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 …
Category Archives: homestead
Fermented Soda: On to the Third Attempt, and Plans
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 …
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Dare to Dream
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 …
Firewood
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. Â A wet log in the fire is a wasted log, …
Considering Our Shade
out of our living room window Considering… that the house does not benefit a whole lot from being shaded by the trees to the south in Summer, that we could grow a more successful garden where it already is and expand it even more that we would make room for fruit, nut and coppice trees, …
Plans for Next Year: Chickens, Bees, Frogs
Next year I want would like: a second colony, in a homemade top bar hive. chickens, 3 of them. the beginning of a dwarf fruit tree orchard. a guild around the cherry tree. an earth oven in a straw bale shelter, a strawbale low wall with welcoming arch up front, and some strawbale benches, shelters …
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Fall Coming On
It may still, officially, be Summer, but the day I put on my woolen socks is, to me, the first day of Fall. That was yesterday. 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” …
Colorful Garden, and a Hive Update
Tricolor pepper harvest Fat buds and flowers on my two Sochi tea plants. Mushrooms in my schroom bed, but are they the anticipated King Stropheria? ~ I did a quick inspection of the hive today and found an amply supply of honey, nectar, and brood in all stages of development. There were lots of newly …
Today’s Kindling
While gathering kindling in the woods behind the house my mind turns to the future. There is enough wood that is down and dead to heat a household or two, perhaps, but not more. It could sustain many more households in kindling, but again we’re not talking of the feudal forests that could trip up …
We Get to Eat Too
The cucumbers are finally coming in. Amie was happy to harvest some, though she won’t eat them. These, maybe… Still no zucchinis or squashes in sight, just like last year. Of the dry beans, Jacob’s Cattle is the first one ready for picking. I love the sounds of the hard beans rattling in their dry …