. Anyway, yes, the garden porn has arrived, and I'm glued to the new seed catalogs like some sicko at a porn shop.

We've done something different in the garden each year, keeping the plants and methods that worked and discarding those that didn't. This year is no exception.

Our 2012 garden; will 2012 be a year of doom, or is that just more Y(awn)2K hype? Doesn't matter, we'll be making these changes regardless. The big plan is to grow more dry storage food and less that need processing and freezing. After all, we live in an area where ice storms and power outages are common, so it only makes sense.

We'll be planting lots of beans for drying, flour and parching corn, and literally tons of squash. We'll still plant the fresh goodies: green beans, melons, lettuce, tomatoes (for fresh eating and canning), peppers, and all the other tasty stuff.

I'm planning to do the Farmer's Market again this year. I skipped last year; it was a bad year for plants and I really didn't have time. I missed it, though. It's strangely addictive, even if I'm not selling a lot of stuff. I love talking to all the other garden fanatics and foodies. Another excuse to order more seeds!! WOOT! I'll be selling plants, even if I don't do produce. And for that I sure could use a greenhouse...

My Christmas present from Eöl, and some recycled materials, and voila! The frame for the new greenhouse went up today...pics and info on that as soon as it's done. High winds predicted for tomorrow may slow that down a bit, but at least we got the frame set before the ground froze.

I'm headed back to my porn and huge list of seeds to buy. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!!

A country point of view

2011-12-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

I've known for a while that our view of the world has changed since we moved to the country, but it has never been as obvious as this week:

While flipping through a magazine, I came across a pic of a gorgeous outdoor kitchen. I showed the pic to Eöl. His first comment was, "How do they keep the chickens off of it?"
On our way to get tags for the Soul, we passed a shop with a sign out front that read, "The perfect gift for your tanner!" I was about to ask Eöl to stop there, so we could see if they had any tanning solution on sale, when I saw the posters in the window of deeply tanned men and women. "Oh," I thought, "tanning (darkening of human skin)...not tanning (making leather from animal skins)." Duh.
Watching an old Elvis flick with Little Sis, the folks were having a shindig after a flock of chickens had appeared earlier in the movie. Once again, Eöl asked, "Where's all the chicken poop?" *shrugs* It's a fact of life with a free-range flock, ya know.

It's the same deal with any movie we watch showing farms or gardens. In the movies, nothing is muddy, poop-covered, or stinky; an entire village can be fed from a garden the size of a compact parking spot; freshly plucked fowl never still has feathers at the ankles. We generally look at each other, roll our eyes, and laugh like...well...like homesteaders that just know better.

A Muddy Christmas to all....

2011-12-24T01:37:00.000-05:00

'Twas the night before Christmas;
the rain poured on the house.

All the creatures were mud covered.
Eek! Is that a mouse??

The children were splashing and making mud pies;
It's all fun and games till someone gets mud in their eyes.

Eöl in his muck boots, and I in my slicker
Ran for cover as the rain came quicker.

The moon, how it glistened, on puddles galore;
I rolled my eyes when I saw all the mud on the floor

Then, in a twinkling, I heard from above,
"Dasher, Dancer, give us a shove!

We're deep in the mud, the sleigh is stuck fast!
If this is a yearly thing, this one will be my last!"

"Where is the snow, the sparkling white?
Why is everything glorpy tonight?

I've lost both my boots, somewhere in the muck
Next year, forget the deer, I'm buying a truck!"

Almost ready for Christmas!

2011-12-24T00:16:00.000-05:00

Almost. I still have a couple of things to wrap, I have a sewing project to finish, and I haven't even started baking. In fact, I'm sort of skimping on the homemade stuff this year. *Collective gasp of horror* Yeah, I know: I'm Country Wife, I'm a homesteader, and that means everything has to be from scratch, blahdy blahdy blah.

Things have been particularly hectic lately, and I just don't have the time or energy to go all-out. In fact, if I get a few days of not having to leave the house over our holiday vacation period, I will be thrilled.

I did get the housework done today, which was a huge accomplishment. If I'd let it go any longer, we'd be living in a cocoon. Spiders seem to get an easy ride inside, hibernating on the firewood, then wake up and start spinning like mad...all over the house. Ick.

So...spider webs are vacuumed away, along with their creepy little architects; all but three gifts are wrapped, and the general air of Christmas excitement has finally hit.

Are you ready for Christmas?

Rainrainrainrain

2011-12-21T18:39:00.000-05:00

In honor of the ridiculous amount of rain we have received in just the past 24 hours (which is in addition to the ridiculous amount of rain we have received since spring) and the mud that is, literally, I am not kidding, over the top of my foot, in the wallow that was once upon a time a yard, I request the following changes to popular Christmas carols:

I'm Dreaming Of A ~~White~~ Wet Christmas.
Here We Come ~~A-Caroling~~ A-Kayaking.
I Saw Three Ships... In My Yard
~~Frosty The Snowman~~ Mucky the Mudman
Up On The Housetop...Escaping Flood Waters
What Child Is This...Swimming By
Santa Claus Is ~~Coming~~ Swimming To Town
Deck The Halls...With Boats and Life Vests...fa la la la
We Wish You A ~~Merry~~ Muddy Christmas
Grandma Got Run Over By A ~~Reindeer~~ Speedboat
~~We Three Kings (of Orient are...)~~ We Got Three Inches Of Rain In An Hour
~~Silent Night, Holy Night~~ Rainy Night, Muddy Night

LOL..ok...enough is enough..right? But oh my gosh the MUD! The muck!! The puddles, rain, and more rain!! Santa better have some freakin' big mud tires!!!

Oh no!!! Guess he didn't have any!!

Blogging about blogging

2011-12-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

I really should be sleeping. I have that whole tired but can't sleep twitchy thing going on right now, so this will probably be disjointed, varied, random, and redundant. :P

I enjoy blogging. If I didn't, I wouldn't do it. I have enough chores that are smelly and gross and unpleasant, like mucking out pens and slogging through the soggy wasteland that is my yard to feed critters while being stalked by violent and annoying geese.

Some days I have nothing homesteading related to blog about. Sure, I could post about the same old thing every day: tending fires, letting critters out, feeding critters, mopping up the mud that has been tracked in (at least three dozen times a day), filling the firewood rings and sweeping that mess up, locking up critters, etc. You get the idea. That would be pretty boring to read about, since it's pretty boring to actually do...every... stinking... day.

Homesteaders, just like everyone else, have other things going on besides taking care of critters and planning next year's garden. Most of us have "real" jobs - those horrible things that require clocking-in and a daily commute. That's just a fact of life. We didn't inherit our place or come across a fortune buried in the yard in a mason jar (...yet...those aren't gopher holes....), so there's a mortgage to pay.

We have our adventures that aren't homesteading related, like car wrecks, specialist visits during major floods, odd experiences in the store...just life, ya know? Despite the homesteader's dream, the real world tends to leak in from time to time...when you least expect it....or daily...

We do have some exciting and unusual adventures at home, the sort of thing that most people will never have happen, like trying to resuscitate a duckling, fussing at the geese for throwing grass in the laundry bucket, watching a fox chase chickens across the patio, or figuring out that creepy sound in the woods at night is a fox's mating call. But daily, no, not all that exciting on a daily basis.

I stepped on a lot of toes back in the spring when I did the Gimme post about homesteaders looking for donations. Lucky for those toes, I was wearing my spring trainers at the time, and not the heavy hiking boots I wear this time of year. I meant to follow up on that, but never really got around to it, since spring is so busy, and frankly, the whole thing slipped my mind. My opinion is still that if you are blogging about self-sufficiency, you shouldn't be looking for a hand-out, but most people can't see the irony. And that's what it is, really, pure irony. If you had, say, a recipe blog, and asked for donations, there's no irony there. When I did that post, just for the record, I didn't even realize blogger had a donate button. The sites I had in mind were those actively soliciting donations to obtain or expand their homesteads. Therefore, I had given no thought to the donate button sitting quietly in the corner of a page, but..yeah...still some irony there, dontcha think? It is, however, a free country, as the saying goes, and those that want to ask for donations are free to do so. I will still laugh at the irony.

I suppose, if you feel the need to make a donation, there are worse places to put your money; then again, how do you know said homesteader isn't spending that donation on a flat screen tv, drugs, 900 phone sex hotlines, or trademarking common homesteading phrases? One person that replied to my forum post on the subject suggested that he (anonymous poster, but for the sake of this post, I will use the pronoun he) would possibly make donations to said blogs, now that I had brought it up. Giving away your own money? Wow, way to teach me a lesson. *snorts*

Other replies suggested that, as homesteading bloggers, they should not be expected to just give away homesteading tips and how-to advice, and blogging takes away time from other chores. Blogging is free, and anyone that feels it is such a chore should maybe pick another hobby. Personally, there are a lot of other things I could be doing right now, but blogging is a guilty pleasure, so here I am. Besides, if I don't let out the word-bees buzzing around in my head, my skull may split. :)

My favorite responses were the ones suggesting, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, that my blog is not really a how-to blog, is full of prattle, and that I must be looking for shock value as I describe myself as "always facetious". Oy. Yes..shock value. The fact that I have geese actually trying to peck at me through the window, my porch is covered in chicken poop and mud, I own one good pair of jeans and the rest are work clothes, I carry several sharp objects on my person, and I am as likely to greet you with a chainsaw as a "Howdy!"...yes, all very shocking. If you consider the fact that yes, that's really me, exactly how I am, nothing added for drama's sake, well, then it's not exactly like I'm looking for shock value..I'm just being myself. And facetious, well, that's got nothing to do with it; it's just a polite way of saying that I don't take life too seriously, and am, indeed, a smart-arse.

I never said this was a how-to blog, did I? As for being full of prattle, I know worse things to be full of. lol As I was saying, I could blog about homesteading stuff all the time, but I'd die of boredom, and my readers would probably be electrocuted because their eyes would glaze over and they'd drool like zombies right onto their keyboards. Homesteading isn't always as exciting as it sounds.

The Nap of Doom dramatic reverb

2011-12-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

My day started at the butt-crack of still-dark. I woke to a cold, wet nose pressed to my own...the dog wanted out. As I slowly got out of bed (I'm old and these things take time if I don't want to break a hip..not necessarily my own hip...but I digress) the dog started the oh you are going to let me out thank goodness I really have to pee like right now hurry hurry dance. I stopped to turn off my alarm so that it wouldn't wake the house, hoping not to step in a warm puddle to pay for dawdling. It was frigid outside, so thankfully the dog hurried. Then it was my turn, but I held it till we were back inside. ;)

Then it was on to fixing the fires, starting coffee, and stumbling to the shower, followed by the rush rush rush of getting others ready for a road trip/appointment two hours away.

By the way, my Soul is amazing on the highway. Round trip, over 128 miles, used just over three gallons of gas, some of that sitting in the drive-thru at McDonald's. Wooooooot!

Long story short, thanks to last night's lack of sleep, I crashed and needed a nap today.

Dum Dum Dum.....The Nap...Of Doom!!!

Well, that's usually how it goes, anyway. Every time I have a nap, something happens...some sort of drama. For instance, last year when I crashed for a nap and then ended up being awake most of the night. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to break the Nap Of Doom cycle.

I woke up with a headache, so I'm not getting much done. I suppose I'll review my shopping list for this week and rest while I can, before heading out into the jungle to hunt the remaining Christmas gifts. Then I have to do this bizarre reverse-skinning, I believe it's called wrapping, which is an insanely senseless chore that leaves a mess at Christmas when younger people rip away the carefully applied faux skin of said gifts.

Hope everyone's holiday preps are going nicely!!

Overlook any typos...my head is splitting and I'm off to lay in the floor and hope for a wayward train to run me over.

Down time, finally!

2011-12-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

We are enjoying a quiet weekend here at the farmstead. The tree is finally up, and we're observing a few of our pre-Christmas traditions, like letters to Santa. Some things we will never outgrow. :)

Now that the tree is up, I still need to rearrange the furniture; it's all sort of left catty-wumpus from last night. That's my big project for today. *sighs with contentment* It's so nice not to have to rush around. I'll have plenty of that over the next couple of weeks, finishing up the Christmas shopping, wrapping, digging out the stockings, etc etc etc.
-------------------
Dac has a great post over at her blog, about the things we knew growing up that our children and grandchildren will never experience. It really does make you think about how things have changed, just in the past couple of decades.

If someone had told me, back in high school, that we'd all carry small, portable phones with us, all the time, I'd have been ecstatic. But, that was then, when I loved talking on the phone. Now it's one of the things I do my best to avoid. I prefer e-mail, where a friend can read it and respond at their leisure, it doesn't interrupt dinner, and they can think about what they'd like to say. Of course, e-mail would've been science fiction back when I was in high school.

Remember records? When Big Sis saw one for the first time, she said it was the biggest cd she'd ever seen. *rolls eyes* She's also asked, during old 80's movies, why the characters were looking for payphones instead of using their cell phones. Little Sis asked, on seeing a rotary phone at an antique store, "How did the phone know what number hole you had your finger in?" I guess that was a logical question, coming from a child in the touch-tone era.

It is funny how we've come to take so much technology for granted. We're fairly low-tech around here, but still rely heavily on the internet for news, research, educational pursuits, and communication. Cell phones are also a part of everyday life. Ours aren't new phones, by a long shot, but we don't have a land line anymore, since it just seemed redundant when everyone calls our cells first anyway.

Remember Pong? I think it was the very first video game. It was the first one I ever played, at least, and I thought it was amazing: two lines and a dot, some joysticks, and some bouncy noises. Then later, Pac-Man was all the rage. My brother and I would walk to the corner store, where they'd added an arcade room, and blow as many quarters as we could find. Now there's Wii and heaven only knows what else. The graphics are well past the two lines and a dot we started with. Funny, I don't think anyone stood in line for the newest form of Pong when it was released.

Dac brought up the point that people were more polite when we were growing up. I think she's right on the money. We were expected to refer to adults as Mr/Mrs/Miss, or the newly adopted Ms, followed by their surname. One never called adults by their first name, unless invited to do so, and even then it felt a bit odd. Even service professionals, like bank employees, called their customers by the proper title of Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms. Not like today, when I go to the bank and they say, "Thanks, Country." Um, do I know you?? Did I go and grow up and get married just so you could call me by the same name my parents use? That's MRS COUNTRY WIFE to you, bud! Show some respect!! Don't make me get the chainsaw!! I could...um...er...sorry...I guess you can see it's sort of a pet peeve of mine.

Another pet peeve? Boys that don't pull up their pants! I know people have always done ridiculous things in the name of fashion: the bustle, the corset, the 2.5 foot sabaton, powdered wigs, the ruff, etc. We still see silly things on the fashion runway, like the bustier with handle bars (sorry, I can't find a link to that one, but I will never forget falling out of my chair laughing when I saw it.) But this is the real world, and things like that aren't at all practical. I'd have chickens roosting on my handle bars if I wore something like that around the farmstead. One would assume that common sense would prevail when it comes to fashion; we no longer live in the dark ages where our status is proclaimed solely by our outerwear...or do we? Every time I go out, I see at least one young man with his pants, literally, below his arse, belted around his thighs. W! T! F! Want a good laugh? Visit a basketball court and watch these fools try to run and play ball while waddling like penguins. Even funnier is how these guys have tried to make the "walk while holding my pants up with one hand" look cool. News flash: You look like a fool. Back in my day, being pantsed meant someone yanked your gym shorts to the floor, and it was a mortifying experience. People certainly didn't walk around with their pants already halfway there.

You can say what you like about '80s fashion, but at least our pants came up to the waist. I do like the look of some of the low cut jeans..when I'm standing... but (or should I say BUTT) sitting down in them is a nightmare. I grew up in a time when it was an embarrassment for your underwear to show, and if you had crack you'd better be a plumber.

I'm encouraged that some of the '80s fashions are making a comeback: legwarmers, long sweaters with leggings, and even those roach-clips with feathers we wore in our hair. I wonder if parachute pants will make it back into fashion? I always loved those, and their zillions of pockets. The off-the-shoulder sweatshirts with tank-tops underneath...those were cool, too. Yeah, I know I'm too old to pull off most of that stuff, so I'll stick to jeans and tees, but it's still nice to see something "normal" in the stores. The funny part is that Little Sis will tell her kids, when these same fashions make the rounds again, "I wore those when I was your age."

Other things we grew up with that our kids may never know:

TCBY Yogurt
The insert in a 45, and the fact that a 45 was not just a gun. You know...that little plastic thingie that you put in a 45 record to play them on your standard turntable.
The mall? Do kids still hang out at the mall?
Typewriters
Encyclopedias in book form, and encyclopedia salesmen

Odd...that's all I can think of. I even googled it to see what others say their kids will never experience. They listed things like VHS (we have one, plus a ton of tapes), walkman (we still have a couple and some cassette tapes), hand-written grocery lists (we still do it that way), buying newspapers (we sometimes pick up a Sunday edition), and a ton of other things we still do. Maybe we are stuck in the past. *shrugs* But now that I think about it, our kids have experienced a lot of things other kids never will:

Hunting
Fishing
Raising their own meat
Butchering livestock
Gardening
Canning
Cooking from scratch
Identifying, harvesting, and preparing wild edibles
Cutting, hauling, and splitting firewood
Tending a fire
Starting a fire (properly, and for the right reasons)
Proper use and care of knives/machetes/hatchets/axes
Tanning leather

Wow..that list could go on and on. I guess our kids don't have it so bad, after all. ;)

ETA: One thing I remembered - I don't think my kids even believe these existed - party lines. These were sort of a shared phone line. People could listen in on your conversations, which was a little creepy, though they can still do that in some places with a good baby monitor....also creepy. Our local radio station had some sort of party-line-busy-signal. If you called the request line (something else kids now can't do thanks to satellite programming), and the line was busy, you could hear other people talking, shout out your phone number, and take your chances on who called you. Sometimes you got lucky. I guess that was early facebook? lol

Oh. My. Soul.

