tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90917942709071101912024-02-19T05:51:21.635-07:00A posse ad esseGreen living, sustainability, homesteading, gardening, growing food, frugal, natural, organic, Green, simple living, Urban Farming, Chickens, Do it yourself.Paul Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13420342085380365248noreply@blogger.comBlogger696125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-69277975109823167342013-05-20T22:40:00.001-06:002013-05-20T22:40:50.305-06:00Farming when farming wasn't coolOK, OK, so that was a terrible play on a old country song, but it's kinda how I feel today.<br />
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Now mind you, I'm not a petty person by nature...usually... but I have to say I did get a good little chuckle to myself today when I was sitting in my office BSing with a couple of my friends that have know me since, and gave me a good bit of ribbing when, I started raising chickens and growing more food. Homesteading... you know. Anyway, I was sitting there with them as one was telling us how he's planning on building a chicken coop at his new house this winter so he can have some chickens next year. I gave him a little bit of a hard time about how "see... I knew you'd come around.." and then the other guy chimes in to say how "yeah I need to figure out how to make a coop too. My wife really wants to raise some chickens too."<br />
Oh man, to say I laughed is an understatement. I told them. See... You guys thought I was so crazy five and a half years ago when I started doing this stuff... Told me all the "gonna be a farmer" jokes and all... Now who's crazy??<br />
I guess I was just so far ahead of the curve from them that they couldn't see ever being in the same place. LOL<br />
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So like I said... "I was Farming.... when Farming wasn't cooooool!"<br />
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Hope all of you are doing great. I've been jobbing jobbing jobbing to finish up stuff here in time for both of our families coming out next week for my oldest sons graduation. But I have lots more goings on. Espalier, New garden areas and water harvesting swales to share.<br />
Hopefully soon.<br />
Best all.<br />
P~Paul Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13420342085380365248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-10459540736905099312013-05-07T10:00:00.000-06:002013-05-07T10:00:09.542-06:00Around the Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Been a busy couple of weeks on the farm and somehow I don't feel like I've gotten anything done. </div>
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The main project that I've been working on has been our irrigation ditches. They were neglected, though not terribly, but were in an unwieldy position for efficient crop watering as we plan to do. The only thing they were ever put to use for was to flood the pasture and let grass grow. With our significant modifications I hope to have a great deal more control of the water and can use it to it's most efficient end.</div>
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I often liken our property to a landing strip. It's nearly 1300 ft long and just shy of 90 feet wide. This photo is of the mass of the property, the home is off the page but you can see on the far left side of the property our triangular marshland area which is at the lowest part of the property and on the right side, the sweeping path of our main irrigation ditch as it was when we moved in. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVzbnBQ0VymYygJs3XRs0Uz0s-Dm5T2ktETGCDYKnniww7rdAdcBhkTDhyphenhyphenq-4wLwAe4U9ipe7WFX662INRBcU8DfIVEvd8MA9P_8Jepxh3XufrluMHa4r2GFGiwr7kpM3RWazo0166RGq/s1600/homescaleFarm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="43" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVzbnBQ0VymYygJs3XRs0Uz0s-Dm5T2ktETGCDYKnniww7rdAdcBhkTDhyphenhyphenq-4wLwAe4U9ipe7WFX662INRBcU8DfIVEvd8MA9P_8Jepxh3XufrluMHa4r2GFGiwr7kpM3RWazo0166RGq/s400/homescaleFarm.jpg" width="400" /></a>
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Here's a little closer image of the right side of the property so you can clearly see the irrigation ditch as it is... or WAS I should say. The old method of irrigation was to basically open gaps in the ditch bank and let water run to the left across the open field as you can see leaving quite a few un-watered areas.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCG3PUtQbGocEBaylgyL1TTvXwLpcHToZAXcr6Foe6bFFoSpIdMxW2fjbOL2G6v8wLTgu3LyPtK51hrrapWOrp-UqStrZY5CETDebVoyKSmJdpYYDvOAcyw3YD6Ii5QM1KSwgQbndG8I4/s1600/homescaleFarmClose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCG3PUtQbGocEBaylgyL1TTvXwLpcHToZAXcr6Foe6bFFoSpIdMxW2fjbOL2G6v8wLTgu3LyPtK51hrrapWOrp-UqStrZY5CETDebVoyKSmJdpYYDvOAcyw3YD6Ii5QM1KSwgQbndG8I4/s400/homescaleFarmClose.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Our primary modification to the irrigation plan has been to dig a new main ditch out into the property and then to add a three way split to send one line up to our neighbors property and the further down the irrigation line, and the the other line further into our own property to another 3-way split. This one will head down to our other new neighbors house for their fields to be irrigated... a thing that has not been done in years apparently. The existing ditch will be filled and our previously bifurcated "front garden" will be joined and of much greater use we hope. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZGKtXqfAhiHmt36LH785anYVVvbT7fr3LKJ9hDRAULw-tJpiB9kshVpdN-itFyw7m-XgYb2EMVJmrf_EOemJ1PMAZgtRcOcIhiV99NeN2AIrRVqA33zbuNPA2YN5A22zQ-OOrLKaqyFk/s1600/homescaleFarmWater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZGKtXqfAhiHmt36LH785anYVVvbT7fr3LKJ9hDRAULw-tJpiB9kshVpdN-itFyw7m-XgYb2EMVJmrf_EOemJ1PMAZgtRcOcIhiV99NeN2AIrRVqA33zbuNPA2YN5A22zQ-OOrLKaqyFk/s400/homescaleFarmWater.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When we brought the new ditch across the property we needed to replace the galvanized pipe that was there as a pass through allowing us to drive over. I had a great idea to try to manufacture one on my own from some steel 55 gallon drums that I have. I cut the bottoms out of a couple and banded them together. Upon bringing them over to the trench which had been dug for them and rolling them in... they abruptly fell apart. This DID NOT work.. Ha.. well dangit, it was worth a try I guess.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVHgsTXONQOea9E9PW_CjenHMtHX_TEeR-8k30P-4cqIDCqz8x6_K52DIS0EEIrg4-l_EqKboApnFnWUttaOF76vII4jR1Qz50AOLn5MQ5nimMGeNJP52JCejioUmk1j_zZFJci4uUCtU/s1600/IMAG1718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVHgsTXONQOea9E9PW_CjenHMtHX_TEeR-8k30P-4cqIDCqz8x6_K52DIS0EEIrg4-l_EqKboApnFnWUttaOF76vII4jR1Qz50AOLn5MQ5nimMGeNJP52JCejioUmk1j_zZFJci4uUCtU/s400/IMAG1718.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So a couple of days later I bit the bullet and went ahead and paid $152.00 for a 12 foot section of shiny new corrugated galvanized pipe which I promptly buried beneath a pile of clay soil!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneQZtAT36hly0TMUY3pjZqBghPxK9uLChFMKRb1NDUSdWm_dJ-TBE386AsxSW8rHcxvcvTaICOVVumOr7qeAE6ZuPJu1s1iRewmI-Rh6OXNB9-DSzQRNJyMt0OmDnQozIos748EVIQW35/s1600/IMAG1722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgneQZtAT36hly0TMUY3pjZqBghPxK9uLChFMKRb1NDUSdWm_dJ-TBE386AsxSW8rHcxvcvTaICOVVumOr7qeAE6ZuPJu1s1iRewmI-Rh6OXNB9-DSzQRNJyMt0OmDnQozIos748EVIQW35/s400/IMAG1722.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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The next couple of day saw my back getting made sore by digging out, cleaning and building up the head gates. The one below is the second split which will head off to our South neighbors. The right side head gate leads out into our back field.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzxbrThzbNo2A1hly2RFRdYbwrFy7LsuUQ82vO6jJKn5PRV7Io0bPXtfWE9lPJsS2VMD28dk1uMk3xmbw5cuMb7iclFT1KUcwi89_m2-5GnNWn5jQlT7YQZ3k6sdtP-ZpCaoMbBhyphenhyphenosqo/s1600/IMAG1725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzxbrThzbNo2A1hly2RFRdYbwrFy7LsuUQ82vO6jJKn5PRV7Io0bPXtfWE9lPJsS2VMD28dk1uMk3xmbw5cuMb7iclFT1KUcwi89_m2-5GnNWn5jQlT7YQZ3k6sdtP-ZpCaoMbBhyphenhyphenosqo/s400/IMAG1725.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And this is the main head gate coming in from the main ditch. The concrete pipe leads out into our property and just on the right you can see the new steel pipe going up to our North neighbor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNKjfKt_BSIZroUF_Xp14-X6cticDeasx_PW9qLjoWhtALrxSbA9ANG4wtn55xFhjy98ThSzM_YOqLEUBkpcrKt-DW_Gv1xvXBGyJYno9NInNjEY_R_Lq_x3KJekTJwyDcLfd959Vs53_/s1600/IMAG1735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNKjfKt_BSIZroUF_Xp14-X6cticDeasx_PW9qLjoWhtALrxSbA9ANG4wtn55xFhjy98ThSzM_YOqLEUBkpcrKt-DW_Gv1xvXBGyJYno9NInNjEY_R_Lq_x3KJekTJwyDcLfd959Vs53_/s400/IMAG1735.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was lucky to be able to get the last head gate built just in time for the water to be turned down the ditch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaYp8cLM6sXJk7epwQU174ZCEkfXcBC5LxCPrTizcMtmRg0tu_xtdriUNkdzXCYuHmOjLg3PZ2Qg7gGmdQ9Wp_A0HA9Bp3WwnPVT5li6I1-TdemH5QECjrYnhiKzL895RTIpsMbeabAII/s1600/IMAG1738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaYp8cLM6sXJk7epwQU174ZCEkfXcBC5LxCPrTizcMtmRg0tu_xtdriUNkdzXCYuHmOjLg3PZ2Qg7gGmdQ9Wp_A0HA9Bp3WwnPVT5li6I1-TdemH5QECjrYnhiKzL895RTIpsMbeabAII/s400/IMAG1738.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So like I said, I feel like I don't see a lot coming along, but really there's been quite a lot. Water is here, spring is upon us, and although I STILL don's have anything but fruit trees in the ground, we will get there eventually.<br />
