We brought in a little more than 1/3 of a cord of well-dried wood today. We still have a good two and a half cords under cover in the back yard, which should get us through the Winter. The trees that came down this year and that we’re still bucking will make for good dry wood next year.

We also scavenged three boxes of kindling from our property (thanks, Irene!).  Good (small anddry) kindling, I find, is worth as much as the firewood itself for getting a good fire going. Amie helped a lot with that so she wanted to pose with her handiwork.

Hanging above her is the drying sage.

We’ve still only had one night of frost here. Today was another rather balmy day. The tomatoes and peppers in the hoop house (still doorless) keep on growing and ripening.

]]> http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/10/16/first-woods-in/feed/ 1 http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/08/05/goings-on-at-the-homestead/ http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/08/05/goings-on-at-the-homestead/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:53:53 +0000 brooklinemama http://blog.bolandbol.com/?p=6046 Bought 15 pints of Local (Wayland Farmers Market) blueberries:

Made it into 27 8oz jars of blueberry jam:

Picked off 7 Tomato Hornworms:

Harvested all 28 heads of garlic:

Harvested and stored 16 lbs. of potatoes:

Helping 10 flats of seedlings along (lettuce, spinach, chard, broccoli, collards, kale):

]]> http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/08/05/goings-on-at-the-homestead/feed/ 1 http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/04/16/were-a-can-do-kind-of-people/ http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/04/16/were-a-can-do-kind-of-people/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 01:59:40 +0000 brooklinemama http://blog.bolandbol.com/?p=5715

Today I found a study in contrasts in the boot of my station wagon: a cello, a chain saw.

Once home, we hooked a rope to the car, tied the other end around a log in the big pile, then I reversed to pull the trunk out so DH could cut it up.

DH and I work together really well. Neither one of us had ever done anything of this kind. In preparation, DH watched YouTube videos and read the manual.  Then we went out and laughed a lot because we couldn’t get the darn thing started. Then it did start and we got serious. Not having any experience or any other tools  we ran into some difficulties, and we took some time figuring out the solutions and ways to prevent it from happening again. We got better at anticipating other problems, got more creative. Did you know that chalk comes in really handy when cutting logs greater in diameter than the bar of your saw? Also pieces of already chopped firewood, as wedges and stops… We worked together, wedging and pulling, gauging.

Three hours later we got one log done. Twenty-five to go.

I’m happy we bought the chainsaw and that we are doing this job ourselves instead of paying five times the amount to let someone else do it. Granted, the professionals would  take two or three days and we’ll probably take a couple of months to get it finished. And honestly I’ll never feel entirely relaxed while DH is wielding that machine. But we’re working together, outside with our hands, using what tools and ingenuity we have. We might both have PhDs and drive Volvos, but we aren’t afraid of getting our hands dirty and getting the job done.

I read somewhere in an article on Transition a saying that I could take as my mantra:

We are the people we’ve been waiting for!

Such honest accomplishment, along with accountability, and hope. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone could say this of themselves? Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to do it. Just do it!

These carrots were seeded in our garden in September 2010 and harvested and eaten in April 2011. Extra sweet.

]]> http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/04/16/were-a-can-do-kind-of-people/feed/ 2 http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/03/01/solar-plans/ http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/03/01/solar-plans/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:45:22 +0000 brooklinemama http://blog.bolandbol.com/?p=5591

Solar eye

Today we talked to the tree removal people, and the quote they gave us was reasonable. We’re talking a lot of trees, here: six largish-large oaks (some white, some red), one massive beech and one younger one, and three tall pines. Then there will be stump removal (necessary because we want to plant an orchard instead, matching each cut tree with at least one new dwarf one) and splitting and chopping fire wood. We’ll leave the first to the experts, but are planning to do the second and third jobs ourselves. I plan on becoming an expert in chopping and stashing away two more years of firewood while also gaining a kick-ass figure!

