Aww look she's standing in her food....and probably pooping in it too...
Yes I got chickens... though that is not to say that I am completely prepared for these chickens. However, they are awesome. I am not completely prepared in the idea that I don't have a coop built. Not all the way. But, it is partially built! Check out the progress:
Initial frame for the bottom, using salvaged Axle and wheels
These are the joints I used for stability: cut away a 2x4" sized notch in a 4x4, then drilled through both and cinched a carriage bolt to hold it all together. In 12 different places. There is no torsion going on in the frame
base with floor and initial walls
With framing
Close-up of beginnings of nesting box, where eggs will be laid.
If that's not a good start, I don't know what is! I have decided I'm going to be using plywood to complete the sides and use see-through corrugated roofing, and some windows we have laying around for additional light. I WAS going to be using salvage wood from around the farm. I'm concerned that: 1) the wood is not of high enough quality to last that long and 2) It would make the whole structure too heavy to move, and the salvaged tires would buckle under the weight.
So I'm using plywood Sheeting (Actually Oriented Strand Board, it's cheaper, for now, at home depot) and going to paint it for weathering purposes. The nesting box will be completed with a hinged top to allow access from the outside, so that I can snatch them without having to duck into a 4' high coop. With any luck, I'll only have to go into the thing to give them water and food and clean it. So pretty much all the time anyway. However, being able to sneak in and swipe the eggs from outside is going to help, because chickens, as I've read and not experienced, can get a little protective of the eggs and not want you to take them. Its called getting broody, which is a natural process and makes their biological laying mechanism shut off, which we don't want. Cause we want EGGS! Glorious, nutritious, delicious EGGS! Blue Eggs! Brown Eggs! White Eggs! Eggs of all color and creed! Momma didn't raise no Eggist! Judge not by the color of the shell, but by the contents of the albumen!
Anyway, where was I going with this? Ah, yes, that's right, other things around the farm. Well, today I woke up to another wonderful snowfall. No folks, Idaho didn't listen to Punxsutawney Phil, Buckeye Chuck, or Susquehanna Sherman for the prediction of an early spring in 2011. Idaho is bending its superstitiously meteorological ear more in the direction of Balzac Billy. I promise that link is safe for work...
As it turns out, I took some time clearing out the back of the barn so I would have room to build the chicken coop, which meant taking scrap metal to the recycling center and getting paid for it. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me! So here are some pics of what the barn looks like now in certain places. comparisons:
Before
Middle
After
So, I put up wall board on that wall (after the "Middle" Picture), and stacked all of the things that were obviously painted International Harvester Red, John Deere Green, Ford Blue, or CAT yellow against the wall... turns out there are a lot of tractor parts in my shop. Hopefully we find somebody who knows what they're supposed to be used for, and maybe we can sell them to somebody who can use them. Lots of Packrattin' going on at the farm. So with the pile of scrap metal gone, I had room for a lounge:
Before, not so lounge-y
TOTAL LOUNGE FEST! check out that sweet overstuffed chair...
I ordered my seed for planting, and got that in the mail last week. I'm still getting together my starting materials, like soil and blockers and stuff. oh! Blockers! That's right. They're this cool little thing. You don't need any peat pots or any plastic trays, the soil holds together by itself in a "block" of "soil" if composed correctly. I'll be using my own compost for part of the starter soil mix, so I'm excited to try them out. I figured I had to spend the money on either trays or these blockers, and so I decided on the soil blockers. I got them from Johnny's Selected Seeds, recommended in Eliot Coleman's book the New Organic Grower. We'll see how it works out.
The goats have still not had babies. Their bags are all bagged up (Can I even SAY that on national internet??), and they are GRUNTING. My goodness, these goats need to just get it over with. I'm sure they would if they could. I'm just ready to have goats to do this:
In other exciting news, I went to a beerfest with my cousin in Pocatello (First year ever! First thing I've done off the farm in about a month and a half!) and completely ruined myself (oh yeah, Josh, you still owe me $25!). With all this weight loss and NOT drinking beer regularly, I couldn't handle it. Buzzkill when I have to go to bed at 9PM because I get home and can't stay awake. No joke. It was nice to have a Manny's though. Georgetown was the only WA brewer to make an appearance, I appreciate that.
