Clustr Maps

I just want to say HELLO! To all my readers both near and far. If you look down on the right hand column of this blog, at the bottom is a thumbnail for Clustr Maps. When you click on that, it will show you all my visitors to this site. It really is quite amazing to see such a wide dispersal of readers from all countries around the world!

I just like looking at it now and then to see all of you folks that live all around the world that have stopped by to read a post or two. Thank you!

If you look at the post below this one, you will see that I have added a new feature to my blog…Polls! From time to time I will be throwing up a poll now and then. Let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to poll.

 

Do you make use of roadside produce/farm stands?

 

…pallet shed pics cont’d.

Lifting a truss.

Setting a truss.

Fir strip for setting trusses and for nailers for the metal roofing.

Shell is done.

Leftover metal roof from my house a few years ago.

 

Pallet Barn update…almost finished!

I had my brother and his kids up for hunting after Thanksgiving. I made use of their time, and also invited my other two brothers and my dad to help. It was a great time working together. Three generations of Schwarz men working together to raise a barn…it was awesome.

Adding the second layer of pallets.

Everyone had an important part in the whole process. I had lots of minds to bounce ideas off of. The younger men (my nephews) were very useful in doing the things that just needed extra hands to be done, holding this or that, bringing lumber where it needed to be, nailing, screwing etc… One of my brothers was helpful in being a “go-getter” when we needed material I hadn’t gotten already and also as an extra set of hands.

Adding interior support and exterior sheathing.

Another brother did some other jobs I wasn’t able to get done with all the busyness, and he helped build the trusses. And the other brother was able to be a sort of  “job foreman”, directing the younger kids what to do, and being able to jump on jobs without much instruction. My Dad was helpful in thinking of different ways to design and build the trusses and where to add extra support of the entire structure.

Taking a break for some laughter and planning.

I thought I would be completely stressed out trying to direct everyone, but it went rather smoothly. Everything seemed to work out. Any hiccups were quickly figured out and never really became a problem. I didn’t get as much done in that day as I had hoped due to some early morning errands that took too long but all in all a lot got accomplished. A big thank you to my family!

Both layers on. Top plate installed. Sheathing and Trusses ready to be installed.

Designing the trusses.

Building the trusses.Lifting trusses in place.Setting the trusses.Fir strip to set trusses and also for nailers for metal roofing.Almost finished the trusses.

Leftover metal roof from my house used.

 

Pallet Barn Update Continued…

 

Pallet Barn Update

Old shed in background

I think its time to update you all on how the pallet barn/shed is coming along. This past summer I was able to commit myself to emptying out the existing shed and tearing it down before it fell in on everything, or on someone. It was completely rotting away due to a hole in the roof and the wet area it was set on. I had my friend come over to help tear it down to the base. I hauled away the material

Shed is down.

because none of it was worthy of recycling in this project. I am going to make use of other material that are recycled.  The run to the dump was probably the heaviest I have ever taken. I believe it was well over 1,000lbs!

So after doing that, I began to measure out and level the area where I was going to build the new barn. The back corner will be at the same spot as the former shed, making use of the same level base.

Ready to haul to the dump!

Then it will extend out in towards the hill and driveway. It will be a 16′X20′ barn.  My friend let me borrow his Kubota with a bucket on it to level out an area and spread out some soil/fill that I had piled up over the summer. I then built plywood forms and staked them to be level. Then I had 8 tons ($12.70/ton) of 2B gravel poured inside the forms. Uphill from the base, I used leftover drain pipe and covered that with gravel so any water running down the hill will drain out around the barn pad…well most of it hopefully!

Leveled ground and built form.

I am in the midst of leveling out the gravel inside the forms. I am also collecting old cinder block from a friends old barn that was knocked down. It will need a little cleaning up, but they will work great. I am going to lay the cinder block around the perimeter of the form and build the pallets on them to keep them away from any moisture. This also gives me more headroom inside the barn.

More pics to come in next update…

8 tons of 2B stone.

Ready to build!

 

The Pledge of Allegiance

Students pledge allegiance in Southington, Ct.

I am going to open up a potential can of worms with this one. But, regardless, for my own mind, I think it needs to be opened.

For most of my life I have recited the Pledge of Allegiance (I capitalize it because it is a written work, such as a poem or book) just because it’s “what you should do as an American” and as a child, I was told to do it. This droning recitation is done before many public meetings, start of school days, and even in many church related activities. Often you will find, up front  in churches, an American flag and the “Christian Flag”, to which there is yet another pledge.

