Riot in October

October has really flown by.  We are wrapping up many of the homestead activities and settling down into the slower paced life of late autumn and winter.

Gasoline: 2.8% of the American average and rising.  We are on track to stay at or under 10% for the year.

Electricity: 10% of the American average and steady. Now that food preservation isn’t going full force we might be able to trim this number back a little more.  As a lifestyle we need to use much less in the late autumn, winter and spring to make up for the heavier use in late spring, summer, and early autumn.

Heating and Cooking:  0.4% and rising.  This will probably end up at 3% for the year.   We almost have our year supply of wood.  That will take another gallon of gas.  Propane usage is pretty steady.

Garbage: 5% of the American average and steady.

Water:  40% of the American average and dropping.  Dropping slowly but surely.

Consumer Goods:  4.5% of the American average and rising. We are staying on budget and without any major “needs” we’ll end up at 10% for the year.

Food: 48% homegrown/local, 44% bulk/organic, and 8% supermarket.  Just a reminder note:  I count my food percentages by servings.

Kim

It’s comin’

Winter is coming.

Today’s low: 33* F (We even had a light frost.)

Today’s high: 57* F (Sunny with winds out of the north at 6 mph.)

Indoor temperature when I woke up 57*. The windows had frost on the outside and some condensation on the inside. The wood floor seems chilly so it is time for socks and slippers.

The last of the persimmons should start falling now. These will be sweeter than the early ones. All but the hardiest garden plants are looking wilted this morning. It’s time to finish cleaning out those garden beds. The goats spent the early morning standing in the barn door looking out. They’ll come out once the sun has warmed up the air a bit. Soon it will be time to start feeding hay.

Kim

Monday: Low 32, high 53. House temperature in the morning 58.

Tuesday: Low 32, high 67. House temperature in the morning 56.

Wednesday: Low 37, high 68. House temperature in the morning 57.

Thursday: low 34, high 64. House temperature in the morning 56.

Friday: low 32, high 62. House temperature in the morning 56.

Water

Water, water, water. We have more trouble with this part of the reduction challenge. Before we started the challenge we were using 7500 gallons per month. That is 62.5% of the American average. It could have been worse, but was a long way to 10%.

Immediately we began making some little changes. And we dropped 1100 gallons the first month (53%). What did we do?

• We started taking shorter showers (5 minutes instead of 10).
• We stopped leaving the water running while brushing our teeth, rinsing contacts, cleaning the sink, washing our hands, and rinsing dishes.
• “If it’s yellow let it mellow. If it’s brown flush it down.”
• Collected the running water in the shower while we waited for it to warm up.
• Started watching how we used water. Learned how to read that meter.

Next came more drastic cuts. These measures trimmed another 1000 gallons a month off of our usage. (45%)

• Even shorter showers (4 minutes down from 5).
• Put buckets under the bathroom sinks and use the gray water for flushing.
• Use basins in the sink and got our kitchen cleaning usage down to 6 gallons per day.
• Use rain water to fill washing machine or the wonder clean. Although as soon as we had this in place we had 3 months with absolutely no rain.
• Wear clothes until they need washing. We hang our shirts and pants inside out on the line so they can air. Now that is has cooled off our t-shirts can do double duty. Pants are going 4 wearings between washings unless I’ve been in the barn.

The latest changes have brought us down to 40%:

• Rabbits water now fixed to side of cage so they can’t dump it over.
• Goat and Sheep water — put a bucket in the barn door to catch the drip off the roof. Keep yard bucket weighted down so they don’t knock it over.

