Monday, January 27, 2014
The Winter that never came
We're getting close to the middle of winter here and it has not brought any relief. We have not recieved any rain as of early 2013. From 2012-2013 we received about 3 inches of rain and we have not received any since then. Our town does not even have a rain chart as there is none to report. But in other news...
Our first sheep of the season has made it onto the homestead. It was born on the 20th of January by Sheepie #1. Darth Sheep sheepie is looking HUGE and we'll see what she ends up with.
I was finally able to clean out the front yard: pruned the grapes and got them ready to propagate, pruned the apple tree, cleaned out the boysenberries, watered the garlic, and got things ready for the almond tree pruning.
Added some more trees to our list: Italian prune (to make up for the one that Anush killed), Smyrna Quince, Russian Quince, Arkansas Black Spur Apple, Hudson's Golden Gem, Seckle Pear, Warren Pear, Chicago Fig, Another fig that starts with a K, Royal Medler, Rainer Cherry, Bing Cherry, Candada Apricot, Harcot Apricot, Anna Apple, and some more I'm probably forgetting. Now we've really, really hit our tree limit and we'll see if they all live and grow well. We'll have to keep watering them as the sky and weather do not seem to want to work with us.
My goal is the have fresh fruit from March until December with dried/jam/preserved fruit for the rest of the time that we do not have fresh fruit available. The only trees left to prune are the Ranger peach and the Almond out front. After that we'll hopefully be winterized and be ready to bring on the Spring.
We have the old potato quadrant that is ready to be planted with other veg and the south-eastern quadrant ready to be planted with our future potatoes. We'll have to till it soon to see if we could start our plants.
We're in the middle of constructing our Poultry Palace/Chicken Palace and we're working on the roof at the moment. It should be done shortly so that our chickens can have something to lay their eggs in as well as a location for our ducks and geese to nest in. Since we tore down the old chicken coop we found ourselves with pieces of a metal garage door and other metal bits around the back yard. They were able to be moved off site this weekend thanks to a guy who picks up metal and appliances for free in our area. Now we just need to clear out the left over pieces of detritus and the back yard might be a bit more organized.
It seems as though we're busy but slow all at the same time. Ivan makes everything last so much longer than it needs to be, but that' life. We're hoping to be able to get to more projects soon.
Blood, Sweat, and Shears
I know we've mentioned John Seymore quite frequently on this blog because he has become a very insightful link into our self sufficiency, he also tends to be very blunt and honest. In regards to shearing sheep he says, "shearing sheep is hard work, anyone who tells you otherwise is lying," and I can honestly tell you that he was telling the truth.
I ordered a couple of hand shears from Amazon to see which ones I liked the best. As it turns out I'm very glad I made that choice because the one that was highly suggested ended up sucking so bad that I ended up returning it. I didn't even get to finish one clip as it just didn't function. The basic shears worked really, really well. We ended up taking two days to shear three sheep. The first day we closed the sheep up in a corner and dragged out the sheeps needed. We had to manuver the sheep a bit as we were staring to make sure we got everything. Casanunda was easier as he was smaller and I was able to finish him in a half an hour. I tried the same technique with one of the sheep and it sucked as it took an hour and a half and I ended up with about 3 cuts on my poor sheepie. The following day we got the other sheepie and I ended up just laying her down and finished her in about 20 minutes with a nice close sheer. I will definitely do it that way next time.
We'll post more about shearing next time to make sure that we're actually working with a method that works.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
2013
Rosie and I have been trying to work up to a post about the year of 2013, it was a bad one and it is hard to start. We wanted this blog to inspire people to do great things, and this year was not inspiring.
I will start with a list of some of the trials we have faced this year, in no particular order.
Mcgee, our max cat died after a short sicknes.
Our chicken flock was killed, every last one. By a dog we intended to be a companion to Zuzu.
With the loss of our flock our 4 year old breeding program was annihilated.
Our septic system failed and required trenching and pumping.
One of our sheep died from no apparent cause.
We lost our two willow trees, after several years of very good growth.
Ivan had to have some minor but very expensive dental surgery.
Our well pump died again, 3 week with limited or no water.
Rosie's bee hives died.
Our own medical and dental needs have been ignored due to time and money constraints.
The cabbage and brussel sprout crop failed.
It has not rained in 3 years, feed prices have gone up x3. Imagine if you woke up tomarrow and gas was $15 a gallon, its has had that kind of impact on our finances.
Our families had several serious and potentially life threatening illnesses.
Due to all of these we have a huge backlog of farm projects.
Ivan destroyed Rosie's laptop requiring a replacement.
We have had to drop our hobbies and are spending far less time with our friends than we want.
Zuzu, our dog, died suddenly and unexpectedly.
