Well! Spring brings a whole new set of work parameters! These are our Hoop houses, built over raised beds for our kitchen garden. Jim & I have been quite turned on by some old-timey garden & agriculture books, mentioned at the side-bar to the right. Perhaps the most eye-opening book is The One Straw Revolution, recommended by my dad, Stan Gauthier of Parksville, BC. The main premise is this:Farming (raising food) is a joy that requires no chemicals, tilling or heavy machinery. Too many farmers (gardeners) spend money they don't have to amend soil that likely doesn't need it, break it to useless bits with equipment that chugs diesel & spews carbon, and ends up harvesting the same edible portion as a natural farmer, who does none of these things. The author's main concern is for farmers & gardeners to take better care of their soil by amending it with the previous year's straw & leftover stalks, vines, etc. and to allow for natural decomposition and build the soil up year after year. No till? Hooray! I hate tilling even more than I hate shovelling! Mr. Fukuoka discusses the Japanese Ministry Of Agriculture's tests on soil quality, crop yield & insect damage, among many other things, and reveals that all things are not as they seem.
He calls his farming method the do-nothing method, or no-till. It is defined as growing cover-crops amongst his main crop, then leaving that cover crop plus the straw to decompose in the field producing an enriched humusy soil that is fully nourished for the following year. This means he doesn't need fertilizer. Because he grows a variety of plants and shades the soil with cover-crops, he also has a variety of insects that benefit his fields, so he doesn't need pesticides. All those roots do a good job of aerating and breaking up the soil, so he doesn't need to till. Refuses to squash this light & luscious soil with a tractor, so he harvests by hand, with a paid crew. No tractor or combine. No diesel. No fumes. No monthly payments. Better yield than a conventional farmer per acre. Doesn't need an outside job. Huh?
The part about Japanese farmers of a century ago having time to goof off in the winter and write Haiku is my favorite! Today, these poor guys have to work part time just to afford all the chemicals and machinery for their crops, plus feed their families. Read The Book! I got it through inter-library loan.
We have started many veggies indoors already, the tomatoes already have flower buds! Some of them are destined for what Jim is calling a One Straw trial. He is going to plant some fava beans in a grassy area, protected from all the wind we get here by scrub (short) Junipers. He will also put in some tomato & pepper plants. I'll keep ya all posted!

CSA, Quest ce que c'est?

Well, you pay for a product before it's grown or harvested, hatched, laid, bought on auction, raised, slaughtered, wrapped in tidy paper packages and delivered to your door! Some folks have veggies delivered once a week, some include eggs. We get pasture-raised meat from Nyman Farm here in Prince Edward County. We signed up for a mixed-pack, it includes all kinds of meat.
Now here's the thing. We don't have a freezer. Or a fridge, for that matter. So Colleen has generously said yes to my request to keep my stuff in with hers. I pick up once a week, which is probably all she can stand!
Nyman Farm is a pretty busy place; she and the WOOFers just packed up the annual maple syrup crop into beautiful bottles, for sale on premises. I should ask her permission to give you guys a link to her website, http://www.jcnymanfarms.com/ , I am sure she won't mind!
What we are not doing is saving money. What we are doing is weaning ourselves off growth hormones, anti-biotics and questionable feed sources. No more factory raised "meat" products for us! We feel better already! FYI, factory-raised meat is what you get from super-markets (even if it is labelled "organic". The criteria for "organic" does not include how crammed-in the animals are.) and meat shops. Ask your butcher how the meat you are eating is raised...you don't know until s/he tells you.
What we are also doing is supporting a family farm. Nyman's don't want to have to afford to become "certified Organic", as they would then have to bill that expense to their customers. So they just call the meat pasture raised. They raise the feed as well, with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Local eating, buying and being entertained is becoming more and more accessible. It all depends on the choices you make at home. Don't wait for anyone else, including government bureaucrats or industry organicrats (isn't that a great term? I read it in Fields of Plenty, Micheal Ableman), to legislate anything, you'll be waiting until the sky darkens with transport-diesel fumes and your children are all sterile due to growth-hormones build up.
There's my wee rant-y! S'cuse me while I whip up some perogies for dinner. If I pay attention to the quantities of flour/water, I'll give you the recipe.

Spring has sprung!