2011-12-10T00:45:00.001-05:00

It started on Thanksgiving. The rolls weren't done. I mean: they were done, but not that perfect, flaky, crusty wonderfulness that makes homemade rolls the shiz. Turns out the bottom burner in the oven died - after the turkey and desserts were all baked, thank goodness, so that wasn't so bad.

I started to get a sore throat. No big deal, I thought, just sinus issues. Then I was so tired...I wanted to sleep all the time. I had a fever, and an upper respiratory infection. But I lived. (If you were hoping otherwise: Nya nya nya!!)

Eöl left for work, as usual. He usually texts me when he gets there, so I was surprised when my phone rang with his ring tone. I answered, but he didn't say anything. I thought he'd ghost called me...or whatever you call it when your back pocket makes a call without your consent. I shouted hello a couple of times, to let him know his pocket was making illicit calls, and then I heard someone say, "Are you ok?" The call ended. My heart nearly stopped. I called him back and got a busy signal. How does that even happen with phones anymore? Call waiting, etc, and I get a busy signal. I was freaking out. All I could picture was Eöl, prostrate in a ditch somewhere, calling me for help. Thankfully, I got through on the next call, and yes, he'd been in an accident, but he was fine. In fact, everyone involved was fine. A police officer that happened to be nearby had distracted him during the first call, so Eöl didn't realize I had answered.

By the way, a special thanks to my mom for picking him up and bringing him home. He was shaken up, I was shaken up, and I didn't know whether to hug him to death or beat him with something handy, like maybe a goose, for scaring the ever lovin' heck outta me.

Our car, however, was not fine; I owe my mom another big thanks for loaning us hers. It would be tough, getting Eöl to and from work, mom and dad to their various appointments, as well as anyone else that needed to be anywhere. With many of these appointments within an hour of each other, I was designated to keep the car and chauffeur.

After one of those very hectic days of driving at practically all hours, we ordered pizza. A couple of hours later, I woke up very, very sick. I had more driving to do that day, no one else on hand to do it, and here I was...well...you can imagine ...it was pretty gross. But I lived. And once again, if you hoped otherwise: Nya nya nya!!

So there you have it: eating, driving, sleeping...and vomiting.

Where is the silver lining I mentioned? You mean, besides the fact that I lived, Eöl (and everyone else involved in the accident) was unharmed, and the turkey was baked before the oven died? What? That's not enough?

LOL It does sound like the week from hell. It could've been much worse, but things turned out better than I expected, considering our only vehicle was out of commission.

We had been car shopping already, looking for a second vehicle. We've been a one car family for a while, but really needed that second vehicle whether we liked it or not. Anyway...we were hoping to find something we could just pay for, something reliable. Ha. I could've just asked for the moon, right? Everything in our price range was "as is; no warranty". Now doesn't that just make you wonder, when the dealership has their own mechanic? Here's a guy that knows something about cars that can't give you any sort of hope this car will last more than five minutes once your check clears.

Our only car is out of commission; we don't know if the insurance will fix it, write it off as a total loss, or tell us to get stuffed. The only thing we do know is that Eöl has to have a way to get to work, and I really don't want to run my mom's car to pieces.

After our poor luck car hunting, I noticed a particular car commercial on the radio, advertising something brand new and with a great warranty, for an amazing price. I did a little research, but never held out much hope for a brand new vehicle. I've never owned one, and I've never really wanted one. Everyone knows they drop in value the minute you drive them off the lot, right? But that warranty...wow. So, late one evening, after more driving (but no vomiting...can I get a hallelujah....), Eöl and I were sipping wine, looking at cars online. Hoping for the best, we filled out the online application at a dealership. The very next day, we drove off the lot in a BRAND NEW CAR. Oh. My. Soul. .

Yeah, I know...all that blather when I just could've said, "I got a new car!" But where's the fun in that? And yes, it is that cool. Not to mention all the fun we can have with the name: Those better not be paw-prints on my Soul. My Soul is filthy. We share a Soul. Save our Soul. Please do not lean on our Soul. The possibilities are endless.

About the warranty, we paid a little extra and got the whole warranty extended to 100k miles, so it's not just drive train coverage. If you are used to new cars, you probably don't appreciate the wonderment I feel; ah, to have a car that I can drive anywhere, without worry. If you are used to driving a POS, then you get it, and yeah, it's that awesome.

I almost forgot to mention the main reason we were so interested in the Kia: fuel economy. 26 mpg city/36 mpg hwy. The estimated fuel cost for one year was less than we spent on our last vehicle for six months. My Soul is fuel efficient.

So....my intense driving period is over; I'm back at home, trying to clean, catch up on laundry (with the new washer and dryer, it's nothing to complain about), determined to get the tree up, and making jokes with Eöl about the Soul. "It's my turn to use the Soul."

A new washer and dryer and a brand new car - what's next for Country Wife? Will she stay the country bumpkin we know and love (or not, but still: nya nya nya!), or will she get all citified with her fancy gadgets, wotnots, and doohickeys?

Only one way to find out: Stay tuned!

And so...

2011-12-07T22:54:00.001-05:00

A respiratory virus, a car accident, and food poisoning; it has truly been a week to ~~remember~~ forget. I said to Eöl, "I've done nothing for the past week but eat, sleep, and drive...oh, and vomit."

"Oh, so you are a celebrity," he replies. I just roll my eyes at him and go back to one of the above listed activities.

A quick update:

We've eaten more fast food in the past week than in the past year.
Our tree is not even up yet, which is some kind of record.
I have learned to catnap between car trips.
I will never order pizza from a certain pizza joint. Not. Ever. Again. *vomits*
My yard looks like a pig wallow from all of the rain and mud.
My house looks like a pig sty because I have not had time to clean.
I should be sleeping right now but I'm waiting for my turn in the bathroom.

Although it sounds like things are pretty bad, every cloud has a silver lining...more on mine in the next post...when I get time...

Stoppp sha-a-ak-k-k-inggg the ja-a-r-r-rrrr

2011-12-01T10:38:00.000-05:00

Stop.
Shaking.
The.
Jar.

Stolen from Big Sis, but yeah, it's been that kinda week for all of us.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T20:17:00.000-05:00

Shoppers vie for copies of video games at a Black Friday sale at a Walmart
in Mentor, Ohio, on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.
(Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

One shopping day - so much controversy.

I don't think I've ever wanted to go shopping at 4 a.m. Stores are crowded enough this time of year, without heading into that frenzy.

I did do a bit of shopping today, in the afternoon: TSC for dog food, Kroger for a bottle of wine and some OJ. The stores were practically deserted. I really wanted to pick up a few Christmas items while I had time for shopping, but today was gorgeous and I didn't want to spend it getting all stabby with people.

The most fun I've ever had on Black Friday was when I worked at a toy store. Yes. A toy store. On Black Friday. I was only there for the weekend, as a holiday temp, and my dad was the manager. It was a blast.

I got there before 4 a.m., and people were already lined up outside, even though the store didn't open till 6. Still, it wasn't anything like the photo above.

The store was part of a chain. Most retail chain stores have no say over what is shipped to them for holidays, and they may not even have received a shipment of advertised goods. It's not unheard of for a store to have no idea what is in the ad until a day or two before the big sale. Keep that in mind next time you want to yell at a store manager for being out of an advertised item, ok?

One man was furious that the store was sold out of a certain toy:

"How can you be out?" he asks, already ticked off.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we did open four hours ago to a pretty big crowd."

"How many did you have?! You have some more in the back! Get me one!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but we only had a few of that item, and there are no more in the store."

"I'm going to have your job! I want to speak to your manager!!" he railed at me.

"Um. Ok," I smile sweetly at him, turn to look for the manager, and yell, "Hey, Dad!"

The man stormed out of the store. Hmph. Just can't please some folks.

Actually, not many people had that attitude. Most of them were pleasant, though harried. I didn't see anyone getting trampled, pushed, shoved, or pepper-sprayed.

The best part was later in the day, when a woman came in with an entire gaggle of little ones in tow. She was juggling baby, toddlers, and preschoolers, so I lent a hand. I played personal shopper, carrying her items to the checkout and even helping her out to her car. See...I really am a nice person. :)

Maybe my Black Friday experience was unique. Overall, the way people are reported to behave on Black Friday, pushing, shoving, even pepper-spraying others, is horrific. After years of seeing crowds get mob-crazy, I really thought any large group of people would turn nasty when things didn't go their way. That's why I'm shocked at how well-behaved the OWS protesters are. I guess it's a pretty sad world, when a civilized crowd is far more shocking than shoppers that act like rabid zombie monkeys on crack.

So...full...can't...type...gasp

2011-11-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

Strawberry pavlova.

Pumpkin pie with Nightwood logo.

I am so stuffed, I feel like a turkey!

Our Thanksgiving menu:

Turkey (from the yard)
Mashed potatoes, which were from *oh the horror* store bought potatoes. We had a horrible potato harvest this year, and Aldi had potatoes on sale: 10 lbs for $1.49, so I picked up a bag.
Green beans from the garden
Turkey gravy
Rolls from scratch
Sweet potato casserole, but I actually used squash instead of sweet potatoes.
Stuffing, from a box. *sigh* I know, but my family loves that stuff, and it's easy...and cheap - .89 a box at Aldi.
Pavlova
Pumpkin pie, made with our own pumpkin.

I remember when I hated shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, since I'd spend so much and still need to shop for the rest of the week's groceries. This year, I bought potatoes, butter, stuffing, cool whip, strawberries, pecans, sugar and flour, so our total spent for Thanksgiving dinner was about $15.

Homesteading, gardening, and from-scratch baking are the things I am most thankful for this year. Oh, and of course that new washer and dryer. ;) What are you most thankful for?

Well said.

2011-11-24T16:20:00.000-05:00

Well said, Cahir O'Doherty!

What do Occupy Wall Street protesters really want?

Last week, walking through the well-appointed streets of lower Manhattan, I had an eerie sensation of déjà vu.

It wasn't a pleasant sensation at all, because it came with a kind of heaviness that I faintly remembered. At first I had no idea why it was happening.

Then I looked up. Above my head three police helicopters were hovering noisily overhead.

I imagined their occupants were monitoring us all for signs of criminality. But three helicopters instead of just one seemed excessive. Then on the streets, as I made my way to an appointment, I started noticing more and more police.

They weren't just beat cops. These officers were wearing riot gear and helmets. They were walking quickly in large groups toward some event.

That's when I remembered that this was the day that the Occupy Wall Street crowd had selected for a huge protest march. On the two-month anniversary of the movement, they had planned to march on the New York Stock Exchange, and the police were there to stop them (since they didn't have a parade permit, and would never be granted one).

Barricades had been set up, and more police officers than I have ever seen in all my years in this city (including after 9/11 and the blackout) were manning them, and the finance capital of the world was turned into a frozen zone where no one would permitted to make a protest of any kind. The police hadn't just prepared for a protest, they had prepared for an invasion.

Then I suddenly remembered where the feeling of déjà vu was coming from -- Belfast in the early 1990s.

I had seen all this before as a student at Queen’s University in Belfast. The eerie overhead helicopters hovering endlessly overhead, the wall of unfriendly looking police officers in riot gear, and the sense of a society that was broken beyond repair.

I had wanted to leave that city then, and for the first time in my life I almost wanted to leave this one.

What could be so threatening that so many cops had been called out to tackle unarmed protestors?

Since most of the U.S. media is doing a spectacularly pathetic job of reporting what the aims of the Occupy Wall Street movement are (because doing research is hard and most journalists nowadays have the attention spans of goldfish), I think I need to share with you what I have already learned about them.
We know some people are rich and some people are poor. That's not news.

What is news is that once upon a time the rich factory owner used to make 30 times what the factory employee made. But now the rich have learned to completely game the system (via Wall Street) and so the corporations now have vastly more political power than the public themselves.

It's not about rich people having more money; it's about them gaming the political and financial systems to ensure that they'll always have it, taking all the opportunities away from the rest of us.

It's about Wall Street taking financial risks that they know could destroy the American economy, putting millions out of work, while they create nothing of value themselves as they play our financial markets like a casino, knowing the taxpayers will pick up their tabs.

When liberals ran the country for 30 years following the New Deal the American economy doubled in size, and wages doubled with it.

Then for the 30 years after Reagan when conservatives ran the country the economy doubled but wages stayed flat.

What happened to the workers’ share of the money? It went to the richest 1%. That's why the public is upset.

Fixing that imbalance is what Occupy Wall Street is all about. Got it?

But that idea, of introducing a basic fairness for the ordinary worker is called socialism by conservatives.

Allowing the rich to game the system to benefit themselves is what conservatives now call capitalism.

They like making all that money and they like keeping it. They don't want anything to change.

That's why we're witnessing the same old dance of the clueless and frightened aristocracy sending out the police force like a hammer to bring the rabble to heel. It always has the opposite effect. But rich people don't make smart decisions when they're afraid.

Three hundred protestors were arrested in the city that day. I watched as a new generation of young people tried to wrest their future from the closed hands of those who want to deny them one.

This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/story/ent/manhattan_diary/what-do-occupy-wall-street-protesters-really-want-134453768.html#ixzz1eeyZqj4E

One more time...

2011-11-23T16:39:00.001-05:00

Watch the video through to the end.

I'm not sure what led up to the officer spraying the protesters, but I sure didn't see anything that justified that sort of action. These people were sitting, obviously not a threat to anyone, and this guy thinks they need a double dose of direct pepper spray.

I find it disturbing that the only violence I've seen has been on the part of the so-called peacekeepers. I am impressed that the crowds are so well behaved and peaceful. Generally, crowd mentality leads to something like the 1992 LA riot.

I don't feel that I have enough information on the OWS movement to make an informed decision, but Big Sis put it quite succinctly: It doesn't matter what side you are on. You don't even need a side. This is happening. This is happening now, and will affect each and every one of us.

Are you effing kidding me??

2011-11-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

In my last post , I asked about Occupy Wallstreet. I've been doing some research since then, and I have to say, I'm pretty friggin' horrified. The videos below speak for themselves. Special thanks to Theldara for tipping me off on this.

Outside Citibank

Inside Citibank

The video from outside was the first I saw, with the man and woman being literally forced into the building. I was shaking when it was over. It's like something you see in the movies, or maybe historical documentaries; not something you'd ever expect to see in real life, certainly not now, in America of all places.

The video from inside was a total shock, as well. Who was the guy that locked the door and refused to let people out? Was he a police officer? A bank employee? Some guy that ran out of comic books and needed something to do?

I am amazed at how calm the "arrestees" were. The video certainly belies the reports that the OWS/bank customers were causing a disturbance.

How can these people, who were customers of Citibank and there to close their accounts, albeit as a large group, be charged with trespassing? They had business with the bank, the bank was open, so WTF? I realize it is not uncommon for banks to close their doors when a run on the bank is probable, although it's generally not done with the customers still inside the frickin' bank.

How is it ok to lock people inside the bank, anyway? Isn't that false imprisonment? It's my understanding (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I realize the law varies from state to state) that even if your home is invaded, you are not allowed to hold the criminal until police arrive; you could be charged with false imprisonment. If that's the case, then it's ok for someone to come in, pillage and escape, but you can't withdraw your own money from a bank during business hours to protest their policies/fees/etc and walk out the door?

I'm glad to see that the people forced into the bank by police officers are suing. I sincerely hope they win.

What about the customers, unrelated to OWS, that just happened to be inside the bank when the doors were locked? I can imagine, running into the bank to make a deposit, the kids in the car (not little kids, but still...), and being locked in. I probably would not be as calm as the people in the video.

If the point of the OWS bank run was to prove Citibank an evil empire - mission accomplished... with Citibank's help.

Occupy what?

2011-11-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

I'm out of the loop. I admit it. Occupy Wallstreet had been going on for some time before I even heard about it, just a news blip on the radio that I didn't pay much attention to. The next story I noticed, OWS had gone nationwide. Now I hear they are global.

But, what, exactly, does it all mean? At first glance, my understanding is that protesters are there to express their frustration at our economy, and the fact that banks and America's big three automakers were bailed out, while GMC still shut the doors on several plants, one locally, that left many jobless and in foreclosure.

They want equality, dignity, and democracy for all. Political representatives that actually represent the everyman, not politicians that schmooze for the bucks.

Ok. I'm with them so far.

But then there are all of these 'manifestos' that keep appearing online that really made me question the agenda of OWS. Minimum wage of $20 an hour? Where did these people study economics?

A little googling, and I found that the above manifesto is a fake.

Forum Post: Proposed List Of Demands For Occupy Wall St Movement!

Posted 1 month ago on Sept. 25, 2011, 3:46 p.m. EST by anonymous

This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Admin note: This is not an official list of demands. This is a forum post submitted by a single user and hyped by irresponsible news/commentary agencies like Fox News and Mises.org. This content was not published by the OccupyWallSt.org collective, nor was it ever proposed or agreed to on a consensus basis with the NYC General Assembly. There is NO official list of demands.

No official list of demands? Then what, exactly, are the protesters hoping to accomplish, other than to have their voices heard? Do any of the people on site know why they are there, or does everyone have a different idea of what is going on?

In googling OWS, I've found so much conflicting info that I am no more enlightened than when I first heard the words Occupy Wallstreet.

Here's your chance to enlighten me: Are you Occupying Wallstreet, or anywhere else? What do you hope to accomplish? I see the word "revolution" tossed around on the OWS site; is that a metaphorical term, or revolution in the historical sense?

Hot holiday toys or a new hearing aid?

2011-11-20T11:16:00.001-05:00

Out of curiosity, and because I'm bored, sitting here finishing coffee and french toast while Eöl is industriously doing something industrious, I looked up this year's hot toys.

Oy. The whole list makes me so happy we don't have television!! I don't have to listen to a bombardment of commercials for toys that:

will never be put together because even a rocket scientist would have trouble figuring out which part goes where
parents pray the batteries die before they surrender to the urge to stomp poor Tickle Me Elmo into a furry little pile of lovable monster goo, guaranteeing years of expensive therapy for little Timmy as well as the waste of about $50 and three hours in line
are only the hot toys because the media keeps billing them as the hot toy... and only a dozen are available on each continent
will be played with for exactly 3.2 seconds
the box will be played with longer than the toy

Why are all the hot toys so noisy? My mom always thought I was kind of a meany, not letting my kids have toys that make annoying electronic sounds. Those damn things are just too loud!! Little Sis had a ducky in the pond game that was so loud we put cotton and duct tape over the speaker. I've always said those toys are loud enough to damage hearing. Guess what? Turns out I was right.