So I'm looking forward to a few things happening in the next few weeks. Friend Gina is coming over from Portland, Oregon to visit during her spring break from Nursing, we'll have plenty of fun, cold, wet, farm activities to do. Plus chickens! And at the end of March, I'm heading over to Seattle for another trip to act as a pretty good guy in friends Toby and Shannon's wedding! Wheeeeee! (They're buying me a tie, I'm excited). Some things I'm expecting to do while over in Seattle; cabin time. One of my favorite places to be. I'll be visiting my former co-workers still desk jockeying it up at the computer place. Also, any and all friends I can possibly see. Its been too long, I hope you all know that I miss you dearly.
Hey everybody, quick post, but I was seeing what everybody thought. I can't decide on a tie to get for Toby and Shannon's wedding. They're offering to get me on! Who-hoo! from This site. The ties are bretty BA, but there are so many! For the rest of my outfit, I'm going simple, Black pants, shoes, maybe a coat. I have free reign for dressing myself, but I figured it might work better if I LOOK NICE FOR ONCE. There are some cool choices for ties, and they really give you the ability flaunt your personality/individuality. I'm thinking: Turntable, Vinyl Record, Radio Tower, Beer!, Oak Tree, or Clipper ship. Sorry I can't embed photos from the site, or am too lazy to figure it out.
Hello Everybody! Boy, I've been lazy, haven't I? No posts in over a month! As of last time I posted, I was on my way to Seattle for some fun and to beat the winter doldrums. I'm back, and have been for some time, so I should have had a ton of time to do a lot of stuff, right!?
Well, you'd think that, and you'd be wrong. After I got back from Seattle, I developed a cold, probably from some little puke on the plane ride back. That incapacitated me for a few days, then Idaho was back into the single digit weather for a while. I just couldn't catch a break.
Oh hey, and check it out, if you're reading this on an RSS reader, click on the link and go to the actual blog page, I totally re-vamped the thing! It needed some freshening. (Thanks to Britt for getting me thinking about it from her blog, the very cute and stylish Raccoon and Rain)
I did get some planning done for my vegetable plot, aside from my lack of action on the farm. I've been taking this class through University of Idaho on sustainable agriculture practices for small farms and ranches, and it has been guiding me on a bunch of decisions. Most of my planning has been going into my ~1/8 Acre vegetable plot I'll be planting. I've calculated how much of each plant I want, spacing issues, and currently working out rotation order so that this can be carried on in upcoming years without depleting the soil. Take a look at my google docs spreadsheet I compiled for this stuff here. This is what I get done when I'm sick and it is too cold to go outside. For any of the seed varieties I mention on the spreadsheed, I'll be buying from Seedsavers.org. I hinted strongly, waayyy back in December, that a membership to this organization would be totally bomb as a Christmas present. Way to fail. All of you. All in all, it looks like I'm going to be spending just under $200 in seed supplies. I think I'm buying too much for my needs, but I'd rather end up with too much than too little. That cost is not taking into account soil supplies, and anything extra I might need, like soil warmers for more delicate plants (like tomatoes and peppers, whose seedlings perform better when the soil is above a certain temperature).
That being said, finances are getting tight. I am staring down the barrel of a dual-shot wedding 20-gauge (Friends Toby and Shannon, Michael and Lia both getting married in the next 4 months), and I'm running low on expendable capital. I'm currently on the lookout for a part-time job in the Pocatello area. We'll see what happens. I'll have SOME income when it gets to be market season, but I'm not really anticipating too much cash flow from the land. Mostly because my goals in this venture are primarily family-based, not production and profit based. My original inspiration for coming out here and growing produce was for personal consumption. It is only happenstance that the field I deemed large enough was 1/8 acre and I'll have some extra produce I can sell. Same with chickens, as soon as I get that coop built (its coming, I promise).
Speaking of chickens, the place I was planning on buying them from turns out has a minimum purchase number of 25. Bollocks. Working on plan B now, and that might mean I can delay delivery a week or 2 from my original plans, you know, to get the coop finished....yeah, you're right, I'm procrastinating.
Chickens seems like a good subject to transition to other animals.
We got a new puppy!!!!!!!!
Lookit How cute!
And So Smart, too!
