The Mountains Are Growing With Chile

Hard work makes the world go round

2012-02-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

That's how we do round here!

DIY civilization

2011-12-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Do it yourself for the world.

Growing Power

2011-11-16T09:49:00.010-07:00

Wanted to share some some photos of our recent cross country road trip starting with a visit to Growing Power in Milwaukee. Growing Power was founded by former pro basketball player Will Allen as a community food source and learning center. After basketball and a career in corporate sales, Allen became interested in agriculture and purchased a defunct garden center on Milwaukee's north side. The 3 acre plot included a historic green house and was the last property zoned for agricultural use in the city. His urban farm stand soon became a community learning center as neighborhood youth from nearby housing projects were inspired by his enthusiasm and green thumb. He hasn't looked back and is now considered the world's preeminent authority on urban farming. A corp of dedicated volunteers are helping the expand the mission to other urban areas.

The use of space is awesome. Talk about vertical integration. On two acre they produce a truly amazing amount of produce including a thousands of pounds of a variety of fruits, vegetables, and greens, mushrooms, thousands of tilapia, lake perch, and other fish, eggs, and honey.

In greenhouse #1 they start around 3000 flats of various sprouts every day. They are harvested 4-6 days later and sold to local stores and restaurants.
The #1 thing that they produce is soil. They use several composting methods. In green house #2 worm bins turn food scraps into vermicompost.
The bins are watered daily and the run off is collected to be used as "worm tea" fertilizer.

The center piece of the operation is their aquaculture systems. Large wooden frames both above and below ground are lined with pond liner. The fish require around one gallon of water per fish. Most of the ponds ard between five and ten thousand gallons. They employ a three tiered system to save space,filter the water, and use the fish waste as fertilizer. Tomatoes or peppers are placed on the top tier. Water is pumped from the fish tank up to the top and the plants absorb water from the bottom up.

The water then flows down to the middle tier which is planted in water cress. The water cress is raised as an additional crop and helps filter the water which then flows back down to the fish tank aerating it.

Here shiitake mushroom logs hang over lake perch to keep them moist. Note the "anti-suicide" netting.

Adult fish are moved larger tanks for finishing.

Every square foot is utilized.

Storm water is collected, stored, and pumped back in to keep the system full.
A passive solar array is used to maintain water temp.
Another composting method is used to heat the greenhouses in the winter. The soil is dug out about 24" deep and a mix of wood chips and spent brewers mash is laid down and covered with more wood chips. This "hot mix" keeps the houses at a toasty temp. for up to six months. This is old hot mix waiting to be sifted.

Hot mix between crop rows allows year round growing in cold frame hoop houses.

Gotta build me one of these compost sifters.
Out back goats make milk and manure for compost.

A small apiary provides pollinators and honey. There you have it. Solar powered self sustaining urban farm.

Harvest

2011-09-15T10:13:00.002-06:00

Farmer's markets are through for the season. What a summer! Tricky growing conditions, lot's of new projects and ideas, successes, failures, weeds up the wazoo. Working on putting the gardens to bed, and harvesting and putting up storage crops.
Potato assortment ready to bake up for supper.

65 chickens are in the freezer. That was one heck of a project. Sure are tasty though.
Last week at the farmer's market. I promise I'll blog more next summer.

around the Cacklin' Hen

2011-06-18T09:15:00.004-06:00

Been awhile so if there's anyone still visiting, here's some sights from around the farm. Been crazy. Snow finally melted off the garden second week in may. Everything's a couple weeks behind schedule. just been planting planting planting. composting composting composting.
Oh my gosh, a double rainbow, full on, what does it mean? If you don't get this, search "yosemitebear double rainbow" on youtube.

Broccoli
peas and greens
Onions

Black gold aka finished compost,.
Out back
Meat birds.
Rows of stuff. Carrots an' taters. out of control grass and weeds.
Lots weeding going on

Kaya being good and staying out of the rows.

Still Snowing!

2011-04-15T08:39:00.003-06:00

Well folks, it's still snowing here in the Yampa Valley. The ski hill may be closed but winter is not through with us yet. Steamboat closed on April 10 with a record 138" summit base. The snow total for the season was 433" at mid mountain. Not to shabby! No epic deep days to speak of but plenty of powder days to keep us hounds happy. In farm news we've received most of our seeds and have started some inside. Flowers, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Seven new Ameraucana pullet chicks are growing up quick to replace our bear losses. Still about 30" of snowpack on the garden but its meltin' fast. Hopefully we can get the green house cover on this week to hasten the meltoff inside. Hope to be able to work the ground in the field by May 1. Going a little bit bigger this year as we're doing two Farmer's Markets, Steamboat and Hayden, and hoping to supply a few local restaurants with various crops throughout the season. All our laying hens survived the winter. We had several nights with temps dipping below -40F. Just a lot of planning, dreamin', and schemin' going on right now. Town is mostly deserted as most folks have headed out to the desert for a couple of weeks. I bet Moab is hopping right now. Well got to head to town to file our taxes. Hopefully the appropriations committee will do something appropriate with them this time! Later.