Changes in the plan that I hope will get us to 10% by June 1:

• Get gutters on the barn and collect the rain water for year round use.
• Chickens water — preparing to have it mostly outside the coop, with a fenced part inside. That way they can drink, without getting IN the water. Chickens can be so dirty.
• Soap up with cold water while the shower warms up, still catching the water as it warms up. (This should take our “in the shower time” to just under 2 minutes plus 2 minutes of cold water catching.)
• Rain water collection for all needs except drinking/cooking. We can’t use the water off our current roof for drinking and cooking, but there is no reason we can’t use it for laundry and flushing. We aren’t going to tie this into the plumbing. We are just putting a hose or hand pump on for now.
• Replace chicken coop and rabbit cages with metal roofs, collect water for animal use and gardening.
• Wash bottom sheet weekly, turn top sheet over and wash every other week, hang blankets to air until Spring and then wash before storing for the summer.

Long Term Projects:

• Install metal roof.
• Tie rain water collection into household plumbing.

According to the National Weather Service, our area receives an average of 43 inches of rain per year.  If we have a 16oo square foot roof we should be able to capture 30,000 gallons of rain water per year.  (I think.  Math has never been my strong suit.  But I put the numbers into a calculator I found on-line and it seems right.)  More about that in another post coming soon!

Kim

Life and Death

Life and Death.  I’ve been faced with both today.

Life is the soon-to-be-born cousin that HM and I just finished a quilt for and are preparing to ship in the mail.  Life is a wonderful picture of my nephew G playing baseball.   Life is my other nephew D looking so danged cute I nearly come to tears just watching him grow up without actually being there to watch him.  (My mom is the BEST at sending pictures of G and D! — Hi Mom!) Life is also praying for a dear friend and her family who just lost a close friend and substitute grandfather last night.

Death comes to all.  It tears away the heartstrings that bind us to our fellow man.   I know that Byron waits for his loved ones in a much happier place.  No more pain, no more sorrow, just infinite joy that comes with being with his Creator, his Savior, and the Comforter.

May each you fill this life with love and happiness.   May each of you find peace with the Prince of Peace.

Kim

Socks

I love to make socks. You already knew that from yesterday’s post. But I mean, I really love to make socks. Once I get started I have to remind myself to eat, cook, clean, etc.

Here is a link with my very favorite sock pattern.  This site also  has a wonderful tutorial/demo called socks 101 that is excellent.  I have made these socks with worsted weight, 100% cotton, 100% wool, a cotton-wool mix, and chunky yarn. They have all turned out great! I have some naturally striping yarn that makes a very fun pair of socks too.

Sock Page

Toasty Toes

Last summer I posted our family’s battle plan for keeping the air conditioner off.  It was a thrilling success.  We only used our AC 5 days instead of the normal 60.  There were a few times that we really considered dumping the whole project, but hypocrisy is something I can’t stand.  If I say I’m dropping 90%, then by dang I’m dropping 90%.

So now we are approaching winter.  Winter is somewhat easier since we have the wood burning stove.  There are many things we can do to delay firing it up though.  So here is my list of ways to keep warm.

1. Wear socks.  Wool socks are best.  Slippers over the wool socks are doubly warm.
2. Drink hot tea, hot cocoa, or hot coffee.  Pick your poison–just be sure that it is hot.
3. Wear long underwear.  In fact I am a firm believer in putting them on with the first frost!
4. Put on a sweater (or two).
5. Wear turtlenecks.
6. Grab a blanket any time you are sitting still.
7. Make a blanket while sitting covered with another blanket.  I guarantee you’ll be cozy.
8. Snuggle.
9. Read “The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Brr!
10.  Open curtains on south facing windows on sunny days.  Close them at night or on blustery days.
11. Keep curtains (and window quilts) pulled tight over north facing windows at all times.
12. Establish an entry way.  We do this by hanging a curtain over the doorway to our laundry/utility room.  We enter through the back door, quickly move through the laundry room, and make sure the curtain stays tight across the opening.  It provides a transitional space where the air cools, but doesn’t let the cold air into the rest of the house.  Someday I will have an outdoor entry for both the front and back doors.

Tomorrow I will post my very favorite sock pattern.  I love making socks!

Freeze Yer Buns!

Crunchy Chicken is at it again. This time with a long challenge. November 1 to April 1 she is challenging us to keep our thermostats set low.

