Orchard Planning

We are eagerly planning for the newest addition to our little homestead.  Next spring we will officially start the orchard.  I planted some trees before, but it was without any research and absolutely no idea what I was doing.  This time I plan to do it right.

We already have persimmons, blackberries, and grapes.   Those are producing well.  I have ordered 50 strawberry plants (some early and some mid-season).  I also ordered 6 black currant bushes and 2 elderberry bushes.  All these soft fruits will go into the main garden.

Next up comes the tree order.  I’m thinking 3 semi-dwarf apple, 2 semi-dwarf plum, 2 semi-dwarf cherry,  2 pawpaw, and 2 butternut.  Included in this order will also be 6 blueberry bushes.   The blueberry bushes will go into the main garden.  The trees will be planted in the front yard evenly spaced with the shade trees I planted a few years ago.

According to “How to Grow More Vegetables” that should give us 300 pounds of apples,  60 pounds of blueberries, 40 pounds of cherries, 120 pounds of plums, 90 pounds of grapes, 50 pounds of blackberries, 30 pounds of persimmons, and 100 pounds of strawberries.  The amounts for pawpaws, currants, elderberries, and butternuts I couldn’t find.   I think it is safe to say that if all the plants survive to maturity that we should have all homegrown fruit.

I am also thinking about buying a Meyer lemon tree and putting it in the project room in front of the window.  Does anyone know if they’ll produce fruit inside?  I guess I could move it to the deck in the summer.  Maybe when CK gets the greenhouse built it could winter in there.

Kim

Persimmons

The persimmons are beginning to ripen.  That means three things:  the deer will be coming up close to the house, the story of CK and the persimmon will be told, and autumn is upon us.

When you eat an unripe persimmon it is like filling your mouth with cotton.  Everything feels dry.  Your mouth puckers up into a tiny little O and you lose all saliva production for at least an  hour.   The first year we lived on our land my darlin’ husband (who was a city boy) decided, against my advice, to try a persimmon off the tree.  I tried to warn him, but  . . .  he popped it in his mouth.  His face went white, then gray, and then he tried to spit.  He looked at me with terror in his eyes and asked, “What do I do?”  The only answer that came to mind was “Listen to me when I tell you that it isn’t ripe!”
Persimmons are wonderfully sweet when they are ripe.  The deer love them.  My dog loves them.  We eat them dehydrated or made into persimmon pudding.  They are, however, a pain in the neck to process.  They are sticky, sticky, sticky.  They have a huge seed or two in the middle and they are sticky.  They are mushy when ripe (and sticky).  Did I mention they are sticky?  They are.

The hardest part of harvesting persimmons is beating the deer to them.  They’ll come within 50 feet of the house just to nibble on these delectable balls of stickiness.  Fortunately for the deer, the persimmons are all gone by the time hunting season rolls around.

Greening up the Laundry

Laundry.  We all have it.  It is one of those household jobs that can never be finished.   I never really gave laundry much thought before.  It was easy, turn on a machine, load in the clothes, and push a button.  It never occurred to me that all that water, energy, and chemicals might not be necessary for clean clothes.   Several years ago I began making slow changes in our laundry habits.

When we moved here we put up a clothes line.  It seemed like a country thing to do.   I used it when it was a lovely day with a fresh breeze blowing.  I could have been a commercial.

Next I began the questionable habit of sniffing the laundry.  Jeans didn’t seem dirty after one wearing (unless you had been mucking the barn, or digging a hole to China).  Sweaters definitely didn’t seem to need washing more than once a month or so (unless you spilled hot cocoa on it).  Bath towels were next.  I wondered why I washed them after each shower.  I mean you’re clean, right?  So we started hanging those up on pegs and washing them once a week.  Disclaimer:  I do wash t-shirts, underwear and socks after each wearing.

Then I began thinking about laundry soap.  First I switched to a fragrance free detergent.  Lots of bubbles means lots of clean.  At least I thought so.  Soon afterwards I read about people who used Fels Naphtha, washing soda and borax.  I tried it.  I wasn’t convinced.  There were no bubbles.  But the clothes seemed clean enough.  Then I learned to make soap, so I used it instead of the Fels Naptha.  Still no bubbles, but I got used to that.

Last year was the first winter I line dried clothes.  I had CK put a line in each bedroom.   We hung our shirts and skirts/pants in our rooms.  We dried everything else on drying racks by the wood burning stove.  The small stuff would dry in just a few hours.   The clothes took most of the day.  Bedding still went in the dryer.

This year I want to do more with our laundry.  We’ve already been using the Wonder Clean a little bit.  I’ll try to use it more.  Secondly, I want to hang the linens outside even in the winter.  That means we’ll need extra linens.   Thirdly, I want to stop using so much borax.  I’ll be experimenting with decreasing amounts.   Fourthly, I want another drying rack.  Fifthly, I resolve to keep up with the laundry so that I don’t feel pressured to use the machines!