Antsy

2011-03-04T09:11:00.004-07:00

Still four feet of snow pack everywhere (it's an official 3 wire winter), and a couple of warm days have got me stirred up. Can't stop thinking bout diggin' in the dirt. Looking at the satellite it looks like pacific moisture will continue to get pumped our way by dominant northwest low pressure. That means lottsa more snow yet. 500" here we come. Pouring over all the seed catalogs, I want everything. From amaranth to zinnia.

Fresh

2011-01-26T11:08:00.003-07:00

What is sustainable?

Can you afford to continue to support the industrial food system?

111"

2010-12-01T06:54:00.005-07:00

This November closes out as our snowiest on record! 111" of snow and it's still coming! Gotta love La Nina. The ski hill opened on Nov. 24th with top to bottom skiing and not just one white ribbon of death. Pretty much the whole mountain was accessible with some hiking. There was so much snow before opening day that we just had to hike up and get some. After a long slog up we were rewarded with a mountain of possibilities, the whole place to our selves and knee deep powder everywhere.
We made a few of laps and then came back for more a couple of days later. The first real powder day came on Monday morning with a 15" dump. What a day! Tuesday brought another 10". Now I remember why I live in steamboat!

Are you ready?

2010-10-27T07:04:00.003-06:00

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. "-John Ruskin. Well winter has quickly encompassed the Yampa Valley. The snow is waist deep at the summit of the ski hill and there's about a foot to kick around in town. Been snowing for six days now. Nothing gets your butt in gear like a good dose of winter. Snowmaking season starts today. Wow time is really flying. Loveland and A-basin ski areas opened last weekend. We'll be spendin' the weekend cutting, splitting, and stacking our winters supply of fire wood. Hopefully around 10 cords. Just trying to get a few odds and ends done before the ground completely disappears. Winter's here! Are you ready?

Fall's Here

2010-10-09T10:16:00.003-06:00

"Autumn wins you best by this, its mute Appeal to sympathy for its decay."-Robert Browning Hamilton. Things are winding down in the garden. Just trying to get the beds cleared and tilled where needed. The flocks are headed south. Cardinals, blue jays, and eagles are touring the fall colors. It snowed on the ski hill yesterday and this morning! Even groppled at the house for a moment. Hauling wood here and there. Love the smell of a fire in the stove. Leaves have peaked and are falling fast. Plan to carve pumpkins this week. Chickens are laying a dozen a day. Time to find the winter clothes. Flannel and fleece where are you? Chicken and dumplings for dinner. I love fall.

Farm Drama

2010-09-17T12:41:00.008-06:00

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." - Rumi. Been a tough couple o' weeks here at the barn. On Labor Day the overnight temp dipped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold 'nough to freeze everything pretty hard. There wasn't really enough stuff left to take to Farmer's Market so we skipped out on the final weekend. The next morn' (Sept 7) a bear broke into the chicken run after we'd left for work. She managed to get four before the neighbors chased her off. She came back again the next night and got into the coop. The neighbors woke us up at three-thirty in the morning. " There's a bear in the chicken coop! There's a bear in the chicken coop!" We jumped out of bed, grabbed flashlights, the rifle, the hatchet, a couple pots and pans, and roman candles and ran outside into the pitch darkness. We got to the chicken coop and peered in the window. Lots of feathers but no bear. We searched around but couldn't see anything so returned to the coop to survey the damage. Looked in the window again and there she was. A huge sow in the entry way munching on chicken. Should have shot her right then and there! She looked up at us and turned towards us. "Here she comes, RRRun!" We r-u-n-n o-f-t, and Kaya dog chased her into the bushes. Lit a roman candle off and shot it that a way. We could hear her cub cross the field screaming. Spent the rest of the morning standing guard. She hung around in the bushes till about seven then wandered off. Lost 7 chickens total. I'll spare you the graphic pictures. It could a been a lot worse if it weren't for the neighbors. We owe them big time. The next couple of days were spent shoring up the fence and coop, and installing an electric fence around it. Haven't seen hide nor hair of the bears since. And if that weren't enough, on Tuesday (Sept 14 ) Sweet Pea Produce, the only source for locally grown whole foods in the valley, got shut down by the county. I got there after work to pick up a couple of cases of canning tomatoes and there were people and produce everywhere! Talked to the owners a bit and they were like get it while you can, everything's got to go, we'll give it to you for cost. So I came home with 6 cases of maters, a case of apples, case of pears, case of peaches, two cases of corn, and a bunch of groceries. It's all got to be canned or frozen ASAP. On a positive note, found the camera. The aspen leaves are just starting to turn. Fall is in the air. What a beautiful time of year!