Here at the Hedges Homestead we heat with wood. We have a nice little, very efficient, wood stove that keeps our 1600 square feet of home quite toasty. Now with this wood stove there is no thermostat. You get heat depending on the type of wood, how dry the wood is, and the air supply.

What we can do is wait as long as possible to fire it up. We can also delay using the oil filled radiators to warm up the bathroom before a shower.

HM and I are airing out the afghans, sweaters, robes, and winter blankets. The early mornings and late evenings are beginning to get chilly. We’ll be needing extra layers soon.

Taming the Garbage Beast

Now that the house is decluttered and clean, it is time to put a garbage system in place. We had a spectacular recycling system, but I have changed my buying habits and we really don’t need it anymore. We only generate about a pound of true garbage a day. That is 5% of the American average.

Cat litter seems to be a big garbage problem for most people. I suppose we are fortunate to live out in the country. We just dump our cat litter in a low spot. It all goes in the same place and when the area is filled in I’ll cover it with a layer of compost and then a layer of dirt. I’ve been dumping the litter in the same spot for 4 years and it is just now starting to fill.

Compost: We dump all our cotton cloths, wool scraps, paper scraps (those that don’t have plastic, colored ink, or slick pages), food scraps the chickens shouldn’t have, and household dust onto the compost pile. The animal manure, bedding and old hay gets added to the same pile. Weeds, spent garden plants, twigs, and ashes all go on the pile. When I dig a hole and have extra dirt it gets added too. Cardboard boxes get broken down and laid out in the newest garden expansion area. Most of this is obviously outside, but I do keep a bucket with a lid in the house to collect the paper, cloth, food, and dust.

Recyclables: Since changing my shopping habits, I am only buying things in reusable containers. No more plastic except for vegan butter. I am saving the butter tubs for starting seedlings. After I have enough, we’ll go to wax paper wrapped. Mustard, mayonaise, ketchup, tahini, and salad dressing all come in glass bottles. I reuse those to store all sorts of things. We reuse tin cans as animal feeders. CK rounds the tops down so the animals don’t get hurt. I have a couple of gallon tin cans that we use to measure feed, minerals, and soil amendments. These all get washed and stored in the second pantry area.

True Garbage: Now we get to where I need a system. I end up with little plastic windows from envelopes, catalogs (I cancel those as soon as they arrive. Hopefully soon they just won’t arrive. Except the Lehman’s catalog. I gotta have that one!), junk mail (believe it or not, 80% of our junk mail is from environmental groups. Arrghh!!), tin can tops, and the occasional ziplock bag, and the plastic wrappers from cheese. It isn’t a lot of garbage. So what am I supposed to do with this stuff until we have a full garbage can?

I hate plastic

Let me just say that I hate plastic. I mean I really hate plastic. Just ask my husband, my children, my friends, the cashier at our grocery store, the mail lady, the postmaster, the workers at the quick stop, the library clerks, and anyone else who happens along my path on errand day. I come close to a temper tantrum each time.

So I finally just took the plastic out of my house (at least the plastic that I recognized as such) and took it to Goodwill or to the landfill. So I had a plastic free house and I felt like a new woman. Except . . .

• Those milk crates — plastic.
• Those hangers –plastic.
• The radio, the hand cranked radio, the telephone, the hand-cranked flashlight, the battery operated alarm clock, the tv, the DVD player, the DVDs –plastic.
• The door mat — plastic.
• My laptop — plastic. (Oh mercy!)

The list goes ever on. Plastic is everywhere. That means there might not be an easy answer to my temper tantrum problem. I guess I’m doomed to be Oscar the Grouch. (I suppose he’s made of plastic too. Sigh.)

So how do I live in a modern plastic world without it?  I don’t know.  Do you?

A New Look

I like to change things.  I like to move furniture.  I can’t move furniture around right now, so I’ll settle for changing my blog a bit.