Toys Sampled -- Decibel Level

High School Musical Rockerz Jammin Guitar -- 106
Cheetah Girls - In Concert Collection Doll -- 104
Hannah Montana - In Concert Collection Doll -- 103
VTech V.Smile Baby -- 103
CAT Motorized Dump Truck -- 102
Tickle Me Elmo -- 100
Transformers Trans-portable Activity Center -- 99
Tonka Lights and Sounds Hummer -- 97
Bob the Builder Deluxe Talking Tool Belt -- 96
Bosch Toy Chainsaw -- 95
Tickle Me Cookie Monster -- 94
Little People Dump Truck -- 92
Cabbage Patch Kids Babies -- 91
Leap Frog Learning Lily -- 90
Tickle Me Ernie -- 90
Playskool Gloworm -- 85
Little People School Bus -- 80

Now, compare those numbers to the OSHA safety levels:

  TABLE G-16 - PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES (1)
______________________________________________________________
                            |
  Duration per day, hours   | Sound level dBA slow response
____________________________|_________________________________
                            |
8...........................|                    90
6...........................|                    92
4...........................|                    95
3...........................|                    97
2...........................|                   100
1 1/2 ......................|                   102
1...........................|                   105
1/2 ........................|                   110
1/4  or less................|                   115
____________________________|________________________________
 Footnote(1) When the daily noise exposure is composed of two or
more periods of noise exposure of different levels, their combined
effect should be considered, rather than the individual effect of
each. If the sum of the following fractions: C(1)/T(1) + C(2)/T(2)
C(n)/T(n) exceeds unity, then, the mixed exposure should be
considered to exceed the limit value. Cn indicates the total time of
exposure at a specified noise level, and Tn indicates the total time
of exposure permitted at that level. Exposure to impulsive or impact
noise should not exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure level.

Or compare those decibel levels to the environmental sounds you'd generally try to avoid exposing your child to:

Environmental Noise
Weakest sound heard	0dB
Whisper Quiet Library	30dB
Normal conversation (3-5')	60-70dB
Telephone dial tone	80dB
City Traffic (inside car)	85dB
Train whistle at 500', Truck Traffic	90dB
Subway train at 200'	95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss	90 - 95dB
Power mower at 3'	107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle	100dB
Power saw at 3'	110dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert	115dB
Pain begins	125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4'	125dB
Even short term exposure can cause permanent damage - Loudest recommended exposure WITHhearing protection	140dB
Jet engine at 100', Gun Blast	140dB
Death of hearing tissue	180dB
Loudest sound possible	194dB

I don't understand why toys need to have electronic sounds at all. Whatever happened to kids and imagination? I remember when Teddy Ruxpin came out, and I thought it was just plain creepy. A.G. Bear hit the market about the same time. I thought A. G. was kind of cool. Kids could talk to him, and he'd answer...in bear talk. So the imagination would still be at work. A.G. could be asking for pizza for dinner, a bubble bath, or a cotton candy unicorn - it was all up to the child. Teddy Ruxpin would only ask for whatever his tape said, clearly understood by every adult in the room. How boring could that be? Ok, I admit, we had some fun putting Ozzy tapes in the Teddy Ruxpin, which did make him the coolest bear on the block for at least ten minutes.

If kids have to make noise, I'm all for banging on pots and pans for a few minutes a day. I'll admit, that's probably a pretty high decibel range, but trust me, it never goes on for an extended period of time. Not like some electronic toy that refuses to shut off. Little Sis once had an ABC Elmo toy that would start talking, all by itself, from the back of the closet. Nothing like hearing Elmo from the dark depths of the closet at 2 a.m. Which would probably explain the bullet hole in the closet door. ;)

You know, it's probably a good thing that kids would rather play with the boxes than the toys that came in them. How many of us can remember cardboard rocket ships that could instantly become race cars or houses?

A few years ago there was a revival of the old toys: the pull along Fisher Price dog, spinning tops, wooden blocks and the like. But the last time I looked, I couldn't find anything like that. Every stinking thing made electronic noise, batteries included, no imagination required.

*shrugs* I guess in a world of Wii, when going outside is just too much trouble, it's just what we should expect? I remember, as a child, long evenings outdoors, begging to stay outside just a few more minutes. It was the same for my children: outside till well after dark, catching fireflies and swatting mosquitoes, coming inside sweaty and dirty and heading straight for the bathtub.

I feel very fortunate to live here in the woods, where Little Sis (the baby of the family and the only one that is still technically a kid) has grown up with a full-on love of nature and a vibrant imagination. She'd still rather be outside or buried in a book than shopping or playing video games.

I realize not everyone has the advantage of living smack in the middle of the woods. But that doesn't mean kids need to spend their days glued to the tv or video games, especially the younger children, in the years when imagination plays such an important role in development.

As for the hot toys, who needs 'em? Turn off the tv, and suddenly the toys are no longer such hot items. Just think of the money you'll save on hearing aids!

Stepping off my soapbox now. :)

Why am I a glutton for punishment?

2011-11-17T21:19:00.000-05:00

I really don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me want to start a major remodeling/redecorating project. I've just been looking back through some pics and realized it's an ongoing issue. I must be a masochist.

In 2007, I was doing the living room flooring on Thanksgiving day. We finished dinner and went right to work. It was my Christmas gift, and I wanted the floor done before the tree went up. I still love my floor.

before

After

In 2008, Little Sis' room was my holiday rush project. From pink to blue, fairies to horses, complete with new flooring and a mysterious dead thing in the wall. Oh, I also redid a bunch of stuff in the kitchen just before I started her room.

In 2009, Big Sis' room got a makeover, from Nightmare Before Christmas to something a little brighter. The flooring was fine, but the ceiling needed papering, and I remember what a nightmare that was. Ha. It was a Nightmare. Before Christmas. Or maybe way after Christmas, by the time it was done. That's one project I won't repeat.

In 2010, Eöl's bathroom was the project. I still need to install new light fixtures, and eventually there will be a new sink, but it did get a new ceiling and paint job and looks pretty nice.

Fauxing it up.

I do other projects over the winter, but it seems I'm always involved in something that needs to be finished before I can start cooking for Thanksgiving. Of course this year is no exception. *shrugs*

I've been watching Hoarders. Actually, I've been watching a lot of junk lately; it's something to do during my very boring physical therapy exercises. Anyway...the show always inspires me to clean, organize, and throw stuff out.

So...my upcoming adventure involves cleaning out the storage part of the garage, moving one of the freezers out there, moving a chest of drawers from the garage to a bedroom, and redoing a small chest to put in Eöl's bathroom.

I'll also be gutting my closet. I'm sure I'll find Jimmy Hoffa in there. Or at least a skeleton or two. But I may not start the closet project until Thanksgiving weekend, when I will have time to finish it. I couldn't stand to sleep in my room with all that stuff spread around. I'd have hoarder nightmares. *shudder*

Am I the only one compelled to start crazy projects at this time of year?

In the lap of luxury...

2011-11-14T17:10:00.000-05:00

...is a relative term. If you are used to gold plated utensils and liveried servants, then anything less would not be luxury. However, if that's what you are used to, you most likely aren't reading this, as you are too busy trying to get Justin Bieber scheduled for your next tweener party.

For me, luxury is pretty simple to define:

My comfy couch.

Firewood - cut, split, dried...and delivered.

By the way, that's not a retouched photo. But it's how every firewood delivery looks to me, anyway. Can you hear the angelic chorus? I can.

There was a time, not so long ago, that all of our wood came from our own woodlot. The most high tech tool used in the harvesting of said wood was...a chainsaw. That's it. No tractor. Not even a horse. Just me, the chainsaw, and a wheelbarrow. Oh, and then there was the splitting...with an ax and a maul. No gas powered wood splitter.

On the firewood front, we didn't wimp out...we ran out. Or close to it. Our woodlot isn't all that big, and needs time to recover. We still cut up the storm damaged trees, but we don't want our place anywhere near clear cut. We want to live in the woods, and for that, we need, well, woods.

And finally...the new washer... and dryer.

Yes, that's right. Country Wife has moved forward a few hundred years, and now does laundry in a washing machine. **collective gasp of horror**

At first, I felt like a bit of a failure, dropping out of my laundry challenges that way. I hate giving up. But when I considered the resources invested in hand washing and indoor line drying vs those invested in the new machines, the machines were definitely the best investment.

The wettest year on record for our area was probably a contributing factor. Some days, when the weather was warmish but dampish, we were burning wood just to get the laundry dry. The house was full of moisture and the windowsills were mildewing. My time was spent washing and hanging the laundry, mopping up puddles, and constantly wiping down the windowsills. Honestly, I have better things to do.

Of course I will still line dry in the summer; nothing smells as sweet as line dried laundry.

The new machines are much more efficient than my old ones. I can't get over how much easier my life feels now. I am actually doing laundry as I type this! (Not something you'd understand unless you'd done all your laundry by hand for a while.)

With all my new free time, I'm hoping to get back to work on the house. First on the list are those pink counter tops in the laundry room. Egads!! Can you believe our whole kitchen had those when we moved in? The laundry room sink also needs an overhaul; hard water leaves some pretty ugly stains.

But as I was saying, luxury is a relative term. I know people that complain when they have to stack firewood that was delivered to them, and people that moan about having to do a load of laundry. If you've done it the hard way, you won't ever complain about those things again. I stacked firewood with a smile on my face and a (very off key) song on my lips. I do laundry now with a little dance and a maniacal laugh.

Maybe I'll be a better listener to my friends now. Before, when they would complain to me, I'd just stare at them unblinkingly, until they remembered that I was hauling wood in a wheelbarrow (uphill) and doing laundry in a frickin' bucket. At this point, they'd stare sheepishly at the floor and change the subject.

Maybe now I'll be a nicer person. Or maybe not. Bwhahahahaha!

Couch Hunting

2011-11-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

We haven't owned a couch in ages. We did have a futon for a while, until it fell apart. Then we had his and hers chairs and footstools, but really missed the snuggling made possible by a comfy couch.

I'd planned to use the earnings from my seasonal job to buy a nice couch, but thanks to the earthquake in Japan and our temporary retirement, those earnings were needed for other things...like electricity. *rolls eyes* Besides, we'd done a bit of couch shopping, and I couldn't find anything I liked. Not that there aren't a lot of nice sofas available, but I wanted something unique. Vintage would've been ok, but buying used furniture is too big of a gamble when Ohio is a veritable epicenter of the bedbug population.

Remember when all the sofas were Naugahyde? I'm not sure if they stopped making those because of the efforts of the Save The Nauga Foundation or the Foundation For Save The Skin On The Back Of My Thighs.

Anyway, thanks to my beloved's thoughtfulness, or maybe just the fact that he was tired of being drug (sometimes kicking and screaming) from one furniture store to another, looking for something inexpensive and unusual, Eöl decided to launch is own Couch Hunt.

This is the story of that exciting adventure:

Here is our Hero, stalking the elusive Sofa Beast.

He spots an entire herd of Sofa Beasts!
He selects the one best suited to his needs, based on age and size....
and the fact it's leaning over the driveway.

As Eöl readies his tools, the Sofa Beast charges unexpectedly!

With lightning fast reflexes...and a sharp chainsaw...our Hero fells the Sofa Beast.

Notoriously hard to kill, this Sofa Beast needs further subduing.

At last, the Beast is field dressed.

The Ritual Skinning of the Sofa Beast: the hide makes excellent mulch for flower beds.

Properly processed, the Sofa Beast is now ready for trophy mounting.

The sinew of a Sisal Critter has been added for additional strength and comfort.

The finished sofa is inspected by His Royal Barkiness.

lol...I know...I have way too much fun with the mundane. Though there's nothing mundane about my one of a kind sofa!! WOOT!

The couch was my early anniversary present. I was going to make cushions for it over the winter since I really didn't have time when Eöl built it. In the meantime, I opted for using the mattress from our deceased futon. I kind of like the futon mattress, so I'll just be making a new quilt for the back of the couch.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my couch!!! It is MADE OF AWESOME!!! It's the most comfortable couch I've ever sat on. I know better than to lie down on it if I need to stay awake. I'm out in about three seconds if I stretch out; it's just like a hammock...so comfy!!

And now, if you'll excuse me, the Couch Beast is trying to creep away, and I must hold it down with my body weight while munching bonbons.

Meet BOB (Now with added features!)

2011-11-11T10:11:00.001-05:00

*I edited this post to add some things I'd forgotten.

As promised in my earthquake post....

This is BOB. Say hi, Bob!

BOB: Bug Out Bag. There are other nicknames and acronyms for these handy packs: Grab and Go/ GAG bag (that one just sounds like something that would be full of plastic vomit); Go Pack; Panic Bag (sounds like something that would be full of real vomit). There are tons more, depending on which book you're reading about survival, or which websites you visit.

There are also suggestions as to what to carry in your BOB in each survival book and website. Some of them can be pretty over the top, like the one that suggested a folding chair. If you can't get by for 72 hours without a CHAIR, go ahead and kiss your butt goodbye. That same list was about a page long and included so much stuff that was bigger than a breadbox a cart was required to haul it all. Can you just see me pushing my BOB down the highway? I keep picturing scenes from the movie The Book of Eli.

What you carry in your BOB is really up to you. The basics of food, water, and first aid should get you through 72 hours, but you'll probably be wishing you had a lot of other things (besides a Big Mac and cable tv) when the time comes.

72 hours, or three days, is the rule of thumb for emergency supplies. You need a MINIMUM of three days worth of supplies. More certainly wouldn't hurt, but you really don't want to carry it all with you.

When we decided to put together our BOBs, I thought about how we may actually use them. For one thing, they are handy to have in the car. We live in Ohio, so snowstorms are common in the winter, and it's a good idea to have emergency supplies whenever we leave the house.

A BOB would also be great in case of medical emergencies: imagine you have to rush a family member to the hospital, and you are stuck waiting in the ER for hours at a time. After the last year, I'm an expert on waiting rooms, snack machines, and dying of boredom. A BOB would've made things easier. OK, I probably wouldn't need my fire starting kit or tarp, but then again, after 24 hours in the ER, I'd like to light a fire under some doctors...metaphorically, of course. ;)

Then of course there's the real reason for putting together a BOB: any emergency that requires you to leave the house to seek shelter in another location. Personally, we prefer to 'shelter in place', so it would have to be a major thing to get us out of the house: a chemical spill, toxic gas, or something along those lines. But it's best to be prepared for whatever eventuality may force the use of BOB. Besides, I've read one too many novels involving EMPs, and it's a long walk home from anywhere I go.

Now for the big question: What the hell do I put in this thing and how the hell am I supposed to carry 3 gallons of water in it?

The "gallon per person per day" rule for water is a tricky one. It's no big deal if you are in your home or car, but to carry that, on foot, for any number of miles could be pretty exhausting. A gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, so that's an extra 24 pounds in your pack...per person. If you have someone that can't carry their own, then you are looking at even more weight. My plan, should this come up, is to carry as much as possible, but also to carry water purification tablets so that we can refill our water bottles from creeks and streams. Thankfully, water sources are plentiful in our area.

The first aid kit is an absolute must have. This is ours:

The contents easily fit into a gallon size ziplock bag.

In addition to first aid supplies, I keep fire starting supplies in this bag, plus a redundancy in the basic BOB pack. When caught in the wild, a fire can be used to sterilize water (did you know you can boil water in a paper cup or plastic bottle? Yes, you can!!), as well as cook food and supply heat.

The Ready.gov site has a pretty good list of basic BOB supplies. Except for the fire extinguisher. *shrugs* Maybe for in the car, but for on foot? No thanks.

In addition to most of the supplies listed at the ready.gov site, our BOB list also includes:

duct tape, because you can use that for just about anything, including first aid.
A tarp, preferably camo. A lot of books suggest carrying a tent, but I've seen the Blair Witch Project, and don't really want to be blind on all four sides. Oh, and should anyone ooga booga your tent, a la Blair Witch, make sure it's not someone you like before you shove the machete through the tent fabric and into Mr Oogy Boogy, ok? If you run out screaming like a girl, you fully deserve to suffer through the entire movie.
Binoculars
Petroleum jelly, for fire starting, chapped lips, and windburn protection.
Clothespins, since they can be used for all sorts of things, including hanging wet clothes by the fire.
Rope. Pack more than you think you'll need, and then put in a little extra.
Seeds. I never see this on any list, but yes, seeds. If it's actually the end of the world as we know it, I want to be able to grow something good. They don't take up much space.
Hygiene items: soap, toilet paper, feminine items, and even shampoo and deodorant. The end of the world is no reason to be gross. But leave the perfume behind, unless you plan to reveal your location to every bee in the woods, as well as anyone looking to pilfer goodies.
Towel and washcloth.
Sewing kit, which can be used for first aid in a pinch.
Field guide. This isn't the time to try to find out which plants are edible, so learn that ahead of time But it's handy to have a field guide in stressful situations, when you are likely to forget which leaves are safe for toilet paper substitutions.
Fishing kit. Those hooks and lines have all sorts of uses; use your imagination.
A bar of naptha soap, for laundry as well as removing any oils you may get into.
A wire saw.
A spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol, which will neutralize urushiol from poison ivy, oak, and sumac, on your clothes as well as your skin.
A mess kit
Food, of course, including ramen noodle, trail mix, and power bars. Try for things that are lightweight, filling, and easy to prepare.
Cash. This one, I'm not too sure about. If you are thinking end of the world, cash won't be mean jack. If I can't eat it, wear it, or wipe with it, I don't want it, so don't even think about offering me money for any of my stuff. But to be prepared for all eventualities, enough cash for the hospital vending machine is a good idea. Many books suggest cash for a hotel room, which may be a good idea, assuming it's the end of the world and hotels actually ACCEPT cash, which many won't do now without a lot of ID.
A folding shovel, because bears aren't the only things that poop in the woods.
Fire starting supplies; not just matches. You'll want to learn to use those before you need them. I have a post coming up (eventually) on fire starting.
Water purification supplies: iodine tablets (not for use for people with thyroid problems), chlorine tablets, or just plain bleach.