Fall's a coming

2010-08-28T16:45:00.004-06:00

Sorry that we haven't posted in a bit. We lost our camera and we're good at writing captions and letting the picture tell the story but not so great at telling that story with words. Just business as usual here. Been to the farmer's market each weekend and doing well with it. It' a good feeling to sell out of stuff and then think of all the people out there enjoying the food we worked so hard to make. The chickens are fully grown and getting ready to start laying. How do you tell a rooster to shut up? 'Bout ready to put an add in the paper that says: "Free rooster to ANY home. Cute." Whats your favorite part of summer? Our is the fresh fruit! Melons, pears, berries, and peaches are in right now and what a year for them! We had our first frost this past week on August 24th. That puts our frost free period at 61 days this year. Not much was affected by it. Lost the pumpkins and some squash. Well gotta run but we'll try to get some pictures up just as soon as we can get a new camera. Peace in the Middle East!

To Market

2010-07-05T11:15:00.007-06:00

After much toil and anxiety we've completed the circle and taken a harvest to market. On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market with a load of spinach, lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, swiss chard, mint, and rhubarb. Harvesting spinach.
Really wasn't sure how it would go. We didn't have a lot of stuff and the competitors from the front range and Junction are way ahead on the harvest schedule. Here's our booth. Sponsored by Deep Roots, a local non-profit food awareness group.
At the end of the day... we were a success! We sold out of everything! Well almost, we had a couple of bags of mustards left and maybe a dozen radishes. In total we sold 26 gallon bags of greens, 10 lbs. of rhubarb, two bushels of radishes, and two pounds of mint. A big thank you to Lisa from Deep Roots, and Tracy at Mainstreet Steamboat Farmer's Market. In the garden things are really growing. Looks like a bumper crop year for stawberries.Which the deer and birds would just love to get at, so Barney the scarecrow is keeping a watchful eye on them.Our other big project this week was the the chicken coop. After pricing out the lumber it looked like it was gonna cost about $1000 for materials plus the time to put it all together. We were all set to make it happen. Then we spotted a classified ad that read: Large chicken coop for sale. 12'X12'X6'. $500. Funny how things work out. We called up the number and went out and had a look. It was a little dirty but solidly built. The owner said they had it built last fall for a cost of $1700 but decide to keep their birds in their barn as it would be more convenient and and they had the space. We were gonna put it on a trailer to bring it home but their tractor couldn't lift it. So we called up a towing company and they came out, loaded it up, moved it across the valley, and unloaded it in about an hour. I must have bumped the easy button.
It arrived with only minor damage. After a solid day and a half of scraping, shoveling, spraying, scrubbing, and bleaching, it was move in ready.
Now those are some happy chickens!
Whew! What a week. Happy Fourth.

Summer... Finally

2010-06-27T07:16:00.002-06:00

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." -Russell Baker
Lost some squash this past week. It frosted on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

The greens and peas are loving the hot days and cold nights.
Happy chickens. That's our ameraucana rooster in the bottom right hand corner.
Wild flowers are kicking. False Salomon's Seal.
Whale rocks on thunderhead hiking trail.
Columbine.
Another rough day in paradise!

Self Reliance

2010-06-18T09:04:00.003-06:00

Hermit Jim posted this essay this morning. I thought it was well worth passing along.

American Self-Reliance

by J. Ollie Edmunds

This country was not built by men who relied on somebody else to take care of them. It was built by men who relied on themselves, who dared to shape their own lives, who had enough courage to blaze new trails with enough confidence in themselves to take the necessary risks.

This self-reliance is our American legacy. It is the secret of that something which stamped Americans as Americans. Some call it individual initiative, others backbone. But whatever it is called, it is a precious ingredient in our national character, one which we must not lose.

The time has come for us to re-establish the rights for which we stand, to re-assert our inalienable rights to human dignity, self-respect, self-reliance—to be again the kind of people who once made America great.

Such a crusade for renewed independence will require a succession of inspired leaders, leaders in spirit and in knowledge of the problem, not just men with political power, but men who are militantly for the distinctive way of life that was America. We are likely to find such leaders only among those that promote self-reliance and who practice it with strict devotion and understanding.

There are very few who could provide for themselves. We've become spoiled brats. A far cry from what we we once were and what made us great. Put on your boots and work gloves cause we've a lot o' work to do!

