The Most Local Meat

In a follow up to the last post that I put up, regarding my search for more sustainable and local meat sources I thought I'd share with you one of the most local sources of meat that I have access to. FISH!

Since just after the new year, our local reservoirs and lakes have been frozen over and ice fishing has been good. I grew up in Southern California, and access to fresh seafood was never an issue, but I really hate to buy seafood here in the Intermountain west, because anything that I get has to be trucked in and is never as fresh as it could be and also has a pretty significant carbon foot print. That isn't even taking into consideration the issues of overfishing of our oceans that really needs to be a concern of everyone.

With the lakes frozen and the ice fishing on, none of those things are a concern.

This reservoir is only a half hour drive from our house, and is close enough that within 1 hour I can be on the lake fishing. What more could I ask for? Well, except for maybe actually catching something that is... And I had a little of that luck too lately.

These little guys averaged 12-15 inches and were plentiful the last few times I've been up.

The funny thing, is that I know Trout are a members of the salmonid family, but in the winter it seems they really live up to their family name, look at how orange and salmon color they were.

AND, they were delicious too. No complaints here at all.
Anyone else been out on the ice or bringing in their own "wild" meat sources? I'd love to hear about it.
Take Care.
P~

Goings on.

Still much happening around the homestead. I'll narrate, while letting some pictures tell most of the story...

Plants have been in the seed starting unit in the east window for almost a month now and are coming along nicely. Lights under reflective material. I used one of those .99 cent survival blankets that you can pick up in the outdoors section of may stores to concentrate the light back onto the sprouts. This picture was actually taken 10 days ago and the difference is impressive. (I'll try to get some more of them up soon.) I started running my oscillating fan over these a couple of days after this picture was taken. It simulates the weather that the plant would be exposed to outdoors and helps to keep the legginess down and build stronger plants. Iceberg lettuce sprouts under the lights. Starting these indoors let's me get enough of a head start that I can get some from them before they bolt. Last year they did OK. Hopefully even better this year!For those following the progress of my last robust little cutting from last years tomatoes. I've now got it split into the original cutting and two other "daughters". I placed the cuttings into soaked vermiculite and let them sit for about 2 - 3 weeks until I began to see roots along the edges of the cups. They've now been transplanted into soil and are coming along well. She's a tuffy!Here's a little plot of salad greens that I'll be using for cut and come again salad harvests until I can get more from outdoors.
LOOKOUT!! ALIENS!! OK I'm a dork, we all know that, but don't they kind of look like the invasion of the body snatchers or something? These are some "Garden Cloche" that I picked up at a local thrift store for 1.50 each last year. I've seen this same exact type of Garden Cloche for sale for 20.00 a piece so I was pretty happy to find these. So is my Chinese Cabbage I think.Here's a close up. The only noticeable difference with these is that they don't have the neat little glass knobby thing at the top. I think they were for displaying figurines or something originally. See, just goes to show, a little imagination goes a long way.I finally got out and got the greenhouse cleaned up over the last weekend too. It needed a lot of work but is in a much better state now. Soon the nights will be warm enough I won't feel bad putting out the sprouts! Those are recycled buckets of water to help hold some of the days heat through the night.Did you notice that little bit of green in the back of the G-house? Those are one of my biggest greenhouse successes and for some reason I have yet to mention them. Last year I tried to grow Artichokes in two largish pots. They didn't do well. Didn't die, but never thrived. I did, however, manage to overwinter them in the pots in the greenhouse. As soon as the weather started to warm at all, they started to throw up new shoots and really took off. This past weekend I split the second of the two plants into new starts and now have a total of twelve! The four on the left were split from the first plant a couple of weeks ago. I have a place I'll be planting these babies out by the potato garden this year and with any luck, I should have at least enough artichokes to enjoy fresh through the summer and then can get them thriving enough to over winter again!This weekend also had me cleaning out and prepping some of the harvest baskets that we use. Just seeing them there makes me excited about filling them!
As you can see, Things are coming along. There's more queued up, but just not enough time to get to them.

Hope Spring's coming along well for you all as well. Care to share your progress with everyone? Drop a comment and feel free to link to your own blog if you have one too. This is a community isn't it?

Namaste all...
Paul~

A great family night.

We had the best family night last Friday. After the evening chores were done, and everything cleaned up A~, the Queen of Ambiance, lit our new citronella torches and the candelabra under the gazeebo as well as some hanging candles around the yard. We turned the stereo on with a little Vivaldi Four seasons and had a great night outside until about 10:30.