The U.S. flag and the "Christian" flag at a church.

Lately I have grown more and more uneasy over the practice of the pledge. I will try to list for you several reasons. Some are based on my being a follower of Christ, and some are based on it contradicting  the foundations of the United States. Many who read this will have a knee-jerk reaction saying that anyone who opposes the Pledge of Allegiance is un-American and a danger to the U.S. To be “unpatriotic” in a time as this, I believe, is a danger to myself and my family in certain circles. So I do not take this conviction lightly.

First some history on the Pleadge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy , who was a Socialist. It was used as part of a campaign to instill dedication to country in youth by selling flags and magazines called “The Youth’s Companion”. The Masonic influence is especially apparent in The Youth’s Companion programs, in the Lyceum League of America, and in The Public School Celebration of 1892. The pledge was accompanied by an outstretched arm while standing at attention. It was changed to a hand covering the heart shortly after WWII. The pledge was modified over the years. The one you hear today was only recently accepted on June 14, 1954. So don’t think this is something that George Washington or any other founding father had done. It was all part of a marketing and indoctrination plan.

I’d like to disect the words of the pledge so we understand what it is saying in the first place. I beleive people are pledging because it’s what the masses do without understanding that it may not mean what they think it means. Words are important.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…”

Have you ever looked up what it means to pledge allegiance? Pledging is a binding promise, and when you pledge allegiance, it puts you into a obligation as a vassal to his lord. It means that the flag is superior to you. Your putting a man made image above yourself. We arent even talking about a cause, or a government yet. This simply states that some man made object is superior to you. You owe it something. It is your lord. This is pure and simple idolatry.

“And to the republic, for which it stands…”

Now you are pledging allegiance to a republic, or nation. The United States whole purpose was to have a government be run by and serve its people. God is first and foremost sovereign, then people are sovereign, having inalienable freedom that was given to them by God. The nation is to have its allegiance to the people. “We the people” not “We the government”. By pledging your allegiance to the republic, you are handing over your God given freedoms which the forefathers sought to uphold in the Constitution.

Besides all that, if you believe Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Saviour, you can not serve two masters. Your allegiance is to His kingdom. You are a mere stranger in this land, a pilgrim just moving through. Should north Korean Christian pledge allegiance to North Korea and its flag?

“One nation under God, Indivisible”

Another history lesson. When the United States were formed, they were formed as united sovereign states. States had their own independent rights. They were united in the effort to be separate from Britain…which, when you think about it was not very Christian-like either, it was  rebellion to the governing government, in which taxes was a large issue. But anyway, the U.S. seems to have become one nation, indivisible, around the Civil War…which wasn’t very civil…is any war civil?

Another thing to think about is whether our nation is really “under God” in its intentions and heart. We know that all nations are under God. We read in the Bible that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But not every person will be doing this with rejoicing…Many will be bowing the knee and confessing in regret and sorrow. Take a step back and take a good look at the U.S. today. Is it really seeking to follow God? It is a democratic nation, meaning it does what the will of the majority want.

“With liberty and Justice for all”

As we saw earlier, this contradicits itself. You have already given up your liberty by putting the flag and nation above you as your lord. Justice? DO we know what true justice is? We will know when the Lord Jesus Christ returns!

The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist to help sell flags to public schools and to conform young children to patriotism by chanting the pledge over and over everyday. In fact, the pledge used to include a socialist salute much like the one Adolph Hitler used. It was only changed to covering the heart after WWII because people weren’t comfortable with the way their children looked like Nazi Youth while pledging themselves.

Though I disagree with patriotism to country, this pledge is not very patriotic at all when you break it down and compare it with the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the foundations of the U.S. But people have been brainwashed that it is the patriotic thing to do.

As a follower of Christ, I can not pledge my allegiance to a flag, or a nation.

 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Do you know of the event involving these men in the Bible? They were in a multitude of people who were told to bow down to a statue the king had made. If they didn’t, they would be thrown into a burning furnace.
I am curious if there are any situations you may have come across here in America that are similar to the situation Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego went through? OK, maybe you weren’t threatened by a fiery furnace, but maybe you were/would be berated, ridiculed, brow-beaten, cut off, maybe endure physical harm.
I am curious how many think of the situation I have in mind. I will write about it in my next post.