New Old Watering System

2010-06-17T14:43:00.004-06:00

"Who does great things, and unsearchable, Marvelous things without number. He gives rain on the earth, And sends waters on the fields. He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to safety." -Job 5:9-11Revived the old gravity fed watering system for the gardens. Diverted a little irrigation water from our upper hay meadow.

Into an old catch basin,
that funnels into a pipe which fills a stock tank.
Down the hill in our new lead free hose to the splitter. one line for the back garden, one for the front.
And presto! Happy plants without relying on pumps. Happy gardening!

Blessed Rain

2010-06-14T09:10:00.004-06:00

"but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year." Deuteronomy 11:11,12. It's that time of year again when things really start growing. First poppy of the season.
Peas climbing and lettuce leafing out.
Got a good soaking rain on Saturday and showers on Sunday. Look like we'll be getting some typical afternoon build-up all week.Still a little snow on the mountain.Looks like it dumped up there Saturday night.
We received over two inches of rain and it was just what the doctor ordered as thing were starting to get mighty dry.Taters up and exploding.
A little moose damage out in the market garden. What, am I in Alaska or something?
Never seen a moose here at the Barn before. After he wandered though the garden, he passed though the hay shed. He then crossed the drive way where he charged the sheep sculpture. Here he is moseying on up the hill.

Dry and Breezy with a Chance of Summer

2010-06-04T15:37:00.007-06:00

Has been awfully dry and breezy in theseparts for the last while.

Well sure am sorry not to have posted in a while but working full time and starting an organic farm doesn't leave a whole lot of time for chit chat. Gains are sprouting.
onions are planted. All 2500 of them!
carrots are up.
Potatoes are in.
Working out the wrinkles in the new ditches.Out back things are starting to pop.Early broccoli loving the out of doors.Lettuce peas and radishes sharing a row.Freshly watered rows of greens.Remember the fallen. Building walls for the flat bed.Chickens are fully feathered and enjoyin the sunshine.
Dig dirt all weekend in the garden and then go to work and dig dirt all week. trail work is always fun. More to follow.

Ubaldo Jimenez

2010-05-04T08:52:00.007-06:00

If you are a baseball fan you may be aware of the rare talent that is on the mound in Colorado, Ubaldo Jimenez. With a fastball ranging from 95-101(fastest in the bigs) mph that he can throw with sink or run, a nasty breaking ball, an impossible to lay off of slider, and a change up that still breaks 90, he is undoubtedly the the best pitcher in the game right now. After last night's win over the the Padres, giving up just one run with thirteen strikeouts and an r.b.i. single, he leads the major leagues with a 0.79 e.r.a. and six wins. Oh yeah and don't forget the no-hitter vs. the Braves on April 17th. Even if your not a baseball fan it is worth the price of admission to see this guy throw. He really is once in a generation talent, think Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, and Randy Johnson. If the Rockies are in your neck of the woods and Jimenez is slated to start, get down to the ballpark.

Rocks and Cranes and Bears Oh My!

2010-04-29T11:19:00.003-06:00

"A rolling stone gathers no moss, but it gains a certain polish." -Oliver Herford
The beautiful weather allowed us to get some rows dug. And to wrassle some rocks.

Bigun.
Lots of big birds around. Geese, heron, and eagles are passin' over. Bunch of cranes been hanging around the neighborhood for the last couple of weeks just walkin' 'round the fields and soaring and making a whole lot of noise.
The bears are out and about as well. One passed through the garden the other night.
Just a little guy.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" -Robin Williams

2010-04-19T18:47:00.007-06:00

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. " -Doug Larson
The snows a meltin' quick 'round here. This first picture was taken on the 16th.
This one is on the 18th.
And today the 19th. This is the first daylight this field has seen since November.
Spent the day putting together the hoop house. This was acquired a couple years back when a local nursery went out of business and was just sitting in a shed in a pile. It took a couple days of puzzlin' and ponderin' to figure it out.
Admiring our handy work.
The garlic rows out back came out of the snow today. Spring is here.

Brooding

2010-04-16T08:50:00.002-06:00

"The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed." - Martina Navratilova

Built a brooder box on Tuesday. The total size is 4' x 8' so it should hold all the chicks we get.

The first of our chicks arrived on wed. Five Ameraucana pullets.
Awwwwwww. Quite entertaining!

Season Finale

2010-04-09T07:38:00.008-06:00

"Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring." -William Alexander
Storm's finally past. The best days of season this week. Four feet of powpowgnargnar.
Now I remember why I live in Steamboat! It's dumping! Last ride on Pony for the season.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! What a day! What a couple of weeks.
On Thursday the skies cleared and it was bluebird. We ended our season in style.
Got pretty warm but stayed soft up top. The Goods.
The "extreme terrain" of the East Face. We hiked up to the summit and then out to Pony for a couple laps. If you look closely you can see Jenny in the left center of this panorama.