Yes, technically the ground is still frozen, but that doesn't mean a thing!!! We had some good thaw temperatures that have allowed us to screen some more soil for our raised garden beds. After procuring some good live-stock poo from our new farmer friends, we have built up some mighty good dirt to grow our kitchen garden in. We planted lettuce and Pak Choi yesterday. Jim's indoor tomato and pepper seedlings are doing famously, the best performers so far were sent by my gardening father from BC: heirloom Purple Cherokee tomatoes and New Mexico Hot Peppers. Can't wait!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

What a beautiful season!

This picture was taken some time in late November after one of those sticky, heavy snows.  It was bright on the first day after the snowfall, but I didn't get the camera out until the nest day, a dull grey day, but pretty nonetheless.

This dull, grey weather has brought out the best and worst of living off-the-grid.  Not enough sun to put heat into the house or power into the battery bank,  so we have kept the fire going most of the day.  The house is so small that it doesn't take much to heat it up with wood, also it is new construction and well-insulated so a little heat heat lasts a long time.  Last night was a good example of leaving for a few hours and coming home to a yet-warm place.  I guess we could have fired up the generator to boost the battery bank to give us some reading lights into the night, but that would defeat the rationale of the Mini House Lifestyle Concept.  But what the hell else can we do with only candle-light, a roaring  fire and no reading lights?!     um...wait a minute...

Oh well, we'll get that all figured out.  Let's talk about the future!

Just this morning we were talking about what has priority for the New Year.  The porch?  The interior trim?  A wind generator?  Landscaping?  Our funds are quite limited now, so these decisions must be made carefully.  We think the trim should go on as soon as possible, as we have found some draughts coming in through some of the windows.  Then, I think, the porch should be finished.  The south side will be a pergola; a simple overhead run of 2x6 boards on their sides to hold up vines and other green things to provide shade from the summer sun, yet allow the winter sun directly in.  The other sides will have a tin-roof.

There is much to look forward to in the new year, besides all the house-y things.  Seed catalogues in the early winter, gardens to plan, Bob& Linda will be clearing out a hunk of the property to get ready to start their house, all kinds of friends to keep up with.  I am missing my sailor friends and really wish we could join them in their southern tours, but winter in Canada can be nice, too.  Especially Christmas.   

Around the House

Here are some of the neigh-bors!  This pasture is one farm south of here, just past the South Marysburgh Dump.  Don't drink the water!

What I enjoy most about Prince Edward County is the view of the sky.  So much wide open space is good for the soul.  And weather forcasting.  You'll always know what lies a half hour ahead of you.
The firewood has been here for at least two months, so it's nice and dry.

Our wood stove is so small, though, that Jim had to build a buck to hold one log so he could saw it in two.  IE chainsaw!

I thought you'd like to see our whizzer!  Our potty.  The composting toidy!  Works like a charm, just a bit breezy on the bum because of the 4" chimney creating the necessary draught to take odours and humidity outside.

Last but not least, our solar panels.  Mounted on pressure-treated lumber, we saved hundreds of dollars by NOT mounting them on a metal & plastic stand that revolves to track the strongest rays of sunlight.  This gives us enough power to run Jim's woodworking equipment, a vacuum and the house lights.  The Surette batteries can store a fair bit of power, although not lots, so we do have to be careful.. The whole idea of the Mini House is to REDUCE, right? Right!

      ....now if we can just get The Big Three to invest in solar panels, we'd get this economy on the right track!  BTW, there is a picture of Bill & Leslie, of Manjack Cay, BAhamas, on my other blog, pictured with their solar-powered golf-cart.  Hey, GM, take some hints!

Cheers!

Welcome our wee house-y! You've caught us on quite a food-production spree! Jim had just finished bottling his first batch of beer. I had made a few batches of jam. What a crazy aroma was in the air!

Here's the shower stall.  Very Exciting!  Salvaged from Bob's "must-go" shed, this baby is connected to the outlet pipe for the grey-water field.  More info regarding this in the post below this one.

Here, I would like to discuss Mini Feature #1. 

Water Reduction.

See the black thing hanging up above the shower?  That is a plastic shower-bag.  You fill it at the top, seal it and sit it in the sun for a few hours.  If the sun is at all shining, you will have hot water.  The shower-head isn't visible here, but it hangs below the bag.  It saves about as much water as possible because you only get so much!  10 litres, as a matter of fact.  So you don't let the water run when you are not using it.  One bag is ju-u-ust enough to wash me once and my hair twice.  When there is no sun, a hot kettle will do.  We try to avoid burning any non-renewable fuel source, but there have been days...