A Boy and his Dog
The dog is super smart, cute as a button, and loud as a screech owl when she's left alone in a room. Her name is Roo (I like to think of it as ROOsevelt, but it is still said Roo like this little cretin), she's a Blue Heeler and Catahoula (cat-uh-WHAT-uh?) mix. We've had some health problems with her already, namely Parvo (fully recovered!) and one of those damnable indoor fancy-fart cats scratched her eye when she was trying to be friendly (The eye has also healed!). Her breeds are known to be great herding dogs, and she's got her work cut out for her with the goats.
The GOATS!... are about to pop. Take a look at a top-down view of Rosie, our most ornery of pregnant goats:
See those bulges? Those are babies! She also always has hay or straw on her back, I don't know how she does it.
But seriously, we are expecting kids any day now. I wish these things had a timer. And the best part about that? MILKSTEAK! I mean Milk. Goatmilk! For drinking, and cheesing, and soaping, and yogurting, oh my! We'll also have all these smelly newborn rug rats around. I've been doing my forearm excercises in anticipation of milking procedures.
Also CAT:
Just because I liked this picture
That's a picture of Pestilence. She is one of the 4 Kittens of the Apocalypse. Yes, we also have War, Famine, and Death. They are probably the nicest barn cats ever. Also, most annoying.
You'll remember I had been working on the last shelving section of the barn to clear out so we can use it for organizing stuff? That's done, waiting for Wallboard to go up. Here is a comparison of before and after shots.
Before
After
Whahoo! Look at that progress! No more unsorted shelves of junk! It is all with like-junk of its own kind! now the great re-shelving begins. BTW, if you know of anybody who can identify and price old pieces of International Harvester and John Deere tractor parts, please send them my way. It is absolutely ridiculous how many tractor parts I have found that I don't know what they do or how to hook them up. Whillakers!
That's about all I got for now. The chicken coop will be my next big post, probably, so look forward to that! Have a great time until I see you again!
Since I've been talking and thinking about getting chickens, I'm gonna need a place to put them. Now, it would sure be helpful to have a structure already built for that. One that isn't this:
The original Chicken Coop
The original chicken coop that is currently on the property has a number of problems preventing me from wanting to use it as it has been used in the past: 1) The yard around it is not big enough for the style of chicken keeping I want to do. 2) The inside is disgusting, and would require an exorbitant amount of sanitation. 3) The location of the current coop is not ideal for chickens, namely, letting them forage properly (Which helps save on feed costs) and doesn't give them adequate shade (Which can be helpful in the hot summers for keeping the chickens cool, since they don't really have the biological ability to sweat unlike us lucky creatures). 4) It looks like it could fall down at any second.
THEREFORE let it be known that I propose to use a different structure that is on the farm. It is currently just sitting next to the defunct chicken coop, with a decayed roof and boards inside of it to separate it into two halves for something (I don't know what). Check it out:
Old and Busted
See that metal thing? That's a sweet cylinder that would be just perfect for the chickens. It has one of those holes on each side, which can serve as perfect doors. Everything is just perfect.
Except the Roof. I mean look at that thing, it is in disarray. I'm gonna have to rip it all out, then move the cylinder over to where I want the coop (After I've built a floor for it), then put a roof on. I have an Idea, though, which could be really sweet if I can pull it off: A Reciprocal Roof (Or frame, whatever). I've been reading up on it mostly Here. It looks pretty sweet. Also, very sturdy, and we have plenty of old round fence posts that should be strong enough for this structure. I could be overstepping my bounds here, and trying to do too much at once, but If I'm not, this would sure be one of the coolest things I've done out here so far. It would also require only a minimum of extra materials that are not already on the farm. Mostly fastening straps.
So that is my dream for the chicken coop. That's the future, but let me dwell on the past for a little bit here.
I installed my first set of shelves in the barn! And I've started organizing all my junk, that I've been sorting into piles, onto the shelves! Have some pictorial evidence:
Old and Busted
New Hotness
Now, I know it doesn't seem like much. Trust me, there is a ton of organization that has been going on with this change. If you notice, behind the shelving unit on the left side of the "New Hotness" picture, there is wallboard. Behind the wallboard, you'll not see that Dad and I installed insulation between the studs. We're hoping to eventually have insulation all around the barn walls to keep out drafts. The reason for this is simple: When we didn't have it, I was noticing little drifts of snow coming in through the cracks in the walls. I'd rather not replace the exterior walls, I'll put up interior walls and insulate against the cold, harsh wind that infiltrates every hole and crack. Aht.