So far we’ve received three (ball park) quotes for a 5 kilowatt solar PV system and a solar hot water system. They too, given the incentives, could be within our means. We need to crunch more numbers, but one thing is for sure: it will be nice to open up our canopy for the gardens, but if we decide not to go with the solar array(s), we won’t take down the trees.

Above is the image one of the installers took when on our roof, which at that point still had 2 feet of snow above a good 10 inches of ice on it.  That was excitement enough for me!

Amie walks on top of three feet of snow

Well, my ginger, chamomile and berry soda was a bust. It never fermented. But it did grow hair! Good for the compost, this one.

I got right back on the horse and added the next ginger bug in line (there’s always one brewing)  to a simple wort of ginger, sugar and a few chamomile flowers (couldn’t resist). No honey this time. Instead of immediately locking the combination into a jar  - like my first attempt, which was tasty but not bubbly – I am – as per my rewritten recipe – leaving it open to the air so it can draw in more airborne yeast.

Our weekend was very productive. My novel is out there now and I’ve already received one favorable review. We did the hive inspection, of course, which was my personal highlight. DH hauled in enough wood for two weeks – that was a great relief to me, the lack of wood bothered me. We borrowed our neighbor’s snow rake and pulled quite  snow off our roofs – more as a precaution against ice dams than out of concern for the roof’s load bearing capacity.

We also set up our mudroom for finishing. It “just” needs painting, the frames, floor trims, ceiling trims  and door trims to be added, and a cabinet of our own design.

But first things first, tomorrow: the seedling area in the basement. I need to get those first seeds in!

I also want to design and build a recycling station for Amie’s school. Something colorful and fun and unambiguous for the little kids. Any ideas?

Don’t forget to scroll down to see my adventure of today!

The future is all around us (Sherlock Holmes)

As I was drafting this in my journal I was thinking how wonderful it is to have a place – my journal – where I can dream without fear and doubt. Then I thought, hey, I can do that on the blog too. Here goes:

Plans for the next couple of years of my life

Novel: send it out to readers {about to happen today or tomorrow},  last rewrite, send to agent, then who knows.

Robin Hill Gardens

• Herbs: keep learning, take correspondence course
• Gardens: plant all the herbs, berries, orchard, etc.
• Apothecary: make tinctures, salves, lip balm, cosmetics, cleaning products, sell.
• Bees: build apiary, collect honey, comb honey, wax, pollen, make mead, sell.
• Chickens: sell eggs.
• Model: keep building homestead as a model (gardens, PV, pond,  earth oven, etc.).
• Classes: build (outdoor) workshops, hold skill sharing courses.
• Co-op: set up co-op for herbal, garden and bee supplies

My town, Green Team, Transition: meet more people, raise awareness, keep working at it, change chicken laws, help with Community Farm.

Music: learn how to play the cello, or sing (Elgar’s Sea Pictures — Oh!)

As you can see, I’m sledding in the fire wood now. I also made an extra transfer point in the kitchen to dry it out a bit before it goes into the stove. The wood piles are pretty well covered up but snow gets in.  A wet log in the fire is a wasted log, a lot of pollution, and a cold house.

The fire has become almost entirely my thing now. I love hauling the wood, stacking it, and lighting and tending the fire. I still need to get the hang of splitting the wood. If we remove all these trees up front, there will be a lot of splitting to be done.

~

Sorry about the dearth of posting here. I’m keeping busy working with the Green Team in my town.  I’m meeting some wonderful people who believe as deeply as I do in living lighter on the earth. We’re focusing on the schools, and this year we’re getting all recycling up to par. Next year we’ll install composting!

I’m also struggling to get that novel out the door. What a pain! {UPDATE: Done! I sent a request for readers out and it should be going out to them today or tomorrow.}

I’m also geared up to start the seedlings in the basement. Now there’s a wonderful prospect. First up are all the greens I lost to the hoop house cave-in.