Finally got to 100 inches at the microwaves. Great way to end the season! Looking back it wasn't as bad as it seemed at the time. The snow wasn't great, but we did have some great snow! Ya gotta have some below average years to make the above average years that much better.It's hard to believe with all that snow outside that it's time to start gardening.
Pumpkins are off to the races. Just amazing how fast they grow!

POW!!!

2010-04-07T14:45:00.003-06:00

Well the skies have opened up and given us our biggest single day snow total of the season just four days before closing! While I'm pretty exited about getting up there this afternoon and schromping the gnar, it doesn't change the fact that the mountain will be closed with the best conditions of the year. Just when I was beginning to wrap my head around the fact that the season was over, and look forward to the spring and everything I could do when all the snow was gone...POW!!!

Earn your turns!

2010-04-04T10:17:00.001-06:00

The Season Episode 10 from Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith on Vimeo.

New wheels

2010-03-26T23:13:00.002-06:00

Got Jenny a new bike.

She wasn't crazy about the color but loved the feel.

So we gave her a custom sticker job!
Totally decimated my sticker stash, but it was worth it.Thanks to Essam and the boys at Orange Peel.

The Cacklin' Hen Farm

2010-03-26T13:00:00.002-06:00

We have a name for our market garden project. And a logo too. If you want to hear the song we named it after just press play on the music player in the side bar. It's an old fiddle song and traditionally features clawhammer banjo.

Spring Blues

2010-03-18T17:25:00.002-06:00

As the spring equinox approaches, hope for another bottomless powder day starts to fade. While most of the rest of the world is rejoicing at rising temperatures and thawing yards, dreaming of golf games and dirt biking, hard core ski bums across the land slide into a deep funk. Don't get me wrong, I love spring skiing. I can't deny the joy of skiing corn snow in a t-shirt, or how how good PBR tastes after said corn skiing, but these things do signal the beginning of the end. There just aren't words to describe the melancholy that I feel knowing that I'll soon have to wait months for first tracks and face shots. Call me crazy but I just love the snow, the cold, the wind, the winter time. With time the pain will fade to a dull aching, but the longing will never go away.

Ome

2010-03-09T07:57:00.009-07:00

"The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD." -Isaiah 38:18
Took a trip down to Boulder to the Ome factory.

I wanted to buy a banjo for Jenny. Unfortunately Ome doesn't really make entry level instruments. Why is it that you're always drawn to the most expensive thing on the wall? They did carry a couple of Chinese made entry level banjos and said they would take it back in on a trade-in in the future. We had all but decided to buy the Chinese one when our conscience came to the rescue
Here we were at the factory of one of the premier banjo makers in the world, and we were going to buy a mass produced Chinese POS.
We compared the sounds and there was no comparison.
So we are now the proud owners an Ome Banjo! Pricey but worth every penny. Ours is already a collectors piece as it is a prototype for the new Woodsong model now being offered. Only 12 were made, each one different. This one has a really warm sound and feel and a very clear tone. It is #5536. That means it the 5536th instrument made by Ome. They make around 100-150 instruments in a good year. Thank you so much Chuck and Tanya for showing us around and being so hospitable to a couple of hill billies.

Out

2010-03-03T11:15:00.005-07:00

Been spendin' a bit of time in the canyon lately. The trail to storm watch.Girly Turns.Upper.
Below the beak.
Moon over upper.Peering down from above keyhole.Below keyhole.
Wet point release on southside.
Headed back in.

Mail and Reference

2010-02-06T11:45:00.005-07:00

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."-Gandhi. Just got a package in the mail. It's like Christmas all over again.
Our seeds form Botanical Interests have arrived.
186 total packets. Makes my back hurt just looking at 'um.
Been beefin' up garden reference section of our "library". I call it a library 'cause we have so many tomes that all of our book shelves are overflowing and there are volumes stacked all over. Ah, so many books, so little time.
A couple of new books on marketing.

A couple of used reference books.

And of course the Almanac.