Most books suggest carrying a weapon. I'll be wearing my chainsaw on my hip, so I'm all set.

Each of us have our own BOB, with redundant supplies, in case we are separated. As you can see with my BOB, any backpack will do in a pinch. I don't suggest bright colors, unless you are sure you want everyone to know where you are. I probably sound a little paranoid, but in the event I need to bug out on foot, I'm not sure I want to advertise my location to the desperate and the ill prepared.

I've probably left out a few supplies, so if you can think of anything, or have something in your bag I haven't mentioned, please list it.

ETA: Knives!! OMG Eöl is going to laugh his butt off at me for forgetting to list knives!! Thanks to Carolyn Renee from Krazo Acres for reminding me in the comments section. And I completely forgot to mention a hatchet. Duh. Of course you need one.

Knives are probably the most important tools we use on a daily basis here on our farmstead. So you are probably wondering why I didn't think to list them. lol It's kind of like having to remember to list your limbs; we carry ours all the time.

Eöl makes knives and swords, as well as other handy tools like hatchets and ulus. You can look at a few of his available items over at our Etsy site. Thanks to Eöl, we all have knives, hatchets, ulus, etc on our belts, on a daily basis. The items we carry will change with the seasons, but for the most part, we are always bristling with lovely sharp things.

Carrying your knives and hatchets on your belt is a good idea, especially in a bug out situation. If you are tangled in brush or attacked by zombies, you don't want to be digging in your bag for your knife.

Carolyn also mentioned garbage bags, something else I forgot to list. Garbage bags are handy for carrying any wild food you find, covering your pack in the rain, tying up your pack for crossing water, and can even be used as a poncho if you forgot to pack one.

A sharpening stone is also a good idea. Learn how to use it. It's not used like you see in the movies. If you don't know what you are doing, you will round the edge instead of sharpen it.

She also mentioned maps. A great thing to have...if you know how to read one. Most people rely on GPS, which can be useless when they can't get a signal or in the case of EMPs. I can read a map, but I'd be lost in operating a GPS unit.

The mirror she mentioned, I hadn't thought of that. Great one, Carolyn!! Thanks! I will be adding one to our packs, preferably the unbreakable kind.

Tinder should be included in your fire starting kits. I don't think I mentioned that. Wouldn't hurt to carry some dry kindling, as well. I'll be doing a fire starting post soon.

Remember, none of this stuff will do you a bit of good if you don't know how to use it. Now is the time to learn.

Keep those suggestions coming! There are probably other handy things I've failed to mention, or haven't even thought of.

NaBloPoMo

2011-11-10T17:42:00.000-05:00

I totally blanked on it this year. Last year I bombed five days into the month because of a family emergency. This year, I was three days into November before I realized that, "Hey, it's November, and look, Dac is already hard at work on NaBloPoMo." Oy...November just snuck right up on me there!

I will try to post more often, mostly because the major seasonal rush is over. I still have plenty to keep me busy, though.

Anyhooo.....Dac has this awesome post called Sweet Nostalgia, all about those candies we enjoyed as kids.

I've discovered there are candy companies that cater to those tasty memories. Sadly, the ones I'd most like to see again have been discontinued: Brock's Peppermint Puffs. These were a puffy, meringue-like candy that came in spearmint and peppermint. I think they also had cherry, but I never wanted those. The spearmint were my fave. They were so soft you could crush them to powder through the package, and they'd melt in your mouth like cotton candy. I emailed the company and was told they were discontinued. So many people online are looking for them, you'd think they'd make them again. They were probably chock full of lead or something...but so tasty. Eöl has to squeeze every peppermint he finds to see if they are the right ones. Sweet that he wants to find them for me.

Mallo cups are still around...I love those things. I saved those inserts for some reason, prizes or some such, but never sent them in and ended up throwing them away when they all stuck together.

Funny how the candy of our childhood can bring back so many memories. I can remember the little store where I first bought Tangy Taffy (still around...grape is my fave and the hardest to find) and that we were on our way back to Kentucky from Tennessee.

Before I wander any further down memory lane, I should get the critters locked up for the night. It's 5:30 p.m. and already getting dark. *sigh* I'm diggin' the early sunrise, though, so I guess it's a fair trade.

Just how long have we been married?

2011-11-06T23:00:00.002-05:00

It looks like quite a while!
Maybe since the mid 1700s? ;)

Happy Anniversary, Love!!

I. Know.

2011-11-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

I don't miss much about television.

I do, however, horribly miss Craig Ferguson.

That show cracks me up. It's like my life...only with a Scottish accent.

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T13:42:00.000-04:00

You Might Be A Homesteader If....

2011-10-29T12:15:00.003-04:00

You might be a homesteader if...

You've ever put on a jacket and found eggs in your pockets.

You know how many cubic feet are in a cord of wood.

You've ever picked feathers out of your chicken soup.

You've ever taken a bite of something and said, "Is that a bone or a bullet?"

You've ever laughed so hard that you were asked to leave the John Deere store at the mall.

You've ever had chicks in your bathroom (the feathered kind).

The muck on your muck boots is really muck.

You have ever gutted something and then eaten a bowl of chili.

You can identify the plants in your yard, and know at least three uses for each.

You know the difference between straw and hay.

You know that "free range" actually means "chicken poop on the porch".

You know how to pronounce "scythe" (hint: the c is silent).

You've ever given mouth to mouth to a duckling.

You've ever been stalked by a duck. (Our drake follows Little Sis everywhere, even hiding behind things to stare at her. Weird.)

Got any more??

What I want to be when I grow up...

2011-10-25T22:17:00.001-04:00

Little Sis picked this up at the library: Swamp People

I'm only a couple of episodes into the first season, but I have decided that I will hunt gators at least once before I die.

I'm lovin' that accent, too. Thick as molasses and twice as sweet.

Any of you actually live in the Louisiana Bayou/swamp/wetlands/gator hunting country? Tell me what it's like!!

Slow Food

2011-10-24T14:33:00.010-04:00

A friend of mine asked, after my A Day In The Life post, how many meals I cook per day, and when I find time. I told her she probably didn't really want to know; around here, if you ask for fried chicken, someone will hand you a hatchet.

I thought it may make an interesting post, though. She's not the first one to ask about how we eat.

We don't grow absolutely everything we eat. I like Pop-Tarts, and I can't seem to find seeds for a Pop-Tart bush...or is that a root crop? We do grow as much of our own food as possible, but we also try to enjoy life, and if we want the occasional take out pizza or frozen egg roll, I'm ok with that.

I used to post on a "What's for dinner?" thread on a homesteading forum. Some people took offense when others listed things as homegrown, home canned, fresh picked, etc. They said it sounded "uppity" and a bit like bragging, or some such nonsense. I say if you plant it, grow eat, harvest it, raise it, pluck it, hunt it, gut it, or even just barter for it or buy it locally, then BRAG AWAY!! If you only tossed ingredients into a bread machine, it still deserves kudos, so give yourself a pat on the back. Take pride in what you do, and don't worry about those jealous ninnies that can't do anything without a microwave and a can opener.

Anyway, I've listed our meals for the week. My "uppity" details of how the food was harvested, etc, are for informational purposes only. I certainly would never brag. **clears throat** I GREW THAT!! I CLEANED IT!! I COOKED IT!! WOOT!! GO ME!! I'M AWESOME!! (oh dear, was that out loud?) *snickers*

This will also give you an idea of the way I cook. I rarely measure things; I toss things into a pot and hope for the best, generally making stuff up as I go. If I screw it up, the chickens happily recycle my mess into edible eggs.

Lunch is normally our big meal of the day. We aren't breakfast people, thank goodness. Sometimes, when it's just us girls here at dinner, we eat leftovers from lunch, have sandwiches, or just snack on popcorn.

Sunday:
Brunch: Homemade cinnamon rolls.

Dinner: Veggie soup and homemade rolls. I haven't harvested the carrots and potatoes yet, so I had to go out and dig some up for the soup. I picked some loveage, thyme and basil while I was outside. It took a bit of scrubbing, but the root veggies were finally ready for the pot, along with some homegrown onions that had been stored in the fridge. I added a quart of home canned tomatoes, some water, salt, and a couple of handfuls of brown rice.

Dessert: Pear Crisp Pie. Sort of like Apple Crumb Pie, but made with pears I picked right off our own tree. Finally. The poor tree didn't have any last year, and only three the year before that.

Monday:
Lunch: Leftover soup and rolls.
Dinner: Burritoes. I was making Tuesday's Mexican Lasagna, so there was a bit of meat/pepper mix leftover. I wanted something quick for Tuesday, so I made the Mexican Lasagna and put it in the fridge; all I had to do on Tuesday was bake it.

Tuesday:
Mexican lasagna: Ground beef from my friend's farm, onions, fresh picked cilantro and peppers, a quart of home canned, chili-seasoned crushed tomatoes. I cooked the beef, then stirred together with the rest of the ingredients, then layered with corn tortillas and cheese. Bake at 350 for about an hour. This was lunch and dinner.

Wednesday:
Lunch: Leftover mex lasagna again. No one complains about leftovers around here, in case you were wondering. I'm not a food nazi; if someone doesn't like what I cook, there's plenty of peanut butter for sandwiches.

Dinner: Greek pizza tortillas. Garlic crushed in olive oil, brushed on flour tortillas. Tortillas are topped with basil vinegar peppers (yes, I made them), calamata olives, and onion, baked until crispy, and then topped with feta cheese.

Thursday: Texas Italian: Chorizo sausage, browned, then put in the crockpot with onions and lots of fresh picked green peppers. Added one quart of home canned crushed tomatoes, plus two pints of home canned italian crushed tomatoes. Served over Texas toast, made from leftover homemade bread, sliced into thick slabs, coated with a mixture of olive oil, butter, and fresh crushed garlic, then broiled. Eöl calls this dish "spaghetti western". (lunch and dinner)

Friday:
Lunch: Leftover sauce from Thursday served over spaghetti noodles.
Dinner: Potluck. Which means: raid the fridge for whatever you want.

Saturday:
Cheeseburgers, made from ground beef from my friend's farm. Topped with homegrown veggies and served on homemade buns. Side dish: onion rings...from Aldi. lol We were so stuffed from the late lunch that we really didn't eat much else that day.

Sunday:
I had a chicken soaking in salt water in the fridge overnight. This was our old mean roo, and I knew he'd be pretty tough, so I put him in a pot for stew. After cooking for a few hours, he was still a tough old bird. So...into the crockpot (slow cooker). We ended up having him for lunch on Monday. Anyway, for Sunday, it was sandwiches. We were working outside so I really didn't want to waste a lot of time in the kitchen.

Monday:
Lunch: The old red roo, now tender as can be from cooking overnight in the crockpot, baked squash and greenbeans (both from the garden).

Dinner: Leftovers.

Tuesday:
Lunch: Chicken Stew. I fished all the bones out of the crockpot, and added some veggies, and cooked overnight. There was still some stew leftover, so that went into the freezer to be made into pot pies.

You may read through this and think, "Well, she doesn't even cook every day!" And you'd be right! When you cook slow food, it really is slow. S. L. O. W. Who has time for that every single day? But we still want to eat something healthy, tasty, and filling every single day... preferably without my being stuck in the kitchen when the weather is nice. What's a gal to do? I cook big portions, and find ways to reuse those leftovers in meals the rest of the week.

There are days that I make a huge pot of something, counting on leftovers, only to have every bit eaten that first meal. Well, I'm sure not going to complain about that!! Either it means we were very hungry, or it means I'm a pretty good cook. Probably we were just starved. lol

One thing about homegrown food: it's more filling. We could eat an entire bucket of KFC in one sitting, but a single home grown chicken can make several meals. I'm not sure why that is. It could be that the home raised chicken had access to grass and feed every day, plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and clean water. Basically, there's just more to the meat that way, if you know what I mean. Compare that to chickens raised in overcrowded cages, indoors, the air full of the reek of chicken manure (boy, I can tell ya, that stuff STINKS!!), fluorescent lighting instead of sunshine...you get the idea.

I have several older hens in the freezer. Anyone have any good chicken recipes for a slow cooker?

hahahaSNORT

2011-10-19T16:02:00.000-04:00

On the homestead

2011-10-19T15:52:00.000-04:00

I have about a dozen posts in progress, but never seem to find time to work on them. Maybe, with knee recovery and rainy weather, I'll get around to finishing them up.

I still don't have the garden put to bed. In fact, it was just Monday that I got the rutabagas and beets harvested, with Eöl's help. Then it was on to potatoes. This was not our best potato year, by a long shot. Little Sis helped me work on digging those up, until my knee got too painful and I had to give up for the day. Since then, it's been nothing but rain.

The hardest part of this whole knee crisis is being unable to finish up all the farmstead chores on my own. Thankfully, harvest is pretty much over, and other than putting the garden to bed and doing that scaffolding project, I can rest my knee and concentrate on physical therapy.

You know, that is something to keep in mind, if you are considering the homesteading lifestyle: chores go on, even if you can't.

Eöl has been working a lot of overtime, and I'd taken up a lot of the chores he normally did, in order to make life a bit easier for him. Now the poor guy is still working overtime, and helping me as much as possible. I feel guilty about that.

Ok, maybe the actual toughest part of this is that I have to say, "I can't." I am not great at asking for help. I'm even worse at admitting defeat, especially out loud.

It's probably a direct result of my stubbornness that my knee is so bad. I just kept going, no matter how bad it hurt. I had things that needed to be done, so I did them. I don't give up easily. My body, however, refuses to keep up with my spirit, so here I am, with my leg propped up and the keyboard in my lap...whining.

Oh dear gawd shoot me if I become one of those whiny women that bursts into tears at the drop of a hat...even if it's a very nice hat.

Laundry Challenge Update: It's a wash

2011-10-15T22:19:00.000-04:00

I suppose you remember the washing machine challenge. I was doing pretty well with that over the summer. After all, washing and drying the laundry outside wasn't too big of a deal, especially when we were wearing summer clothes: shorts, tank tops, etc.

Now that I'm doing the laundry inside, it's another story altogether. Fall and winter clothing are bulkier, and more difficult to wring out by hand. Sure, I've got these awesome forearms and biceps to show for it. But you know all that water that doesn't get wrung out of the clothes? It has to go somewhere. My house is now a sauna, the windows are thick with condensation, and I'm pretty sure there are some lost rainforest animals living in my potted plants.

The time it takes to do the laundry is getting ridiculous. It's not too bad if I can manage to get it done daily, but if I skip a day, yikes. I can end up spending three or more hours on it. Really, with all the other stuff I hope to accomplish on my free days, laundry is sucking up way too much of my time. I have little enough free time as is, and life is short, ya know?

There are some good points to doing the laundry by hand: I'm using less water, the clothes are cleaner, there's absolutely zero lint in my life (the army of dustbunnies living under my bed and seeking new recruits doesn't count), and the laundry is softer than if I had used a quart of Downy.

I've looked into getting a wringer. A good one costs almost as much as a new washing machine. I've looked into a few other ways to wring out the laundry. But the more I think about it, the more I think I'm ready to go the lazy route and get a new washer.

I'm not saving any electricity with hand washing; I have to run the whole house fan to help cut down on the water vapor in the air. Oh, and there's my knee, of course. *exasperated sigh* Even sitting to do the laundry is painful, and sitting for a long period is misery.

So, add me to a list of whiny housewives if you like. Revel in the schadenfreude if you must. I see a washing machine in the near future; I'm taking my life back.

The bee's knees

2011-10-14T20:24:00.000-04:00

Or should that read "The B****'s Knees"? lol

Finally, I made it to the orthopedic surgeon about my knee. I had to go early to do the paperwork. Holy cow, that took most of my visit between the waiting room, x-rays, and waiting in the exam room, just to finish up the pile of paperwork!

They had special forms for knee patients, full of multiple choice questions about what I can and can't do. None of the multiple choice answers included, "It hurts like hell, but I'm doing stuff anyway."

The knee has been bugging me since spring. I didn't think too much of it at first. Probably just overuse, biking and working after a long winter. Toward the end of summer, it was hurting a bit worse, but stuff still had to be done around the farmstead. A few weeks ago, it progressed to serious pain. When I say serious pain, I mean OMFG THAT HURTS!, which is about the point I finally broke down and went to the dr. She referred me to the orthopedic surgeon, an appointment that had to be rescheduled twice before I finally made it there. By this time, just doing household chores was pure agony; farmstead chores were pure hell.

The doctor was great - very thorough. He manipulated my good knee first, which left me pretty tense, knowing what was coming on the bad knee. Sure enough, I nearly fell off the table in agony when he was twisting my bad knee like a Gumby toy.

My biggest fear was that he'd recommend surgery. Lately, though, the knee has hurt so badly that I was ready to do the surgery myself...with a spork. Much to my relief, he said no surgery. Instead, I get physical therapy for a few weeks. Even better, I'm under doctor's orders to get back on my bicycle. JOY!!!! I've seriously missed riding. I haven't really had time, and I've been kind of leery to get on my bike with my knee getting steadily worse. So, now I have to make time to ride, which is kind of a nice excuse to spend an hour out cruising through the falling leaves.

I'm off my knee for a couple of days, at least as much as possible. I feel pretty guilty about the amount of chores being handed off to Eol, and all the projects now on hold. It really bugs me to let things go, or to ask someone to do things for me. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, though.

Of course, if this doesn't work and the knee is still a problem on my follow up visit, we'll explore other options, like a vial of toxic, glow-in-the-dark sludge, injected into my frightened patella. Or maybe it was just cortisone. *shrugs* Beats spork surgery, anyway.

Speaking of my pop culture fail:

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

I rarely get to the mall. Maybe once a year I need to stop in there for something. I hate shopping. I'd rather cut and haul wood, uphill, in the snow, than go shopping. But, here I was, at the mall...and I wonder, how long has this been there??