Kim

Plants and Animals

I believe it really is autumn. It is rainy today, not a constant rain just a bit of drizzle, and the leaves are falling. The checklist is coming along well. I keep editing that post to reflect the work I do. I think I’ll have it all done by the end of the month.

I did a calendar survey and found that we only mowed our yard 6 times from April to October. Normally around here it is a weekly task. We continue to convert our yard towards permaculture. Our flower/herb bed is growing by 200 square feet. The room is really needed. Most of the plants need to be divided and we have a few new herbs to be scattered among the bed.

The herbs that are in the bed will now be:

• German chamomile, bee balm,St. John’s wort, valerian, mullein, dandelion, plantain, rosemary, wormwood, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, calendula (pot marigold), yarrow, borage, catnip, hyssop, anise, basil, sage, oregano,thyme

The flowers in the bed are:

• hosta, cosmos, cornflowers, baby’s breath, lantana, zinnia, hens and chickens, daisies (Becky daisy), white orchids, purple orchids, spider wort (purple and white), calla lill, lilac, flowering quince, creeping phlox, burning bush, forsythia, lariopiea (I think that is how you spell it.), lavender, and mums

In other news:

The sheep are looking really, well, wooly! I don’t know how much wool they are carrying around, but they seem to have doubled in width. Very exciting stuff. Nearly as exciting to me (but I am sure more exciting to them) is that Eddie, our ram — their mate, will be coming home in just under two weeks. That probably means lambs in late March! Whoohoo! We hope to pick up another ewe in the spring. That will mean a genetically diverse group. If we keep a few males (wethered instead of intact–and we want to call them The Cruisers. Get it? Eddie and the Cruisers! Surely you saw the movie.) we should have plenty of wool to use and some to sell.

The goats have done a terrific job keeping the woods cleared of poison ivy. They have earned their hay again this year. We’ve decided against breeding the does. We don’t eat/drink that much dairy anymore. I’d rather buy a bit of cheese than deal with a buck, goat babies, milking, and processing.

Kim

Autumn Checklist

Today we are working on our autumn checklist. There are many things to be done on the homestead to prepare for winter. I like to have everything possible done ahead of time. I take comfort in knowing the household is prepared to hunker down and relax for a while.

So far we have:

1. split and stack 3 cords of winter wood
2. stack kindling wood
3. weed flower beds and scatter seed pods
4. weed herb beds
5. order necessary seeds for spring
6. prepare expansion area of flower and herb bed
7. pull dead plants from garden, rake bed, spread manure and compost, cover with straw (5 beds done, 10 beds to go)
8. turn spring compost heap
9. begin fall compost heap
10. clean barn and goat shed
11. mow grass for final time
12. clean mower, empty gas tank and oil, and store for winter
13. gather walnuts
14. gather hickory nuts
15. clean wood stove, repaint or apply blacking, check firebricks
16. clean chimney, reblack stove pipe
17. wax wood floor
18. caulk cracks in wood floor
19. oil all wood furniture in living room
20. wash all baseboards and door frames
21. clean ducts in all rooms
22. wash screens and windows
23. air all futons, feather beds and comforters
24. air all robes and sweaters
25. air Turkish carpets
26. scythe front ditch
27. fill oil lanterns
28. check smoke alarms and fire extinguishers
29. clean burn area

Things on the checklist that still need to be done:

1. clean and water protection for deck and sidewalk
2. scythe front ditch
3. clean storm cistern
4. clean burn area
5. complete additional sheep yard
6. pick up our ram
7. place orchard order
8. fill oil lanterns
9. check smoke alarms and fire extinguishers
10. make window quilt for sliding glass door
11. dogs to the vet
12. split and stack 2 more cords in case of an emergency

Break time is over so I’d better get back to work.