Man of Constant Sorrow, My Life and Times by Dr. Ralph Stanley

2010-01-20T22:18:00.005-07:00

The year is 1935. In the backwoods of the Virginian Blue Ridge mountains a congregation of Primitive Baptists gather in a small country church house. At some point in the service, elder Lee Stanley lays a hand on his eight year old son’s shoulder and asks him to lead the church in the hymn “Salvation, O! The Name I Love.” In a high lonesome voice that would become synonymous with bluegrass the youth belted out the first line of the song. As the congregation chimed in little Ralph Stanley knew his voice was a gift from God. With his brother Carter they would go on to define the sound that we know as Bluegrass. In his newly published autobiography "Man of Constant Sorrow", (Gotham Books, 2009) Dr. Ralph Stanley candidly retells his life story in his own charming and colloquial words. Ralph is one of the last progenitors of bluegrass left with us and this glimpse into a lost world should be poured over and cherished. *****

A Plan

2010-01-05T12:32:00.003-07:00

"before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground"-Gen 2:5. Well it's about time to start a plannin' the garden. Which this year's going to be a whole lot more work than normal. The first step is deciding what to grow. I think we'll try just about everything this year. We've so much more area to work with that anything is possible so a little experimentation is in order. Whatever works we'll do more of next year, and whatever doesn't we'll keep trying but in a smaller scale. I don't like to give up after just one try. In addition to veggies were gonna try grains this year. Wheat, oats, millet, quinoa, spelt, rye, and barley. Also on the agenda is poultry. Laying hens, meat chickens, and turkeys. Next is shopping for seeds. My favourite part! We will invest a lot of money into seeds this year in hopes of saving seed for years to come. So we'll have to carefully lay out the garden in order to keep strains pure. That's a lot to think about at once so now is the time to start. I'm getting exited just thinking of the possibilities.

Domestic cane

2010-01-04T08:17:00.003-07:00

After a couple of months of badgering we finally got some Florida Crystals. They are the only producer of domestic organic cane sugar, plus they are a sustainable business. They no longer ship 25 lbs. bags to the west, so we had to settle for a case of six two pound bags. Thanks to Healthy Solutions for tracking it down for us. If your gonna buy sugar, ask for Florida Crystals.

Deepness

2010-01-01T09:23:00.004-07:00

"An aged Christian, with the snow of time upon his head, may remind us that those points of earth are whitest which are nearest to heaven." -Edwin Hubbel ChapinThe snow's finally pilin' up around here. Got a couple of feet over the last week.

Made it up to buff yesterday for a couple hours to play in the deepness. You can't see it but Jenny's grinning from ear to ear.
Getting some!!!

Normality

2009-12-29T11:09:00.006-07:00

"We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."- Douglas Adams
Well back to "normal person" hours workin' in the ski shop. It's a weight off the shoulders to only be responsible for running a $30 waxing iron as opposed to a $300,000 snow cat.
We went snowboarding on Christmas eve day. Here we are at Rendezvous. There was about a foot of new snow for us to play in. Powder day!!! A little on the chilly side though, -8F ,90% humidity, and 20mph wind.We cooked a nice Christmas dinner together. Turkey.Potatoes
Rolls
Apple Pie. Have a wonderful new year everyone!

Oh Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T12:24:00.003-07:00

Our Christmas tree.

Long nights

2009-12-18T08:37:00.003-07:00

These longest nights of the year are even longer when your out a workin' in um. Here we are feeling the burn around 6:00 a.m. at the end of a twelve hour shift. Just gotta unload that 2000 feet of frozen hose and ten ratnick snowguns and we can go home.
Usually get home just in time to see the sun rise, then off to bed to sleep the day away. Sure am glad I've only three more graves to pull for the season.

sustainability

2009-12-12T16:04:00.006-07:00

Sacred geometry of social responsibility and sustainability. All points must be addressed to complete the circle. "Fear or Love. Fear and attachment are a mind-based contraction response to challenging situations, to challenging times. Love, acceptance and surrender are the path to personal and societal evolution. It is with Love and compassion that the myth of the 'End-time' can be met directly, with a firm resolve to meet our highest potential. This is the core of the subject of sustainability. It is nothing more, or less, than a fundamental spiritual question. Each of us must face it squarely - there is no other way. "-VARADAAN

Will wonders never cease

2009-12-12T14:57:00.001-07:00

Cold

2009-12-11T08:18:00.004-07:00

"Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north."-Job 37:9. Another frigid night last night. The vw won't start below zero, so lots of shuttling going on. We've already burned through at least a cord of wood. Got about a foot of snow outta this last storm, 'twas just too cold to produce more. Dang El Nino.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T16:31:00.004-07:00

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. "-1 chronicles 16:34. Here's our thanksgiving feast. 100% from scratch.
Whole Wheat rolls.

Green bean casserole.
Potatoes au graten.
Scalloped corn.
Gravy.

Dressing.Turkey.

Whole wheat sourdough bread.Cranberry sauce.

Pumpkin pie.Chocolate cheesecake bars.