Yeah, it's a John Deer apparel shop. In. The. Mall. Juxtaposition much?

No...really...since when is it the yuppie dream to dress like a farmer? I had no idea I was so in vogue!!

And then there was this thingamajig:

Yes, for the nominal fee of $2.00 (credit cards accepted), you, too, can experience hurricane force winds!

Wow. What people do for fun these days. Me, I just go outside.

Pop Culture Fail and other random junk

2011-10-05T00:14:00.000-04:00

Pop Culture Fail:

I've never seen Dancing With The Stars.

I have no idea who is judging American Idol, and haven't seen it since William Hung sang "She Bangs".

Where did those birds come from, and why are they angry?

Is Lady GaGa actually female?

I have no idea who 99.9% of the tabloid icons are.

Why is morning radio so popular?? I'm driving along in the pitch-dark early morning, struggling to stay awake; the last thing I want to hear is a bunch of disc jockeys that sound like beer soaked frat boys. Shut the hell up and play some Adam Ant, why don't ya??

Oy! Speaking of the Dandy Highwayman: His Royal Antness is back on tour!! W!! T!! F!! How was I not informed of this sooner??? **swwoons** If he ever gets to Ohio (as if, right?) you'll know where to find me.

Other random junk:

I have two cords of firewood to stack tomorrow.

The sun is supposed to be out all week!! OWWWW IT BURNSSSS!!!!!

I hope to put the garden to bed this week.

I have a project, which involves scaffolding, to finish, despite my crapped out knee. If I fall to my death, please have Adam Ant perform at my funeral.

I have had exactly four hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. What. The. Heck. Am. I. Doing. Here.

G'night!!

Comments

2011-09-30T15:55:00.000-04:00

If you've left a comment that didn't get published, please try again. I just heard from someone that they left a comment, but it never showed up for approval.

A day in the life...

2011-09-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

I have been so busy lately that I've not had much time to blog. At least two days a week, my time is not my own, for reasons esoteric (not all of my life is public, you know) but not entirely altruistic. On those days, I have to be out of bed and making coffee by 4:30 a.m. Oy.

The farmstead chores, housework, and miscellaneous woodland adventures get crammed into the remaining time. Here's how today went:

Wake up. Brush teeth. Throw on old jeans, t-shirt, jacket and boots. A hat might've been a good idea. I'm lucky I didn't scare the chickens. At least the sun was out.

Check bottom of drive for packages since pansy-assed Fed-Up driver is afraid to drive into the deep, dark, scary woods where chickens and geese could lurk, lying in wait to drop eggs on his head, or perhaps chase him with loose feathers for tortuous tickling. Expecting the package yesterday, I left the gate open and even hovered near the front door. Later, I found a Missed Delivery sticker on my mailbox with a request to sign permission to leave packages at the end of the drive, right by the road, a fifth of a mile from the house. *sigh*

Feed and water critters.

Shower.

Coffee with Eöl, catch up on what has been going on with each other, and fend off several varied interruptions. "We haven't seen each other since yesterday! I don't care if the house is on fire, stop bothering us!"

Check driveway again, just in case driver can't follow directions left with the less than helpful Customer Disservice Line, instructing him to leave packages at the gate. Still nothing. Mother Nature said she was just kidding with the sunshine, and it clouds up.

Bookkeeping. Or, more accurately, manic chainsaw/machete/cream pie juggling. No limbs lost or pie in face, always a good sign.

Schedule and re-schedule appointments for various maladies (not all mine). I will eventually get to that orthopedic surgeon about my knee, I swear.

Bring in wood to fill fire rings.

Make lunch.

Wash ground cherries and put them in the dehydrator.

Check for packages again. Hooray! They are here, and actually at the gate.

Review homeschool work with Little Sis. Perfect, as usual!

Clean out chicken house.

Clean out goose house.

Clean out duck house.
Between the rain and my insane schedule, the poultry houses were well past due for a cleaning. The chicken house, which stays very dry, was full of some seriously dusty poo. Dusty poo that puffed up as I cleaned, and landed on my skin, clothes, and hair. The smell made me really glad that I didn't actually eat lunch. Little Sis (who helped immensely by fetching the clean hay) went on and on about how bad I smelled until I threatened to hug her and wallow my stink all over her skin, clothes, and hair. Did I mention that farmsteading is quite glamorous?

Walk down driveway again, to get mail. That makes almost two miles today, just going up and down the driveway.

I found this salamander while stacking wood. Isn't he cute??

Stack firewood, in the rain. I absolutely cannot complain about stacking firewood. I didn't have to cut it, haul it up the hill in the wheelbarrow, or split it with the ax. Nope. I just have to stack it. Did you know a cord of dry, seasoned hardwood weighs about 3500 lbs? (Thanks for that bit of firewood trivia, J!) Between stacking wood and doing laundry by hand, I have forearms that would put Popeye to shame. Which reminds me: if you've ever seen the movie Rob Roy, remember that scene when the skinny little fop manhandles the farm woman? The farm woman that does her laundry on a friggin' rock?? As if.

Harvest basil. I need to get all of the tender garden stuff harvested; we may have frost this weekend. The rain stopped, but the clouds got bigger and thunder rolled.

Take another shower, for obvious reasons. Use an entire bar of soap.

Eat dinner and work on this post.

Lock up critters for the night.

Do laundry. Remember, this is by hand, so I can't really do much else while the laundry is being washed.

Hang laundry.

Do dishes.

Sweep and mop kitchen floor.

Finish up this post while I have a bedtime snack.

Fall into bed, exhausted.

How to save seeds.

2011-09-26T17:32:00.001-04:00

This is something I'm asked fairly often, so hopefully this will be helpful. This is the method that has worked best for me, after much experimenting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Step 1: Select your nicest fruits and veggies for seed.

Make sure your selection is an heirloom or open pollinated variety, not a hybrid. A hybrid is a cross of two or more other varieties; sometimes their seed is sterile, but most often you end up with one of the parent varieties. Most of the fruits and veggies sold at grocery retailers are hybrid, so you'll want to avoid saving seed from those. If you aren't already growing something, start with fresh seed. Johnny's and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds are great sources.

Step 2: Gently remove the seeds from the fruit.

Step 3: I use these mini strainers for small seeds.

They are very handy, and can usually be found pretty cheap. I got mine in a two pack from the Dollar Tree.

For larger seeds, you can use a regular colander, or even a fry basket.

Step 4: Because nothing is ever as easy as it should be, and gardening is messy business, seeds are usually covered in some type of slimy glorp. Or maybe just something that wants to be tomato sauce when it grows up. Either way, you'll want to rinse that off the seeds.

Step 5: As I said: Messy Business. I push the slimy glorp through the sieve while rinsing.

Step 6: I place the strainer on a paper towel to drain, and place in a warm (but not over 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and dry location. The kitchen counter works well for smaller seeds. I put bigger stuff on a rack near the back of the wood stove, where it doesn't get very hot but does stay warm and dry.

Attach a label of some sort to your seeds!

You may think you'll remember what they are, but all tomato seeds look alike.

Step 7: A lovely chunk o' seeds! Tomato seeds tend to darken as they dry, so don't let it worry you.
Crumble the seeds apart, gently, into a paper bag.

Step 8: LABEL LABEL LABEL that bag!!!

I like paper bags for storing seeds. If you plan to freeze your seeds, use a plastic freezer bag instead of paper. Store in a cool, dry place for next year's garden.

This method works well for most fruit and veggie seeds. Lettuce, radishes, rutabaga, and many others, produce their seed in a pod after flowering. For those, I let them dry on the stalk and then pick them, place in a paper bag, and label.

Beans, peas, and corn can also be saved by letting them dry on the vine/stalk, then storing in a cool, dry place. Corn should be husked before storing. Beans, in my experience, do just as well whether removed from the pod or not, as long as thoroughly dry. Do not harvest dried seed when it's wet outside, unless you are going to let it dry thoroughly before storing.

Flower seeds are pretty much the same. The center of the flower is usually the seed head, and once the petals fall off and the seeds dry, they are easily collected.

Be sure to do a little research on whatever variety of seed you choose to save. Some seeds require stratification, which is simply a way of simulating the winter dormancy to stimulate germination. For the most part, you won't have to worry about this with the basic veggie garden seeds. Lettuce and strawberries are the only ones I can think of offhand that require stratification. You can accomplish stratification by putting the seeds in seed starting mix, in a bag, in the fridge or freezer (be sure to research the time and temps for each type of seed). My preference is to just let the seeds sit outside over winter. When you order seeds, the packet should say if stratification is necessary. In most cases, it's been done for you.

There are other seeds that require almost no work at all. Tomatillos, for instance, tend to volunteer all over the place. I have about 30 plants this year, and I didn't plant any of them. Either they volunteered, or the garden gnomes were very busy this spring. To save those seeds, I just leave a few fruits outside. The fruit part rots away, and the husk makes a neat net to hold the remaining seeds. I'm hoping for the same results with ground cherries (husk cherries), but as I've never saved those seeds before, I'm trying both methods to ensure viable seed for next year.

Remember, not every seed you save will be viable, which is why plants produce so many of them. Save more than you think you'll need, just to be sure you have enough. If you end up with extra plants, you can always share them with friends.

Cozy

2011-09-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

The first fire of the season! Already? I can't believe it! Generally, it's the first week of October before we have a fire going. But the rain has us all feeling damp and chilly, so a fire was just what we needed to make the house cozy again.

We've been so busy lately that today seems like real down-time. I'm still in my warm flannel pj pants. (No, I don't wear them in public. When did that become acceptable outerwear, anyway? I even saw a guy in Kroger one day in his bathrobe! I'm not one for dressing up, but geez, put some pants on before you go to the store!!) I didn't have to be anywhere this morning, which was a blessed change. I don't have anyone coming by for any reason today, which is also a wonderful change. There's no canning to do right away, and it's pouring rain, so no working in the garden either. I tell you, it feels positively luxurious!

I hope to catch up a few posts here and there over the next few days. Today, I'm making zucchini bread and putting the last of the zucchini, shredded, in the freezer. I'm going to sit on the couch and peel ground cherries to put in the dehydrator. Then I'll tidy the house and do some laundry, which will be sure to dry with the fire going. I can't tell you how thrilled I am about that!!

Speaking of laundry: For the person that was wondering if you could get your deer hunting clothes clean in baking soda, the answer if yes! You can also use white vinegar to rid your laundry of any odors. The Fels Naptha soap is great for removing odors and stains, as well. Also, Eöl has discovered that the best scent cover is just to smoke your clothing. You can just build a small wood fire outside and put the clothes in the smoke. The longer you leave them, the stronger the smell will be.

I'm tossing in a Michael Franti cd, and headed for the couch to rest my knee (long story) and work on those ground cherries. More posts soon!

Facebooking

2011-09-18T13:08:00.000-04:00

So...(Yes, I know I overuse the word "so". So?)....I'm trying the whole Facebook thingie again. Apparently, I made the mistake last time of setting up the account as a personal account. This time, it's a Country Wife page.

Now, if I just had time to work on it, as well as the blog. *sigh*

Things are hectic right now. I say that a lot, don't I? Only because it's true. I'm trying to do about a zillion and two things at once.

Once the canning is finished, or at least caught up, maybe I can get back to blogging. As it is, I'm just too tired to string coherent sentences together once I actually have the time to sit down. *shrugs* That's farmsteading.

Laundry Challenge Update

2011-09-08T23:05:00.000-04:00

This is probably the perfect week for an update on my laundry challenges.

First, there was the Dryer Challenge. I've been over a year without one, and it's only weeks like this that I consider getting another. Well, it's a passing thought, anyway, because I know the sun will shine again soon. Right now, however, I have a huge, menacing pile of laundry just waiting for that sunshiny day. The dirty socks keep trying to crawl out of the hamper and into the hallway...

Yes, I manage to dry laundry indoors all winter. But now, with the temp too low for a/c and too high for heat, the laundry just sort of hangs there, plotting a coup and feigning boredom. I use a fan, which helps a lot, but it still takes at least 12 hours for stuff to dry. Fortunately, weeks like this are few and far between.

Then there was the Washer Challenge. Things are going surprisingly well on that front. I don't know if I'd mentioned the lint problem I was having. I thought it was just my brand of washing machine, but after asking around, I found a lot of people have that problem. The solution, of course, is to use a dryer, or a case of duct tape. Not an option here. The lint from the towels was pretty annoying, dusting the living room overnight when I'd hang a load to dry by the wood burner.

Once I started hand washing all of our laundry, my lint problem disappeared! Even the towels are lint free. A major plus for hand washing, in my book.

Another thing I noticed is that my line dried laundry is no longer "crunchy". In fact, my family thought I'd been using fabric softener, since everything felt so fluffy and soft. It could be that hand washing uses less detergent, or that the rinse is more efficient. Or it could be that the "convenience" of a washer means you need a dryer for lint removal, and fabric softener for comfy clothes. Most likely a conspiracy, cooked up by bored towels and lonely socks.

All things considered, I'm pretty happy with the Laundry Challenge. Of course the current challenge - keeping that growing pile from spilling out of the laundry room for another day - is something else entirely. If no one hears from me for a week or more, you can safely assume I was overthrown and am being held prisoner by an army of dirty socks.

Chatting about the weather

2011-09-08T22:12:00.000-04:00

Saturday was hot. So hot that we had heat index warnings and were sweating just sitting still. A fitting day for the last weekend of summer.

Sunday rolled in wet and chilly. Monday was more of the same. Yesterday, even chillier and wetter. Today, yes, you guessed it: wet and cold. Ok, it's in the low 60's, but I'm freezing my toes off in here.

I think the damp is the worst part. It's not cold enough to turn on the heat; it's not hot enough to turn on the a/c. Either of those would help with the dampness indoors. It's just....well...ick.

Just last week, I'd have loved a rainy day to catch up on inside chores. I guess I should be careful what I ask for, huh? lol I am trying to catch up the housework today. Tomorrow, rain or shine, I'll tidy up outside a bit and pick produce to be canned the following day. (I'm not sure what day it is; it's been a crazy week.)

I know I promised a Bug Out Bag post, and I'm working on it. I kind of got sidetracked with the canning, the holiday weekend, and this, the most hectic of weeks.

We had a lot of projects we wanted to do over the three day Labor Day weekend. Instead, we got a lot of resting done. Eöl and I have been exhausted lately. He's working overtime, and we have a lot of stuff going on around the farmstead right now, so we both feel that we've been run ragged. Add the weather, which is perfect for snuggling and sleeping, and you can see how that's about all we accomplished.

In fact, I could use a nap right now. *yawn*

I love the night life...not really...

2011-08-31T23:54:00.002-04:00

The tomato pic from the last post produced 28 quarts of crushed tomatoes. Problem is, those 28 quarts had me up until 5 a.m.! What. The. Heck.

I did get a late start, and it does take quite a while to wash, quarter, grind, heat, and can all of that tomatoey goodness.

I don't necessarily have to quarter the tomatoes. In fact, I just cut most of them in half, just to be sure they are good inside. One bad tomato can wreck an entire batch of sauce. I have a Roma food mill, pictured in the previous post, which saves me a lot of time. I no longer have to skin the tomatoes, or cook them before crushing. I do, however, heat the crushed tomatoes before packing into hot jars.

I use the water bath method, which takes 45 minutes to process a batch of quart jars, not including the time it takes to heat (at least 10 minutes if water is already hot) and fill (about 10 minutes) the jars. Add in the five minutes after processing before removing from the canner, and you are looking at over an hour per batch, minimum.

It's certainly worth it, on the cold winter days, when I can pop open our homegrown tomatoes and make a hearty stew...or sauce...or just tomato soup. Not that I was convinced of that this morning, when I had to get up at 7 a.m., after only two hours of sleep.

If you have never attempted canning, don't let my late nights scare you. Like I said, I get a late start, and there are generally at least 40,175 interruptions that require my immediate attention, like Little Sis insisting I come look at the dead thing she found, chasing the geese that don't want to go into their pen at night, etc.

I recommend Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving. It won't help you pen those pesky geese, but will help you can one tasty tomato sauce.

Guess what I'm doing...

2011-08-31T00:12:00.000-04:00

How many quarts of crushed tomatoes do you think this will make?

About that siren....

2011-08-29T22:27:00.000-04:00

This is how I plan to use it.

Respect. My. Authoritiiii!!

Part 2

2011-08-28T00:21:00.000-04:00

As I was saying....

I tend to be a bit of an ant/squirrel when it comes to stocking up, especially in the fall. Then again, that's what I'm growing all this stuff for, right?

But I wasn't always that way. In fact, the first year we moved in, there was no garden. The house was too big of a project to worry about much else.

That first winter, a big ice storm was predicted. I went to the store. I stocked up. I was pretty darn proud of myself, knowing we'd be comfy during the storm. Only I forgot one thing: kerosene for the kerosene heaters. At the time, we had the oil furnace and a full tank of fuel, but that's not much good in a power outage. The same goes for our fireplace insert. Without the blower, most of the heat goes up the chimney.

Of course the power went out. For THREE DAYS. We slept piled up together in front of the fireplace, with the door open on the insert, trying to keep warm. It was a miserable experience, and a lesson learned. I tried to keep thing stocked up after that, especially the kerosene.

A couple of years ago, sick of kerosene fumes, we installed the free standing wood stove that can heat the whole house, even without the blower. I can cook on it, and a place to make coffee is worth it's weight in gold around here.

I guess I should mention our cowboy coffee pot. One of those camping blue enamel dealies with the percolator gear inside. Here's a hint: if you are using bean coffee, either pre-grind a bunch, get a hand crank grinder, or keep a stash of regular old ground coffee for power outages. Otherwise, you'll be crushing beans with a rolling pin, smacking them with a hammer, or maybe stomping them with your last pair of stiletto heels, screaming, "Caffeine!! Coffee!! Damned stubborn beans, give me your deliciousness!!". Just sayin'.