Cleaned and cleared wall
Somewhat Organized Stuff
More Somewhat Organized Stuff
Even More Somewhat organized Stuff
There it is. A Bunch of stuff piled together. This is what I've been working on! For almost a month (Here and there, between other projects when I have nothing better to do). Dad commented on the fact that he's been at this for years. He says it is interesting when you show people a picture of nothing (See above, first picture of the last set) and tell them "Look what I did!" as if nothing being there is a huge accomplishment. Turns out, the Emperor was wearing invisible clothes of the finest quality after all, and its all you peasants who really couldn't see the craftsmanship because of your untrained eye! It is all a matter of perspective. Filthy Commoners...
Finished Product, with usable, sorted junk lining the shelves
I think the coolest part about these shelves is that we used entirely re-purposed lumber. The surface of the shelves themselves were cut to fit from the old pieces of shelf that was being used before I took them down. The 2x4s were found in a different part of the barn. The only thing that was bought new were some joist hangers to make it solid and not pieced in like the old shelves. Even the screws we used were leftovers from the roofing job done in September over the garage.
Now I only have a small section left to sort and some more shelves to put up in its place, which currently looks like this (Which is very much what the section I just got done shelving looked like):
MORE STUFF
SAME STUFF DIFFERENT ANGLE
If you have ever wanted to see the grossness that is my nose after working in the dusty shop (And I know you haaaave!), click the following link. I am not posting this picture openly, but you can view it if you wish. It is gross, and a large closeup of my nasty nose. You have been warned. Don't blame me if you click on this link. The dirty buildup is simply from dust particles in the air in the barn. This is why things need to get cleaned up. I dream of a day when i can go out to the barn and breathe freely the clean, unsoiled air around me. Until that day comes, this happens to me every time I go to the barn to clean. Gross. I salute you if you actually clicked on it. If you did, you have now become intimate with my nose, I don't know whether to applaud or console you.
That is what I have ahead of me. In addition to my chicken coop building, and barn cleanup, I am taking an online class through the University of Idaho on Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching Practices. I've linked this blog from my first assignment (Kind of a "getting to know you" type post). Hello Classmates! Thanks for reading this (Sorry about the nose thing)! This class will go until the beginning of April. It looks like it is going to be a great resource and guide to get my priorities in order for the farm, have a little better idea of what I have ahead of me, and also connect me to some other great local people who are interested in production of farm goods in the same vein as me. Dad's taking the class with me, so we should have some good discussion about our specific farm and what it is going to take to get it to the place we want it to be.
As I'm writing this, I'm looking down the barrel of a few things happening: First of all, a good friend I grew up with in Everett is going to be visiting me this weekend. He lives in Boise now, and is taking the long MLK Jr Day Weekend to come over (Weather permitting, fingers crossed!) and help out with a few chores. This marks the SECOND time he's been out here to help on the farm. Just sayin', the rest of you are slacking off. Needless to say, We'll have plenty of fun projects to keep us busy.
Secondly, through persistent nagging of a certain friend, and the subsequent gathering of many other friends for birthday festivities in Seattle, I'll be going over there for a week during this long cold stretch of winter. Cost was was a prohibitive element until I actually looked and saw that Alaska Airlines has very reasonable rates from Boise to Seattle. Less than $140 including taxes! Howbouthat? Anyway, after this little visit, it'll be crunch time, since I plan on having chickens a little more than a month from when I get back. Like Groucho Marx says, Time flies like an arrow, Fruit flies like a banana. Goodnight Everybody!
It is cold here. Seriously. For the last 5 days overnight has dipped below 0. I haven't seen 20 degrees F for about a week. Nonetheless, I'm getting things done, and spending some quality time outside in the elements. Really makes you feel alive! Sounds like something Calvin's Dad would say. I'm Building Character here!
I've made my first Goat cheese. Its a non-aging one that is kind of like chevre, though I'm not too satisfied with it. It seems too bland. It tasted mostly like a slightly goated butter. Therefore, I'm going to have to make some more "complicated" cheeses.
