From L to R peas, potatoes, beets, lettuce, and carrots. It is hard to see but at the far end of the spuds are onions.
These are some feathered friends. We have Buff Orpiningtons, Black Australorps, White Leghorns, and 2 Rhode Island Red Roosters.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Hobby farmer
This is my garden on a rare sunny day.
From L to R peas, potatoes, beets, lettuce, and carrots. It is hard to see but at the far end of the spuds are onions.
These are some feathered friends. We have Buff Orpiningtons, Black Australorps, White Leghorns, and 2 Rhode Island Red Roosters.
From L to R peas, potatoes, beets, lettuce, and carrots. It is hard to see but at the far end of the spuds are onions.
These are some feathered friends. We have Buff Orpiningtons, Black Australorps, White Leghorns, and 2 Rhode Island Red Roosters.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Tunnel...
Mama may kick my butt, but this photo she took reminded me of a quote...
"the light at the end of the tunnel...
...is a train"
"the light at the end of the tunnel...
...is a train"
Deer Brats
No, that is not a typo... These are Bratwurst made from Sitka Black Tailed Deer, shot on Kodiak Island. A few weeks ago I made some Bear Brats for a co-worker, out of a bear a killed the week before. After word got out, and a few people tried them Mark asked if I would make some sausage out of some deer meat he had in the freezer.
Mark got some pork, about 6 pounds of of shoulder roast that was buy one get one free. We cubed everything up and trimmed as much sinew and fat as we could. Then we weighed the whole mess, it came to about 22#. I prefer to spread the spices on the meat before grinding so the grinder can help mix it in.
Then we ran through the course plate on the grinder, which is pretty easy to do. The grinder just sort of pulls every thing through, fingers too if you are not careful. My grinder in an antique that my Grandparents bought shortly after they married in the 30s. Over the years some parts were lost. So, I made the hopper and the stomper. An uncle gave me my fine plate and I have purchased a few additional parts from a butcher supply house 3 hours away.
After the coarse plate we run everything through the fine plate. This is a little harder, it necessitates the use of the stomper. My helpers are loading the hopper.
Notice the difference in the "grain" after it comes out of the fine plate.
My three year old was thrilled that we were making worms...
Next I put in a spacer and my stuffer tube (I have two and this is the smaller). This third time through the machine is really difficult. Mark pushed on the stomper, the five year old loaded the hopper, and all I guide the casings...
Notice that they are natural casings. If you look careful you can see the blood vessels and the less than uniform diameter.
Next thing you know we had brats.
...and more brats.
Do you see those little string like things? Those are "connective tissue" I told you they were natural casings.
Mark got some pork, about 6 pounds of of shoulder roast that was buy one get one free. We cubed everything up and trimmed as much sinew and fat as we could. Then we weighed the whole mess, it came to about 22#. I prefer to spread the spices on the meat before grinding so the grinder can help mix it in.
Then we ran through the course plate on the grinder, which is pretty easy to do. The grinder just sort of pulls every thing through, fingers too if you are not careful. My grinder in an antique that my Grandparents bought shortly after they married in the 30s. Over the years some parts were lost. So, I made the hopper and the stomper. An uncle gave me my fine plate and I have purchased a few additional parts from a butcher supply house 3 hours away.
After the coarse plate we run everything through the fine plate. This is a little harder, it necessitates the use of the stomper. My helpers are loading the hopper.
Notice the difference in the "grain" after it comes out of the fine plate.
My three year old was thrilled that we were making worms...
Next I put in a spacer and my stuffer tube (I have two and this is the smaller). This third time through the machine is really difficult. Mark pushed on the stomper, the five year old loaded the hopper, and all I guide the casings...
Notice that they are natural casings. If you look careful you can see the blood vessels and the less than uniform diameter.
Next thing you know we had brats.
...and more brats.
Do you see those little string like things? Those are "connective tissue" I told you they were natural casings.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Addition Part II
I spent my whole vacation (minus the camping part) working on the addition. A couple teens and I excavated for a full crawl space and frost footing. I then spent several days placing my forms and rebar. The specification I am building to allows me to place my footings on "undisturbed soil" which means I had to very careful not to dig too deep.
As you can see I am finally placing concrete.
I dug the hole by hand and I mixed and placed the concrete by hand.
Here I am about to screed (level) a load that I just placed. This went on for several hours, but now (44 eighty pound bags later) the footings are placed. Now I need to let them cure for about 3 days and then get back to it.
As you can see I am finally placing concrete.
I dug the hole by hand and I mixed and placed the concrete by hand.
Here I am about to screed (level) a load that I just placed. This went on for several hours, but now (44 eighty pound bags later) the footings are placed. Now I need to let them cure for about 3 days and then get back to it.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
While we were camping we did some fishing
I took the little boys fishing. Mama and the littlest one watched.
Look at the form. That boy's a natural.
This guy has had a little more practice.
We also found another duck. I believe this is a shoveler hen.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
We went CAMPING!
I expect to post several times about this trip, but this first one is about some of the wild life we saw.
This is an Eagle's nest in a tree several feet off the road and about 12 feet off the deck. Mama must be from the city to tolerate that much noise. There is a eaglet in the nest, I got some video I may add later.
This is a Common Merganser swimming in the Anchor River. I apologize for the picture quality,but I was stretching the limit on my digital camera.
These are two mature Sandhill Cranes and their colt.
This is an Eagle's nest in a tree several feet off the road and about 12 feet off the deck. Mama must be from the city to tolerate that much noise. There is a eaglet in the nest, I got some video I may add later.
This is a Common Merganser swimming in the Anchor River. I apologize for the picture quality,but I was stretching the limit on my digital camera.
These are two mature Sandhill Cranes and their colt.
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