I have wanted a hand crank radio for a while, and kept putting off the purchase. Money is always needed for something else, isn't it? After the little earth shake Tuesday, and the aliens from Seattle putting some sort of brain leeches into my electric weather radios, I decided it was time. I got a hand crank weather radio, the kind that also picks up music and news stations (or it would, if we had news stations around here. All we have are talking heads full of dirty jokes and satellite programmed music.). It has a flashlight, siren (so I can chase people around telling them to pull over), a cell phone charger, and even a usb thing-a-ma-bob so I can plug up a music thing-a-ma-jig.

It's funny, I get a lot of eye rolling from people when I talk about stocking up, putting together first aid kits, canning extra food, and anything else that sounds a little bit "survivalist". After all, Walmart will always be there with fully stocked shelves, the ATMs will always be full of cash, and the roads will always be open. Right? Um...no. Not really.

We can't seem to learn lessons from what happens in the rest of the world. Remember the zombie post about the food riots in Pakistan? Heck, we can't even learn from what happens in our own country. You'd think 9-11 and Katrina would've opened a few eyes.

Remember the Northeast Blackout of 2003? These things can happen when you least expect them. And no, I wasn't prepared then. We still lived in the city, where it was never really dark, so I didn't even have extra flashlight batteries.

I'll admit, I'm a procrastinator about some things, including keeping the first aid stuff fully stocked. But the earthquake was a literal shaking that I needed to wake up and realize what I've known all along: crap happens, and it's best to be ready.

Prepping isn't just for creepy survivalists, living off in the woods and eating what they kill. Oh, wait, that sounds kinda like me. I've never considered myself a survivalist, though. A survivor, maybe. More of a homesteader, actually, learning to be self-sufficient.

Prepping is now for everyone, and is encouraged by the government.

I never thought we'd need a "bug out bag". We're more the "shelter in place" types. However, after the earthquake, it occurred to me that we are close enough to major highways that, should there be a chemical spill, we may be forced to evacuate.

Coming up in the next post:
Bug Out Bags for Beginners. Or: What the hell do I put in this thing and how the hell am I supposed to carry 3 gallons of water in it?

I feel the earth move under my feet....

2011-08-24T01:05:00.000-04:00

Oops...another earworm. I can't be the only one with that song stuck in my head all friggin' day, right?

Unless you live under a rock....

....ok...I can't start that way. I, personally, live under a rock. I only listen to the radio when I'm in the car. I don't have tv. I go for days without booting up my pc. I hadn't even heard about Hurricane Irene until today.

So, let me rephrase: Perhaps you have not heard (doesn't that sound nicer?) about today's earthquake. The epicenter was in Virginia, but we actually felt tremors here in Ohio.

It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever experienced. I don't know that I would have felt it if I'd been working outside. As luck would have it, we were in the middle of lunch. Little Sis asked if the table was shaking. I realized the wind chimes, hanging inside the window, were tinkling. Little Sis asked if it was an earthquake. I was just about to laugh when my chair did this weird carnival ride thing that actually made me dizzy.

We were all jumpy the rest of the day, waiting for aftershocks, or more tremors, or the sky to fall.

You guys in Cali can stop laughing at me now. Thanks.

I never thought we'd have an earthquake here in Ohio. Of course I also never expected a hurricane to hit us, either. It's too far to drive to the beach. How does a hurricane hit Ohio??

We've had tornadoes. We've weathered hurricanes. And now we've been through an earthquake. Ok, stop laughing, it was really just a tremor, but it's not an everyday thing around here, ya know?

The thing bothering me most right now is how under-prepared I feel. Not unprepared. We are able to deal with major events more than the average person. Just under-prepared.

I have this ant/squirrel thing about stocking up in the fall, anyway. I work hard to get the garden produce put up for winter. I used to have to work hard to get our firewood put up, as well, but now we are fortunate enough to buy wood while our woodlot recovers. Calling for a load of wood and then stacking it doesn't even count as work after hauling it uphill. But I digress.

I'm running through a list of things I need in case of a major catastrophe. I know I'm running low on first aid supplies. I also want a hand crank radio. Both of my NOAA radios are on the fritz. I don't know if it's a problem with them, NOAA's signal, solar flares, or just aliens from Seattle, but it's frustrating. I count on the weather radio alarm to let me know when big storms are headed our way. Most of them are false alarms, but still, better safe than sorry.

To be continued....
I have a lot to add to this post, but it's late. Hoping to finish it tomorrow, but I'm publishing this part in the meantime, just to prove I'm still around. lol

Garden Notes

2011-08-17T23:33:00.000-04:00

From my garden this week:

First Charentais Melon of the season!

Ok, you got me. Actually, it was the second.
We ate the first one before I got the camera turned on!!

Grossgrossgrossgrossgross!!!!!

As gross as it looks, it's good news in the garden. This Tomato Hornworm is playing host to a Braconidae Wasp party. Or maybe it's more of a daycare? Or maybe just a buffet? Anyway, those little white things are Braconidae Wasp larvae.

The crate in the back is mostly bell peppers. It was ALL bell peppers, but I gave away quite a few.

Edible pod peas and broccoli.

Crimson sweet watermelon.
Everyone says that ice cold melon is the best,
but I prefer melon straight from the garden, still warm from the sun.

The Cherry Tomatoes That Weren't.

The pic doesn't really show how dark these are. They look a bit like Japanese Black Trifele.
They were supposed to be cherry tomatoes.

And these were supposed to be Green Grape tomatoes.
They are blushing, so will probably ripen.
I doubt they will ripen into a Green Grape, though. *rolls eyes*

The lack of cherry tomatoes is depressing. The seeds were new, from two different companies. It's not the first time I've gotten seeds that grew up to be something completely different than the package promised.

I also picked another two baskets of ground cherries. I dehydrated some of the last ones. I'm happy with the results. They are sweeter than raisins. I think they'll be awesome in zucchini bread. Now I just need more zucchini...

This has not been a great year for zucchini. Granted, I didn't pamper the zucchini the way I did the peppers and tomatoes. After all, it's zucchini, and usually I'm begging for the plant to die so I can stop processing the stuff.

Also not our best year for sweet corn. I'm not sure what happened with that, besides the sneaky varmint that has been raiding the corn patch.

I have a tentative plan for next year's garden. More on that later. I'm headed to bed at a reasonable hour for a change. Woot!!!

I love the night life...

2011-08-13T01:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, raise your hand if you now have that song stuck in your head. Good. I'm not the only one.

Anyhooo....yeah...lovin' the night life. The canning night life, that is. *Nods* Oh yeah...Country Wife knows how to par-tay. :)

The sneaky raccoon that has been in the corn (Did I mention he'd been in the corn? I can't remember.) has moved on to tomatoes. Not only does he pick each ear of corn as it hits that perfectly ripe stage, he only likes those lusciously ripe tomatoes. He's elusive; I've been looking for him for a while, armed and ready to take him down (that no-good-corn-thievin'-'mater-eatin'-masked-ball-of-fur), and he consistently avoids the live trap. To stay ahead of the game, I've started harvesting the tomatoes just short of ripe. Thursday, I finally had enough ripe ones to make my first batch of salsa.

Mornings are busy here, so it's always afternoon by the time I start canning. Thursday, being the first batch of the season, of course took a lot longer than normal. I had to make room to set up my folding table (taken out of storage and scrubbed the day before, thank goodness, or I'd still be in there on the first batch of salsa.) I had to remember how to assemble the Roma food mill. I also had to remember where I'd put all of my canning paraphernalia, and how to use it. Yeah, I should be able to do this stuff in my sleep by now, and in fact I think I did, since I was up so late. However, it does amaze me that I forget so much from one season to the next. Then again, I'm old enough to remember the lyrics to "I Love The Night Life", so maybe I'm just senile. ha. (Ironic, isn't it? I can remember that song, but I can't remember where I put my...um...my...what was I looking for?)

So, true to the post title, I was up pretty late finishing up the salsa and cleaning up. (Wow, I used "up" three times in that sentence!) I made 18 - 8oz jars. I think it was after 2 a.m. before I sat down for a snack of leftover salsa and chips.

I love the night life. I got to boogie....

OMG I will never get that song out of my head!!

I almost forgot to mention my ground cherries! I'd never grown them before, but I'd had some from a local market and liked them fairly well. I bought 5 plants from a fellow homesteader, thinking I'd have at least enough to snack on. Wow. I had no idea they were such prolific producers! I'm going to try dehydrating the ones pictured. Then maybe I'll make some jam from the next picking.

I was pleased with the flavor of our homegrown ground cherries. They are much tastier than the ones I purchased. If you've never grown them, but are thinking of giving it a shot, you should know that unripe fruit, leaves, stems, etc, are TOXIC! Ground cherries are in the nightshade family.

Ripe fruit falls from the plant and has a dry, papery husk. The fruit inside the husk is yellow. If you have ever tasted star fruit, it's pretty similar. I can't wait to try them dehydrated.

And now it's past 1 a.m., so I'm off to bed. I will not hum that song again. Must. Not. Boogie.

***Boogies off to bed***

It's late...

2011-08-04T01:00:00.000-04:00

....it's well past my bedtime. I'm having a quick snack before I fall into bed. I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow morning, but I almost hope it rains so I can sleep in. Almost.

I didn't finish everything on my list for yesterday because I ran out of daylight. I weeded the beets, but it rained last night, and now the weeds are back. Wow. Good thing I have black plastic in the rest of the garden, or I'd never get anything done but pulling weeds!

Which brings me to my random thought of the week: What would I do if I didn't garden/homestead/farmstead/fix up our fixer upper/etc? If I chose another lifestyle, purchased a washer and dryer, and bought my food at the grocery store, what the heck would I do with my time? When we were 'city people', the kids were smaller, and that kept me busy. Not to mention I spent many hours per day restoring and remodeling our city house. I had a garden then, as well, albeit a much smaller one. I thought I was busy back then, but ...whew! not compared to now.

I assume I'd go back to work, but there'd still be more free time than I am used to, so what would I do with it? Nap? Naps would be good, but only for the first week or so. (Ok, maybe the first month. I'm pretty tired right now.)

*shrugs* I suppose the point is moot. After all, I'm growing pretty well where I'm planted. But on days when I work from sunup to sundown, I have to wonder what the rest of the world is doing.

Finally. Lunchtime.

2011-08-02T15:26:00.000-04:00

Some days, all I want is to crawl into the hammock and sleep until dark, then crawl into bed and sleep until morning.

Today is one of those days. I'm exhausted.

It's after 3 pm and I'm just now eating lunch.

My day so far:

Got up at 7:30 a.m., did morning critter chores, took shower, and did two loads of laundry, putting a third in to soak. Had a quick, single cup of coffee with Eöl, then out to run errands. Came home, did last load of laundry, and reheated leftovers for lunch.

The rest of the day:
Harvest onions, Tom Thumb popcorn, Delicata squash, and a few hubbards whose vines have died. Water western garden. Mow old goose pen, bag grass, and use to mulch beets...after I weed beet patch. Sweep porches, tidy up yard. Process yesterday's cucumbers and peppers. Make some phone calls (not social). Take down and fold laundry (I think Little Sis has this one covered for me.) Do evening critter chores, take shower (I am not kidding. I will seriously need one by this time.), eat dinner, do dishes, and hopefully get to bed. Most likely I will end up outside raccoon hunting...again.

Today is mild compared to yesterday. I had lunch at 1 and didn't sit down again until after 10 pm.

If no one hears from me in a while, assume I have farmed myself to death.

At least then I can sleep.

Garden notes

2011-07-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure we've set records for heat the past week or so. We've had heat advisories almost daily, with the heat index reaching as high as 120, but averaging just above 105. Today and tomorrow promise to be cooler, with highs in the upper 80s. It'll be merely stifling outside for a change.

Last week was insanely hectic. Eöl went back to work. Great news financially, but everyone here misses him, none more than me. We've never had such a long stretch of being together, and we enjoyed it even more than we thought we would. There were a lot of projects that didn't get finished, due to the budget begging to be shot and put out of its misery. We did get some things accomplished, despite spending a large amount of time holding hands, goofing off, and throwing beans at each other. ( Picking produce has never been as lonely as it was today.)

On top of the return to work, I had to be somewhere. Every. Stinking. Day. When Eöl was home, I was gone, and vice versa. Skipping sleep to see him at least an hour here and there caught up with me Saturday evening, when I ended up in bed, shaky and nauseous (or is it nauseated? I can't keep those straight. Either way, I felt pukey.), most likely from sheer exhaustion.

Thanks to the insanity, bouncing from one thing to another like a rabid ping pong ball (you don't ever want to be bitten by one of those...in addition to the shots, there's some sort of paddle involved), the heat, and the heavy rains, the garden went into overdrive. I was left in the dust.

The two+ bushels of beans we picked Sunday were bigger than I prefer. I like my beans tender and small, but these were huge and beany. I managed to give away a bushel, and the rest will be labeled for the freezer so that I know to cook them differently. They are still edible. In fact, the beany stage is when most people pick them. What can I say? I'm a picky bean picker.

I picked about two bushels of cucumbers today. I'll probably make some more refrigerator pickles, which will thrill Eöl (not really), as he says there's already no room for actual food in the fridge. I've argued that pickles are on the food pyramid, right next to pork rinds, but he doesn't believe me. *rolls eyes* I do want to try to make some spicy pickles, with horseradish, and then I'll consult our list to see if there's anyone we know that is not already buried under a pile of our cucumbers. I'm pretty sure my garden is responsible for the local vinegar shortage.

The zucchini also got a bit out of hand. How can they go from teensy to ginormous overnight?? They weren't quite big enough to enter in the fair, so I can at least shred and freeze them for future zucchini bread. Thankfully, I planted a quite reasonable 6 or 7 plants this year. One year I had over 20 plants; wheelbarrows, crates, boxes, bags, and cars, all filled to the brim. I learned my lesson.

I have pics to upload of the huge bag of bell peppers I harvested. I still had some in the freezer from last year, and the tomatoes aren't ready for salsa yet, so I came up with a recipe for a basil marinade for the peppers. Something else to go in the fridge. Ha.

I picked about a half gallon of blackberries this evening. There were more, but I had other chores to tend to. The rules of blackberry picking are:

The blackberries will always be ready on the hottest days.
The biggest, juiciest, tastiest berries will always grow in the sharpest, thorniest, ouchiest part of the bush.
Mosquitoes use blackberries as bait to attract delicious humans.
Mosquitoes will always bite you in the most painful places when you have one hand full of berries and the other hand full of briers. If you give in and smack the little bugger, you will either have a huge berry smear, or some ouchy prickers.

These berries are destined to be berry vinegar, which I may actually can, so that Eöl will have room in the fridge for food, including the leftover duck from yesterday's dinner. I'm still debating if said duck is going to be egg rolls or pot pies.

Oh...I almost forgot the actual reason for this post. We got our first ripe tomato today!! It won't be long until time for salsa.

It looks like the corn is nearly ready. I'm afraid I may end up processing corn and salsa at the same time. As well as trying to keep the produce picked. And the laundry done. And the yard mowed. And the house cleaned, or at least manageable. And errands run. And appointments. And the critters cleaned, fed, and watered. And then the hazelnuts will be ready. And then it's butchering time...and...and....AUUUGGGHHH!!!

No, really, it may seem like chaos, but that's only because it is. Fortunately, it doesn't last long. Once all is done, I'll have three full chest freezers, a full pantry, and a fridge full of pickles.

It's nothing short of amazing to be able to walk right out into my yard and gather all the ingredients for a gourmet meal. Ok, maybe not so gourmet, though I occasionally get adventurous, like with the marinated peppers. Usually, I'm in the middle of making lunch, when I yell, "I'm going to the store for onions!" Which actually means, "I'm headed to the garden and will probably get distracted, so please don't let lunch burn."

Harvest would be a lot more fun, though, if I weren't allergic to almost every thing in the garden. Yes. It's true. Corn pollen gives me a migraine. I get contact dermatitis from everything else: the cukes, the zukes, the peppers, but especially the tomatoes. I have pics of my lovely rash, if you have a strong stomach. But right now, I'm too tired to go find the camera, download, resize, and upload pics. Maybe tomorrow...

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

2011-07-21T18:15:00.001-04:00

I don't have any silver bells or cockle shells, but I do have my ducklings in a row.

Here's what's in the garden this year:

Roma Tomatoes

Tomatoes:

Roma - 66 plants
Super Beefsteak
Tiny Tim
Early Girl
Big Boy
Cherry
Green Grape
Red Reif Heart
Eva Purple Ball
Striped Cavern
Burpee Long Keeper
Ace 55
Heirloom mix
Sungella
Red Lightning Hybrid
There are also several volunteer plants. I'm curious to see which varieties they are.
Total: 161 (Volunteers not included.)

Mexican Sour Gherkin

Cucumbers:

Muncher
Carolina
Sumpter
Lemon
Boston Pickling
White
Poinsetta 76
Chicago Pickling
Mexican Sour Gherkin
Total: 100 plants (I think I got carried away)

Partial view of the East Garden, including Contender beans, tomatoes
cucumbers, and corn.

Beans:

Contender (bush variety)
Royal Burgandy

I have no idea how many plants total. A rough guess for one Contender bean patch would be 450. The patch is only about 15x18. The other patches are smaller.

Golden Bell peppers

Peppers:

Keystone Resistant Giant
Garden Leader Tasty Red
Garden Leader Tasty Orange
Golden Bell
Ace
Pimento
Big Jim
Carnival Mix
Red Habanero
Chocolate Habanero
Total: No idea. I have 36 plants that I bought (6 each of the first 6 listed). The rest are from seed. I should count them for future reference, I suppose.

I'm giving up on plant totals for the rest of this post. I have notes in my garden book, but it's too tedious to total everything.

Squash:

Blue Hubbard
Queensland Blue
Delicata
Black Beauty Zucchini
Blue Pumpkin
Rouge Vif d'Etampes
Butternut
Early Acorn Hybrid
Argonaut
Pink Banana
Pie Pumpkin
Early White Bush Scallop

Corn:

Kandy Korn (sweet corn)
Early Sunglow (sweet corn)
Tom Thumb Popcorn
Strawberry Popcorn
Earth Tones Dent Corn
Painted Mountain Flour Corn

The corn is Eöl's department, at least the planting part. I'm working during that time of year and am usually dead tired when I get home. I'm really grateful he took over.