Today's headline

2009-12-10T08:42:00.001-07:00

"Obama accepts peace prize, defends War"
What a joke!

snow

2009-11-18T12:51:00.005-07:00

"For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength."Job 37:6 Snowed quite a bit this past weekend. About 12 inches in town but it's a meltin' quick. Got first tracks of the season round the upper meadow yesterday. Here's my turns comin' down the hill.
Finally done woodin'. Ended up getting about 6-6 1/2 cords plus 2 or 3 left over from last year. It was a good week for making snow as overnight temps dipped into the single digits. Making so much snow that it's tough keeping up. Looks like a possible top to bottom opening.

Hope!

2009-11-17T14:01:00.008-07:00

Pass this along.

How To Take CO2 Out of the Sky, Timothy J LaSalle from CA Climate and Agriculture on Vimeo.

Your consumer choices and subsequent dollars determine market demand and thus all future production. 100% ORGANIC IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD. Please Please Please demand and buy only local organic food. It will save your life; body and soul, and maybe even the world.

The first step

2009-11-11T19:21:00.003-07:00

"Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."- Gen. 3:23. Big week here at the barn. Tilled up 'bout half of the north pasture for next summers market garden. Were really excited!
Here's before. This field got aged manure spread an' drug in the spring after the horses got moved to the upper meadow. The sod is real thick on the east side.
Rented a skid steer and tiller for a day and just got after it. Went east west first.
Then north south on the second pass. It's looking pretty good after two passes but we may just have ta till again in the spring if the grasses are real persistent. The soil looks and smells and tastes just fabulous but we're gonna test anyhow just to know. But from the looks of it we shouldn't need to amend it much. Thank the lord for indian summer.

A winters worth of heat

2009-10-26T10:39:00.003-06:00

"Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned." Well got all our wood brought down an' split up. About seven or so cords. Won't know just how much we got till it's all stacked.
After splitin' by hand my whole life, usin' a machine seems like cheatin'. But it sure is nice to knock it all out in two days.

Falliness

2009-10-04T13:49:00.004-06:00

"When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands." Things'r windin' down in the garden. all that left to harvest is some carrots and broccoli. Just trying to put things to bed.
It's been snowing on an off for the last couple of weeks. not more than an inch in town and it melts off 'fore noon.
the fall colors peaked last week. The mountain was really aglow.
Picked up a new valley car. '97 impreza sport outback. 2.2 liter. 135,000 mi. From a little old lady down the street.

We drove down to the Fruita Fall Fest last weekend. Some good bluegrass and lots of vendors selling stuff you don't need. This was a really cool steampower exibit.

sights

2009-09-25T10:10:00.005-06:00

California fires made for some hazy sunsets. 8-31-09
Frosty morning grazing. 9-15-09
Snow on the summit 9-20-09

2009-09-04T07:30:00.002-06:00

only in steamboat

Watch for falling rock

2009-08-30T20:42:00.007-06:00

"On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him." -Buddha. Here's a classic trail crew sign. Look out.
So far we've put away four cases of tomatoes. That's 100 pounds in 24 quart jars. Hopefully we can get 70-100 quarts put up before winter.
The zucchini bonanza is on! Just keeping up with harvest is a challenge. We picked two dozen squash this week.
Dill is blooming.
Late Broccoli is in.
Borage is going off.
Their called Mammoth Gray Stripe for a reason.
Bread seed Poppies.
The gardener's best friend hard at work.

Shelling

2009-08-16T11:46:00.004-06:00

"To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness." -Confucius. Took a little vay-k to Wisconsin to see family. Man do they have some good food up that-a-way. This is a picture of Mom's new pad complete with garage, shed, three acres, and apple trees! So happy for y'all.Three varieties were all producing lots of fruit. yum.
When we got back we were greeted by this, nine foot tall sunflowers!
Got a lot of catching up to do harvest wise.

Harvested two bushels of shelling peas this weekend. They then had to be shelled, blanched and frozen. Looks like we can count on about two bushels a week for the next four or five weeks.So we'll be spending a lot of time doing this.We'll be putting away a bushel of snow peas that I just picked tonight.
Squash world is a jungle right now. The pumpkin vines are about ten feet long with fist size fruit. Got about a half dozen fist size acorn squash going and the summer squash are starting to yield. The temperature got down to 37 last night. Yikes! Hopefully we get a few more weeks before it drops much lower!

The future of food

2009-08-14T12:52:00.001-06:00

Please watch these!

Harvest time

2009-08-02T09:41:00.007-06:00

"He told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.'" Well harvest time is upon us. The garden's really producing. Lots of broccoli, spinach, and peas. A lot more than we can eat. That means it's time to start putting things up. Been freezin' a lot of spinach this past week. About three bushels full. All from a 30 foot row. Here's an overview of the process.

