Shoots Show 2018

Mr Toad welcomes spring!

It seems that summer has leaped right over spring here at the end of "Shoots Show". It's very warm, so tomato plants are growing fast, and pea vines are not.

Lettuces

We're finally beginning to eat greens out of the garden.
The slugs are too. Kale and spinach (plus a few flowers) have been their choice this year. I'll have to try for a fall planting of these two greens.

Herb bed well along

I've put six boxes of mixed herbs (chervil, lovage, chives and sorrel) into the freezer for winter use, along with a dozen boxes of  my ginger rhubarb sauce.

First shiitake crop of the season

Our shiitake logs are producing now. We've been enjoying stirfrys of shiitake and pac choi.
Bob traded a few hours of work at the local shiitake grower's last weekend for another log. It's nice to find people who use the barter system.

Pac choi and tat soi

 All of the garden structures are in place and waiting for the next big planting: beans! I'll do that in about a week and a half.

2015 Nissan Leaf

We finally did it! We replaced our Geo Prism (that's right, it was so old that it was a Geo, before Chevy took over!). We drove it for twenty one years and due to maintenance issues, it was time to let it go.
We replaced it with a three year old Nissan Leaf with 23 K miles. The Leaf is all electric. We've been able to reduce our carbon foot print even more. Estimates are that it will go 20 miles on 1 kwh of electricity. That's like paying $.70 a gallon for gas. We will keep the ICE Honda as our long trip/ cargo vehicle. The "new" car is quite different to drive. I think it's like driving your laptop! There's a lot to get used to. More of that life long learning stuff I mentioned last month!

Charging station in our garage

The car will travel between 80 and 90 miles on a charge, depending upon your driving habits.

It has fun displays. The one I like best is a little conifer tree. You get "branches" as you drive, if you're driving efficiently. When you "build" a whole tree, it starts building another. So far, I've gotten more trees than Bob. 

Ha Ha!

We've been enjoying a wide variety of birds on our property this year. There are the regulars, which include Piliated woodpeckers, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, Orioles, and Humming birds. We've also seen a Green Heron, Cape May Warblers and Indigo Buntings. A Great Horned owl has hatched and fledged two owlets in our woods. We have seen them a few times. Very Cool!

Tufted Titmouse stealing fur (see inside circle)

Last week we watched as a Tufted Titmouse  made attempt after attempt to snatch fur from Lunette's butt. Surprisingly Lunette just sat there and didn't "blow a gasket". This was great fun to watch. I hope that bird got enough fur for her nest.

I suppose that's all the "fun and games" from here for now. By next post all of the beans will be planted and we'll be eating strawberries! We'll catch up with you at the end of Bright Time. Enjoy the summer.

Kathleen, Bob and Lunette

Windy Time 2018

Is it really springtime?

Windy Time has just about blown past us. The first day was true to its name. The day was beautiful, but a strong wind picked up at night and seemed to change the pattern for the entire month. For the most part, it's been cool and cloudy.

A few wild flowers are just beginning to appear.

Blood root in bloom

Blood root just opened up today.

Daphne

We found some Daphne blooming in the woods.

Colts foot

We also found some Colts foot near the path. So far, we seem to be having a reluctant spring.

To update on our stove, I've been working my way through the various features. Popping corn was a problem, and so was cooking oatmeal. (I'm rather picky about my oatmeal. It should in no way resemble wallpaper paste!) I have finally developed a technique for proper porridge. It's nearly right.

Popper in action

We bought a stove top corn popper and Bob, the resident popmeister is thrilled with it!
On the whole, we're very happy with the  induction stove.








Now, about the garden.This year will be our 26th garden, our 20th with completely organic culture. The weather has impeded us a bit, but we have gotten a start.

Making holes for potatoes

Pruning black raspberries

I've got potatoes and peas planted.
















All of the fruit is pruned.

Swiss chard ready to go outside

The cool weather starts are now outside hardened off. I'll put these in the ground on Monday.

Lunette inspects the fertilizer mix

We've got our organic fertilizer mix all ready, and the garden beds are almost all prepared.
Everyone's been working hard.