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More to come.<br />
Best to you all.<br />
P~Paul Gardenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13420342085380365248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-9909144166812159242013-04-19T22:58:00.000-06:002013-04-19T22:58:23.550-06:00Old Garage Recycle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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We have some serious structure building on the farm that will need to get done over the summer and that means lots of wood and building materials. So what's a couple of frugal types to do?? Look online to the local free classifieds and see what kind of building materials are available of course!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMhmrg2-m6fXePpF3tICh24B0I-Uf1247NaWfUlnwxAyBDQJJ7PIsgWfJHZVUBE7UB9G6mdzOQ2EyDPlgpKPd3R-ElvB5fTnHqz4OkVadJOz6wZceOvEjhAWmFfuEoQz7u0RUr5RpfSDB/s1600/IMAG1672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMhmrg2-m6fXePpF3tICh24B0I-Uf1247NaWfUlnwxAyBDQJJ7PIsgWfJHZVUBE7UB9G6mdzOQ2EyDPlgpKPd3R-ElvB5fTnHqz4OkVadJOz6wZceOvEjhAWmFfuEoQz7u0RUr5RpfSDB/s320/IMAG1672.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As luck would have it a local family is preparing to tear down this old garage and are giving away any of the wood we could take. We focused on the siding which turned out to be tongue in groove 2-6's that will be used <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4UEPC3WJiFI/UXIdp2lEY-I/AAAAAAAAD4E/aW2j3hecZKw/s1600/IMAG1681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4UEPC3WJiFI/UXIdp2lEY-I/AAAAAAAAD4E/aW2j3hecZKw/s320/IMAG1681.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It took a little time to get the rhythm, but we pulled a big pile of good wood from the outside. This was just the start.<br />
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We also were able to salvage a few good pieces of plywood, some rain gutters and flashing. All of which will go to use in helping us build a solid and permanent poultry coop. One that we can house the birds in over winters and while they're not on pasture. More to come as we put it all to use!<br />
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P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-4697477577740374512013-04-14T23:26:00.000-06:002013-04-14T23:26:00.890-06:00long time gone...Well I'm appalled at myself for my delay in getting a new post up. I do plead for forgiveness however as I have been insanely busy and unfortunately many of the things that I would like to do have fallen by the wayside.. blogging being only one of many.<br />
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Just to give you a bit of what's been going on. I thought perhaps a brief rundown in photographic form. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfW7cDpuOlCaDfAu6VwXMO6MLkjyI63QgJOFLepK6NJL5XckG-f95pvohUhIQE2gU61CJTv7fZ7O_g4hgkvnKi5gXX38vmkRNC-kb79xPRjcYNksGdo-VcQBC96c3aXSdQG449CC205m1/s1600/IMAG1439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfW7cDpuOlCaDfAu6VwXMO6MLkjyI63QgJOFLepK6NJL5XckG-f95pvohUhIQE2gU61CJTv7fZ7O_g4hgkvnKi5gXX38vmkRNC-kb79xPRjcYNksGdo-VcQBC96c3aXSdQG449CC205m1/s320/IMAG1439.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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We finally wrapped up the remodel of the basement living room and library areas. My wife did an amazing job of updating our fireplace with a whitewash finish and we added new flooring to replace the terrible old white carpet that was in there.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yLcSJz9W1Uw/UWuBGIoKkqI/AAAAAAAAD20/1G25LZOMM5w/s1600/IMAG1476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yLcSJz9W1Uw/UWuBGIoKkqI/AAAAAAAAD20/1G25LZOMM5w/s320/IMAG1476.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As I said, we also re-finished the library adjoining the living room. We ended up having to remove all the old shelving that was in there and it was a good thing as we found some serious concerns with electrical behind them. Problems resolved and a nice new functional area defined.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-brSfbMzPTDM/UWuB9HXP0RI/AAAAAAAAD28/aCObY1-YnGI/s1600/IMAG1555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-brSfbMzPTDM/UWuB9HXP0RI/AAAAAAAAD28/aCObY1-YnGI/s320/IMAG1555.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Easter found us at a Krishna Temple an hour away to celebrate the festival of Holi with them and a few thousand of their closest friends. It was AMAZING and we will certainly be back.</div>
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We added a few new birds to our menagerie. Three turkeys, two ducks, and 9 new hens. 3 Buff Opies, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Ameraucana, 2 Silver lace Wyandottes. They're growing up so fast..lol</div>
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I took cuttings from a friends OLD established grape vines. A green seedless Himrod and a Concord grape varieties. I currently have 109 cuttings in the ground hoping to have at least enough viable starts to begin a vineyard on the property.</div>
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We also finally got out pigs out of the well house in which they've lived since Christmas eve. We cleaned out and renovated an old "barn" in on the property and with all recycled materials that were pulled from the grounds, we fabricated a nice new pig pen.</div>
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The pigs, needless to say, are much happier rooting and wallowing away in snortingly happy tones.</div>
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Last week I managed to get a few of our 9 new bare root fruit trees into the ground. This row is of two apple trees and two Asian pears. I need yet to add a Bartlett pear to the lineup. These will be trained in an Espalier living fence. </div>
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And finally last weekend, my wife got a great idea to complete one of our final big home projects. Our upstairs bathroom. We had to remove two layers of underlayment to reveal that we had some rot in our subfloor around the toilet and bath tub. Got these removed and A~ got the walls painted and some new flooring put in place. She's working on a cool board and batten treatment for the walls that will really bring it up to date. </div>
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So you can see, I haven't been completely lazy, just a wee bit occupied. There were lots more things as well, but not enough time to put them all down here. I'll just say that I have big news coming up soon with relation to this blog and our farm itself. </div>
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I hope you have all been well and look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible!</div>
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Take care.</div>
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P~</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-20258779853550244022013-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:002013-01-27T06:00:04.990-07:00A Shameless Plug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I mentioned a little while back that I was fortunate enough to get to be teaching a class in Vegetable Gardening Basics coming up just next week with the University of Utah's Lifelong Learning program. Just one more week.. can you believe it. I hardly can... seems it crept up on me!<br />
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If you've heard of the class and are sitting on the fence as to whether you'd like to attend, I thought a nice little teaser of some of the things I'll be covering would be a good idea. And a few bits of garden eye candy to go along with it couldn't hurt either. If you're looking to get a great start on your garden this year, now is a great time to learn some of the basics and I'd love to be the one to do it. Hope to see you in a little over a week! You can go <a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/llhg_529_vegetable_gardening_basics" target="_blank">HERE</a> to register for <a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/llhg_529_vegetable_gardening_basics" target="_blank">Vegetable Gardening Basics</a> or check out all the Lifelong learning classes at: <a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/classes">http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/classes</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-61152479797649351822013-01-14T09:00:00.000-07:002013-01-14T09:00:00.963-07:00Upside-down fire and Efficient energy use<div align="justify">
A friend of mine linked to a really interesting article about fire the other day and it "sparked" my curiosity. I know, fire - the oldest of mans arts, how interesting could it be right? Well, it was an article from <a href="http://milkwood.net/">Milkwood Permaculture</a> about a thing called an <a href="http://milkwood.net/2013/01/07/making-an-upside-down-fire/">upside down fire</a>. I've seen fires that are fed from the top and burn sideways, a la Rocket stoves, but never heard of an upside down fire. I had to give this thing a try. <br />
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The idea in a nutshell is to stack the fire inversely to how you would typically start a fire, by putting the big, heavy logs on the bottom first and then slowly getting smaller towards the top ending with kindling and some starter paper or whatever on top. I went ahead and stacked mine three levels deep in our wood burning fireplace and got it started. I have to admit, I was vocally pessimistic about it.
