The trusses for the remodel showed up on Tuesday. Already the farm house is starting to look more like a house:
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Quince Jelly and Membrillo
As I mentioned in our last post, Kathleen got our quince preserved last week, however, over the weekend we came into possession of another 15 Lbs or so of quince from a neighbor's tree. Monday and Tuesday we have not been able to take the school on the road to the farm due to the… Continue reading Quince Jelly and Membrillo
Quince Preserves
Kathleen's work last Thursday. We got about 15 Lbs more quince from a neighbor so we'll be cooking that up as well, though probably not today.
Beets n Carrots
Tuesday was beets n carrots day. Our carrots didn't grow worth a darn this year. We have a couple we can pull out by onesies and twosies for soups and whatnot, but not enough to make it worth our while to do a big preserving day. Aunt Dude, however, grew a tone of carrots in… Continue reading Beets n Carrots
Piglet Castration
This is a lesson learned. We should have castrated them at 2 weeks or so, when they were still small enough to be held easily in one adult's hands. But then 5 weeks came and we were out of town. 6 weeks came and we had CiderFest. Seven weeks came and it was a National… Continue reading Piglet Castration
Man Work Monday… on a Friday
'Cause a Man's gotta work when a Man's gotta work. 50 bales of local grass hay. They were averaging between 50 and 55 LBs, which is about what Seppi weighs. His job was dragging the bales down from the stack and across the floor of the trailer so I could pick them up and carry… Continue reading Man Work Monday… on a Friday
Odd Jobs
Monday we tried to get stuff done. Honestly we did. And some things got done, like school, bread baking, feeding the hooligans, etc. These are all good things, but they are not satisfying in the way that building infrastructure is. If you feed the hooligans today, you have nothing to show for it except a… Continue reading Odd Jobs
Sheep in the Garden
One of the realities of farming in Western Washington that I did not appreciate when we first started our homesteading journey is the twice yearly dormancy. It has become a recurring theme on this blog since then. Most of the total pasture growth for the year occurs in late spring, between March and June, Tapering… Continue reading Sheep in the Garden
Squash harvest
Winter squash (and pumpkins) are one of my favorite vegetables. Quite apart from being delicious and versatile, they are easy to grow and prolific. This was actually a couple of weeks ago, when Ellie and Winnie did the first picking of winter squash. They brought them to the new patio and set them out on… Continue reading Squash harvest
Hard Cider 2026: Update
Re-checked the Cider on Saturday, day 13 since casting the yeast. I would read that as 1.002. Which means that fermentation is occurring, but I am not sure if it is the right sort. The cider has an unpleasant, sour, musty aroma, and there was hardly any bubbling in the airlock. Didn't have a thermometer… Continue reading Hard Cider 2026: Update