Here’s a hint:

American children salute the flag.

 

Egg-mobile

I had been reading here and there about Joel Salatin and his pastured poultry and egg-mobiles. A few Google searches and you will find many varieties of his design that

Joel Salatin

others have used. Scouring through these photos and blogs about how folks built them and why, led me to start my own as well…that and because our chickens were disappearing one by one each night by some varmint, a possum I think.
So i decided that mine was going to make use of treated 2X4′s for the base frame and runners. The front and back board would be notched at the ends to fit over the runners and be off the ground about 1.5″ so as to make it easier for moving and so as to not trap chicken feet under the back when moving it.

Egg-Mobile

The back of the runners I cut at an angle so that it drags better. I am thinking of doing the same in the front. I was planning on using cattle or goat panels for the metal hoop frame. That was until I went to Tractor Supply and saw how much a 16 ft panel cost…$52!! So I bought a 50ft roll of fence that was less rigid. It wouldn’t form a semi-circle on its own, so that required me to do a bit of framing. This adds weight and frustration and time when building it. Though I am pleased with the finished product.
For the next one, I would like to get my hands on some used cattle/goat panels.

Back of egg-mobile

 

Time

It seems that everyday, time goes by faster than the day before. I don’t like that.

 

Gillespie Point

At the top.

At least once a year for the past few years, a few of my friends and I have made a point to hike up a mountain and camp over night. We always go to the same spot in Blackwell, Pa. It’s called Gillespie point. We hike up to the top on Friday afternoon and enjoy the scenery from the rock overhang. It only takes us about 45 minutes to an hour with packs on. It can be steep in spots but the trail is easy and well defined. As a matter or fact it is along a section of the Mid State Trail which runs north/South cutting Pennsylvania in half.

From the overlook you have a grand 180+ degree view overlooking three valleys that come together where Blackwell sits deep in their junction. To the southwest you can see down through Pine Creek as it meanders down to Cedar Run in Lycoming County. To the North, you look up through the Pine Creek valley which forms the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. And to the north east you see the quiet valley funneling Babbs Creek into Pine Creek.

Climbing...almost there.

Known locally as the “Matterhorn of Pennsylvania”, the view from Gillespie point is breathtaking and enormous no matter what season. To see the juncture of three beautiful valleys coming together at the sleepy village of Blackwell is well worth the short climb.

After we take in the view we head to our secret campsite a short distance away that is just perfect. Hidden from most foot traffic, the site flattens out and provides protection from the wind. We usually set up camp and the campfire site. The campfire site has been at the same exact spot every year. The first year I went, the site hadn’t been used in a number of years. My friend, Phil, and I were the first to get to the site and he started looking around and kicking away leaves. It was amazing, we found black charcoal under years worth of forest detritus! He was as excited as I was amazed.

Morning campfire.

The usual fare is hot dogs and brats over a fire with a few toppings. I usually bring the coffee, fresh ground that day, and somehow manage to bring up a french press without breaking it. Stories, memories,  reflection, and lots of laughter fill our conversation around a warm fire. As we crawl in our tents, we wonder how loud one of our friends will snore that night and joke about how he has been the one who keeps the bears and various varmints away.

The morning comes with a woodsy silence. Stiff bodies emerge from tents along with long loud stretches.  The fire is re-stoked and wood added. Coffee is first on the agenda while breakfast is planned out. We always manage to spoil ourselves with treats like the fresh ground french pressed coffee and real maple syrup, but hey, why not. It’s only one night. If we want to lug it up there, then we can enjoy it.

Morning Campfire

Breakfast is enjoyed and somehow is always plentiful. We take time getting everything cleaned up, tents packed away, and backpacks packed. We make a short ascent to the rock outcropping again before heading back to the bottom in Blackwell.

Morning fog looking south west down Pine Creek.

 

Update

This is an update as to what I have been up to lately. We have about 6 new chicks (1 mo. old now) out in the coop. We have 5 Khaki Campbell ducks on their way in late may, and 4 of our goats are pregnant and due in late June.

http://www.charlesandhudson.com

My next project is to tear down our existing sheds and build sheds made out of pallets. This would be our garden shed (may also double as sugar shack), and our goat shed. I’d like to make it bigger and have dry space for hay and feed storage.