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The idea is to capitalize on the fact that while the flames, smoke and gasses in a fire may move upward away from the fire, that the radiant heat from the actual combustion moves equally out away from the fire in all directions.<br />
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As the combustion heat from the fire radiates downward as well as up, it preheats the wood below it prior to it catching fire. This aids in it's more efficient burn and reduced smoke. The picture above was was about the time that I started thinking "You know.. this may just work."<br />
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And then by this point I was sold... More so even than the fact that it continued to burn downward, which honestly did kind of amaze me, but the fact that I didn't have to do anything to it. I just sat back, watched some TV with the wife and our boys and enjoyed the heat!<br />
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And you have to understand, I have a bit of a fire obsession. I am always moving the logs and re-stacking when they're not burning evenly... but there was really none of that. I only had to adjust them once. Then when the initial wood load had burned down, I moved some of the coals off to the side, added new wood and stacked coals on it. Poof. right back on fire and much much more efficient burning over all. If I had to try to put a number on it, I would guess somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% added efficiency.
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Then, when we were getting ready to turn in and the fire had burned down to a pile of very nice, orange coals. I decided to live up to Milkwood Permaculture's suggestion and put those coals to some use. I don't know how it will work out, but before we went off to bed, I added a couple of foil wrapped potatoes to the coals to see how they cook up over night. I don't think it will have enough heat to finish them, but I am going to cube them and fry then with some eggs in the morning anyway. We'll see if this saves me a little time? I'll finish this post in the morning with the verdict...
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And the clear answer to the question of if that will work is YES! This worked fantastically. I got up in the morning, unwrapped these and they were cooked to perfection! We had baked potatoes a few nights earlier and these potatoes were really hard to cook. Very firm. This way though, they were perfectly done. I chopped them up the next morning and gave them a quick fry for some breakfast burritos and they were delicious, so I heartily give this a thumbs up!
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Wishing you the best till next time! Thanks for dropping by.<br />
P~
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-22960912477313386572013-01-08T13:00:00.000-07:002013-01-08T13:00:00.640-07:00Lifelong Learning Vegetable Gardening BasicsYou may remember me mentioning in my last post that I would have some great new news to share with you very soon. Well I do! <br />
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The University of Utah lifelong learning program has asked me to be one of their instructors during the Spring Session and I have agreed to whole-heartedly! I will be teaching a "<a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/llhg_529_vegetable_gardening_basics" target="_blank">Vegetable Gardening Basics</a>" class for five weeks beginning on February 5th and running through March 5th. In addition, I will be teaching another class at the end of March on "<a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/class/llhg_566_maximize_your_garden_production" target="_blank">Maximizing your Garden Production</a>" focusing on space-saving techniques, trellising and other ways to maximize your garden in small spaces. That class will run from March 26th through April 2nd. <br />
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I was flattered greatly that they thought of me for these classes and, although a little nervous, I am super excited to get to do them. I've taught vegetable gardening basics a number of times with the Master Gardener extension service program, but they have always been in relatively short one session classes. They always seem to feel rushed and I always felt like it would be great to really get to "dig" into some of the topics more deeply. This will be my chance. <br />
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If you are reading this and are in the greater Salt Lake City area and are interested in the class. Please go to the<a href="http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong" target="_blank"> Lifelong Learning website</a> at the University of Utah website and register. For that matter, if your in the area at all, go to the site and check out all they have to offer. From gardening, to pasta making, to photography and Chinese for travelers they have to much to offer! It's a great program and I'm so proud to be a part of it.<br />
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For those interested, I will post more details of the topics to be covered in the days to come. I look forward to seeing you there!<br />
P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-15778756064337799892013-01-08T11:00:00.000-07:002013-01-08T11:00:08.278-07:00Permaculture Course - Video 6<div justify="justify" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s1600/Permaculture_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s200/Permaculture_icon.jpg" width="179" /></a>Well the holidays were great for us and I did manage to watch a number of the videos from this series although I haven't yet documented them. I've not gotten a lot of feedback on these reviews so, although I will still be reviewing them because more than anything this blog is still for me..., I will not be doing any real in depth analysis of them other than to just kind of order some of my ideas here in a pseudo formal setting. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, regardless of if or how you celebrated it.
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This video was primarily focused on the design process... or at least that was the gist of it. I have enjoyed each of these videos quite a bit, but I do have the singular criticism that Dr Hooker is quite wordy and prone to tangents and I think some really valuable subject matters tend to sometimes get glossed over from time to time. This class was one of those to a certain degree but still had a bunch of great information.
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To start things off, we went through he scientific process. In essence, and in case you are rusty in your Middle School science topics, the scientific process is basically - Observe, Hypothesize, Test, Analyze results and come to a Conclusion. There were also a number of other methods that he went over, such as the Koberg/Bagnall Process (From the Universal Traveler) and the "New Age Process". Over all they all come down to the root of pay attention and observe what is going on on the land already before beginning any design process, Come up with how you best think you should proceed based on those observations, put it in to action and analyze what happens. Afterword, conclude whether it is working and modify it accordingly. I agree with this process completely and have found it to be the correct way to go through much experience.
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Observation<br />
The first part of this process is to observe. Collect data regarding your property by observing it casually, as well as by using the physical tools available to us that have been proven throughout the years. (I will get more into some of these tools in a later dedicated post at some point.) Tools such as Topographic maps, pegging the slope, weather data and such.
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One particular tool that he puts into use during his design process phase is called a <a href="http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/permaculture_sectors.html">Sector Analysis</a>. The sector analysis is a way of documenting what Dr. Hooker calls the "wild energies" coming into a property from all sides. Those wild energies may be wind, sun, or people energies. Also documented in the Sector Analysis are views, access points and such, as well as the differing sun inputs based on the solar seasons. This will be one of the first things that I do when I begin designing in detail my garden here on my new land.
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Another great tool that he goes into with some detail is a sort of North arrow compass rose that he integrates into all of his design projects. What it does is to document, in relation to the property and it's orientation, the path of the sun and the light coming into the landscape.
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Probably the best thing I got from this, honestly, was a wonderfully simple explanation of how to determine and calculate the amount of sun coming in at a particular angle based on the season and the angle of the sun. I understood the concept as a basic part of passive solar heating and cooling, but didn't quite have my head wrapped around the math behind it. This math can be put into use when determining placement and design of any landscape features that may affect the plantings in the garden.