Regarding our new system we're trying: The book that we read is No Dig, No Weed Gardening, by Raymond Poincelot. It's over 30 years old, so don't hurry out and look for it.
Now, do not confuse this approach with conventional "no till" farming, which depends on using GMO seeds and dousing everything with chemicals. This method focuses on not disturbing the soil, which allows weed seeds to germinate. Weeds are kept under control by mulching.
Highly recommended is black plastic. This is the only drawback that I see, because we try to avoid excessive use of petroleum products. Here is an example of balancing ideals with reality. The reality is that we've used organic mulches for years and our garden is plagued with slugs. Not just any slugs, but slugs the size of submarines! In case you didn't know, slugs LOVE organic mulches. We hope they'll not have the same affinity for black plastic.
 Weeds are a big problem in some of our beds. They can't grow under the black plastic.
We'll also be trying some of the author's other suggestions.

So, the bottom line: we'll be doing a few things differently this year. Using black plastic, aerial feeding and "spot fertilizing" (using organic amendments, of course) and setting out more things as transplants to avoid some pest problems. Even after 25+ years we can learn new tricks.

One tired pup

We're all good and tired at the end of the day, but that's what life's about. It's an honest tired, and beats working out in a stuffy, stinky gym!










Here's to a good season ahead for all of us (and you). Get yourselves outside and reconnect with something besides four man made walls. It's great! Catch you all at the end of Shoots Show.

Bob, Kathleen and Lunette

Ice Time 2018

March 2, 2018, 12" of snow

Another moon cycle is nearly completed, and here we are at the end of Ice Time. It's been a month of challenges, in the home and in the weather.
I'm sure you've all heard about the four nor'easters in March. Well, the first hit us the worst with 12" of snow in one day. The second was only a couple of inches, the third, 8" and the last, none at all. Bob's been wishing for a 12" snowfall all winter, so now you know with whom the blame lies!

The bridge on our property

Really, it was very lovely, and we got in a couple days of good snowshoeing.

Bob and Lunette in the meadow

Other than the storms, our weather's been dry and a bit cooler than normal.

We took delivery on our new cooking stove on March 13th. It's been quite an experience getting used to it. The burners respond to temperature adjustments instantly! Much more quickly that a gas cook top. Water boils very quickly. There's no walking away after you put on a pot to boil.

Here's the new stove

For pots to work on the top, they must be magnetic and have flat bottoms. I knew ahead of time that only a couple of mine didn't pass that test. No big deal. What I didn't realize was that neither tea kettle would work. No tea kettle until we could get out to buy one two days later. This is dire in our household! I had to heat water in a saucepan, and then spill it on my feet as I tried to pour it out. (I'm not very coordinated!)

Tea at last!

Our new kettle has a nice loud whistle. Now Bob won't let it run dry while he wanders off with his nose in a book!

The challenge is figuring out how to use all of the features and how to adjust to the differences of the technology. I've had to learn to cook several times in my life. First, roasts, breads,... Then, whole grains. Later wheat free and gluten free. Also vegetarian and vegan. Now, how to use the induction technology. It's a good thing I'm an advocate of  life long learning and development!

Speaking of life long learning, we've decided to try some new approaches in the garden this year. One of the books we read this winter dealt with no dig, no weed gardening. This sounds very promising.
We needed to buy just a few things to try this approach. Fortunately we were able to sell the beekeeping supplies and used that money to finance this trial. Our hope is that this method will help us achieve greater balance with our work load in the garden.

This is the season to assess and work toward balance, as we have just marked the Vernal Equinox. That day can be summed up as "sunshine, pussy willows and turkey tracks". It was a beautifully sunny day. We had a nice meal of chickpea and sweet potato curry and our traditional half moon cookies. After lunch we walked in our meadow, which was crisscrossed with turkey tracks. This drove Lunette to distraction! I found some pussy willows, and brought home just a few.

Pussy willows say "spring"

Bob pruning the" Freedom" apple

The Farmer's New Year occurs just after the equinox, on March 25th. That day saw us working on the garden. Bob began pruning his fruit trees, and I put the final touches on our garden plan. There are seeds started downstairs and much is waiting to be done outside. Now that garden season has begun, the work on the bathroom will be at a standstill.




The birds have been very active; on the move both coming and going. We've seen hundreds of snow geese flying northward. At night, Bob continues to hear the barred owls and nighthawks. Last night he heard peepers! Blue birds and red winged black birds call all day long. Spring and Windy Time are on the way!

We'll share more garden details in our next update: Windy Time. Until then, enjoy the changes that the wind brings.
Bob, Kathleen and Lunette



[] end

Stay at Home Time 2018

We're at the end of Stay at Home Time. From the reports of the flu epidemic,  perhaps everyone should observe Stay at Home Time. Bob and I have come through, so far, unscathed. This in spite of the fact that Bob has made several visits to the emergency room and doctor's office with my mother lately. Her health is deteriorating. He's been very careful in these germ infested places.