After playing a little low-light horeshoes, there is actually more light than it looks like especially just after sunset, the boys started a campfire in the ring and had a couple of marshmallows for dessert. It couldn't have worked out better. It was a great time for us as a family, the type that you hope that your kids remember and try to have with their children one day. I was thinking tonight that minus the stereo and the small "Christmas lights" that are strung under the gazebo as well, this would be a great lights out event for us to enjoy some time. Maybe we'll have to do that.

P~

Beauty in the garden

It does truly abound there doesn't it? I sometimes wonder how anyone, and we all know them, can not like to spend time out in a garden? Whether that be a flower garden, vegetable garden, container or water garden. I get such pleasure and relaxation from just wondering around the yard and finding what it holds for me that day. I took these pictures last week and have been wanting to get them up online. I hope you enjoy!

This baby is my pride and joy as far as flowers are concerned. I call it snow white. It's a columbine that I picked up four years ago at one of the local stores, Wal-mart, Home Depot wherever. It has come back every year without fail and as you may be able to tell from the picture below, has grown bigger every year.
As I think about it now, I should have placed an object in the picture with it to give an idea of how big it is. The head of flowers on this plant is probably near to a foot and a half wide; quite big for a columbine. I let the heads go to seed every year and I think it's just multiplying on itself. The flowers are huge too, almost three inches across. I've been thinking of seed saving from this plant this year. Anyone interested in trying some out?
Here is a volunteer from a snapdragon that I allowed to seed last year. I've talked about this before, and I'll do it again. It is a great boon to me to be able to almost count on the "free" plants that we get every year because we let a few heads of flowers go to seed. Plus, I love finding out where they will pop up the next spring. It's like Easter egg hunting for flowers.
I thought you all might like this. We've been having a couple of Robins visit us almost daily lately. The bird bath in the corner has become a regular stop on their way through the neighborhood. Those are strawberries growing through the "urbanite". They're just turning ripe now, and every day or so I'll find one of them with a couple of nibbles in it. I've taken to calling it the "Robins Share", sort of like the "Angels Share" in whiskey making. Maybe the Robins will be nice and leave the big strawberry patch on the other side of the yard for me. (Just in case it's been netted.)
This little guy took himself an nice cool bath, and then jumped next door to our apple tree for a little grooming.
Oops, I'm caught, he saw me. Oh well, he'll be back. The lure of the bath and dine Strawberry spa is just too great!
P~

Why we don't "wait till later"

As I stated on a previous post, my wife plays a huge part in our gardening process just by way of her ability to get me moving when I am lacking motivation. More that once, it has proven to be to our benefit. This weekend proved the point again. I get home early on Fridays most of the time, and this Friday was no different. We planned for me to run to the landfill to pick up another load of compost. I got that done with no problem, but when I got home, I was a little...well...lacking in direction. In other words I was kind of thinking three things and acting on none of them. (A common state of affairs I assure you.) Here's where A~ stepped in and we both got on task.

Above are a couple of pictures of our work at the end of the day on Friday. We were able to dig in and turn over the recycled concrete planter beds around the front of the house, add multiple wheelbarrows full of compost, and pull the weeds that germinated early in the spring. We aren't finished yet, there's still some planting to go in, we're planting edible herbs and some other edibles throughout these beds, and mulch to put down, but that will come a little later. So, why don't we "wait till later"?

Well take a look at these pictures. This is what the yard looked like this morning and for most of the weekend. In other words, the weekend would have been a total loss had we not buckled down and got on task on Friday.
This is what Spring time is like in Northern Utah and in many places in the U.S., and with climate change happening, who knows what the weather will do. The lesson is, when you have lemons, make lemonade. And by gosh when you have sunny spring days, get work done.

I learn so much from the garden. It is forgiving, yet so demanding. It rewards us for our effort and our forethought, and punishes us for our procrastination or our sloth. Is it any wonder that the Bible uses the garden and plants in so many of the parables we learn from.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Matthew 7 : 15-16

Maybe some time in the future I'll learn my lessons well and finally be able to get motivated myself. Until then, I have the garden to guide me and A~ to poke me in the butt when I need it.

P~

Tomorrow... sprouts are popping up.

I hunt, therefore I am.