We're gearing up for the goats to give birth sometime at the end of February, beginning of March. I've been reading a lot of books (as there is not much else to do except work out in the barn). I read Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. Man, the author of this book is a curmudgeon. Plenty of backhanded encouragement in this book, saying things to the effect of "if you're not going to do it this way, theres no reason to even be thinking about keeping goats". What a blowhard. However, he does have some good insights, and for the most part, the blowhard seemed like he knew what he was talking about. I think I'll take his advice rather than operating on my own instincts.
Two other books I've been reading have to do with chickens. One was full of information, Storey's guide to raising chickens, while the other, Homemade Living: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English, was full of pictures, was great to look at, and seemed to plagiarize most of the information from the first book. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, maybe good chicken knowledge is good chicken knowledge. However, some of the wording of both books, when read back-to-back, seemed a little suspect.
I think I'm going to get a small flock at the end of February, which gives me a deadline for getting the chicken yard and a coop ready. The coop I can start building in the barn, once it gets a little more organized (coming soon to a farm near ME!), and the yard is going to have to wait for a little bit until it gets warm enough to break ground and unfreeze the soil. However, I'll most likely need something for interim housing until then. Chicks will take about a month to get to a point where I can leave them on their own. This means March is shaping up to be a pretty busy month, with new kids, and new chicks. Not to mention my intent to start plants and in the greenhouse I have yet to build for spring planting.
Through all this looming on the horizon, I have only 3 things I can really DO on the farm until this infernal weather changes: cooking, cleaning the barn, and reading. There is at least one thing I know for sure, and that is what strain of chicken I will get. I can tell you this much: the kind that is most likely to have beards, Ameraucaunas:
Look
At
These
Manly
B
BEARDED
CHICKENS!!!
Well, manly by way of their beards, not genders. I plan on getting only laying hens. Lady Men Laying Hens with their manly beards and ladylike ovaries producing delicious blue eggs. They lay blue eggs! What is this, Tatooine with its BLUE MILK!?!? Anyway, I told my parents yesterday that when I have kids, I'm going to tell them that eggs are just chicken farts. My dad told me he'd tell my kids that I'm full of chicken S#!t. I'd say that is a fair trade-off.
I can't believe it has been so long since I've posted. There. I did the customary self-deprecating comment on my own creation presented on my own creation. The dreaded Blog post about posting on blogs. The proverbial snake eating its own tail. The elusive Non-post blog post. It won't happen again.
First of all, lets get the formalities out of the way.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS! It has been a little strange of a holiday season without all my friends around, but in the meantime, I'm getting a good reminder of what its like to enjoy your family at the holidays. Yes enjoy, and I don't mean that sarcastically. Sorry, Stereotypical American attitude at the holidays, you simply don't hold sway over my holiday outlook this year (Or really, ever).
This is the lady who wrote the lyrics to "in the bleak midwinter". You can see why. /cry
My only wish would be to sing more carols, and not just the dumb "frosty the snowman" and "Rudolph the RNR". Give me some classics - "In the bleak Midwinter" (Probably the most depressing and beautiful carol I can think of, also with a wonderful history, and the music is written by Gustav Holst, the same guy who did "The planets", Mars, the bringer of war, probably most famous for being ripped off by Bowser as his house-music for his castles, stupid...dinosaur? What is Bowser?) and "The Holly and the Ivy", which I would have a video up of the Muppet Family Christmas version of this song, but alas, the youtubes have failed me. However, this clip is probably my favorite:
Fozzie: Hey, that's pretty good harmony for a snowman!
Snowman: Actually, I'm a SNEWman!
Fozzie: Whats a-Snewman?
Snewman: Nothin's a-Snewman, Whats a-Snew with you?
So, any caroling with harmonies I really enjoy. I enjoy it more when I can actually read the music to try the harmonies, like at church when I read out of the Hymnal. However, most of the caroling i've found around here only give you the lyrics and don't challenge the caroler musically. Which I GUESS is the point, so that just anybody can sing and experience the joys of caroling, but I demand a challenge! I remember me and Walker did a 4 part harmony carol that was wonderful a few years back with his dad Clint and Dana Plagmann, and I remember really liking it, I just can't, for the life of me, remember what song it was. If you guys are reading this and remember, please remind me.