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The final portion of this class was to show how a landscape analysis drawing gets put together and how it illustrates all these factors in one place. This will be an invaluable process in our design phase. I will definitely go into this with much greater detail in the future.
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It really was a pretty darned informative class. I realized exactly how much so as I reviewed my notes and re-watched portions of it as I went through creating this post. It was well worth the watch.
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Now that the holidays are over I will be trying to get these video reviews up a little more regularly. Although, I do have some really cool new news that I will be sharing with you here very shortly that will take a portion of my scarce free time. It will be well worth it though!
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Talk again soon. <br />
P~
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-77778299320238537252012-12-01T10:00:00.000-07:002012-12-01T10:00:00.073-07:00Permaculture Course - Video 5<div justify="justify">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s1600/Permaculture_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s200/Permaculture_icon.jpg" width="179" /></a>Hi again... For all my friends in the US, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I took the last couple of weeks off to complete a couple of house projects that we needed to get done before having out 15 guests over for the Thanksgiving holiday. I did watch video 5 however, and a few others as well, and have begun video 6 so I guess I best get caught up with this reviewing process. This lecture was about Trees and Forests and their impact.
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Dr Hooker first started off with a talk about Biomes, as discussed in the last lecture. He showed an illustration of the worlds biomes that I found really interesting. It was a little different than this one from the USDA but the information is essentially the same.
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I found it really interesting to see how the same biomes are repeated around the world. I think it's a good tool to think about as we plan our garden designs to think about the foods and plants that are grown in the similar biomes to our own in the different parts of the world. Because of these differences between the various biomes, Dr hooker makes the very valid point of saying wherever you are, or end up starting your garden, take a permaculture class in that region as it will have the most pertinent information for you. This biome difference got me thinking about trees that I could plant on my own land that I could use for food, fuel and soil enrichment.
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Trees are like the lungs of the earth. As they respire, they add oxygen to the atmosphere, but even more they transpire water that has been pulled up from the deep soil. That water adds to the atmosphere as well and has a measurable influence on the hydrologic (precipitation) cycle as well. In addition to this, Trees in our garden, create predictable and stable micro climates by shading the soil, breaking the wind and, depending on the type of species (Leguminous), can add fertility as well. Also, as I mentioned in passing earlier, they can obviously provide food in a completely different vertical arena than our low growing annual vegetables and can provide renewable fuel as well.
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"Trees are,for the earth, the ultimate translators and moderators or incoming energy."
~Bill Mollison<br />
Trees can create edgse in our gardens. As they capture energy (Sunlight, wind) they provide safe places for different species to take hold. Capturing wind driven seed, providing a place where both sunlight and shade meet allow for greater bio-diversity than monoculture areas. As the leaves drop and decay over time, trees also help build soil by creating a thick blanket of mulch below them.
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Not only do trees provide benefits for our gardens, but for our homesteads as well. By having trees around our homes we can help keep our home temperatures more moderated from the outside temperatures. The shade and evapo-transfer of water through the trees leaves dissipate heat in the heat of the day. Conversely, In the winter months, trees can help to hold heat closer to the house by capturing it under it's branches and holding it close to the soil.
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This was not a hugely information dense lecture, but one I know I will keep in mind as I move forward with my farm plan. I look forward to the next lecture on design and site analysis.
Assignments for Next week... (Lecture 7/8) is Gaia's garden chapter 3.
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And I leave you with these words from Rosemary Morrow, _Earth Users Guide to Permaculture 2nd Edit_~
A forest cannot be precisely measured or costed. Neither can its destruction. However, we do know that removing forests results in water loss, nutrient loss, soil loss, salinity problems, river flooding, local drought, habitat loss and destabilizing the climate. How do we cost these?
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-22447857499415210822012-11-14T22:16:00.000-07:002012-11-14T22:16:14.491-07:00Great new Geoff Lawton VideoLet me just take a minute to share with you a link to an amazing new <a href="http://www.geofflawton.com/" target="_blank">Permaculture video</a> that Permaculture Guru Geoff Lawton has made available just recently. <br />
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Geoff Lawton, if you're not familiar with him is a truly inspirational permaculture figure that in my book ranks right up there with Mollison and Holmgren. His work in greening the desert was nothing short of amazing. Search for it on YouTube.. really.. it's a miracle garden.<br />
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If you've been checking in for the permculture updates, take a detour and watch this video. You'll be anxiously waiting for the next installment I have no doubt.<br />
Cheers.<br />
P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-5750458981936746552012-11-10T20:16:00.002-07:002012-11-10T20:18:59.689-07:00Permaculture Course - Video 4 <div justify="justify">
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Short run down on this video. It was one that, while it had a lot of good information, I didn't feel like an of it was really new stuff, mostly it was an opportunity for the instructor to garner a little "street cred" by showing off his personal garden and it's progression through their time there.<br />
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That said, it wasn't in anyway a brag fest or anything, and it gave the instructor a good opportunity to go over some of the ideas of permaculture, along with his personal take about it, in a visual form. Interestingly, it turns out that pretty much all the pictures on the cover of the latest publication of the Gais Garden book that's out are from Dr Hooker's house. He has been involved in permaculture for a number of years and has apparently become good friends with a number of the "big boys" of permaculture around the world. <br />
<br />
As I said, not a lot to report on this video, it was enjoyable if a little light on new information. Next class promises to be interesting though, Homework assignment is to read chapter 10 in Gaia's Garden, which is all about Food Forests, And to watch _<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3uvzcY2Xug" target="_blank">The End of Suburbia</a>_. I've done both and I'm ready for the next class.<br />
<br />
Just out of curiousity... anyone getting anything from these reviews? Better yet, anyone going through them as well? <br />
<br />
Best<br />
Paul~<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-59618206276024722312012-11-06T07:00:00.000-07:002012-11-06T07:00:12.950-07:00Permaculture Course - Video 3<div align="justify">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s1600/Permaculture_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s200/Permaculture_icon.jpg" width="179" /></a>Well, it's been a little over a week since the last post and I've been hard at this course I'm trying to work through. As I get into it, I am beginning to think that this whole course, if it continues as it has been, will likely take me nearly a year! There is so much information to absorb and I've been making the additional effort to complete assignments that were given to the class as best I can as well. I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of it though and it has me thinking non stop about the future of our new home-scale farm. And speaking of the new farm, I've been trying to think of a name for it; all farms need a title right? I was trying to think of something I liked just out of thin air, but just didn't seem inspired by anything. I thought it would be best to just wait until the land whispered in my ear a little and hinted at her name. I'm not sure I'm hearing correctly, but I'm getting something about the two foxes that call her home. Maybe Two-foxes Farm? Foxwood Farm? I don't know... any thoughts?
<br />
<br />
OK, enough small talk... let's get to Permaculture!!<br />
This Video installment was the third video, and the first half of the Second lecture and it was also full of information. Homework assignments for this were to watch _In Danger of Falling Food_ with Bill Mollison on YouTube and to read the first two chapters in _Gaias Garden_ by Toby Hemenway. The Former was very interesting, if not a bit dated and a little cheesy, and the latter is shaping up to be a real favorite.
First off, this lecture talked about Permaculture as a way of thinking. Dr Hooker says that while many people take the principles of Permaculture as pure "gospel", that we shouldn't. There are pieces in it for everyone. Take what you can incorporate and keep it's principles in mind as a way of looking at the world as you design your gardens and farms.
Originally conceived in Australia, Permaculture traditionally looks at things through the lens of "forest gardens" or "food forests", but as the principles have spread throughout the world, it has found that within each biome, or climatic region, there are plant/animal/human relationships that meet the permaculture principles.
<br />
<br />
Garden Ecology:
Ecos - from the Greek for "house" and ology from the Greek for "to study". Ecology is the study of the relationships that the living organisms within an environment have with each other. These relationships and these organisms, best estimates put that at around 30 million species, only exists withing the earths biosphere. That's a term I've heard and I pretty much understand, but the professor makes a really good point when he talks about how large it may seem to us, but in relation to the whole earth it is but a mere sliver of life that we have to live on. It makes you think.