I eat meat. A lot less than I used to but yeah, I'm a carnivore. I'm also trying to be more responsible about what I put into my body. This isn't why I began hunting, but as I see it, it fits in perfectly.
Hunting is always something that I wanted to do. I grew up in Southern California, and although it's not a barren wastland for hunters, as you may expect, it's not a very common thing. My dad grew up here in Utah, and as a young man he and his brothers hunted every year. It was a very different affair then than it is now. He has told me of the nights sleeping in a "shepards tent", a wool blanket on top of a tarp then flipped over the top of you. They also didn't only hunt for the sport of it; meat was expensive, and they weren't rich. I think that this perspective may have lead my father away from taking me hunting as a kid. I am glad to say that for the last five years, last year excluded due to a broken arm with two metal plates and 12 screws, my dad has made it a point of coming up here and sharing the experience with me. This year, I will have the privilidge of sharing it with my 12 yr old C~.
In todays fast world, where nearly everything we consume is cut cleaned packed and prepared with little to no interaction from us, I think it is important to share something that brings us into intimite contact with where our food comes from. It helps us to define anew our position in the world, and in the food chain. Growing a garden is much the same thing but the relationship is different. I can neglect my garden from time to time, pick some and perhaps not use it soon enough, but the plant persists and completes it's life cycle. To hunt, at it's most elemental, is to take a life to sustain another. There is a level of responsibility in that action that exists nowhere else. I am responsible to the animal that I take, to respect it by ensuring that I am effective and concise in my taking of it. I also have a responsibility to my son, and to other hunters, to ensure that I pass on not only the craft of pursuing the game to him, but the ethics and sense of responsibility in it. Also, much in the same way that my father hunted for meat, I too hunt to eat. I would take a trophy buck if one presented itself, but that is not my purpose. No matter how hard I've looked, I've never found a good recipe for antlers.
I know there are a lot of people out there that look unfavorably on hunting and in turn on hunters. They see it as an unnecessary act, a cruelty and a barbarism held onto by beer guzzling partiers with guns. Let's be realistic, in some circumstances that is true, but hunters are also some of the greatest conservationists in the nation. Without them and the fees they pay, many of our national parks and game preserves would not exist. As humans we are not removed from the wild world, as much as it may seem at times. Because we live here, and because our impact is felt regardless of how hard we try to reduce it, we have a responsibility to manage our herds and to optimize their range and numbers. I hope to be a part of that managment program, but I'll leave that to the fates.

I'd love to hear from you on this. What are your feelings? Are you opposed? Will you never read me again because of it? I'm curious.
P~

Sad to say we're back.

This is where we were...I'm sad to say it, but we're back. I am of course glad to be back home, but this was a really relaxing little jaunt. This cute little red cabin is the one that we stayed in while up in the mountains. I can't say enough about this place, The accomodations were absolutely top notch! Clean and modern while not making you feel like you were just staying in a hotel that happened to be in the woods; very cabinee for lack of a better word. Bonnie and Pat were the camp hosts, and were great. They explained everything to us, showed us a couple of the other cabins that were available, let us look at the one we're gonna have for October, and told us about a couple of nice little hikes from the camp.

On Friday morning the boys and I grabbed the fishing gear, camera and a little adventurous spirit and headed out to Lyman Lake. This is little Lyman, it's neighbor. We fished a little, and got skunked, actually we fished a very little so I don't feel too bad about it. The lake was beautiful, but was surrounded by about 15 ft of thick grasses, and we couldn't really find a good spot to fish from. We were lucky on the trip to and from the lake to get to see what we counted were 7 or 8 deer. (The count differs depending on which boy you asked.) We snapped a piture of this little guy munching a late breakfast not far from the road. He was with a doe who is not in the picture. All together this trip we counted about 12-14 deer and somthing like 4 or 5 of them were bucks. Which is actually pretty darn good considering most of them were seen from the road just casually glancing around. There are definitely deer in them thar hills, I think it should be an interesting hunt this year. (Did you hear that dad!)

That afternoon we took a drive up one of the local four wheel trails and found a beautiful meadow with a pond and wild flowers.
Oh, the wild flowers, I can't leave them out. I was shocked to see that there were so many of them. This is the last weekend of July, and we haven't had a lot of rain (Although it did rain a little each night that we were there.) so I was happy to see them. I am a bit of a flower geek I guess, I could take a whole disk full of flower picture, I just love them. This is the pond and the meadow area that I was talking about. I loved the way this old trunk was slowly becoming a part of the lake. This whole area had been burned about 5 yrs ago I think (It was burned, but I'm not sure on the dates.) and everything was coming back to life. There were new trees poking up, and wildflowers flourished on the rich burn compost that was everywhere. I had to think to myself that Mother nature really does know what she's doing! On the way up and back down the canyon, we were playing dodge the sheep. One of the things that you get used to in Utah when you go up into the mountains is that there will be sheep in your way at some point. This herd (or is it a flock? Anyone, anyone?) was the biggest one I've come across yet. Whenever I see them in the mountains though, I always think about my grandfather Dan. He was a sheep herder in the Colorado Mountians when my dad was born. I always remember a picture that I have of him sitting on a big horse with his hat and chaps. That will always be my image of a cowboy! Everyone tells me how much I am like him; that he loved to have his hands in the ground, and be outdoors. I'm glad he passed those things to me.