Late winter snowperson

Our weather has been fluctuating between springlike warmth and snow.
The owls are nesting. Bob has heard Great Horned and Barred Owls calling when he walks Lunette before bed time. He really enjoys hearing them.







On another "wild animal" note, Lunette learned a hard lesson this week. (Hard on all of us, actually.) Last Sunday  before dawn, she caught a full grown skunk inside our fence. She learned that skunks have a serious defense weapon! She caught it full force right in her face! She won the contest, but it was not a victory without regret.

After bath time

Having to have a bath just made the whole thing worse. Although, she didn't put up a fuss about it. The smell is gone from her fur, but her mouth and breath are still all skunk. Don't breathe after she yawns! Thankfully we had two very warm days this week and were able to air out the house, and send her outside for all day airings. She was our fresh air-dale. We hope she'll leave the skunks alone in the future.




 The bathroom project is moving along, albeit slowly.

Drilling through a beam in the cellar

Bob's installing all of the pipes. I'm still cleaning up the woodwork.. One window and a couple of doorways left for me.

Laundry room pipe being moved from outside the wall to inside

Drilling through main house beam

We ordered our electric induction range today. We're replacing our propane range. This will remove us from one more fossil fuel connection. We still use oil for our back up heat and hot water, and gasoline for our autos and equipment. The induction cook top is much more efficient. Ninety percent of the energy heats the ingredients in the pot. For a conventional electric burner, fifty five percent heats the ingredients. The figure for natural gas is forty percent. So you can see that less energy is required, and remember, we produce our own electricity. The induction burners respond to temperature adjustments as quickly as a gas burner, and the oven is convection. This is not an inexpensive item. But, it is a much used tool in our household and is another step toward breaking our dependence on fossil fuels. It's investing in our values - or to put it another way, "putting our money where our mouth is".

Next month will bring the Vernal Equinox and the Farmer's New Year. I'll be starting some seeds downstairs and late winter pruning will begin. Our time of extended resting is drawing to a close, to be balanced with tending and preparing activities. Our diet will begin to shift from winter foods to spring foods. This is how we live with nature's rhythms.



Till next time,
Bob, Kathleen and Lunette


















end

Cold Time 2018

  Well, it's Sunday afternoon, and the three of us have just returned from a walk in our meadow.

Enjoying a walk today

 Today is sunny and warm. Nearly all of our snow is gone. We had a lot of snow melt last week so there are just a few ridges of snow around the edges of streets...

Creek flowing with meltwater

Our weather here has been yo-yo-ing from sub zero with snow, to almost balmy sunshine. The week ahead looks like the temperatures will be moderating.












  We tried something different on New Year's Eve day. We've always felt it made more sense to begin the new year quietly and in good health, so partying has never been our choice. This year, we decided that cleaning out our paper files would be a good chore for that day. Bob always has the 31st off, so he's home to help. We were able to eliminate two recycling bins full of old warranties... It's part of starting the new year clean. We think we'll do this again next year.

Inventory of the seeds

  I guess you could say that the gardening season has officially begun. I inventoried our seed stock, and made out orders for new seeds. We received them last week. It will only be about five weeks before I begin my plant starts indoors.

Decisions, decisions. So many choices.

   The bathroom work continues. All of the old paper has been stripped off and I'm taking the trim work down to a stable layer of paint - which happens to be an interesting shade of apple green.

Apple green paint on skirting board

There's a great deal of woodwork in this room (2 windows, 4 doorways, 2 doors and 12" of skirting board around the 11'x15' room). I'll be at this job for a while. Thankfully it's the last room with the original "fancy" trim work.
Bob has the extra wall and fixtures out and some of the large holes repaired. He's also made a lot more, larger holes to make access for plumbing vents and wiring.

Holes for plumbing vent

More plumbing vent holes

Ah, the challenges of putting plumbing into a house that was never designed for such an outlandish thing! He got his new 18" drill bit caught in a 6"x8"
oak timber. It took him two days to extract it!
While he's got so much area exposed, he's also improving the plumbing in the laundry room (which butts up behind the bathroom) and pulling a wire into the kitchen to accommodate an electric induction range we plan to get in future.





  Even though we're busy, we've still taken time to do some reading by the fireside, It's so nice to sit by the stove with a good book, a cup of hot tea and to look up and see the snow falling outside.