We also had a great sap season. I gathered 400+ gallons of sap which returned 14 gallons of syrup. I boiled about 15 gallons of sap at home after my boiler friend stopped boiling. We got 1.5 quarts from doing that over the fire pit. The kids loved it!

Boiling sap at home

We also received a baby Sannen buckling from a friend. He was a week old in mid march and we are bottle feeding him currently. I also built a goat milking stand for when our two goats, who are half dairy breed, freshen. The other two goats are Boer goats so we will not be milking them. =)

Goat stand from scrap wood.

 

Need a new camera

Sorry folks for the lack of posting. My last post didn’t even have any pictures. At least I linked to someone else’s photos.

The problem is that my camera is dead. IT has been a real trooper. It was a Fujifilm camera. Only 3mgp but took excellent photos. So I think it will be replaced with a Fujifilm.

Anyone have suggestions on cameras in the $400 range?

 

Economics of Happiness

I just got home from a screening of “The Economics of Happiness”. We watched it at a local restored theater in Blossburg called the Victoria Theater.

This is what it looked like for many years until a local man who used to frequent it as a boy, bought it and brought it back to life.

Anyways, the documentary was basically about how globalization has pretty much destroyed the local community. That in fact, there is no more local community. The globalization of most products and their marketing has destroyed the sense and “need” of local economics. The products you purchase that are grown or made on one continent and then shipped to another for finishing touches and then sent to another for assembly or packaging then shipped to the nearest merchandiser for you to buy has somehow ended up cheaper than buying that same thing that was made or grown down the road. All done by over regulating and taxing the local producer, and subsidizing every facet of the product that traveled the world over to get near you.
This fact does have some troubling repercussions. It drives much of the population into joblessness, poverty, stress, and depression. Many politicians and big corporate business owners would have you to believe that globalizing helps create jobs locally and in the third world. It may create jobs locally but its taking advantage of and manipulating the people and cultures of the southern hemisphere. Putting them to hard labor, pulling them from agriculture and self sustaining livelihoods and bringing them to shacks in the big cities to live in slums to earn a slaves wages. Locally, it does the same thing. It draws people to big cities which then increases the demand for resources to support the population. They pay is usually lower end and they end up working their lives away for meager pay.

Now, having said all that, I did watch the film with somewhat of a critical mind. What I mentioned above is a broad brushstroke. I understand that without some globalization we would not have many things such as many electronics and other technology, coffee beans and other products not grown locally, cars (need rubber from somewhere), and many other things that are mass produced to fill demand. The population on Earth is exploding. But this gets to the core of the issue…do we need all these things to make us happy? Or would a general happiness index find that a simple life (how simple?) results in greater overall general happiness.

It was stated in the film that 1 acre of land could feed 20 people. The general feel of the point was that local small farmers can out produce large monoculture industrial farming. I don’t doubt that’s true, but with the rising population, can that really feed EVERYONE? I don’t know. If everyone moved out of the cities and spread out throughout the land….how much open land would really be left? How much of open land is actually habitable? I guess if the Ladakh people of Tibet can live where they’ve lived for the past 500 yrs without any outside influence, then no doubt there is a lot of places people could live self-sustainably. How much natural resources would need to be removed for that to happen? Is there enough room to have farms outlying the cities to feed them? I think an unspoken message in this movie was that the population is getting dangerously too large and that something needs to be done to control it. That was an unsettling thought to me.

Then they began talking about transition towns or cities. This idea has me intrigued. The idea is to develop whole communities that are less dependent, or not dependent at all on globalization or petroleum products. Sounds like Utopia, but I don’t believe Utopia will ever exist here on this earth. But I do believe that living wisely and being a good steward of your local environment is a good thing to do. So just because I don’t believe that heaven will ever be here on earth, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try to live in a way that conserves the environment and a moral economy.

The best quote I heard in the documentary was from an Indian gardener:  “We can not live infinitely on a finite earth.”

 

Blessed

Do you ever notice how something, or many things, grab your attention and cause you to research it, research it, research it, and research it? Maybe it’s a hobby or an idea, or something you want to buy. You just love thinking about it and looking more and more deeply into it.
Well, I know I have. And those things have been many. They range from business ideas to musical instruments, to properties I’d like to buy. Well, my wife is a blessing to me. I find her constantly researching things to do for our children’s homeschooling.
She is constantly finding new things to do to get them involved in learning. This is such a selfless act. She gets great fulfillment out of creating an environment that is rich in learning. While I find myself being captivated by something that I want, she is busy being captivated by things that will further our childrens education at home and that the material is biblically sound.
I am blessed and encouraged by her.