This morning, Saturday, we cleaned up around camp and got ready to go, then took a couple hour hike up the canon to a place the Bonnie and Pat had told us about. The beaver dams. I kind of slapped two of them together here to make it easier for you to see. Really though, it does no justice to the work these guys have done. we hiked up past three dams that were all I'd say 20-30 yards across and between 5 and 8 feet high. I have seen beaver on the rivers here before, but I have never been able to see their masterpieces in person. If you are at all interested in architecture, these are a feat to behold.

We finally had to leave, and come on down into the heat again, but we did make one more quick pit stop on the way; Devils Slide. Devils slide is one of those places that you drive by a hundred times, but always say, "Eh, we'll stop next time." We stopped this time. Mind you it's a formation of differing types of limestone, so it's not gonna make it to the wonders of the world list, but hey, the kids thought it was cool and got the railroad conductor on the passing train to whistle at them, so the stop was worth it. I am glad to be back, but I can't say I'm not looking forward to our next trip there. I think I even managed to get permission to go fishing myself tomorrow. Yeah I know all you ladies reading this are laughing, I said permission.

Hope you all had a great weekend few days and I'll talk to you later.
P~

Sweet Summer Rain

Tonight we were all outside doing our things. A~ was walking the dog around the yard, I was cutting some old rebar up to use in the garden and the kids were busy using my old scrap wood pile to build the deck of what they say will be their skateboard ramp. The sky began to cloud over slowly and we talked about how unusually humid it was, then drip... drip... drop, it started. Slowly at first and then more; building to a constant sprinkle. Then the skies opened and it rained for about 15 min. That's all, 15 min, maybe not even that. It was glorious. A~ and I stood under our gazebo and let it diffuse the nickle size drops into a cool mist that settled on us till we were somewhere between damp and soaked. As the rain slowed and then stopped the clouds parted just enough for the setting sun to shine through in solid beams like heaven itself was peeking in our day. I looked over to our mountains to see them seeming to stretch themselves even closer to the clouds as if they were trying to catch every last drop of the cool rain. Between them and I was a double rainbow, full in it's glory from one end of the valley to the other.
I have of course had days like this before, but I wanted to remember it, and to share it with you. A picture would have been nice, but you know sometimes words can be more powerful don't you think? If I had taken a picture that would've been it, no imagination. I hope you all had a great day as well. Till tomorrow.
P~

Mothers Day, garden update and relaxation

Being Mothers Day today, I first want to say Happy Mothers Day, I realize this is probably pandering to my audience, since for some reason it seems like the majority of comments come from the ladies that visit here. Guys you really need to speak up. Anthony, notice I said the majority of comments, not all. Since it was Mothers Day, we of course pandered to the most important mom in our house, my wife. What she wanted, and we were more than happy to accomodate, was to spend the day outside and enjoy all the work we've been doing lately. What a great idea! Today will no doubt go down as one of the best weather days of 2007 so far. Not too hot, probably in the low 80's, with just the right amount of a breeze to cool it off. While I was out there I thought it'd be a good idea to snap a couple of photos to update this years progress. First we got a picture from the house side of the garden with the really nice firepit we just put in. This was a steel manhole cover with great rustic, well, rust that we were able to get for nothing from a contractor that was going to junk it. Coincidentally an old bar-b-que grill fit perfectly on the inside. The next one is a picture from the other end of the length of beds facing the house. Those in the front are the peas, I finally
got a trellis thingie in place so they can climb. I noticed a couple of small pods forming this weekend. Speaking of which, I was shocked to already find a little cluster of yellow pear tomatoes shaping up. After the cold weather of last week, I guess I can safely say that the plastic sheeting pup tent method I used to keep them warm worked!
That next photo, is not too pretty, but is a lot better than the ugly pile that I had last year. This is the wood hutch that I mentioned a month ago that I had started. All the concrete work we've been doing took precedance so it hasn't been completely finished yet, but it is holding the firewood pretty well I'd say. Everything you see is salvage from all of the construction going on around us. We were lucky enough to find some roofing that matched ours, and siding that was close enough not to tell the difference. As soon as I find some decent corner peices or straight wood I'll finish it off.
The next two pics are in homage to Mothers Day. The first is obviously Dad cooking. Yes I do cook, but I have been banned for the most part from the kitchen (jeez, I misplace a pan or two, and they never forget.) but I do OK on the grill! This is my famous beer can chicken. Todays recipe was dubbed Tecate Chicken; Mmm Mmm good! Finally what Mothers day post during the National Bike Month would be complete without Mom and her "little" boys out on a ride. For that matter I can't think of a better way to end the day; we took a leisurely ride around the neighborhood, that way I could still breath (I'm trying to get over a cold so I can ride to work this week). All in all this was a great day. We spent the day together, played bocci and egyptian golf, shared a great dinner together and rode it off. I can only hope that you all were able to have as relaxing and happy a day and that you took the time to call your moms. Which reminds me, I love you Mom!! (don't worry, I called her this morning, but more than one shout out never hurt!)
P~