Kim

How We Got to 10% on Electricity

From the 90% Reduction challenge Rules:

Electricity.
Average US usage: is 11,000 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR, or about 900 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTH.
90% reduction: would mean using 1,100 PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR or 90 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTH

• Solar Renewables are deemed to have a 50% payback – that is, you get twice as many watts.
• Hydro and Wind are deemed to have a 4 to 1 payback over other methods – you get 4 times as many. (Methane produced from landfills also counts as clean energy and therefore gets the 4 to 1 payback.)

That means we can use approximately 3 kwh/day. Here is a list of what we did to get to the 10% level.

1. Read the meter every morning and begin to track what changes your usage.
2. Continue to read meter to insure the number doesn’t creep back up after reaching goal.
3. Turn off the dryer. (Unplug it! Get rid of it!)
4. Line dry clothes all year. (Requires some thinking ahead and starting early each day.)
5. Wash laundry in cold water.
6. Use Wonder Clean or Tub with a plunger to wash some clothes.
7. Iron all work shirts on one day.
8. CFL in all light fixtures. Keep all lights off. Everyone gathers in one room and share the light (and the family time). Use windows and skylights for all daytime lighting. Go to bed shortly after dark.
9. Keep tv, radio, computers, printer, and all other electric appliances unplugged unless in use.
10. Buy hand-crank radio and flashlights.
11. Ditch the electric alarm clock. Buy one that runs on batteries. Recharge the batteries with a solar charger.
12. Switched from desktop computers to laptops/notebooks.
13. Turn refrigerator to warmest setting and keep it full.
14. Turn off electric range and oven.
15. Use and electric kettle to heat water and a toaster oven for baking (or just don’t bake).
16. Keep hot water heater off except one hour each day.
17. Leave the air conditioner and electric furnace off.
18. Buy green power. Methane in our case. It lowered our number from 10 kwh/day to 2.5 kwh/day.

Kim

Kitchen Ware

I’m still in the kitchen. I’m working on cleaning out the clutter from my cupboards and freeing up more space in the process. As I go through each cupboard I wash the wood and polish it, wipe the dishes (or whatever) that is in that spot, and decide what to keep and what to lose.

I have elected to keep 12 place servings of Fiesta Ware. Those are my whole family meal, company’s coming, and holiday dishes. I have the plates, bowls, desert plates, and tea cup and saucer sets. I really like the mismatched colors. I don’t have to worry that everything matches just so. It allows me to pick up seconds and used dishes and have them fit right in. Besides these make me smile. (1 double-doored cupboard)

I also kept our 12 Grannyware plates (along with 4 bowls and 4 mugs). We use those for breakfast, lunch, and small children visiting meals. These are the greatest dishes. They take a beating, but keep on lasting. I’ve used these for 18 years now. (1/2 of a 1 door cupboard)

Over to the cups. 11 nice goblets, 6 decent cups, 15 8 oz mustard mugs, and a few mismatched coffee cups. The mustard mugs are really nice. I think those might be my favorites. They came filled with German mustards. I kept them because they are a perfect size both for me and for any visiting children. No plastic in this cupboard — whew! (1 double-doored cupboard)

I only keep a minimum of baking and cooking equipment so that all stays. Glass storage containers, mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, flatware, chef’s knives, wooden spoons, wheat grinder, pasta cutter, toaster oven, bread machine, kitchen-aid, and blender. (2.5 double-doored cupboards, 3 drawers, and a crock on the counter)

Hmm . . . not much “fluff” in my kitchen after all.

Kim

An Electric Bill

I just had to share this bill! I am so excited!

In September we used 308 kwh for an average of 11 per day. This month we also began our Green Option so those 11 are really like 3. The bill is only $55.

It’s a good thing you can’t see me because I’m grinning like a cheshire cat and doing the happy dance! 90% reduction achieved.

Oh yes, last year for the same month we used 1290 kwh for an average of 40 per day. What a difference.

Kim

Kate

Thank you Kate for the wonderful napkins and chocolate.  My daughter and I “ooh”ed and “ahh”ed over the colors.  We are getting ready to sit down and enjoy the chocolate now.

Thanks.