This brings me to the topic of what I've been up to. Well, the answer to that question is a little elusive. I feel like I'm not really doing anything, though I have to say, making slow improvements and projects everyday, I actually have ended up with quite a bit of progress on my hands. I'll start with the stuff that won't gross anybody out: Yeast.
Yes, those wonderful Micro-organisms! Those Fabulous Fungi! Those Enjoyable Eukaryote! Those Astoundingly Asexual Alcohol Assemblers! The Zany Zymurgical Zealots. Okay I'm done.
Pocatello Pumpkin Porter
This beer is good. That's all I'm going to say. Not a hit-you-over-the-head type of brew, but more subtle, which, when you notice the pumpkin-pie flavors slowly coming out about a minute after you take a sip, is magical. The carbonation is perfect, the Subtleties of flavor, remarkable. My mom even tried it. You know what she said? "It still tastes like Beer". That's the point!
My friend Michael Wallenfels, a freelance graphic designer at Mokusai Design has been drawing the label for me. Check it out below, hire him for any projects you can! He's wonderfully talented. He drew the picture of me that is my profile thing (This one). Here's the label he's drawn up:
Awesome, right!?
So, the beer is great, the Label is great, now all I have to do is decide what to do with it all, right? My first thought: send it along to friends I would otherwise have seen during the holidays as a wonderful alcoholic Christmas card. Man, that would be great, however, I've run into a few problems:
First of all, the Legality of sending alcohol from Joe-Schmoe to Shmoe-Joe via mail is legally fuzzy at best. The likes of bigger companies such as Woot (Wine.woot.com) and Wine.com have to procure a license to be able to send alcohol through the snail tubes. This is something that is unavailable to me as a non-corporation, and I'm sure if it was available, it would be exorbitantly expensive. So sending beer through the mail, I could TECHNICALLY do, through UPS, just send it Drug-Dealer style, all wrapped up pretty before I bring it to the Brown store.
Secondly, assuming I'm willing to send beer dealer-style through UPS (Which I'm not), there is still the issue of funding. Through my experience in my previous job of sending things through UPS and FedEx, I know approximate prices, and sending packages to residential housing costs more than just to businesses. That brings the price of one bottle being shipped to Washington up to at least $6-8 each box. Being that I have so many wonderful friends, and not only in Seattle, but Oregon, California, and yes, even Virgina and WA DC (You know who you are) who I would love to share this with, the costs just becomes too much when I have to think about saving money from my non-existent current income for planting and farm supplies in the spring.
This brings me to the point: If any of my friends want to come to Idaho to visit, you will be given beer brewed by me. You can even set up a supply chain of taking it back with you if you'd like for other friends. However, I will not be shipping it. I know most of you don't care, but I do feel really bad about this, I want people to try it. The people that matter to me. Enough Schmaltz.
tl;dr: come to Idaho, get my beer. Don't come to Idaho, get your own beer.
The other Yeasty endeavor I've been embarking on is bread. I made a spiral rye bread loaf last week, and just wanted to share a picture of it. It is very pretty, I just need some pastrami and sauerkraut:
the skin of a Reuben
Switching gears; About 3 weeks ago or so, my entire family was under the same roof for the first time in 7 years. My sister, Jenni, was back from her gallivanting around the Baltic Sea and the Caribbean, working for the Holland America Cruise Line as a Stage manager (Hooray! at least one of us Essingers has got to make money!), and I was back from my month-long vacation down the west coast. It was a great time having everybody home, though the house is a little small for the 4 of us (how my mom grew up here with 5 sisters I'll never understand, though to be honest, I don't know how many actually lived here), and we have all really gotten into our own rhythms of life apart from each other, so there were a few toes stepped on. We managed as best as we could, but it was great to have family around. About a week after Thanksgiving, while Jenni has been waiting without word on when she was going to be going back out to sea with Holland America, she received a phone call with another contract offer: LEAVING THE NEXT DAY. We scrambled and got her off to the airport in time, not without going to see the first half of the next Harry Potter movie, mind you. Now things are more-or-less quiet around the house, though I do miss having another cook in the house and my brewing assistant, who was more than eager to help out with the last beer, and I'm sure would be even better help this time with one beer under her belt. (Don't worry Jenni, I'm saving at LEAST 1 bottle of the PPP for you!)
