Fall Equinox

The fall equinox has come and gone so the days are getting shorter rapidly here in north central Wisconsin. That's a good thing and a bad thing here on the homestead. It's good because it gives me more time to pursue interest like this blog but a bad thing considering the amount of work I need to get done before the snow flies here in about a month. We had a great, productive, summer and fall even if our new garden was somewhat disappointing.

All the fruit trees and canes seemed to have a bumper crop this year and the biggest challenge was getting them harvested and processed in time. We learnt a new mushroom this year and had a good time hunting for those. Our really big event this year was learning to harvest and process wild rice.

The first pic,which didn't load right,is me treading the rice to remove the hulls. Second one is of the pan we used to parch the rice,which is done before you tread it to desiccate the hulls. Next is me poling the canoe, and last Ann knocking rice as we pole through it.

I've got tons to write about but that will have to wait a little while longer. Time for me to get back to work.

Busy,Busy, Busy

A quick word or three in case there is anyone out there who cares! Have been busy with a dozen different projects over the last few months which I will write about when things calm down a bit. Our garden has required way more work than I'm used to because of it being a new garden spot. The grass and weeds have been tough to get under control and it has been dry so I have had to water a lot. Around here that's done by 5 gallon bucket so getting enough water on a half acre garden takes time!

Now it is berry time and mother nature has really smiled on us in that department this year. We have been picking wild raspberries last week and more this week. I have picked wild berries most of my life and this is the best I have ever seen them. Ann has canned 11 quarts of raspberry pie filling and 18 pints of jam so far. As I write this Ann is cleaning another 3 or 4 quarts she picked today and we will go picking again tommorrow. If we keep this up I'll have enough to make Raspberry Wine. YUM YUM!

On top of those I've been making fence for our livestock, cutting mulch for the garden, hauling dirt for an extension to the driveway, putting in some grape vines, making fire wood ,etc.

More on all of that plus our new herb business next time. I promise it won't be as long.

New Additions To Our Homestead

   Ann and Dane with our Sannan Doe Malta and her triplets. They were only a hour or so old when I took these pictures. Mom and babies are doing fine. These are the first babies born this year. We have another Sannan doe, Beta, who is due soon. It will be nice to have fresh milk every day again. 

Are You A Good Bee Or A Bad Bee?

    This is a picture of some old honey comb in a frame. We have two packages of bees coming next week so I've been cleaning up our bee boxes this week. We have ordered bees from several places over the years. It's fun when your order is delivered to the post office! They give you a call to come and get them pretty quick! This year we are once again getting bees from a local bee keeper who drives down to South  Carolina or some where down south and brings a whole truck load back.

    While I was working on our bee boxes I got to thinking about how different hives of bees have different personalities. Individual honey bees only live a few weeks, except for the queen, but the temperament of a hive stays fairly consistent. Some hives are cranky, some are docile, some are more active than others. You can make any honey bee sting if your careless handling them but some will take a lot more than others.

   We don't have very much in the way of equipment. We have a veil and gloves and make do with  a heavy coat and jeans. If you don't agitate the bees too much that's about all you need. You try to only open the hive on really nice days, that way a lot of the bees are not even home, they are out gathering nectar! 

   I have not figured out any way to tell in advance how aggressive a hive will be until you crack it open that first time. When you pry the cover off that hive and a few of the inhabitants come out to see you, I always have one quetion in the back of my mind. Are you a good bee or a bad bee?

BLOGGER DISCOVERS CURE FOR CABIN FEVER

  Well, if you read my other blog you already know, the cure for cabin fever is simple. Butcher two pigs! Butchering provides that much needed stimulus and plenty of exercise to shake you right out of those winter time blues. Plus all the fringe benefits such as family togetherness and a teaching opportunity for economics ,ethics, animal husbandry, and cooking to mention a few. I hate writting the same stuff twice so if your intrested in the butchering and meat curing look on my other blog

http://tightwadconfessions.rfdamerica.com/ 

   I didn't do much but make fire wood all last month but vacation is over now! This last week I got out the pan for cooking maple syrup and started getting set up and every thing cleaned up and ready to go. I tapped a dozen trees so we can watch them to see when they start to run. Nothing so far. I don't like to tap too early because the tree will start to heal up before the end of the run. I'll tap about a hundred to a hundred twenty-five trees this year. We make as much syrup as we can and if we have enough we'll make some maple sugar too.

   Next on the list was getting ready to start seeds for our garden. First off was setting up a small 8x8 greenhouse. That went well after I got the snow shoveled out of the way! I have it all set up and staked down so we are ready to go on that. We won't start our seeds until about the middle of April. That will make our sets 5 to6 weeks old when we put them out.

    Ann order two packages of bees for delivery in April so next week I will have to get busy cleaning up some hive boxes and supers. We weren't here last year so didn't have any bees so have to start over this year. One of the things to do on my list is to do a better job as a bee keeper this year. In past years I've been a little sloppy on working the hives. Bees are getting way too expensive to have them swarm on you because you did'nt do your part.

   I'll try to get some photos of all that stuff up if I have a chance. There are a few on the other blog.

The Mid-winter Blaaaaas

  I definitely have the mid-winter blaas. It has been to cold to do much outside other than caring for the livestock.  It is supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow. If it is I can at least make some firewood. Not exactly fun but at least I will get some exercise and fresh air. 

   With a little too much time on my hands I have been following the news more lately. The economic news is starting to worry me quite a bit. Even though I think Obama is going to try to turn things around I don't have much hope of his getting it done. I think things are too far out of whack and it's going to take years for this to straighten out. I also think gas prices are going to go back up at least as high as they were before.

   I don't think hording is a good idea but I firmly believe people should be prepared. It always surprises me when I see video on the news of people rushing to the store two hours before the hurricane is going to hit. People need to start being more responsible for themselves and stop waiting for the government to take care of them. Every one should have enough food on hand to feed themselves for at least a month. Personally, it makes me nervous if we don't have a years worth on hand!

   Well, enough doom and gloom. I am starting to plan this years gardens which is always an optimistic project. I am planning to do a small market garden again this year. I think more people will be looking for locally grown food but I expect them to be looking for bargains too. I will probably raise some free range chickens to sell also. Spring can't get here soon enough for me!!!!!

   

BRRRRRRRRRRR!

  Well, here in the upper mid west we are in the deep freeze. Our high today was 3 degrees and right now it is 7 below zero and dropping. The forecast is for 15 to 25 below in our area tonight.

  Living in a small cabin can be challenging when every one is confined to the house due to weather like this. Add to this the fact that we are off grid and right now experiencing some problems with our batteries and it does not leave much for entertainment if you don't use your imagination.

  Our first shot at amusing ourselves after our outside chores were done came from a picture I saw on the Internet. Frozen soap bubbles. You would think that a Wisconsin native would have thought of this long ago buy I never had. When it's 19 below zero as it was this morning,if you blow a soap bubble outside, they freeze before they hit the ground. It was definitely worth standing out in the cold for a little while to do it. I tried to get pics but it is hard to see the bubbles against the snow.It's suppose to be colder tomorrow morning so I will try getting some video if I can.

  After that we had our son Dane, whom we home school, read to us. He is reading Little House in the Big Woods, so it seemed especially appropriate. We took a road trip this summer that took us past a cabin modeled after the one Laura Ingals grew up in. It's on the original site of their cabin. I posted a picture of it here. It is located near Peppin WI.

  Ann spun some wool while Dane was reading and I did some whittling. It's amazing the things you have time to do if the television or game cube don't steal all your time.