One of the joys of winter and Cold Time

  I suppose that's all for now. We hope you're all getting some rest after the holiday season, and before the rigors of the warm seasons begin.

Take care and we'll be in touch at the end of next month.
Bob, Kathleen and Lunette

Darkest Depths 2017

A nest in our meadow

It's been a cold month of Darkest Depths here in the Finger Lakes. We haven't had a lot of snow at our place, but we have had end to end clippers and our temperatures are about 30 degrees below normal.







Our holiday celebrations were very nice. Due to the cold, we were unable to get out for walks, but we stayed cozy and warm playing games, taking turns reading aloud and watching old movies. We had high winds on Christmas day which took out our power for about four hours. Because we live low tech and simply, it didn't affect us too much. I bet it put a crimp in the day of many other people!

Aside from our celebrations, we've been busy about the house. We got the garden "put to bed" on the ninth of  December. That also happens to be the day that I finished threshing out our dry beans.

2017 Bean harvest

I ended up with eleven gallons. That's enough to meet our protein requirements for eleven months. I'll fill out our needs with purchased lentils, garbanzos and limas.










Bob's been working on the bathroom. He has taken down the closet wall and removed the fixtures. Currently he's patching in drywall where the wall was connected and replacing some old cloth covered wires with romex cable.

Tearing down the interior wall

Wall removed

Having the wall down really opens up the space, even though it was only two feet away from the exterior wall.

Two of the four layers

I've gotten all of the layers of old wallpaper scraped off. It was a job. I don't think any of the previous paper hangers had ever heard of sizing!









One almost always finds surprises when remodeling. When the paneling in the toilet area was removed, we found holes in the exterior wall. On the floor beneath the holes was a pile of cellulose insulation 2'x3'x3' which had fallen right out of the holes when it was blown into the walls. Bob scooped it up and spread it on the layer already in our attic. Waste not, want not.

Hole in the wall 

Pile of cellulose

I guess that's everything for now. We'll keep working on the bathroom and update you on our progress next time.
Stay warm and enjoy some rest this winter. We'll check in at the end of Cold Time.
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette

Seed Fall 2017

Seed Fall 2017

We’re just finishing the month of Seed Fall.  It’s been a very busy time wrapping up one season and preparing for another.

last autumn greens from our garden

The garden beds all have a nice layer of mulch on them and are ready for their winter rest. The garlic has been planted for next year. Wood has been split and stacked and the leaves have been piled to  await next year’s garden needs. The only thing left to do outside is to mulch the strawberry beds. We’re waiting for the ground to freeze before doing that. Otherwise it just makes a nice cozy winter home for mice…

I’ve been busy threshing out the beans that you saw in the last update. I’m nearly finished.  Just two boxes left to do. I’ll show you the results next time.

threshing our dry beans

Bob has begun work on the future downstairs bathroom. He’s poured concrete pads for the supports which will go underneath the bathtub, 

support under bathtub

and he’s begun demolition on the wall that is next to the current toilet. That space is only twenty four inches wide. If we weren’t both slim, we couldn’t use the facility at all! 

Removing plaster wall

Plumbing to the upstairs bathroom. Lovely, eh?

I will begin stripping the old wall paper off of the other walls, and then need to prepare the woodwork for painting. I plan to begin this weekend.

peeling paint

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed a couple of nice meals and the three of us went for a walk in our woods. The wind was a bit brisk, but Lunette really had a lot of fun.

Wild rice with shiitakes, cranberries & hickory nuts

Mrs Murphy-San's pie (with tempeh)

 In the afternoon, we made our annual fruit cake. This isn’t your normal stuff that everyone jokes about . We start with a sourdough batter and add a nice amount of dried natural fruits, like dates, apricots, raisins and prunes. Then we add crystallized ginger and dried pineapple. To this we add English and Black Walnuts and our own Hickory nuts, and spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. After baking it’s wrapped in cheesecloth, which has been soaked in brandy, and placed in an airtight tin. This sits in a cool place, being splashed weekly with more brandy, for a month. We’ll open it on Christmas. It’s good stuff!

Making fruitcake

We hope that all of you had a nice Thanksgiving and that the upcoming holiday season will be all that you want it to be. Whatever you celebrate, do so in the way that means the most to you. We’ll catch up with you again after the New Year.

Until next time,

Kathleen, Bob and Lunette

Bread rising by the fire