 

Snowshoeing to the sugarbush!

Snowshoes

Hey Folks! Its that time of year again. The days are getting noticeably longer and the temperatures are a tad above freezing but still below freezing at night. That means the sap is starting to run up the sugar maple trees. Its time to put your taps in and drain a little out for your pancakes!

New tubing zip tied to high tensile wire

The snow here is still quite deep so I have taken to snowshoes to make the trek out to the sugarbush a little easier. I have been taking any spare time to go out and string up a new addition to my system. My friend is making available his high tensile wire. So this past weekend I ripped out all my existing tubing and taps and put up high tensile wire. Now I have a “backbone” to attach my new lines to. This will keep my tubing from sagging as it has in the past.  Sags in the lines do not allow for good sap flow. Its best to have as straight a line as possible always in an unlevel position to let the sap flow down instead of collecting in the sags. This has always been a problem for me.

The trick to no sags!

I am also adding about 30 more taps this year. I am very excited about these as they are nice big trees. Half of these will be collected by drop lines into buckets. In the past those bucket lines have produced so much that the buckets were always overflowing by the time I got back from work that afternoon. This year I am going to split the line right before it drops into the bucket so that I will have 2 buckets per one tap.

Hurry before the sun goes down!

I also have new tubing and taps which will cut down on the bacteria being introduced into the tree which would increase the speed of healing of the tap hole. As you can assume, the faster it heals, the shorter the time you have to collect sap from that hole. Sometimes you can freshen up the hole again by reaming it out if you still have good weather approaching but it is often considered not a good practice. I have done it in the past and it allows for more sap to flow for a few more days.

In the next few days I plan on hanging all my tubing and then hopefully tapping this coming weekend. I will post pics as I get them.

 

“Rockin’ chairs, Rockin’ babies, Rockabye Rock of Ages…”

"Amish" Rocker

I have been working on this idea of a rocking chair article for a while now. I had a few pieces that I specifically wanted photographed for this article and some that I got from high-end rocking chair makers web sites. There is just something about a rocking chair. It calls for you to come and sit, though when you do, you immediately find whether its really living up to its reputation or not.

My friends custom rocker.

Some rockers, when sat in, lean gently back in a restful position while others keep you in a forward slanted position as if your going to slip right off the seat. I don’t know if there is a specific purpose for that,  if its just poor craftsmanship, or just a different taste in comfort.

www.haltaylor.com

As for me when I sit in  a rocking chair, I look for a nice wide seat scooped out or formed to fit the gluteous maximus. Then, when seated, I slightly lean back and see where the chair takes me. I am pleased if it rocks back just enough in that restful position.

Another consideration is the depth of the seat. By depth I mean the distance of the seat from front to back. This will vary for different sized people. I like

www.haltaylor.com

the edge of the seat to come as close to the bend in my knee as possible, then gently roll down at the edge so as to not create a sharp edge.

I also really appreciate a back that is contoured and shaped to your back. So many are made on a straight flat plane. This is not how your back is shaped and therefore your spine uncomfortably rolls on the hard wood.

Aside from comfort, there is preferred style. Some like refined, some like rustic, some like unique. I like a sort of mixture. I like refined with some rustic characteristics and unique wood. I have two “Amish” rocking chairs in my home because I couldn’t beat the price of the ones I found and because I like the rustic nature.

My friends tiger maple ladder back with ebony accents.

I also like my friends rocking chair and the other one I have pictured from Hal Taylor because if its refined but simple appearance and the use of tiger maple wood. My friends chair and the ones from Hal Taylor all are inspired by the late Sam Maloof who was a well known designer of rocking chairs. His design is usually evident in most high end rockers. The ladder back and woven seat of my friends chair indicate a Quaker style mounted to the tell-tale Maloof -like extended “snowshoe” style rockers.

The Amish rockers are comfortable due to a wide contoured seat and a contoured back but after about 45 minutes your legs seem to loose circulation from the sharp edge

"Amish" rocker

where your legs bend at the knees. I wished they had rolled it away instead of dropstraight down. They also seem to not fit the exact shape of my back. The bent lumbar area seems a tad too high. On a good note they are pleasing to look at and rest at a comfortable angle. Overall, to me, they are a good chair.