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<br />
One of the homework assignments, as I mentioned, was reading through chapter 2 in Gaia's Garden. I've really, really enjoyed it so far and intend to, as I have time available, finish the whole book. The author, Toby Hemenway, uses wonderful analogies to make points about typical gardening techniques and how, although they are rooted in well meaning and came from legitimate problems that were trying to be solved, go so completely against what nature has in mind for the earth. We are, in effect, fighting nature at every turn. A couple of good examples of this are weeds and natural succession. Weeds it seems, and I think we can all see this, are natures pioneer species. When the earth is disturbed, and particularly when it is laid bare, weeds are sent in like they were the front line troops in a fight against the elements. They cover ground quickly, prevent over drying of the soil, hold soil fast against erosion and creating a bio-rich area for future plants to move into. The more we weed, clear and till our land, we are asking for weeds to show up. I thought about what my Master Gardener instructor had told us about pruning fruit trees. We think of pruning as saying "don't grow here, don't grow here and don't grow here..." The tree hears "Grow here, grow here and grow here..." We need to get our language on the same page. As for natural succession, nature first covers ground in weeds and grasses or, as she sees them... pioneers. Their deep roots bring minerals and nutrients to the surface, hold moisture and when they die they build fertility in the soil for larger more permanent plants to move in. In our typical suburban yards, we have essentially created young landscapes of grasses lined with "forrest areas" of larger more decorative plants or trees. Then, as the soil fertility builds and tries to allow the tree roots to take hold or new larger plants to move in... "weeds"... we use chemicals or machines to artificially return it to a youthful state, i.e. grass. It's a never ending cycle because we are feeding the grasses and making them do what they do, and then when they try to pass on to the next succession, we beat them back again. Madness!!<br />
<br />
The lecture took great divergences into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level" target="_blank">trophic levels</a> and an actually pretty interesting bit of theory on the relationship of faith (theology) and our place in a position outside the trophic levels that I thought made a good point in basically saying that if we see ourselves as masters of the word and outside of the cycles of the natural world it is much easier for us to manipulate it because it becomes in essence just "materials". We need to re-integrate ourselves into that natural cycle. <br />
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Finally the lecture wrapped up talking about energy flows; the way that embodied energy flows from our only true power source... the sun... into everything on earth. I had never heard the term embodied energy before, but it makes sense to me. In everything we touch, eat, consume, or in how we travel around there is a certain level of energy embodied in that object or action. Permaculture teaches that as designers we should base designs on maximizing this energy by using it from the highest point down the ladder so that all energy is used productively and not wasted. Just as light moves through the forest canopy; much is taken up front by the canopy trees, what remains moves down to the lower shrub and small tree layer - the plants that can only tolerate partial sunlight - and finally what little ambient light remains goes into those shade loving plants that live in the understory and thrive in that shadiness. At each level a different piece of the energy is used. This maximizes the productivity and efficiency of the forest and it's a way of thinking about energy use that can help us to become more efficient and lower consumers as well.<br />
<br />
The last piece from this lecture that I will pass on is his "Tricks for Creating Ecological Gardens":<br />
<ul>
<li>Soil Building</li>
<li>Perennials - vs- Annuals</li>
<li>Multiple Stories</li>
<li>Plant Communities "Guilds"</li>
<li>Stacking Functions</li>
</ul>
It was a great lecture and I look forward to sharing the next one too. I also look forward to more comments from you on your experiences and thoughts. <br />
Namaste.<br />
P~</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-49539013559213921052012-10-23T22:14:00.002-06:002012-10-23T22:14:35.517-06:00Permaculture course Video 2<div justify="justify">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s1600/Permaculture_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s200/Permaculture_icon.jpg" width="179" /></a>I've watched a second video in the Permaculture series and it was great! After the slow start of all the class business that needed to be covered the instructor, Dr. Hooker, really just jumped right into the thick of things. After giving an idea of why he feels permaculture, and more specifically sustainability, is important now he got into some of the big ideas.<br />
<br />
Dr Hooker first off spent a bit of time talking about cycles and the "systems" that we live in. One of the main ideas of permaculture is learning to design systems. Understanding our part in those systems and designing accordingly. Currently most people live in a cycle that takes resources from one place, changes it (manufacturing), and then disposes of it into some sort of "sink" or landfill essentially. That isn't a cyclical system, it's a pattern of consumption. A system, at least from what I got from it, takes into account the different ways that a resource can be used, reused, then redirected into the next system that may build upon it. There is no waste in nature.<br />
<br />
He also spent a bit of time talking about the Gaia theory. I have not done a lot of reading on this - it's on my list - but I do subscribe to it from what I understand of it. During his talk on the Gaia theory he made an interesting comment. In talking about our beliefs and how many, most actually, are of the "When I see it I'll believe it" mindset, he decided some time back that he would take the opposite path and believe it, and see what he sees. That belief changes your perspective; I liked that. Take this challenge that he gave as an assignment. This week, believe that the earth is a living, sentient being, then see what you see while walking around on this living being... It's an interesting way of looking at things.<br />
<br />
The final part of this lecture was just sort of covering the main differences between the Basic Principles of the permaculture "founders" Bill Mollison and David Holmgrens, as well as his own "list" of permaculture principles that he's distilled on his own from what he has learned from both of these men as well as from others. I thought I'd list the principles here for our reference.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: black;">Bill Mollison's Permaculture Principles:</span></strong><br />
<ol>
<li> Relative location</li>
<li>Each element performs many functions</li>
<li>Each important function is supported by many elements</li>
<li>Efficient energy planning</li>
<li>Using biological resources</li>
<li>Energy cycling</li>
<li>Small scale intensive systems</li>
<li>Accelerating succession and evolution</li>
<li>Diversity</li>
<li>Edge Effects</li>
</ol>
<strong><span style="color: black;">Dvid Holmgren's Permaculture Principles:</span></strong><br />
<ol>
<li>Observe and interact</li>
<li>Catch and store energy</li>
<li>Obtain a yield</li>
<li>Apply self-regulation and accept feedback</li>
<li>Use and value renewable resources and services.</li>
<li>Produce no waste</li>
<li>Design from pattern to details</li>
<li>Integrate rather than segregate</li>
<li>Use small and slow solutions</li>
<li>Use and value diversity</li>
<li>Use edges and value the marginal</li>
<li>Creatively use and respond to change</li>
</ol>
<strong><span style="color: black;">Dr Hookers Permaculture Principles:</span></strong><br />
<ol>
<li>Observe and interact</li>
<li>Relative location or connections</li>
<li>Energy cycling</li>
<li>Each element performs many functions</li>
<li>Each function is supported by many elements</li>
<li>Efficient energy planning</li>
<li>Small scale intensive systems</li>
<li>Use edges and value the marginal</li>
<li>Accelerate succession and evolution</li>
<li>Use and value diversity</li>
<li>Using biological resources</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div justify="justify">
Dr. Hookers list is, as you can see, basically a mash up of the two different ideas, but I think it's genuinely a good mash up.
The last half of this lecture Dr hooker went into details of the different principles on his list. If you'd like, I can go more into those details, but honestly if permaculture is something that you're interested in implementing in your yard, homestead or garden I heartily encourage you to watch this video installment.
<br />
As I said, if you'd like me to go into more detail on the principles I'd be happy to, but I don't think I would do it justice in just a blog post, plus I don't know how much interest there is in hearing my opinions of it anyway. If you are working on implementing permaculture principles and would like to share an of your information, please do so. If you have questions or comments, I'd love to hear them. Ultimately the greater the discussion we can generate, hopefully the better we can all learn to understand this intricate and complex philosophy.
<br />
Till next installment.