Kim

Goin’ Green in Kitchen

I’ve already written about how I greened up the bathroom and laundry.  I spent some time on the organization of our pantry and menu plan.  The next stop is the kitchen.

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  It is the center of family life.  Here we prepare meals, process the harvest, and gather to share the day’s beginning and end.  We have a fairly roomy eat-in kitchen.  I like that better than when we had a dining room (which is why we now have a project room) because we can all be part of the preparation.

Doing the Dishes:  I think that doing the dishes often is the key to maintaining a healthy and clean kitchen.  We do dishes four times a day — after breakfast, after lunch, before beginning dinner, and after dinner.  We fill a dish tub 1/3 full of warm water and add less than 1 tsp of Sals Suds (Dr. Bronner’s).  I place the flatware in the bottom of the tub to soak.  While they soak I use a cotton cloth to wash all the glasses.  They get placed in a second dish tub.  Now the flatware gets washed and placed in the other tub.   One by one I place the plates and bowls in the first tub.   I rinse the glasses over the second tub and put them in the drainer.  Now the flatware just needs to be “swooshed” around in the left over rinse water.  Back to the first tub.  I wash, then swoosh through the second tub and place in the drainer.  Now, I dump the rinse water into the wash water and add all the pots and pans (the tub is now 2/3 full).   While these are soaking I put the first dishes away.  They usually dry pretty quickly.  Now more washing, rinsing/swooshing, and draining.  This whole procedure uses 1 dish tub full of water (about one and a half gallons) of warm water.

Sprucing up the Kitchen:  After the dishes are all washed and the pots are draining, I use the soapy wash cloth and wash the table and chairs, counter tops, and refrigerator door.   Now I finish putting the dishes away and put the drainer under the counter.   Lastly I wipe down the sink.  I love a clean kitchen.

Heavy Duty Cleaning:  At the end of each day we wipe down the stove, toaster oven, switch plates, and mop the floor.   Occasionally we’ll empty the pantry and refrigerator and wipe it down.   That’s about all that we do for the kitchen.  By keeping everything wiped up there isn’t a huge list of cleaning chores to be done.

Conclusion:  So over all, I use a tablespoon of Sal’s Suds and 6 gallons of water to keep the dishes and kitchen clean.  Nice, simple, easy and chemical free.

Kim

Wendell’s Wisdom–Industrial economy

Industrial economy: an economy founded on the seven deadly sins and the breaking of all ten of the Ten Commandments.

Tying Up Loose Ends

The bread machine has been in daily use since September 14. The conclusion: we like having homemade bread. I like not turning on the oven. It is a winner. At least, it is a short-term winner. It may not be our permanent bread solution, but it is good enough for now.

The end of the toilet cloth challenge has arrived. How did you all do? Me? I did fine, no problems — especially since I was 100% cloth before we started. The challenge and my post about our habits did spark several conversations with friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

September has come and gone. Time to report in with our numbers!

Gasoline: 5 gallons (total 25)

Electricity: average 9.75 kwh/day.

Heating and Cooking: Heating — 1.33 gallons gas (total 2.66 total equals 3 cords cut). Cooking — 0.5 therms (total 2 therms).

Garbage and Recycling: Garbage–5 pounds (37 pounds total). Recycling — 0 pounds (total 28 pounds).

Water: 45 gallons/person/day.

Consumer Goods: $180 (Dr. Bronner’s, washing soda, rabbit pellets, cat food, 2 school books (used), Thai Crystal x 2, sheets, shoes, socks, bird food, breadmachine, yarn, quilting needles and thread) Total $440.

Food: remains the same at 46% homegrown/local, 42% bulk, and 12% supermarket.

And Finally: Our electric coop is offering a green energy option. I checked with the 90% group and it qualifies for the reduction. I bought the 300 kwh/month option. What that means is that if we keep our actual usage at 10 kwh/day (or less) it’ll count as 2.5 kwh/day for the challenge. Yippee! That means that starting next month we’ll be under 10%.

Kim