I am sure I am leaving some out, really when you are kicked in the teeth this many times in a year you start to lose track.
In the big scheme of things this year was not as bad as it could have been, we weathered the storm and made it threw to the end. Our ship may have been ravaged and we lost some friends along the way but perhaps we are in for some clear sailing now. Our finances are in shambles, we will be in debt deeper than ever before and for longer than we expected. Emotionally we have been drained, not the up and down but the down and then down deeper. All of the things we do to keep sane and balanced have gone out the window, we don't have the time and money or because we crawl into bed each night early as we can and dread the coming morning light and the new trials it will bring.
2013 can go die in a fire
If we have not seen you, our friends and families, know that it is no reflection on you. We have been used up by the trials of the year. We are thinking of you all and missing you even more than you may know. There have been few workshops and even less farm days, nearly no parties, and for that we apologize. But we have not been fit for company, the house is a mess as are our moods.
Now we enter 2014; We know that our trials are not all behind us with the turning of a calendar page, and much of what the new year will bring will include new trials and well as new triumphs. If we are slow to restart much of our old joviality please be patient with us, we are rebuilding for a new year and hope soon to open the doors of our home once again to friends and family as we have done in years past.
The hearth fires have not died.
Banked under the ashes lays a heat set to rekindle the blazing warmth our lifestyle once embraced. On a evening soon our halls will once more ring with music and song, strong drinks and warm food will pass from hand to hand, cold nights will be met with warm smiles and open arms, the land will turn green once again, bright orange egg yokes and fresh bread, sizzling meat on the spit and pots of stew over the fire will once again fill our home with the feeling of contentment and the promise of a life shared with family and friends. Join us and together perhaps we can wash away the darkness of the last year with some shared joy.
We hope your holidays have been bright and this new year finds you well.
Jed, Rosie, and Ivan Depew.
I will start with a list of some of the trials we have faced this year, in no particular order.
Mcgee, our max cat died after a short sicknes.
Our chicken flock was killed, every last one. By a dog we intended to be a companion to Zuzu.
With the loss of our flock our 4 year old breeding program was annihilated.
Our septic system failed and required trenching and pumping.
One of our sheep died from no apparent cause.
We lost our two willow trees, after several years of very good growth.
Ivan had to have some minor but very expensive dental surgery.
Our well pump died again, 3 week with limited or no water.
Rosie's bee hives died.
Our own medical and dental needs have been ignored due to time and money constraints.
The cabbage and brussel sprout crop failed.
It has not rained in 3 years, feed prices have gone up x3. Imagine if you woke up tomarrow and gas was $15 a gallon, its has had that kind of impact on our finances.
Our families had several serious and potentially life threatening illnesses.
Due to all of these we have a huge backlog of farm projects.
Ivan destroyed Rosie's laptop requiring a replacement.
We have had to drop our hobbies and are spending far less time with our friends than we want.
Zuzu, our dog, died suddenly and unexpectedly.
I am sure I am leaving some out, really when you are kicked in the teeth this many times in a year you start to lose track.
In the big scheme of things this year was not as bad as it could have been, we weathered the storm and made it threw to the end. Our ship may have been ravaged and we lost some friends along the way but perhaps we are in for some clear sailing now. Our finances are in shambles, we will be in debt deeper than ever before and for longer than we expected. Emotionally we have been drained, not the up and down but the down and then down deeper. All of the things we do to keep sane and balanced have gone out the window, we don't have the time and money or because we crawl into bed each night early as we can and dread the coming morning light and the new trials it will bring.
2013 can go die in a fire
If we have not seen you, our friends and families, know that it is no reflection on you. We have been used up by the trials of the year. We are thinking of you all and missing you even more than you may know. There have been few workshops and even less farm days, nearly no parties, and for that we apologize. But we have not been fit for company, the house is a mess as are our moods.
Now we enter 2014; We know that our trials are not all behind us with the turning of a calendar page, and much of what the new year will bring will include new trials and well as new triumphs. If we are slow to restart much of our old joviality please be patient with us, we are rebuilding for a new year and hope soon to open the doors of our home once again to friends and family as we have done in years past.
The hearth fires have not died.
Banked under the ashes lays a heat set to rekindle the blazing warmth our lifestyle once embraced. On a evening soon our halls will once more ring with music and song, strong drinks and warm food will pass from hand to hand, cold nights will be met with warm smiles and open arms, the land will turn green once again, bright orange egg yokes and fresh bread, sizzling meat on the spit and pots of stew over the fire will once again fill our home with the feeling of contentment and the promise of a life shared with family and friends. Join us and together perhaps we can wash away the darkness of the last year with some shared joy.
We hope your holidays have been bright and this new year finds you well.
Jed, Rosie, and Ivan Depew.
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