<br />
Namaste<br />
P~
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-48422390533356614742012-10-17T00:13:00.001-06:002012-10-17T00:13:25.769-06:00Permaculture course - Video 1As I mentioned in my <a href="http://apaetoday.blogspot.com/2012/10/beginning-permaculture-investigation.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, I've been really leaning towards taking a more permaculture-centric approach in the development of our new property. I know that I want to develop the property into a home scale agricultural business in some way, most likely by becoming providers to the local foods purveyors and farmers markets in our area, but quite possibly in other ways not yet defined. At the same time, I have a full time job and have no immediate plans to leave it, so anything that I do will need to be very sustainable as it moves forward. I hope that my investigation into permaculture techniques will help me as I work this year to develop a plan to move forward towards that goal to find ways of maximizing my work flow, providing for sustainable progress and bountiful yields in our future.<br />
This past weekend, I watched the first of the 38 full length videos provided online by the Permaculture Media Blog. (By the way, I also noticed that the University of North Carolina who was responsible for creating the videos in the first place has them streamable online as well, although they do list these course videos as only for the use of students enrolled in the course so... I will henceforth not be "disseminating" the video materials that I found by googling "permaculture media blog 40 hr course" by linking to them unless I am able to find out that they are in fact free to be shared) <br />
Anyway, the first video was, since it is basically a video of a college course, basically a preface of the class materials, an introduction to the professor, Dr. Will Hooker, and a little bit of class business that really doesn't apply in this situation. I have begun the second video and it really goes into more of the principles behind permaculture design. I won't go too much into it, but it looks like this will really be an informative journey.<br />
I look forward to finishing the next video soon and breaking down my impressions for you.<br />
Till next time...<br />
P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-84801138566829411012012-10-09T23:15:00.000-06:002012-10-17T00:06:29.180-06:00Beginning a Permaculture Investigation<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s1600/Permaculture_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oumlW7-rye4/UHUDzA1hwAI/AAAAAAAADwY/PFWB7FEl2iw/s200/Permaculture_icon.jpg" width="180" /></a>
Although I have not, and by all accounts will not, do much work on our new "Homescale Farm" this year. I still continue to focus a lot of back burner brain power on what it is that I'd like to do with it. More and more that brain power is pointing me in the direction of permaculture as the direction I'd like to at least focus my attentions. To that end, I've decided to go through a collegiate permaculture course via the internet in the hope that I can gain a more full understanding of it, as well as to hopefully begin to formulate some ideas about what, where and how I'd like to proceed on the back few acres. <br />
<br />
The courses (link that I found by googling "permaculture media blog 40 hr course" has been removed so as not to further "disseminate" video materials) I have found and will be viewing were placed online by the Permaculture Media Blog. They have a full 40 hr lecture course that is on line in high resolution videos. I'm going to go through them one at a time in the hopes of, as I said, gaining a better understanding of what permaculture really means, and how it can apply to us on our piece of earth. <br />
<br />
I'm thinking right now that I'm going to go ahead an review - no, let me rephrase that, recap - the class lectures as I complete them in case you are interested, but primarily for my own reference. <br />
If you'd like to follow along, or even participate, perhaps we can create a venue for some friendly debate and discussion. Let me know if any one's interested at all and we'll see if we can schedule something. <br />
<br />
Either way, I look forward to it. I feel like it will be a good use of my winter free time, what free time I'll have that is with still having to finish my basement... busy busy...<br />
<br />
Hope all is well with you all and I look forward to hearing from you.<br />
Best.<br />
Paul ~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-71768458240792450852012-10-02T22:31:00.002-06:002012-10-02T22:31:35.624-06:00Gardener: Ancient term for "bad hunter"<div style="text-align: justify;">
Could the word "Gardener" just be an old name given to the "bad hunter" of the tribe? Sort of an ancient way of saying "don't quit your day job"? Maybe, maybe not. But I am starting to wonder. The last couple of years I have gone up on the deer hunt in our local mountains and I have actively hunted. When I say I actively hunted, I mean that I didn't just drive around in my truck looking through binoculars off the side of the road; I hiked, hiked, sat patiently, hiked some more and then hiked back. I covered a lot of ground, much of it up or down hill and found a lot of deer. However, I continue to only see does (a deer, a female deer...) and no bucks. So I find myself having to wonder, A: Has the UT department of wildlife resources dramatically screwed up on their buck to doe ratio counts? or B. Do I just suck as a hunter?<br />
<br />
Now obviously I prefer to not think that I am a terrible hunter. I truly do put in the effort when I hunt, but this is getting pretty ridiculous!? I think for the foreseeable future, I am going to restrict myself to small game and fish. (With the exception of course of this year when two of my boys will be going hunting later in the month.) The cost in time and money to continue to participate in a fruitless venture is just not OK with me. I hate to say it, but I really think that our deer herds are being terribly mismanaged at this point and I don't need to keep feeding that beast so to speak. I say that because I was just in the mountains for five days, hiking and actively hunting for at least 7 hours a day and between myself and the friend that I went with we saw one buck deer and it was only a yearling "spike" deer. A very immature buck. In talking with others up there the only deer we heard of anyone shooting was the same, a young spike deer. I know obviously others did get nice bucks I'm sure, but I have to wonder what is happening to the genetics of the herd when spike deer are what people are settling for because they see no others. It worries me.<br />
<br />
Anyway, stepping off my excuse soapbox for just a minute, I can say that regardless of all that I still had a great time hunting. I was able to hike many miles in some of the most beautiful country I know of, see eagles fly, watch a family of moose heading down the road and listen to and witness the amazing North American Elk bugle echoing through the canyons. I watched the moon rise over sagebrush meadows and the sun set from 9000 foot mountain tops! I took a few photos, just a few but I thought I'd share of course!<br />
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The family of Moose that I came across on my way up to camp. Was raining like heck on the way up, but overall wasn't too bad throughout the week.<br />
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The aspens were in peak color all week. Like splashed of gold on the dark green timber backdrop.<br />
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Sometimes you just come across something cool looking. A dead tree still clinging to its rocky perch like some lone sentinel. I love these old relics.<br />
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Or the remains of an old fence line that once marked some property or cattle area. <br />
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But few things beat sitting on a hillside, glassing for deer and watching the full moon rise over sagebrush meadows. Brought to mind a great Chris Ledoux lyric...</div>
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<div>
"There's a full moon rising... on the prairie sky tonight..."