This year, he and Little Sis were in charge of potato planting, as well. They did an amazing job, despite the constant rain, and planted about 75 lbs of Yukon Gold.

Partial view of West Garden, including melon patch, tomatoes, peppers, squash and corn.
The huge, weedy mess on the left is our hedgerow.
We let that grow to protect our garden from any spray used in the field next door.
The hedgerow is also home to many birds, including a pair of Indigo Buntings.

Melons:

Collective Farm Woman
Charentais
Amish Cantelope
Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Congo Watermelon
Georgia Rattlesnake Watermelon

Another partial view of the West Garden, including Contender beans, corn, onions, beets, and tomatoes.
Notice the plastic is rolled back for the onions and beets.

Onions:

Yellow
Red (planted one pound each)

Other:

Jersey Wakefield Cabbage
Romanesco Broccoli
Broccoli
Rutabaga
Turnips
Radishes
Horseradish
Asparagus
Baby Bok Choy
Pak Choy
Carrots
Lettuce
Ground Cherries
Snow Peas
Beets (Detroit Supreme, Chioggia, Golden, and Tall Top Early Wonder)

Ground Cherries

And of course there are the herbs:

Dill
Basil: Amethyst, Serrata, Queenette
Cilantro
Chives
Thyme
Lovage
Chamomile
Mint: Chocolate and Pineapple
Lemon Balm (I know it's technically a mint)
Sweet Woodruff
Bee Balm
Echinacea
Horseradish
Patchouli
Bay
Bronze Fennel
Oregano

There are probably more herbs, but that's all I can think of right now. They are scattered all over the garden, the flower beds, and the yard.

ETA: Tomatillos! Can't believe I forgot them. I have purple and green. I didn't actually plant any this year; they are all volunteers from last year. Also, I forgot to list lavender in the herbs. I knew I was forgetting something.

What's in your garden this year?

Guess What!?

2011-07-19T13:33:00.000-04:00

CHICKEN BUTT!!!

Just kidding. Well, not really...it is a chicken butt.

I'm still around. I'll hopefully get back to blogging this week, at least for a few short posts. I have a ton of post drafts but they need editing, or at least finishing, before publishing.

For now, I'm off to break beans. Again. And then tomorrow I'll be picking beans. Again. And cucumbers. Again.

I'm up to 24 quarts and one pint of refrigerator pickles, so I guess I'll have to figure out something else for the cukes. I got carried away with the cucumber plants this year, after last year's mouse attack.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Chicken Butt.

Produce update

2011-07-10T22:44:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can't believe how much the garden is producing already! I need to go back and check my notes, but I'm pretty sure this is the most we've had this early, ever.

Pictured below is the haul from Friday, July 8. (I note this kind of stuff for my own future reference. It'll be easier to find here than trying to sift through my beat up, dirt crusted, crumpled garden notebook.)

We were picking the beans and tossing them into paper grocery bags, but the bottoms started falling out as we carried them inside. Eöl dumped them all into a handy feed bag for weighing.

65 pounds of green beans!!! Yes...sixty-five pounds!!!

We didn't bother to weigh the cukes. I had enough for four quarts of refrigerator pickles, with a few cukes left over for snacking.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance this week to post the garden totals. Believe it or not, I'm still planting...when I'm not busy breaking beans. :)

Produce!!!

2011-07-06T18:24:00.000-04:00

I think this has to be the absolute earliest we've ever had peppers, or more than a few beans. But I got some stuff out earlier this year. The pepper plants were, admittedly, boughten (as our Amish friends say). Many of my seed started pepper plants just didn't survive, due to the lack of sunlight...as well as my lack of grow lights...this spring. I do have a couple dozen that finally germinated, ready to be planted, if I ever get time.

The beans, however, I did grow, from my own saved seed. I did several plantings. The first planting is producing, and those went into the ground (direct seed) May 15.

The bean plantings were done at least two weeks apart. I'm really glad. I have a LOT of bean plants, and trying to pick those all at once...well, my spine is thrilled that I didn't do it that way. I did once...oh, the agony! I felt like The Little Crooked Woman. Did I mention these are bush beans? I love them, since they don't require trellising, but all the bending...I'm not as young as I was... yesterday.

So...on to the pics...

About five pounds of beans. Not bad for the first pick.

Cukes!

Peppers. Booya!!

The lonely zuke. This was from a volunteer plant.

We had a nice pasta salad, with pasta, cucumber, and green peppers. I made the dressing with basil and chives from our garden. Soooo good!!

All of the produce is from July 3.

I hate IE

2011-07-01T17:56:00.000-04:00

I'm having major problems with Internet Explorer. Or maybe my ISP. All I know is it's a pain in the butt. I've tried to leave comments on a few of your blogs, but I keep getting booted back and forth between signing in to my google account and clicking "Add Comment."

Free Range Farmstead Friends

2011-06-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

Those tiny chickens are bantams. The big roo was hatched by one of those little gals!

You just gotta love these silly guys.
They have to inspect every bucket they find.
First one will stick his head in. Oh, it's empty.
Then the other one will stick his head in. Oh, it's empty.
Clowns.

Did I say you could take my picture?

Muscovy family.

Another laundry challenge

2011-06-29T15:54:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that it's been an entire year since I started the dryer challenge. The weather lately has been so wet, humid, gross, icky, and did I mention wet? I was starting to think maybe, just maybe, I need to get a new dryer.

Then the sun came out. Just in time! An enormous pile of laundry was waiting!
I started my day by tossing a load into the washer, and went on to do some housework, thinking how nice it would be to get the laundry caught up by the end of the next day. Yes, it would take two days to catch up, because the washer had such poor water pressure that it took an hour to do a small load. We replaced the hoses, no results. Eöl checked the well tank. The pressure was fine. I gave up and just went with it.

And then....the washer died. A noisy death, just like the dyer. In fact, it was one year, almost to the day of when the dryer passed on to the great unknown.

Remember, this is during our temporary retirement. Even if I thought I needed to rush right out and purchase a new washing machine, my budget would die an agonizing, shreiking, painful death. So of course that is out of the question.

What to do? I could ask for donations! I could bug family and friends for a new washer! I could even go on tv, claim the washer and dryer were stolen, then sit back and watch the handouts roll in! **falls out of chair, holding sides, laughing hysterically***

Yeah, those of you that know me are probably laughing as hard as I am. Even if you don't know me, but read here from time to time, you know darn well that I'm the type to make the best of it. That's life. Shit happens. Get over it.

It's not even that big of a deal. I'd already been hand washing our "good" clothes, since the washing machine somehow put lint on everything that went into it for a wash cycle. And yes, I know perfectly well how to separate laundry, so it's not like I was washing towels and t-shirts together. I used the washer for towels, work clothes that no one cares are covered with lint, and spinning out the hand washing.

Ah! Spinning out the water!! Now how will I do that? *shrugs* I'm still working on that problem. I've checked out the wringers at Lehman's. Yikes. Expensive. Almost as much as a new washer, in fact. Eöl is fiddling with a few ideas for homemade wringers, and if we go that route, I'll be glad to share instructions. For now, a two person wringing job does wonders for towels. Little Sis has happily volunteered for the job. In fact, she pops up every time I start laundry, which never happened before. She seems to enjoy the hand washing adventure, and we're both building up some serious muscle. If I add up the cost of a washer, plus the cost of yearly gym memberships, I'd say I'm really saving some bucks! Ok, ok, it's not like I even go to the gym. I get plenty of exercise here on the farmstead. But you get the point...

Now I proudly present the Farmstead Washing Machine:

Pictured: Farmstead washer, laundry on the solar dryer *snorts* and a goose sleeping in the background.

Agitator.
I know a lot of agitating people, but they don't work. At all. Or as well. I've tried. Ha.

The original laundry system was the two buckets. One for washing, one for rinsing. It worked well for small loads. But once I realized larger loads would be necessary, especially towels, I picked up the larger wash tub. It's 18 or 20 gallons, and cost about $7.

The agitator is based on this design available at Lehman's. But I was impatient and wanted one right now, so I picked up a plunger for about $3, drilled a few holes, and voila!

I use the buckets as a double rinse system: rinse in one, followed by another rinse in the other one. Once the rinse water becomes too soapy, I add it to the wash water. When I'm finished, or the water needs changing, I dump the used water in the flower beds.

I'm amazed at how much water we are saving by doing laundry this way. We don't pay a water bill; we have a well pump. But the water savings should show up on our electric bill, as the pump will not be running as much. The wash tub gets about 8 gallons of water to start. Each rinse bucket gets about 3 gallons. My washing machine took at least 15 gallons just to wash a small load, never mind the rinsing.

I generally start with the lighter colored wash, and I can reuse the water for the next load. The double rinsing takes out any residue: dirt, soap, etc. Enough of the water gets leached out in the laundry, wrung out onto the flower beds, and replaced, that I don't really have to dump and start over very often.

I have a scrub brush for tough spots, but I'm hoping to check our local hardware store for an old fashion washboard, mostly for my grimy garden wear.

The first day was pretty exhausting. As I mentioned, there were many, many loads. 7 or 8 at least. But now, my laundry is caught up. In fact, I don't recall ever having ALL of the laundry done at one time! I don't have to wait until I have enough whites/lights/darks for a load. I can just wash whatever needs washing. Not all together, of course, but one after the other.

I did pick up a few more packs of clothespins. Lucky for me, Wal-mart reduced the price to .97 for a pack of 50. My clothespin bag is full, and the first day of handwashing, I actually ran out of clothespins! We're talking a few hundred clothespins.

Eöl strung up a few extra clotheslines for me, as well. Those are just baling twine, with a support in the center. Cheap and effective.

As odd as it sounds, I'm actually enjoying the new washing method. It's portable. I can do laundry inside or outside. I can work in the sun or the shade. I can enjoy the breeze and watch the various critters wander by. I do have to keep an eye on the geese, though. They like to put grass in the rinse buckets. Pesky critters. lol

Now to see if I can go a whole year without a washing machine. A new challenge! Am I up for it? Ha! You know it!

ps..more posts soon. I'm having some trouble with the 'net. It's either IE or my ISP. A hammer would solve the issue, but I'd still be unable to post. *sigh*

sigh

2011-06-13T23:35:00.000-04:00

The house is quiet. Everyone is occupied with something.

I think to myself that this is a great time to grab a snack, plop in front of the pc, pull up my blog, and let out some of those annoying word-bees that have been buzzing in my head all day.

I log on, snack in hand, and click on the New Post tab.

Little Sis wanders in and shows me her new guinea pig, then proceeds to tell me everything she knows about cavies. (This could take a while; the kid is an animal encyclopedia.)

Big Sis comes in with Chipmunk in her arms, interrupts Little Sis to ask about Chipmunk's thrush. Chipmunk smiles and coos and of course ends up in my lap.

Eöl materializes in his chair (No one ever sees him enter or leave a room. *shrugs* I married a superhero? Or maybe a Dark Avenger. *grins*) and just sits quietly until it's his turn to talk.

In the meantime, the word-bees have fallen asleep in their hive, and I realize I am a very lucky woman. It's nice to be needed. :)

This is so weird...

2011-06-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

I know today is Saturday, but every day this week has felt like Saturday. When I was working, Saturdays were for relaxing as well as getting things done. Sundays, I always felt rushed. Rushed to get my lunch packed for the following day, rushed to make sure I had clothes laid out, and rushed to get to bed early.

And now...well, I think I could get used to this semi-retirement. I'm rushing to get laundry done while the sun is out (right now it's raining, which means I have a few blogging minutes), rushing to get to work in the garden before the hottest hours hit...but it's not the same kind of rushing.

I'm still busy, still working hard, still getting a lot done. I'm loving it.

Seeing how the other half lives...

2011-06-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

....the retired half, that is.

Well, no, we're not really retired. Laid off, actually. Eöl's layoff is a result of the earthquake in Japan, blah blah blah. I think I talked about it before. It's temporary, and once things are up and running overseas, he'll be back at work, perhaps with overtime. (Yay!)

As for me, my job is seasonal, and I'm done for the season. I knew my layoff was coming, and without unemployment benefits. I squeezed in as much overtime as I could get, redid my budget spreadsheet, and cut spending in every possible way. Prepping, as always. **Hums the old Dr Pepper theme: I'm a prepper, he's a prepper, she's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper to..."

Every year, we've tried to grow more and more of our own food. Now those skills will be put to the test, as our budget makes whimpering noises in the background.

The garden is off to a better start than expected, considering. We had a major seedling failure, thanks to the lack of sunlight in the early spring, and the budget too squeaky to purchase plant lights. I actually had to break down and buy some pepper plants....ohthehorror!! But they are happily planted and thriving, and life goes on.

I'd planned to do things differently with the garden this year anyway, and didn't start the huge quantity of seedlings I had last year. I'd also planned not to do the farmer's market this year, taking the time to enjoy the summer and do a bit of market research (haha! Market research for the farmer's market! lol). Not to mention I was incredibly busy at work, sometimes only home long enough to shower, eat, and fall into bed before I started all over again at 5 a.m.., and the market started before I was done for the season. I couldn't have pictured adding an extra day to my schedule. Nope. No thanks.

Anyhooo.....You'd think this whole almost retired lifestyle would be pretty laid back, wouldn't you? Or maybe you are retired and know better. It's not. I'm up and out in the garden shortly after sun-up. I do as much as I can before I have to run to one of the zillion appointments that seem to always lurk in the daytime hours. If no appointments are lurking (you know they lurk about, there's no other word for it, just waiting there to suck the hours from your day and the energy you could spend on other things...but I digress...) then I work on the projects and daily mundane tasks that seem to have piled up during my time at work.

In short, my day seems to be spent bouncing back and forth between gardening, housework, gardening, cooking, laundry, gardening, and then some more gardening. There are still flower beds that need weeding, weed-eating (or weed-whipping, as some call it), to be done, and mowing in certain areas Eöl dares not venture, lest the furious beast known as You Mowed Over A Perennial! attack from the jungle depths. Somewhere in there is the required blood transfusion from the mosquito bites, as well as repeated applications of sunscreen. The day ends when hoards of hungry winged vampires threaten to carry me off and I must retreat indoors, or it gets too dark to see what I am doing.

So...after a day just like that one...here I am, babbling like an idiot, and thinking maybe I'd better get to bed while I can still stagger that far.

And that, my dear, is how the other half lives....

Did you ever notice...

2011-06-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

....the people with those big, expensive riding mowers also have big, expensive gym memberships?

And so I'm home....

2011-06-08T13:54:00.000-04:00

Work is done for the season, and I'm home again. Life is slowly returning to what vaguely resembles normal around here.

I still have a bit of planting to do in the garden. I'm hoping to finish that up this week. Most readers will notice that homesteading blogs tend to take hiatus in the spring. There's no time to blog about it when we're doing it. lol

Hopefully, I can get things caught up around here and get back to my blog soon. In the meantime, go plant something! :)

Hectic...

2011-05-25T07:15:00.012-04:00

...yep, that's my life right now. We're finishing up the season at work, but it's busier than usual, so I'm putting in as many hours as I can (25 and a half hours already, and Wednesday hasn't even started yet). I'm beat.

The rain, well, it's almost daily. Great for the garden, but not so great for trying to get things done outside. I'm behind on planting...again. Seems that spring just takes off like a rocket, and it's freakin' hard to keep up.

Hopefully, things will get caught up soon, including here at the Blog-O-Doom. Next week promises fair skies. Ha. I'll believe it when I see it.

Only in Ohio....

2011-05-16T07:08:00.000-04:00

...can you have the a/c and heat on in the same week. I ran the a/c on Saturday morning, just to get some of the humidity out of the house. I was sticking to the floor! And now we have a toasty fire in the wood burning insert, because it is once again cold, damp, and gross. It's 43 outside right now, with a wind chill of 36. Oh, and it's raining. Of course it's raining. The yard is a swamp, the grass is pushing knee high, and it will probably be another week before we can mow. *sigh*

Last year's Contender beans.

Despite the chilly rain yesterday, I managed to get two pounds of onions planted. Hooray! They should've been in the ground weeks ago, but we do what we can, ya know?

The Contender beans are also planted. Well, the first round, anyway. I'm hoping to plant more in about two weeks, which should space the heaviest harvests nicely. I prefer the bush variety, which require no staking and very little maintenance. I do suggest planting two or three seeds in each hole, as the bush stalks can break fairly easily. You don't really have to worry about overcrowding these guys, either. They seem pretty happy all bunched in, shoulder to shoulder. (I'm so glad I'm not a bean!)

I also prefer the Contender variety because they keep producing all summer, as long as you keep the mature beans picked. This is an heirloom variety, which means I can use the seed that I save. I let the last growth of beans dry on the bush, then I pick, shell, and bag them up to be used the following year. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!! (Did I really just say that?? *shrugs* It's early, and I'm only on my first cup of coffee.)

Now you are probably wondering just how, with all of the rain, muck, and mud, I can get into my garden? Black plastic, baby! Woot!!

Our garden is strictly No Till. I prefer the Chicken Tractor method, whenever possible. What, you never heard of it?? You just pen up your chickens in the area you want cleared for garden, and in no time flat, the weeds are gone, the grass is gone, and the whole area is fertilized! Then, lay down the heaviest black plastic you can find (I use the construction kind from Lowe's), cut holes for the plants (holes are generally about six inches wide), and voila! a weed free, low maintenance garden, without the compacted subsoil you get from tilling. If you don't have chickens, you can still use the plastic. Just put down the plastic and give it time to cook out the weeds before you cut holes. Or you can put down the plastic, cut the holes, and dig out sod in only the places you have holes. Still much easier than tilling, and mud won't even slow you down!!

If you live in a warmer climate, you will most likely want to mulch over the plastic so your plants don't get too hot. Here in Ohio, I manage to get a head start, as the soil is already warm from the plastic. (Yes, I leave it down year round, and no, so far I've noticed no problems from doing so.)