Another type of chair that I have come across in my other friends collection is one of twig or stick style. This one is made from branches that are chosen because of their shape. He walks through his woods

"Twig" or "stick" rocker.

looking for the right shaped branches to make the picture he has in his head. Then adds a plank, or a slice of a stump, maybe some buckskin and cushioning. A good mind for architecture, appreciation for the natural use of wood as it is in branch form, and the ability to put those things together in the shop makes for fine craftsmanship.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit on rocking chairs and maybe next time before you plop down in one, you’ll take a little time to notice the craftsmanship, or lack there of.

Figured bigleaf maple rocker from www.rockingchairuniversity.com

 

A good deer season!

Nice Wide7 Point

I must say now that every deer season has been a good one, but this one was a little more productive. We had the usual “deer camp” at our house where my brother and his kids come up from downstate on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We have a great time with the anticipation and excitement of the coming Monday opener.  The kids usually have off from school for the opening of deer season and the following day as well so it makes for a nice extended stay for them at Uncle Robs house.

Unfortunately, every year that my niece and nephews have been coming up, they have always gone back home empty handed. They have seen deer but apparently have never been able to get a shot off at one. This year was no different. The weather was nice for the first day, and rainy the next. Deer were seen and those same deer walked away freely. I felt bad as they left without any deer again. I put my success on the back burner when they come up because I desperately want one of them to get something.

Anyway, I was able to go out the following Saturday on private lands that I could not have taken the whole crew to hunt on. I had a doe tag and a buck tag but was ready to shoot what I saw first.  It had snowed the last few days. Not a lot, but enough to cover the ground for a nice white backdrop to the woods. This makes it easier to spot the movement of deer. As I walked to where I had set my tree stand during archery season, I found that it was gone. This is the first time I had been the victim of tree stand theft…on private land! Anyway, I just sat down right there. As I took off my pack I heard about 6 deer crashing off through the woods along side of me back out to the field where I had come from. I figured “Great! Now the woods are empty!” I was only planning on hunting the morning so that I could get back and watch the kids while my wife went out to a get together. I figured my morning was a bust. I stayed put and within one hour I heard 2 deer waling back the way they had ran out. They were coming in from behind me on my left. I shoot left handed so I knew I had to spin around to see them or get a good shot. I turned my head and saw there were two deer. I waited till they were both behind trees and I spun around as quietly as possible. The first one was a doe. I was going to shoot her but decided to wait and see what the trailing deer was. If that was a doe, then I’d shoot either one.

I could hear my wifes instructons “If its a doe, take it. Dont pass it up for a buck. We need the meat”. That was because I had passed up a good shot on a doe in early archery season. Anyway, the trailing deer had stopped behind a large tree. My rifle was up and ready…and getting very heavy. It seemed like an eternity for it to move out from behind the tree. The lead doe had already moved out of site, so if this deer was not a shooter, I would have wasted a good opportunity.

Minutes after the shot. .243 Howa Axiom

Finally it took a step or two and I saw antlers. I quick checked for three tines one one side and found it was legal. Then I took my scope off the antlers and on to the body. If you loo at the antlers for too long, you will miss a shot…trust me. He was walking and so I had only a few second to get him between trees and have a good shot. When he stopped between two trees I laid the cross hairs just behind the shoulder and pulled the trigger. BLAM! He dropped right where he stood without a struggle! I was very happy with that shot. I do not like taking a shot unless it will do the job quickly. The doe in front just slowly walked away. I was trying to take aim on her too but she had quartered away too quickly and I remembered that I legally had to tag the buck before I could take another deer.

I didnt realize how nice of a buck it was till I got over to it. I was also able to shoot a doe that night…but that’s for another post.=)

Hyundai Elantras are amazing!

 

 

Low Budget Hobby Farming

Hillside Pasture

I was flipping through a “Hobby Farmer” magazine the other night and realized that the whole idea of hobby framing is really aimed at those who have an expendible income. The advertisements are full of expensive “farm toys”. The articles talk about high bloodlines and innovative ideas…if you have the money to implement them. You hear stories about “When we moved from our city house to our cute farmette in the country” or “we moved from our suburban 3,000 sq ft home to our country estate/cottage to enjoy country life”. I don’t know what part of farming was done for just enjoyment. Yes, an agricultural lifestyle can be enjoyable and fulfilling…due to the hard work. But it was mostly born from necessity.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a very interesting magazine and you can get many ideas from it.