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<br />
Anyway... I've still never had a bad year hunting... but really, it's getting frustrating. <br />
Next year... Next year will probably be better!<br />
P~</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-111696258186776472012-09-24T23:00:00.000-06:002012-09-24T23:00:16.501-06:00Muzzleloader deerSo Wednesday morning begins the season for muzzleloader deer in Utah and I have a tag this year. It's the first time that I will be trying it out. Not hunting, but hunting with a muzzleloader. It will seriously limit my range and I will most likely only get 1 shot at any one deer. <br />
<br />
I decided after a number of years of hunting the general rifle deer season in Utah that unless I was going to either buy a large piece of private land, or spend a ridiculous amount of time and effort hiking, scouting and generally obsessing over deer that I needed to try a different hunt time. With any luck I should be able to see a few bucks this season as they haven't been hunted for two months straight yet and should hopefully not be overly gun shy. <br />
<br />
I'll head up tomorrow and spend the night in my GI standard issue canvas pup tent that I have left from my ARMY days. It'll be cold but not terrible. The next few nights I have a friend that's coming up in his travel trailer and has room for me so... lucky me!<br />
<br />
I'll be keeping my eyes out for a few blue Grouse as well. from what I've heard this is a bumper year for them. we'll see. <br />
<br />
I'd be pretty happy to have some all natural venison to eat over the winter so wish me luck!<br />
P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-68149750952847777582012-09-20T22:33:00.000-06:002012-09-20T22:33:03.084-06:00I married a smart Ass!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yep, I married a smart ass. Well OK, to be fair, I probably CREATED a smart ass... but hey, the potential had to have been there right? <br />
Today she was digging through the .50 cent bin at the store and found this gem that she of course felt I haaaaaddd to have for my evening relaxation... It is after all the "Ultimate in Relaxation".<br />
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How could anyone in their right mind pass up a description like that anyways?! <br />
"The crowing of the rooster welcomes the awakening of a brand new day... "<br />
So cheezy!<br />
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You know what the funniest thing is though? We put it on to hear what it was and it is literally the sound of a farm. Cows bellowing, and roosters crowing... You can hear the farmer walking around digging grain out of a metal container and chicks clucking... And we knew exactly what all the sounds were.LOL<br />
Oh man. You know some guy in New York City is listening to this baby and just eatin up every second of it. Not to bag on NY.<br />
Watch for sounds for this baby to work their way in somewhere on this... or maybe some other site...<br />
"Let the stress of modern living dissolve to the sounds of Farm Life"... still cracks me up!<br />
Take care all~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-50706736197402724752012-09-19T00:15:00.000-06:002012-09-19T00:15:18.351-06:00New house progress (photo blitz)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Since we moved in on the first of June, there's been a ton of goings on around the new place. As you can tell the outside of the house, which was built in 1969, has had significant updating and doesn't look its age. </div>
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On the inside, besides the colors being kinda funky, the kitchen was pretty small. not very much counter space, and keep in mind, on the left side of this picture is where the fridge is supposed to be and would stick out two feet into the kitchen. It would have been tight. </div>
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That's why we decided to gut it and start from scratch. We intend to be in this home for the foreseeable future, like till we're too old to keep up with it, so we felt a total kitchen do over was warranted now rather than once we were living in it already.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T9p1agIYDMg/UFlZb1C2KdI/AAAAAAAADsw/ODJg2Rdp-e8/s1600/IMG+03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T9p1agIYDMg/UFlZb1C2KdI/AAAAAAAADsw/ODJg2Rdp-e8/s320/IMG+03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Below you can see where the left side wall has been re-engineered into a recessed wall nook where cabinets and a fridge will now be INSIDE the walls rather than sticking out into the kitchen. Because of full span ceiling trusses we were able to really have some flexibility with design.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyBZcigvyDQk1st4y1ADz8ajFulb6FI8RiN-esIHnDrcX7swIs-0AexscFayn-X1ha52SO1lLVLQ60BIxYv1i3TBlgNmb99UTRrtVFggyVZ4ipSewyYDIyVEXf_WllG6HukDl2VxNSRuv/s1600/IMG+04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyBZcigvyDQk1st4y1ADz8ajFulb6FI8RiN-esIHnDrcX7swIs-0AexscFayn-X1ha52SO1lLVLQ60BIxYv1i3TBlgNmb99UTRrtVFggyVZ4ipSewyYDIyVEXf_WllG6HukDl2VxNSRuv/s320/IMG+04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We loved out oak flooring so much in our last house that we went ahead and installed it in this new kitchen as well. The yellow hose you see in the middle of the floor is the new gas line drop that we had installed, the only contract work we hired out for by the way. This process had us moving gas lines, running new 220 outlets for the oven and new water lines for a fridge. It was a pretty comprehensive overhaul.</div>
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We were lucky because under the carpet was an original oak flooring that we could tie into. As coincidence would have it, it had been milled by the same millworks as the new flooring we found! weird huh?</div>
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After some serious sanding the differnce between the old and new had vanished!</div>
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As of last week. The kitchen is finished. We installed an IKEA kitchen and loved the results. The backsplash is tile, our first attempt at it and A~ is already making plans for a new bathtub surround.</div>
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The wall with the built in fridge, Oven and that top thing is a microwave.</div>
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We love our giant "Farm Sink"</div>
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The bar side of the kitchen with gas cook top.</div>
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In the living room, A~ painted and repurposed a credenza from a thrift store and matched it with great new buys for a pretty damn good looking room if I do say so. This is the view from the front door.</div>
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View from the dining area adjacent to the kitchen.</div>
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This is the view of our property from our bedroom window. The play house is gone now too. Our 2.6 acres goes pretty much all the way back to the treeline you can see on the horizon.</div>
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Here's the pasture. The barn on the right is the same small one from middle of the picture above.<br />
The field is planted in a pasture grass that for this year at least I am letting my neighbor harvest for his horses. Building bridges!<br />
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This is our Russian olive that's at almose the back of the pasture. We want to make a nice get away sitting area out here at some point to just enjoy being away from stuff and to appreciate the great views.</div>
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And speaking of great views. This is one of my favorite. Taken from our covered porch after a stormy day had cleared and the colors were intense! This is my new happy place!</div>
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Well, a picture says a thousand words so... there's about 18000 for you! Hope you like. Talk to you again soon!<br />
P~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-32653868627939612132012-09-13T23:24:00.001-06:002012-09-13T23:24:45.626-06:00We're alive... ALIVE!!!I have so much bringing up to date that needs to happen that it's absolutely ridiculous. If you're one of the few that <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/paul.gardener.7">follows me on facebook</a> you might have some small idea of the chaos that we managed to insert ourselves into, otherwise... ugh.. where to start?!<br />
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Late last year, my wife A~ and I decided to put our house on the market when spring rolled around, and see what came of it. Well, what came of it was that we listed it on Feb 1st, and it managed to sell in exactly one month. Then we found ourselves contractually obligated to be out of the house by the end of March. During that time, we managed to find a wonderful house, that met 95% of everything we had identified as wanting in a new long-term home and made an offer. After some negotiations, we had an offer accepted and were scheduled to take ownership at the end of April, which left us in a temporary housing situation in an apartment. We would be able to be out of our temporary apartment and into the new home by the end of June. Because there were a number of small issues with the new house, crack in foundation that had a seasonal leak, outdated kitchen with really really funky countertops, leak in roof and just general outdatedness, we tackled a pretty significant remodel project on the inside of the place which left us pressed for time since I essentially gutted the entire kitchen down to studs and subfloor. We figured as long as I could have the kitchen completed, or close to completed by the time we moved in we would be alright. Well, we almost made it...<br />
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We did manage to have the majority of the kitchen framed and drywalled before we moved in and had started the process of building up our IKEA kitchen abinets. Let me take a moment to call BULLSHIT on anyone who says you can assemble an IKEA kitchen in a weekend! It did go together fairly easily, but took a ton of time and a number of calls to their service and support center before the kitchen was even functional, let alone completed. In the mean time, while I spent my nights working on a little project here or a little project there to finish the kitchen off, A~ busted her butt getting the rest of the main living areas functional and actually pretty damn nice looking. We still have a tone of work to do, but so far it still remains a labor of love. <br />
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As far as the yard and garden are concerned, I really have little to nothing to report other than it has been in my mind constantly. I plan to spend a lot of this upcoming winter plotting and planning the future iterations of the farm and how I hope to see it go forward. For now though, I have pretty regular discussions with myself as to what it is that I would like to see back there. It's fun to have enough land (2.6 ac) to really get to think about all the fun projects and long term goals that can be potentially accomplished. <br />