Rumor has it we are in for a very cool summer. Well, if this spring is any indication, I'd say that rumor is right. The black plastic will be a life saver in the garden! A few years ago, when I first started experimenting with different gardening methods, we had an unusually cool summer. Only the plants in black plastic produced anything worthwhile.

Now that you know how easy it is to grow all this great stuff, I bet you want to get started. What are you waiting for?? Go!! Plant!! Grow!!

More random stuff...

2011-05-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

It's spring, so that means my blog posts are generally full of random bits about the weather, work, gardening, and how tired I am. You'll forgive me if my regular posts are a bit choppy; it takes me at least two weeks to finish a full post, since I can only wrangle a few waking minutes here and there to work on them.

So...more random goodies....

We hatched our first guinea eggs this week! So far, four have hatched. We're hoping to fill the incubator at least once more with guinea eggs. Little Sis also planted a few of the eggs under our broody bantam hens. We're still waiting for results.
This has been the wettest, rainiest, soggiest, grossest, messiest, muddiest, flooding-est, stormiest, and coldest spring I can remember. Did I mention it's raining almost daily? Flooding? Boot sucking muck from one end of the place to the other? Yep, all of the above.
We did get a few days of heat and sunshine, highs in the 80's, but we are headed back into the cool temps (highs in the 50's) with mucho rain.
I'm working every minute of overtime I can get, which has left me mega-exhausted. I can't complain, when my boss puts in at least twice the hours I do, is older than me (but not much), and never once complains. She's one tough cookie.
I started planting today. I got a few beans in the ground before the thunder started. I'd hoped to have onions in by now, but have been too busy. I was going to do them today, but a wasp nest is in the way (inside a cold frame that needs to be moved), so I'm waiting for dark so I can spray them, then hopefully get the onions done tomorrow, weather permitting. (fat chance)
I need to re-plant the rutabagas. The seed must've been old; nothing germinated.
We have a fabulous slug shortage this year, thanks to our geese and Muscovy ducks now free ranging.

That's about all the random stuff I can think of at the moment. Now I'm off to eat some freshly baked brownies (recipe here).

gimmegimmegimmeGIMME!!!!

2011-05-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without...

..the homesteader credo. Or at least I thought it was.

I saw a homesteading site that asked for donations, and thought it was an anomaly. But after I ran across the same thing on a different site, I did a few web searches, and it is a horrifyingly common thing.

I'm not going to link any of those panhandler sites to my blog, so if you want to see them yourself, just Google ~~"absolute contradiction"~~ "self-sufficient homesteading donations". Oy! **Headdesk **

Seriously, folks, W. T. F.??!! Are you saying you can be self-sufficient if someone sends you enough money? Forget hard work and making do, just pass the collection plate? Homesteading, self-sufficiency, self-reliance, call it what you will, it's a friggin' lifestyle choice!! Why should someone support your decision through monetary donations? But of course, that's beside the point. The point is: The word is self-sufficient. Emphasis on the self.

I can be self-sufficient... with your help. Reach into your pockets, friends, and dig deep. Our food supply depends on your donation; help us purchase seed, fencing, livestock, and land! We'll also need a tractor, a tiller, a truck, and maybe some immigrants to do the harvesting and heavy lifting, so you'd better double up on that donation, pal.

I saw a homestead on tv, some time ago, and thought it was just the most tidy and storybook homestead I'd ever seen. There were no make-shift items; no old headboards used as gates or trellises, no recycled cinder blocks or bricks for the raised beds, no tree branches for tool handles. Nope. All of it was exactly the way we all dream, down to the perfectly built gates and cutesy wootsy signs. I thought, "Wow, that family must've had some good start-up capital." As it turns out, they have a website that receives steady donations. **boggle**

I don't get it. Why do people give their hard earned money so that someone else can have such an elaborate homestead set-up? I don't know about the rest of you, but I work hard for my money, and I'm not about to hand it off to someone else so they can live their dream, while I make do and do without.

It's not that I don't support new homesteaders. I'm happy to give advice to newbies, hoping I can save them from making the same mistakes I made (baby ducks don't respond well to mouth to mouth resuscitation, for example). I'm more than willing to donate seeds or even plants to those interested in exploring a more sustainable lifestyle. You know the old axiom: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." I lean more toward the teaching to fish aspect.

I'm curious, though, how anyone with an ounce of self-respect can ask for donations?? Where is the homesteader pride?

Some of these sites claim they need your donations to help spread the word about homesteading/sustainability. Um, dear, it's not a religion. We lead by example. It's not much of an example to ask for a handout, is it?

I like to think that bumming homesteaders are in the minority. After all, most of us chose this lifestyle in an effort to be self-reliant, to do things on our own, and to have pride in our accomplishments. We have 'real' jobs to support our dreams. We work as hard, or harder, at home than at work. We make and sell crafts, homemade edibles, or our extra produce, because we feel we should earn our money. We struggle, and we conquer. And we do it all without scamming or panhandling.

Homesteader Pride: ~~Getting off our asses and~~ Doing it ourselves.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:24:00.000-04:00

Oh. I see.

Oh...look...a birthday....

2011-05-06T22:30:00.015-04:00

*sigh* Getting older is not all it's cracked up to be. Then again, it's not all that bad. I remember when 43 seemed well past retirement and into adult diapers. Ha. I'm nowhere near retirement, and I'm hoping to stave off adult diapers until I'm at least 45.

Eöl and the kids worked hard to surprise me with a clean house, dinner, and some wonderful gifts. The amazing cake was baked by Little Sis and decorated by Big Sis. The gourd was grown, dried, and decorated by Eöl; he carved the lid from a piece of firewood. It's one of a kind, because he swears he'll never make another one..it was too much work, not to mention he nearly punctured an artery in the process. I think I'm a pretty lucky gal to have such great kids, and a husband that would risk death to make my birthday special. :P

Woot!! A gardening cake!!!

The kickass rabbit is supposed to be me.

The girls also got me a much needed new keyboard. But now I can't blame my typos on sticking keys...darn!

Gone Woozle hunting....

2011-05-02T20:02:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted an update, but I've been busy hunting Woozles and Heffalumps. Ok, not really. I've been working, and we don't get to do anything quite as cool as skinning Heffalumps or tanning Woozle hides.

Then again, I do love my job. It's the perfect job for a botanophile like me.

Eöl's home for a while, thanks to the earthquake in Japan. That actually works out pretty well for us at this point, freeing me to pile on the overtime, since he is here to get the garden under way and see to things around the house. Don't even think of calling him Mr. Mom, though. When he's not helping Little Sis blast pirates from the vernal pool with a handmade cannon, he's cutting and hauling firewood, or whipping up gourmet fare. Am I lucky or what??

I'm thoroughly reveling in the role reversal myself. It's nice to be back at work, and to enjoy it, knowing that I don't have to rush home to do a zillion household tasks and try to get the garden started. Everyone here is pitching in, and I appreciate it: Big Sis packs my lunch, Little Sis does laundry, and Chipmunk giggles. :)

I'm a bit worn down lately, though, so I hope to get to bed early this week while the weather remains dreary and wet. If it's nice out, I feel too guilty to pile into bed like a big, lazy lump. I could be outside hiking ...and shooting pirates...and Heffalumps..and Woozles.

T. G. I. F. !!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-22T07:08:00.000-04:00

Photo by Little Sis

Whoa....

2011-04-21T07:27:00.000-04:00

Newborn bantam chick next to a quarter.

Here I was, sitting at the pc, about to post the above pic. Suddenly, the guineas started an awful, frantic squawking...their "something's in the yard" squawk. Then a chicken ran across the patio, squawking even louder than the guineas, followed closely by a red streak. I jumped up and looked out another window just in time to see the same chicken, running like mad, from a fox!!

I knew we had foxes on the property, as well as in the surrounding area. I'd seen the dens, and lost guineas and other critters to what I assumed were either fox, owl, or raccoon prowlers. But I had never, until today, actually seen a fox.

I suppose the critters will have to stay locked up until a little later in the morning from now on. It's time for kits (fox puppies), and the other predators will also be bringing forth new life, or splorting out spawn...depending on how you want to look at it.

A lot of people are under the impression that wildlife will not come near humans. Ha!! We've had a coyote right on the patio, as well as a baby groundhog that actually stood up and looked in the window. The fox, of course, ran right up against the house. I've had deer peeping into my bedroom, raccoons and 'possums knocking at the front door, and a few too many close encounters of the skunky kind.. It only makes sense that, when animals live in such close proximity to humans, they just get used to us.

So...back to that cute little pic at the top of the page...

Two of Little Sis' pet bantams are currently broody and sharing a nest. So far, two chicks have hatched, and the mother hens are still sitting. She put a couple of guinea eggs underneath them, in addition to a few heavy breed chicken eggs. We're all anxious to see what hatches.

It's a good thing the free range bantams are so prolific, considering the hungry fox....

There should be a chainsaw in this pic...

2011-04-20T07:29:00.000-04:00

Life happens

2011-04-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

A great way to start the week: I woke up yesterday morning with hives. I have no idea what caused them, but they sure do itch. A dose of antihistamine and I was ready to move on with my day. A shower, coffee, and then I sat down to check my email...but the modem wasn't working. grrrrr! It was cold and rainy when I headed out to work.

Things did improve, though. The sun came out. Eöl managed to fix the modem. I worked overtime and came home starving.

Remember when I mentioned the auto industry/earthquake in Japan, etc? As a result, Eöl is now officially laid off. Not that big of a deal, really, since it turns out that unemployment pays more than he was making on the reduced work schedule. Ok, not a lot more, but still...at least he's home to take care of things when I am at work. I'm now free to volunteer for all the overtime I can get, knowing that Eöl is here to get the potatoes planted, split firewood, and all the rest of the homesteading fun stuff. Thankfully, we are headed into the busy season at work, and there's plenty of overtime to be had. Ten and twelve hour days are most likely going to be the norm for me. I won't be getting much done at home, other than wolfing down a meal and falling into bed. As I may have mentioned before, my job is physically demanding. I'll be dropping my winter weight and toning up for summer, so I can't complain. At least I get paid for my workout, rather than the other way around.

Once the weather improves, I'll be biking to and from work again. For now, another plus to Eöl being home is that I can get a ride on those snowy, rainy, windy or cold days. Pretty much every day lately. lol Of course my boss has always been nice enough to offer a ride on inclement days, when I'm piling on earmuffs and rain gear for the bike trip home. But I feel that it was my choice to remain a one car family, and I should not be an imposition to others as a result. Ok, if it was actually hailing or threatening a tornado, I'd have taken her up on the offer. But a little rain or snow or wind, though uncomfortable, certainly won't kill me.

In other homesteading type news:

Eöl and Little Sis have most of the potatoes planted.
We picked up onion sets over the weekend and I hope to get those in the ground next weekend. ( I'd like to do at least some of this homesteading stuff myself, ya know.)
Little Sis has been taking great care of the seedlings we started, turning, brushing, and watering them as needed. Remember, if you are starting seeds indoors by a window, that turning them a couple of times a day will help keep them from getting too leggy. And don't forget to brush your hand over them a few times a day, to help simulate wind and stimulate the hormone that strengthens the stems!!
I'll be adding a few seeds to make up for the ones that didn't germinate, and hopefully starting the squash and cukes, etc, pretty soon.

And now that I've finished my second cup of coffee, it's time to start another busy day. Leave a comment and let me know how your spring is going.

Randomness

2011-04-13T19:05:00.000-04:00

The weekend was amazing. I actually wore shorts! In April!! In Ohio!!!! Guess you have to live here to understand how bizarre yet wonderful it was. Of course now it's cold, windy, and damp. Ah, spring in Ohio!

I finally got the peas, rutabaga, turnips, and beets planted. Along with about a zillion flower seeds, which I put into a section of the garden that I'm "resting" from veggie production. Nothing seems to grow well in that area; if the flowers do well, that will mean more flower seed for next year: lots of calendula, lemon gem marigold, french marigold, and cosmos.

The daffodils are blooming; it's time to plant potatoes. Hopefully, we can get those in the ground within the next week.

Getting up at 4:30 a.m. is NOT fun.

Snow in the forecast for the upcoming weekend. I am sicksicksicksick of snow!!!!

This tiny post has taken me three days to finish.

Dear World:

2011-04-09T12:20:00.000-04:00

Dear World:

I happen to like myself the way I am. I won't change for you.

If you don't get my jokes, maybe it's because they go over your friggin' head. Yes, I'll concede my sense of humor is evil and twisted, but if you don't know the words I use, you sure as heck won't get the gist of the punch line. Pick up a thesaurus, why don't you? Um..no...they are not extinct; it's not a dinosaur. **headdesk**

No, I don't really mean to sound like a know-it-all most of the time. I have seen and done a huge amount of things in my life. If you can't take the advice of someone who knows better, then by all means, feel free to fall flat on your face as I ~~laugh maniacally~~ shake my head and walk away.

I feel that people should be allowed to be themselves. I don't participate in your bigotry or bias. Yet, I also feel that people should be courteous, respectful, and civilized. I suppose that doesn't leave us much in common, does it?

If you have a problem with who I am, well then, that's your problem, isn't it?

Sincerely,
Country Wife

I'm a sucker for seeds

2011-04-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

I love seeds. I guess you can tell. There are a lot more not pictured here. I have seeds from various seed companies like Johnny's and Bakers Creek. I have a LOT of the 20 cent seeds packs from various retailers. If you read the labels, they are open pollinated, though I don't have a problem with hybrid seed, either.

Open pollinated and heirloom seeds can be saved from the produce you grow. Hybrid, however, cannot. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with hybrid plants. They are usually a cross of two varieties, carrying on the best of both lines. But if you save that seed, you end up with a parent plant instead of the variety you saved the seed from. Still, food is food, and I have had several 'volunteer' plants where hybrid tomatoes have gone to seed. Some of them have been pretty darned tasty.

I've only recently started my tomato and pepper seeds. I should've had them in flats way before now, but things have been hectic, to say the least. I have no doubt they'll be ready in time for planting. I'll probably be starting the rest of the seeds either this week or next.

Plants that have a healthy start have a better chance of survival in the garden. Putting out a plant vs planting a seed directly in the ground: the plant can withstand slug damage far better than a freshly sprouted seedling.

See all those paper bags in the pic? Those are seeds I saved from last year's harvest. Saving seed is simple. It took me a while to figure that out, though, thanks to all of the articles and books that make it sound like rocket science. I never had much luck with their methods, either. Go figure.

To save seed, select the best of the best produce. Remember, hybrid plants won't give you true seed, and forget GMO seed...it'll be sterile, or you'll end up with something bizarre, like tomato plants with arms or something (I wouldn't eat that fruit, but it'd be a great conversation piece in the garden). It's best if you don't use seed from grocery store produce; it's pretty rare any of that will give you true or even viable seed, and even then, it may not be suitable to your climate. Farm market produce would be better, but be sure to ask if it's hybrid.

Our grading method went something like this: The very biggest, prettiest, and healthiest produce we saved for seed. Next best went to market. The rest we ate and/or preserved, except for anything too far ripe or too bug bitten; those we gave to the chickens and rabbits.

So..back to saving seed. Let's take squash as an example. Scrape out the seeds. Put them in a colander or strainer, and rinse well. Shake them around to get the water out. Now, simply put the strainer in a dry place. I put mine behind my wood stove, where it's not too hot but very dry. If you don't have an extremely dry place, spread the seeds on a screen (an old window screen works fine) and shake them regularly to keep them from sticking together. Do NOT put them in the sun, on the roof, in the dehydrator, or any place that will reach above 90 degrees. It's a great idea to jot down what the seeds are from, and clip this note to the drying screen or strainer; a clothespin works great for this.

Once the seeds are dry, put them in a paper bag. Not plastic. Paper. This will allow any leftover moisture to escape. LABEL them. For the love of Pete: LABEL THEM!! Unless you really like a mystery garden. *shrugs*

See? Easy!! You'll be amazed at the amount of seed you end up with. Seed packets have less than a dozen squash seeds; you'll have hundreds out of one squash! Woooohooo!

Sorry, I get a little excited about seeds. Can you tell? :)

Time to rant

2011-03-31T07:21:00.028-04:00

The auto industry; the news is full of it. Thanks to the earthquakes, tsunami, and nuclear issues in Japan, electronic parts are not available for cars. That includes the Big Three. In fact, last I heard, GM has already suspended production at their Louisiana plant.

We live in the Rust Belt. Eöl works in the auto industry. We're waiting to see what is going to happen.

I'm reading a lot about how the price of cars is going up. Panic buying and all that. **boggles** Who buys a new car out of panic?? When I panic, I bake stuff and plant more seeds. I don't rush out and buy a new car. *shrugs*

I've yet to see any commentary on what will happen to our economy if Japan is unable, for an extended period of time, to ship auto parts. That's what concerns me most: My personal economy. What's going to happen if Eöl is out of work for months and months? What about the rest of the auto workers? Remember the Trickle Down theory? Once the auto workers are out of work, the housing market will take another dive, smaller businesses will lose business and lay off workers, and the trend will continue. Gloom and doom all around.

The media is busy telling us the recession is over. In fact, I think we've been hearing that for a while. I wonder if those people ever go to the store and look at food prices?

The latest news is that the auto industry is fighting the government because the new fuel efficiency guidelines are too tough, or something like that. Maybe they just want more cookies at snack time. I'm never sure what the heck is going on. However, the story I read (you can google it, I'm too lazy to look for the link) said that layoffs may be a result if they have to follow these new guidelines (or they may just hold their breath until someone says they don't have to worry about guidelines). HELLOOOO!! Have they even checked their assembly lines lately?? Looks to me like layoffs are already an issue.

We are working toward a self-sufficient life. Eventually, news like this will leave us unaffected. But for now, we have a mortgage, and a lot of worry about what will happen. All this because of a natural disaster on the other side of the planet!

If this gets bad enough, do you think America will wake up and say it's time to be a little more self-sufficient? Time for these items, as well as many others, to be produced in our own country? Think of the jobs that such a move would create! A metaphorical WonderBra for our sagging economy!! *shrugs* I guess maybe if it'd been China that had the natural disaster, and people were wondering why the stores were practically empty, then maybe we'd see something along those lines.