I've had a terrible Fever!

I’ve had a really bad fever lately, I can’t stay focused; I’ve got it bad. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a web developer, having to try and stay focused on coding and staring at a computer screen all day when you’ve got a world class case of Spring Fever? I mean it takes everything in me to not go out and just sit in the sun at the break tables all day long and just watch the flowers bloom. I had to leave an hour early yesterday just to go get some work in the yard done. Mind you it wasn’t imperative that it get done, but in my feverish state I couldn’t think rationally! It was like going to the Emergency Room; I needed immediate treatment! I have heard of people with “seasonal affected disorder” which, best I can tell, is depression caused during the winter months when they can’t get enough sun and outside time. I think I have an inverse case of this. I get really depressed at this time of the year, every year. When the sun starts shining and there are good weather days, I start getting really depressed that I am stuck inside all day instead of out there in it. Thank God for my ambitious wife, she always seems to have some good idea for something I can be working on in the yard. I just need to make sure that I take my daily recommended dose of one part weeding and two parts planting, washed down with a healthy gulp of drip irrigation and press on. At least it looks like we’re supposed to have a beautiful weekend finally; some long term care will do me good.
P~

Spring Weather... Gotta love it!

Beautiful weather on the Wasatch Front! I told A~ about a half hour earlier that it looked like there might be some rain tonight. I was wrong yet again!
Not rain, half inch hail. Kids being kids had to run right out and gather up some samples!
P~

Some spring beauty!

I thought everyone would enjoy a little glimpse of the great rebirth going on in my yard. I know I love seeing it every day.


Apple on the left, pear below.















A cherry blossom just "popping" out!














And what garden doesn't light up every year when the bleeding hearts come out!

Fire wood storage.

At our house, there's one thing that we all love about summer. Campfires! Every year we love to have campfires in the backyard at our little coleman firepit. A~ and I have found that there's really not a lot of foods that our boys won't eat if it comes off a stick. Yeah, I know, they're boys through and through. So anyway, I have a couple of businesses that I drive by everyday going to and from work that are always putting piles of firewood out for free (My favorite price). The problem is that every year I try to make a nice orderly pile on an old palet that I keep back in a corner. I always start out good, but by midsummer I have a messy unsightly heap that is falling all over the place. So this year, I was able to recycle some construction materials from a home that's being built next door and set out to build a firewood storage rack. I have most of it framed up and ready to store wood in, but I still need to build a roof over it so it doesn't all get wet. I do have to say I am pleased thus far. I'll get some pictures of it soon. Next yard project, compost pile. I am looking into a couple of different ways that I can accomplish this. My wifes concerns need to be given the utmost consideration, if I want to keep it that is. She doesn't want an eyesore out back, and is worried about pests. I want to find a way that I can do it cheaply, I am leaning towards either building a wooden frame and covering it with wire or possibly using a recycled water barrel to build a rolling composter.
Any suggestions appreciated.
P~

Square foot Garden.

Can you tell I finally got out to take some pictures. This is one of my square foot beds with the overhead frame that I use to vertical train my tomatoes. I swear by this method!














Here is one of my five bed garden.

A picture is worth a thousand words

A~ and I planted bulbs for the first time this last fall. We're really happy with our first showing so far this year. We have Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinth poppoing up all over. We have been taking regular walks around the yard to check out the progress. We're like a couple of proud parents.