As some of you know, I have now become an official resident of Idaho. I got a new driver's license, and they took my WA license away with a charming picture that nobody believed was me. I am now a legal resident of Idaho, with all the honors and privileges that brings me, of which I was mostly interested in getting a library card. To my surprise, the Portneuf District Library's website looks exactly like Seattle's when you search for a book. To my Chagrin, that's where the similarities stop. They might LOOK the same, but the functions are all different. I could get into a diatribe on to whats different between the two and what I hate about it, but I'll sum it up in one sentence: If I have to still go into the library to do anything involving reserving a book or transferring a book from one library that has the book checked in to my home library, what good does the website do? Don't get me wrong, the library system here is better than I was expecting, but having to actually talk to the librarian to put my books on hold negates the reason to have the website.
The last thing I saved for last for good reason: I was trying to save the gross stuff for after the food and beer talk. See that image above? That is the mixture of substances that I had been dealing with for a good week in the barn. I described it to Walker a few weeks ago thusly:
"There has been consistently about 3-5 inches of hay, seed, birdcrap, cowcrap, and very fine silty dust all over the barn, all with old bits of metal, fasteners, lumber, and wire hidden as prizes. Its like the worlds largest, grossest box of Cracker Jacks."
I forgot, when talking to Walker, the mouse droppings and nesting material that is hidden in every nook and cranny. Thank god I was able to swipe my sister's bandanna before she left so that I could have a face mask. No Lyme Disease for this fellow! It took probably a week and a half to clear out the areas with this century-old carpet of disease and filth. That's because not only did I have to scoop it out with a shovel, but, stacked on top of it all, were treasures untold. My theme song for the week was the Little Mermaid's Part of your World ("Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's Complete!?"). And Gadgets and Gizmos I did have aplenty, let me assure you. Whoose-its and whats-its galore, at least 20 Thingamabobs. The problem being, where to put it all? That's actually what I'm working on now, no really good answers yet, but at least I'm sorting things into piles. Piles of Junk into smaller piles of Alike-Junk. Once those piles of alike-junk are all that remain, I can then figure out what to do with alike things, whether sell them, scrap them, use them again. This is the process I have been doing with lumber and the old single pane windows from the Farm I've been finding around. Checkit:
Before sorting and piling and junking
After sorting mostly, without the crap-carpet removed
As for the pre-pictures, here are a few, and since I don't have any good "post" pictures of the whole barn, I'll put those up later.
Left side of barn - All the tools and fasteners
Center of barn. this area, before last year when my Dad and I cleared it out LAST thanksgiving , would not have barely fit the tractor. It now fits the tractor, lawnmower, and gives me ample workspace to sort JUNK.
right side of the barn: Used to be covered in filth, like the picture above. I have improved upon this space immensely and I'll show it as soon as I can feel good about it again (There is currently a pile of scrap metal I have to sort through where all this used to be.
As a byproduct of going through all this stuff, I've been finding little treasures that are not worth much but for scrap. The Cash Cows I've found are insulated copper wire ($1.15-$1.25 per pound), Rainbirds (Which count as brass, $0.75 per pound), and old car radiators ($1 per pound). We walked away from Pacific Recycling with almost $300 for just bringing in scrap. Not bad for a byproduct.
Rainbirds
The whole haul
In the title of this blog, I mention "The long wait". What that refers to is: I'm sick of sitting around and milling about in the shop. I want to go work out in the field. I want to plant stuff. Enough with the snow and cold! If I had my way, and not nature's way, I'd be planting RIGHT NOW. This is probably good for me to have to wait though. As it stands, when I'm writing this, its not even technically winter yet (Dec. 21st, tomorrow, signals the first day of official winter). When I look back on it, it is probably a good thing for me to have to wait around. I'll gain knowledge, and if I learned anything from Schoolhouse Rock, Knowledge is Power!
For one thing, I've been getting a lot of reading done. I just finished a whirlwind 3-day read of Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, It has been killing me to write about this book the entire post, but I don't wanna be preachy. If you don't know where your food comes from, read this book. It'll set a few things straight, including an eloquently stated argument in favor of, taking count of morality, eating meat raised on REAL farms. If you want to know what the hell I'm talking about, read the book, then we can talk about it. After this book, I have countless other books I need to read to prepare for the growing season. It is probably good I have the time.