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Finally, the reason I can say definitively that I am back is because for the first time since March, we again have an internet connection in our home. Yes, you heard that right, the last nearly six months we managed to exist with no in house internet. It honestly wasn't too bad other than a few research problems I had when it came to some commisioned writing, but we managed to get by with phone data and local free wi-fi hotspots. Now though, now we're back on line and I have a TON of stuff going on and I'm excited again to be writing. I know there's still a few of you out there who drop by from time to time, and I still seem to pop up on the search pages so with any luck we can pick up where we left off and keep on growing the possibilities together.<br />
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Hope you are all well and have been much blessed since last we chatted.<br />
Namaste.<br />
Paul Gardener.<br />
P~<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-89777316445713784062012-07-03T00:45:00.001-06:002012-07-03T00:45:33.240-06:00The chaos that is our happy home<div><p>Well, as best as I can manage, I thought it was about time for an update. </p>
<p>Since last post, we have mostly gutted our basement and kitchen areas, have at least partially rebuilt the kitchen and have managed to move into the new house. Because half the house is not yet finished, that half of our stuff is piled basically on top of all of our other stuff. This lends to a general aire of chaos around the place. In addition to this, part of the house that is not yet finished is the kitchen, which makes it kind of hard to put all of your pots, pans and food away, so now add those items on top of the other stuff, you know so you can get to them easier, and you have a good idea of our living room decor. Of course I say this somewhat tongue in cheek, but quite honestly, it's not really an exaggeration. On the upside, tomorrow I will have completed half the counter top, and will have running water in the kitchen so that will make it immenently easier to cook and wash up which will do wonders for both our morale and our diets which have consisted of waaay to much eating out for the last month. </p>
<p>I have to take a moment to praise my two younger sons who have been the very best of sports about everything since we moved in. Did I mention that we have no A/C or swamp cooler? Yep, we've been pushing through the heat wave with just fans and passive cooling. There are a few miserable hours of the day, but overall we're getting by. I'll go more into how that's possible when I have more time and can more easily upload photos (I'm still updating via cell phone), but suffice it to say that the house was well built.</p>
<p>Despite all the trials so far, we all are very happy with our new home so far. Our neighbors are very nice and are happy to have new neighbors since the house had been vacant for nearly 18 months. One has a couple of old tractors and it looks like he's going to let be buy one from him for a good price. </p>
<p>It's the things like this evening, when I had driven the truck into the back field to unload a shed with the boys, then afterwards we just sat on the tailgate drinking some water, watched the sunset and talked about how this will always be our view. <br>
Things are good... Chaotic yes, but good. Besides I was getting a little bored with everything being basically done....<br>
Ha! You won't hear that complaint for along time to come.<br>
Till next time...<br>
P~<br>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-33418053164091671912012-05-09T23:32:00.001-06:002012-05-09T23:32:36.832-06:00Bare minimum connection<div><p>Just a real quick note, mainly because it was pointed out to me that I had not been keeping up with my comment moderation - I know you didn't mean to call me out, thanks for keeping me honest though! - and I thought I should take two seconds to explain myself..</p>
<p>Since we are currently ”in transit” and living in a small apartment for a few months, we decided to simply put many of our services, such as tv and internet, on hold rather then paying to move them twice. As such, everything you see from me, whether it be a facebook post or a blog entry, is coming to you via Android phone. It's kind of a pain to do some things, moderation included, on the phone so I tend to fall as little behind. Also, I can't stand my blog formatting, but hey... some info is better than none right!?<br>
Bear with me please... We'll get there!<br>
Best to you all... Hope your spring (or fall for my Aussie friends) is going well.<br>
P~</p>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-62735704713303451892012-05-09T09:17:00.001-06:002012-05-09T09:17:56.790-06:00Update on remodel<div><p>Well, I figure it's about time for an update...</p>
<p>We closed on our new home, I like to call it our new ”farm” but since we're not really living there, nor growing anything there it's kind of premature I suppose. Anyway, we closed on it on the 25th of April, and started the process of gutting and remodeling the inside on the 30th. It's been one week since and we've made great progress! </p>
<p>The two main areas that we needed to focus on were the kitchen and the downstairs living area. The kitchen because it was just out of date (and had a horrendous clear acrylic with gravel inlaid countertop) and we needed/wanted more room. The downstairs living area because there had been some moisture damage, the walls were covered with circa 1969 wood paneling, and because the flow of the space was not very good in general. </p>
<p>To this point, all the tearing out has been completed and everything going forward is construction. I'll have to post more details as we go, but here are a couple of pre and post tear out photos. </p>
<br/><img src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6j63WJhfISU/T6qKk9WpLtI/AAAAAAAADrs/6SNHprU25NQ/IMAG0610.png' /><br/><img src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/-an_0wqv2vZQ/T6qKlxYJKoI/AAAAAAAADr0/sbdUcRp_ywI/IMAG0642.png' /><br/><img src='http://lh5.ggpht.com/-xpye9Lbeh2k/T6qKmln0wUI/AAAAAAAADr8/XIBT4JaNbS8/IMAG0612.png' /><br/><img src='http://lh6.ggpht.com/-k4Y-Z2V5HEQ/T6qKowtEdGI/AAAAAAAADsE/9VpZnEE92_0/IMAG0631.png' /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-41673908949289708532012-04-11T11:21:00.001-06:002012-04-19T08:23:35.152-06:00Permaculture... The way to go?<div><p>As you can imagine, even though we have not taken ownership of our new house, I could keep my mind from working on plans, or at least ideas for plans, for the 2+ new acres of land I will be taking stewardship of for only so long. For the last week or so I've been really trying to be honest with myself about what it is that I'd like to accomplish with this opportunity and how I want to work toward accomplishing it. I've not yet hammered out a specific ” mission statement” or anything, at least not so far, but I've really been giving the idea of permaculture and specifically some sort of permaculture food forest a lot of thought. <br>
Some of the realities I am dealing with are:<br>
1. I want to make my new home-scale farm a profitable venture.<br>
2. For the foreseeable future, I will need to maintain a ”day job” in order to cover our day to day expenses. It's just a fact, may as well wrap my head around it.<br>
3. I have maturing family. I don't mean that we're getting old, (although trust me, some days...ugh) but rather that my kids are growing up. I only have so many more years to enjoy them and I intend to take advantage of those. Also, as they grow up and find their own ways out into the world, I lose a valuable labor pool from which to draw.<br>
4. As much as I love gardening and raising animals, I also love enjoying life. That's shorthand for ”I don't want this project to take over every spare minute of every day.”</p>
<p>Those are potentially big hurdles to get by and still have a productive home-scale farm and they're a big part of the reason that I'm leaning in the direction of some kind of a permaculture solution. From what I have read and in my experiences so far, finding a balance with the natural world is not only as productive - many would argue more so - than traditional agriculture, it's also a lot less energy intensive. And the energy going into a productive farm is not only in the forms of electricity or fuel, it takes the shape of time and manpower; both things that are a premium for our situation. </p>
<p>My goal is to maximize design and planning in the short term in order to free up time and energy later on. I learned a great permaculture term the other day - relinquished power - that essentially means building processes so that they have not only low energy input required but, if possible, become autonomous in their maintenance. Planning around designs like that would truly help me to maximize my time investment and allow me to get the must done with the energy available.</p>
<p>I don't know if our whole workable 2 acres will become permaculture, or if that will just be some part of it, but it gives me a lot to think about as I research more and more of the possibilities. I'd love it if any of you reading this would pass on references that you've found helpful to you, as well as ideas that you have that I need to consider. I've put myself on a sort of self imposed planning holiday for this season to keep myself from making big decisions that I haven't had time to thoroughly think through. This will be my season of learning, planning and deciding. </p>
<p>So then, what do you have for me? I know there are some permies out there with a ton of info. Don't hold back, no idea is out of bounds.</p>
<p>Namaste...<br>
P~</p>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091794270907110191.post-86971754940270637362012-04-08T19:47:00.002-06:002012-04-08T19:48:26.707-06:00Moved... barely..<div align="justify">It's amazing how much stuff, even when we felt that we'd downsized quite a bit, that we still had.</div><div align="center"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-mVdEdL-EsHM/T4BdWrjfI7I/AAAAAAAADrc/c9DT_bKTd-o/IMAG0499.png" /><div align="justify">It seemed like every load we took to our apartment storage area we proclaimed that the next load would be the last. The smaller the items got that we needed to move, the longer it took, but we finally made it. we've managed to squeeze a 2800 square foot house, 3 car garage and a shed into a 2 bedroom apartment with a 14 by 27 foot storage garage.<br />As for my immediate gardening future, it's all contained on our small patio.</div><div align="center"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-e-fFDTIc4dw/T4BuJMrlsOI/AAAAAAAADrk/Qsp89JE8UnQ/1333816001650.png" /></div><div align="justify"><br />There's raspberries and artichokes saved from our last home... White seedless and red concord grape cuttings from a good friends house that we hope to get started this year... and of course my lemon and olive trees. That's all I have to work with so far this year. <br />I've been doing a lot of thinking about the new place... trying to think of all the great ideas I have that I'd like to do... <br />As soon as I can get a internet connection set back up. (I'm posting from a relatives house btw.) I'll be on here and we can all brainstorm as to how it should be put to best use! Get your ideas ready...<br />Not a lot more to say for now. More than anything I just wanted to share, say hi and make a record of the present for posterity.<br />Happy Easter!<br />Talk more soon.<br />P~<br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2