]]> http://blog.bolandbol.com/2011/02/01/firewood/feed/ 0 http://blog.bolandbol.com/2010/12/01/considering-our-shade/ http://blog.bolandbol.com/2010/12/01/considering-our-shade/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:19:09 +0000 brooklinemama http://blog.bolandbol.com/?p=5326

out of our living room window

Considering…

1. that the house does not benefit a whole lot from being shaded by the trees to the south in Summer,
2. that we could grow a more successful garden where it already is and expand it even more
3. that we would make room for fruit, nut and coppice trees,
4. that if we removed those trees we can put solar hot water and perhaps a small PV on our solar south facing and perfectly pitched roof,
5. and that we would get wood to fire up the stove for a decade,

… we are now leaning towards removing some big trees on our property. These are two beeches – one of them quite huge – two big red oaks and one big white oak, one double-trunked pine tree (might be on neighbor’s property), a couple of smaller oaks and pines, and possibly two more  large red oaks on the west side of the veg garden (not in photo). All the roots will also have to be removed if we want to plant new trees.

We’ve not decided yet because we need a couple of quotes, an equivalent amount of savings, and a lot more thought about the alternatives and, if we go ahead, the replacements. I’m just saying we’re leaning.

I was very adverse to such drastic measures. The wooded feel of this place  and neighborhood is what we fell in love with, and that strong, majestic beech in particular is such a joy. But we won’t be cutting them down for a lawn, and there are a great many more trees on the property. Still, it  is the thought of making solar hot water possible that brings me this far. What with the stove and solar hot water we would need to rely very little, if at all, on the oil burner.

1. a second colony, in a homemade top bar hive.
2. chickens, 3 of them.
3. the beginning of a dwarf fruit tree orchard.
4. a guild around the cherry tree.
5. an earth oven in a straw bale shelter, a strawbale low wall with welcoming arch up front, and  some strawbale benches, shelters and altars all over the property.
6. a small pond system that takes rain water runoff and – if we can swing it – some gray water, with frogs and other wildlife.
7. a front garden for Bees and People. I will want to host a lot of events – community gardening, lectures, skillshares, poetry reading (and writing), concerts – in that front garden!
8. a pottery wheel.

Is that a lot to ask? And is that a silly question to ask because I ask it of myself?

~

Oh,  but life is good.

When told that a friend had gone into the hospital to give birth, Amie asked: “And was it a baby?”

And this is DH’s desk:

Last night the temperature dropped to 47 F and my mind races to what we need to get done before the frosts come. Give our hoop house a “spine” (a cross beam) as well as doors. Turn the compost and a week later distribute the finished soil on the beds that will be in action over the Winter. Then transplant the Fall and Winter seedlings into those beds and cover with small hoops and, when the tomato and pepper plants are spent, move the hoop house over the 4 chosen winter beds.

Stock the bird feeders {DONE}. Buy new straw and burlap for wrapping up the bushes.

Fall also means, each year, a cold or flu. Amie was the first to get it and to recover (she literally burned it out with a 102 F fever). But she seems to have picked up something new. She is pretty sad about it, because today is the second day of Kindergarten and she so intensely enjoyed the first day.

Most aptly, my side of the big bed – Amie wants me near and anyway it’s Sunday – is covered with books on herbal medicine. I subscribed to HerbMentor.com and it has got me going. So far I’ve studied, on paper, Dandelion, Licorice, Elder. I’m making a first pass through these herbs that we might need most often in the next few months, the cold, flu and immunity herbs. Then I’ll purchase them from a herbal supply store, because I’m not growing them yet, and don’t yet have the local and herbal knowledge to wildcraft them.

The plants in their wisdom also know that Fall is coming. They are redirecting their energies and nutrients to their roots and seeds, the parts of them that have the most chance of surviving the Winter. I am waiting for a nice day to harvest the flower heads of what I do have growing – chamomile, feverfew, calendula. Then I’ll use my new Excalibur dehydrator, which arrived a week ago, to dry them. And at the Farmer’s Market this Wednesday I will buy lots of local apples, to dry as well. We still have apple sauce that I canned last year: it’s just not that popular in our house.