Kim

Bread

 We have been running an experiment here on the homestead.  My family wants homemade bread.  That is my fault.  I used to make all our bread.  We had a fresh loaf every day.  I spoiled them.  Lately I have been really busy/tired/not in the mood to bake so I have been buying bread.

So last week CK took me to town and we bought a bread machine.   I spent $60.  (There goes most of my September consumer goods money.)  I have made four loaves of bread using the machine.

We figured the cost as follows:

1. Bread machine $60
2. Bread flour $2 for 5 pounds (made 4 loaves.  I used this because I didn’t want to do the complicated math of figuring how much each cup of wheat berries cost.  Too many variables.  So 50 cents a loaf)
3. Yeast, oil and honey $0.44.  (So 11 cents a loaf)
4. Electricity .66 kwh (so 1 cent a loaf)

I normally pay $2 for a loaf of good wheat bread.  So I am saving $1.35 a loaf.  In other words after making 44 loaves of bread the machine will have paid for itself.  My family gets their fresh homemade bread and all I have to do is measure ingredients and push a button.

**

The bread machine only uses .66 kwh.  I traded one washer load for the bread machine.  So now I am washing one load a day in the Wonder Clean.  I need to start doing more laundry that way, but have been too busy/tired/not in the mood!

Kim

Huffin’ & Puffin’

To whom it may concern:

I did it!  23 miles in one ride with only one stop for a granola bar (although I did eat a second granola bar while pedaling).

However, I now have very achy knees that just want to sit down.

Until tomorrow.

Kim

Wendell’s Wisdom 2

“Think Little” 1970

“If we are to hope to correct our abuses of each other and of other races and of our land, and if our effort to correct these abuses is to be more than a political fad that will in the long run be only another form of abuse, then we are going to have to go far beyond public protest and political action. We are going to have to rebuild the substance and the integrity of private life in this country. We are going to have to gather up the fragments of knowledge and responsibility that we have parceled out to the bureaus and the corporations and the specialists, and we are going to have to put those fragments back together again in our own minds and in our families and households and neighborhoods. We need better government, no doubt about it. But we also need better minds, better friendships, better marriages, better communities. We need persons and households that do not have to wait upon organizations, but can make necessary changes in themselves, on their own.”

Cruisin’ Along

We live in the middle of nowhere.  In fact, if you Google Earth us nothing pops up.  They can’t seem to locate the address.  What you will see is acre after acre of corn, soy, wheat, and trees.   There are plenty of roads between these fields leading to scattered houses.  Some are 2 lanes and paved, some are a lane and a half and paved, some are a lane and gravel.   Such are the conditions in which we choose to live.

I never minded this before June.  In June we started the Riot for Austerity/90% Reduction Challenge.  In June, as a consequence, HM and I pulled out our Huffy Cruisers.  We had ridden a bit (by a bit, I mean 2 miles at a time) last summer and some this spring.  We determined, however, to build up to a ride to town.  The nearest town is 5 miles (each way) and has a quick-stop,  library, hardware store, lumber yard, bank, pizza shop, and post office.

So we have been pedaling and pedaling and finding the pedaling to be addictive.  I can’t wait each morning for our ride.  HM is rapidly accumulating hours for her high school PE credit.  We ride these lovely blue cruisers with nice detachable baskets and our helmets.

The trip to town is no longer challenging so beginning next week we will be visiting the library, the bank, the post office, and the pizza shop each week.    (Umm . . . can I count the pizza as local?  Probably not.  The only thing local about it is the location!).

We have picked out several regular rides.  Depending on our mood we can go on a 9 mile loop, the 10 miles to town trip, 12.5 miles, 15 miles, and 18 miles.  We just picked out a 24 mile trip and I can’t wait for the weekend to give it a try.  If you haven’t heard from me by Sunday, you might want to come looking.  I’ll be the short lady, on a cruiser, dying somewhere beside the road.

Kim

Making Soap

Making soap is a fairly straightforward affair.  Attention to details and to safety will help produce a lovely product.  We have made many types of soap from many different recipes.   I use a basic soap recipe and add whatever my fancy leads to that day.  I’ve given my favorite recipes and add-ins.  If you intend to make soap you really need a book, a friend, or a web-site for the minute details.

Basic Recipes:

1.  Basic White for non-vegans
32 oz water or milk
12 oz lye

4 lb lard
17 oz olive oil
8 oz coconut

Add essential oils or fragrance at trace

2.  Classic for vegans
39 oz olive
24 oz coconut
18 oz palm

26-30 oz water or milk
12 oz lye

Add-ins added at trace.

Add-Ins:  This list could go on forever, but these are my very favorites.

1. pulverized oatmeal and lavender (for soothing itchy skin)
2. tea tree oil (for disinfecting /  first aid soap)
3. peppermint oil  (invigorating)
4.  rosemary oil and rosemary bits

Soap Making Links:

1. Walton Feed
2. Teach Soap
3. And here

Kim

Sunflowers

This week HM and I harvested the sunflowers.  We had an amazing total of 2 gallons of seeds from 15 flower heads.  I’m impressed.