The long winter months seem to be good for me physically. Given that I'm cooped up on a 5 acre plot of land all day, I've taken to exercising, as I've said before. Without anybody to hang out with out here, it will be next week that I have been exercising every day for 2 months, I only took 1 day off when I fell asleep at 8PM, obviously needed the sleep, but as Ebeneezer Scrooge says, "be here all the Earlier the following day!", and I was. We also have a Bowflex. I know. I'm going to have a, as much as I hate to say it, BOWFLEX BODY, thank you infomercials. I'm going to look GREAT in my suit for all those weddings I'm in this spring!
THIS IS HOW I LOOK NOW
Alright, for those of you that stuck around for the end here, thanks. This is what happens when I don't update for 3 weeks, it all gets packed into one, which I will remember, and probably do some more.
One last thing: I need to figure out what beer I'm making next, any suggestions or requests from friends that are maybe possibly coming to visit sometime??
So, since the last post, Southeast Idaho has had quite a bit of snow... and it has been actually more snow than they have had in a while, from what I hear from everybody around here. And by everybody, that typically means my parents, and just the few other people I have contact with anymore. I haven't done much outside, and how can I? I don't dare go outside to even take pictures, as these pictures are taken from within the comfort of my own home, through windows. Its been as low as 2 Degrees Fahrenheit. Take a look:
East
South
West, with snow fence!
North
Brrrr! So much Snow! And the Drifts! Oi veh! Don't worry, the Goats are doing just fine, they stay so warm by themselves! We just need to make sure they well fed over the winter.
Since I've been kind of stuck indoors for the last week or so, I've been trying to prepare things for the winter (as if it wasn't already upon us). The Friday after Thanksgiving gave me good enough weather to get out in the garden and pick up the remaining beets and carrots. And by "good enough weather", I mean it was sub-20 degrees and the only time it wasn't snowing. There was plenty of snow covering everything, but I saved a good number of the veggies from freezing and getting gross. Check out these beautiful carrots:
Over the last few months we've been having our tomatoes we brought in at the beginning of November slowly ripen, My sister and I have been blanching them and freezing them, making them into sauces, salsa, putting them in salads, using them ANY way we can before they go bad. This is the remainders that we're STILL waiting on getting ripe:
As you can see, we had both large tomatoes and cherry varieties. They are wonderful to have, and I've never realized how much I love tomato products before. I haven't gotten tired of them yet, though we've been having tomato products probably every day in the month of November.
Also, as previously mentioned, I've been developing my skills as a bread baker.
Home Made Butterflake Rolls for Thanksgiving!
Sandwich Breads
I'm okay at it, but I'm definitely getting better. Every loaf I bake, I come up with a better idea of what the dough should feel like, and what it looks like when its done.
So, with all these things, I'm becoming more and more prepared for the winter, and cooking, and the long deep cold. Speaking of deep cold, here's the freezer with lots of beets, pumpkin, zucchini, tomatoes, vegetable broth, turkey broth, and some leftover food from Schwan's my parents have bought:
You really can't be too upset about there being Toffee Ice cream bars.
I won't be starting plants until march sometime in the greenhouse, that I have yet to build, but I have recently been pouring over seed catalogs trying to determine what I am going to plant in the spring. I would like to stay with buying seeds locally, but for some things I want to grow, there is another resource I'd like to use, since I've read their mission and I like them a lot. Anti-GMO and they have a ton of very interesting vegetables that you don't see every day. Its a company called Seed Saver's Exchange. It is a non-profit organization, and you can become a member, which opens you up to a whole world of people across the country and the world that have been growing and documenting heirloom seeds and plants for a very long time. Membership would be a great Christmas gift HINT. I am especially interested in growing Romanesco Broccoli .
Other than all that, I'm still exercising every day, and I'm trying to read more. I'm currently halfway though the first book of the Lord of the Rings. The only thing I gotta say, Tom Bombadil would have been sweet to see in the movies.
Bottling of the pumpkin porter is happening tomorrow, anybody have any ideas for a name?