I thought it was ironic though that hobby farming is basically for the “rich” these days, when in times past, that’s how the poor lived.  Making the most out of small rural acreage.  In these economically hard times, hobby farming should be aimed at doing more with less….less money that is. I can not say that I live on a farm, nor that I am a farmer. We only own less than 1.5 acres. I have a regular job that pays the bills…barely, and a side business to make extra money to fill in the gaps. We do live in a rural area but that is only because I made the choice to go to college in a rural area. It’s the first place I settled before I even had a family of my own. So we had that going for us from the beginning I guess. I don’t think we could have afforded to “move to a country lifestyle”.

That’s the whole reason that my wife and I decided to pursue raising our own food. At least as much as we could handle doing ourselves. Each year we have expanded to do a little more. We increase the garden every year, we are increasing the diversity of animals we raise as well. Each one has its own function in the process of raising healthy food. We have a garden, so compost and insect control are a must. We have chickens that take care of the bugs (and the tomatoes too unfortunately). We have goats that provide us meat, and milk will be flowing next year hopefully. The chickens also take care of mixing in the goat droppings with the grass and dirt. We take out the goat shed bedding to the compost pile since its basically hay, wood shavings, and goat droppings. The chickens provide us with eggs and an occasional chicken dinner. Hopefully in the spring we will also have two piglets to raise. They will be placed where our current garden is. Pigs do a great job mixing in compost while providing their own manure into the garden. We can fence in the current section of garden space for the pigs, then rotate the next year.

Pig/Garden Rotation (www.cricketbread.com)

All of this is done with minimal expense.  I use old second hand items when possible. For instance, our current goat shed is the old metal shed that came with the house. I asked a farmer about a broken calf hutch one day and he said I could have it for free…in fact I got two and let my friend have one. Two lengths of our electric net fencing were basically given to us as long as I went and ripped them out from being buried under tall over grown field grass…It was literally a treasure hunt! Our neighbor graciously lets us use the steep hillside along our house to pasture the goats. I think he is just glad to have the hillside mowed and rid of multiflora rose.

If anything needs to be bought, I ask around first to see if anyone nearby has the item and aren’t using it. If I cant find it, I search for used items on the internet. My last resort is to buy  something brand new. We cant afford tractors and other large motorized farm tools, nor do we have the room to store them. Once you can afford to buy the equipment, you have to afford to build outbuildings to store them in. So our work takes longer and gives us more exercise. It also will hopefully instill in our children a good work ethic. That is the second reason why we chose to start raising as much food for ourselves as we can on a low budget.

So, I think there needs to be a magazine focused on low budget hobby farming. I am sure there is one somewhere already.

 

Dont keep your eggs all in one basket!

In the military we were constantly reminded to be unpredictable in our daily travels and tasks to keep unknown threats confused. It seems that among the ranks of our chickens, Sgt. Rooster has been issuing the same orders to the hens.

Our hens starting laying eggs about a month ago. Nice brown eggs. One or two of our six hens were venturing in the coop and leaving the wonderful gift that I would later find and collect with my boys. About a week later, one hen decided to start laying in the pine shavings in the goats shed. Amazingly, the goats tiptoe around the eggs. I have not seen one crushed yet!

About 2 weeks ago, I was getting disappointed and frustrated that the hens had stopped laying eggs in the coop after what seemed to be a good start. They were laying maybe 3 eggs a day up to that point. I couldn’t figure out what caused the withholding of their dues. I starting randomly checking out the tall grasses nearby when going to feed the goats but never found any evidence of stashing. I figured either they aren’t getting enough nutrition, or water, or maybe the cold weather had turned off the production.

Last night I was getting my drill together so I could unscrew the roof of the coop for my daily check (I am working on fixing the roof so this isn’t such a laborious and inefficient task). I bent over to get the extension cord plug and saw a glimpse of what looked to be a white egg under the coop! I kneeled down and sure enough there were about 4 white and brown eggs! They had made a little nest UNDER the coop! Then my eyes saw just a foot further under the coop a large nest FULL of eggs! At least a dozen or more piled in the self made nest!!

I’m on to them now! Looks like I’ll have to screen around under the coop and make the inside of the coop more attractive. Oh…they all sleep in the tree OVER the coop every night too!

Egg Stash!