Now I am beginning to wonder what on earth I am going to do with 2 gallons of sunflower seeds.  We don’t use nearly that many in a year.  We might use 1/2 a gallon in our granola and maybe another 1/2 gallon roasted, but that still leaves an enormous amount of seeds.

So what do you do with all these seeds?  Anyone ever make sunflower oil?

Help!

Kim

Wendell’s Wisdom

“If you don’t have a problem, why pay for a solution?”

Wendell Berry, 1989. “Feminism, the Body, and the Machine”

Our new catch-phrase “Don’t buy the solution if you don’t have the problem.”

Busy Hands

I recently finished a 100% wool, shell-stitch, crocheted afghan. It worked up so soft and lovely. I can’t wait until we have wool of our own to spin.

Knitting and crocheting are two of my favorite seated activities. I get such pleasure watching the work increase in size. The finished project is always useful as well as lovely. It takes very little time to make most projects and gives me something to do in the afternoons and evenings.

Each year I learn to make something new. I have made afghans, shawls, stocking hats, scarves, tam-o’shanters, socks (my favorite), string bags, dish cloths, mittens, vests, sweaters, and lace. I’m trying to decide what to learn this year.

One idea intrigues me. I have heard that you can buy old wool sweaters and unravel them, wash the wool, and then reknit (or crochet) with the yarn. I’d like to look into this further. What a great way to increase my yarn stash without purchasing new.

I’d also like to learn to quilt this winter. My daughter, HM will be teaching me. Isn’t that something? My 17 year old daughter is going to teach me to quilt!

Crunchy’s New Challenge

Here is Crunchy’s newest challenge! September 16-30 you choose to use cloth wipes for:

1. Only for #1
2. For both #1 and #2
3. Only at home
4. On the road

I have been using cloth wipes for many months now. I love it. It is so much gentler on sensitive areas and I don’t have to devote an entire closet to TP stock. It is liberating. The first month was awkward. I had to figure out what do with the clean ones, what to do with the used ones (soak or not-to-soak), and how often to wash (disinfect? bleach?).

They are stored next to the toilet (handy, hmm?). I keep a pail beside the toilet with soapy water for the dirty ones. If it is used for #2 then I rinse it first before putting it in the pail (and that water gets added to the bowl to be flushed). Every evening I throw them in the washer, turn on the spin cycle, then wash in warm/hot water with my home-made tea tree oil soap and washing soda. I hang them over a drying rack in the bathroom. Once a week I hang them on the clothes line for the sun to bleach and disinfect them.

I haven’t noticed any odor and believe me my nose works on overdrive so I would notice. I haven’t had any dreaded UTIs since starting with the cloth wipes. My biggest issue with the cloth wipes is that I haven’t told many people that I use them. Oops, I guess that isn’t an issue any more!

Our wipes are made of 100% cotton flannel. Cut 2 squares (4-5 inches square) and sew them together. That’s it. So easy. I have a stash of 21. That keeps them rotating pretty well. I have some stacked, some soaking, some drying, and some out in the sun.

Kim

Garden Wrap-Up

The 2007 gardening season is quickly coming to an end. It has been a very successful year. We’ve been pleased with both production and seeding saving. As the final crops begin to come out of each bed we spread manure, cover with straw, and water well.

There are things yet to be planted for a late harvest or in cold frames. We’ll be planting garlic soon. Lettuce, chard and spinach will go in a cold frame in mid-September.

Here is a look at what seeds we have saved, what will come back on its own, and where my technique failed.

Perennial:

• Rhubarb
• Asparagus
• German Chamomile
• Bee Balm
• St. John’s Wort
• Valerian
• Mullein
• Dandelion
• Plantain
• Rosemary
• Comfrey
• Wormwood
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Chocolate Mint

Seed Saved:

• Yellow Globe Onions
• Pimiento Pepper
• Potato Sets
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Watermelon
• Corn
• Swiss chard
• bush beans
• basil
• tomatoes
• lettuce (2 varieties)
• Chili Pepper
• Jalapeno
• Cucumber (Delikatesse)
• Table Queen Squash
• Eggplant (Black Beauty)
• Dark Green Zucchini
• Calendula (pot marigold)
• Yarrow
• Borage
• Catnip

Still in production:

• Horseradish
• Sunflowers
• Waltham Butternut Squash
• Pumpkin (Small Sugar)

Goofed and need to re-buy seed:

• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Okra (didn’t goof, just forgot to order seeds)
• lentils
• celery

First Quarter Riot Report

Here is a look at totals for the first three months.

Gasoline: 20 gallons or 2% of American Average

Electricity: 16 kwh/day or 53% of American Average

Heat and Cooking: 3 therms or 0.3% of American Average

Garbage and Recycling: 32 pounds garbage, 28 pounds recycling or 11% of American Average

Water: 55 gallons/person/day (includes livestock/animal water) or 55% of American Average

Consumer Goods: $260 or 2.6% of American Average

Food: Homegrown/Local 46%, Bulk 42%, Supermarket 12%

Total for Project at this point: 20% of American Average