Harvest.
Wash.
Place in steamer.
Steam.
'Till wilted.
Remove.
Allow to cool.
Chop.
Freeze

Once frozen, place in freezer bag.Label and return to freezer. Viola.
Got a good soaker on Friday. It rained on and off all day with a couple of good downpours.

Here's the squash patch again. The first zuccini is almost ready to pick.

Midsummer's night

2009-07-19T15:57:00.008-06:00

"Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom. Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people." Some serious growth going on. The above and below pictures were taken seven days apart! Finally things are starting to bloom.
We caught a game at Coors Field before the all star break. Decided we had time for it at last minute and just went for it. The Rocks lost though. It was still a lot of fun to see the team live. Also really cool to watch Ubaldo throw. Man does that guy have some nasty stuff!
Some crazy weather going on. It was super hot all week, which caused some evening thunderstorms. Managed to catch a couple bolts on film.

The cottonwoods are extra cottony this year making things extra miserable for allergy sufferers.
First squash blossom. What the heck? Super late. We're not gonna have zucchini till august?
Onion world
Borage is starting to flower. That makes us happy.

Made some new counter space and shelving for the kitchen. No more storing jars in the closet and behind the couch. Plus an extra five feet of counter space. It's like a whole new world in there for us. This is the best thing to ever happen to our kitchen. Here's bashor kitty checkin' out the handy work.

Ameriduh

2009-07-06T21:05:00.004-06:00

"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God." Daily rain has been a real blessing as everything is real thirsty.

Potatoes are starting to flower.
Early spinach is starting to bolt.
Berries are starting to redden.
Poppies are in full bloom.
A case of green beans all put up. Happy America Day. Don't Tread On Me!!! It sure is amazin' how the city gov can afford all those fireworks while good workers are still furloughed. Guess there's hope. tsk tsk.

Summertime.

2009-06-28T19:50:00.005-06:00

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
Well summer is here. Temps were up in the 80s this week and the garden is thirsty.
Doing a little flood irrigation. The taters needed a little more water than I could give um by hand.
Strawberries 'r fattening up.
Cukes got put in this week. Trying black plastic mulch this year.
Picked up some heirloom raspberry plants at sweet pea.
Everything is just exploding with growth right now. You can see the difference day to day and there's more salad than we can possibly eat.
Greens are starting to head up. Butter crunch, redina, and tom thumb lettuces.

Wildflowers are really starting to come out. Larkspur and calypso orchid.

Happy solstice

2009-06-20T19:30:00.003-06:00

Some big storms have been a blowin' thru. Got one good hail that shredded things up a bit.
Set out the squash last weekend just after the hail and they took real well.
Peas are starting to climb. first course of radishes are almost ready. Greens are lookin' good.
Bings'r in. Our first fresh fruit since last fall. we're eatin' um like crazy.
Got the canner goin' today. Cherry jam and cherry rhubarb preserves.

Strawberry Blooms

2009-06-07T19:19:00.006-06:00

"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." Still storming daily, it even snowed a little this morning. June 15th is the average day of last frost here in the yampa valley and it looks like tonight might be the last time it will get close. The last frost was a week and a half ago on Wednesday may 26th. Trying to get the greenhouse ready to plant string beans this week. Also trying to keep up with the weeds which are loving the rain and warmth. As you can see the grass is getting a little unruly.Used an old hand cultivator to cultivate the rows. 5 to 10 passes got it pert near good.

Late carrots are up and got their first thinning.
Can't wait for strawberries.

Storms Galore

2009-05-31T19:29:00.004-06:00

"Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water." Got a good cycle going of morning sun and afternoon showers. Just love the thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
A double rainbow touched down out in the meadow.
Sweet pea market's starting to get some good produce in from palisade. Finally, fresh veggies!
Starting to feel like summer, but still dipping into the 30s overnight.

2009-05-25T20:22:00.003-06:00

Go nuggets!

Go green

2009-05-25T10:02:00.007-06:00

"Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O LORD, which thy hands have established." Really greening up. A hot week led into a beautiful rainy weekend. Perfect planting weather. We put in carrots, some hardy herbs, and more peas and greens. Also set out the first set of broccoli starts. Three varieties ( Dicicco, Atlantic, and Calabrese). Twenty-eight starts along a forty foot row.Some marigolds are starting to peek out.
The taters are up and loving the weather.
The onions are big enough to get a mulch of straw.
The peas, greens and radishes we put in last weekend are up and going off. Not much else going on. Just another ho hum week in paradise.

jubilation

2009-05-17T10:31:00.003-06:00

"And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety."
The aspens are really popping this week
Big wind came in on the heels of this thing early in the week.
Which made cutting tough on the hill.
But things settled down for the weekend so we could put in potatoes, peas and greens.

Proverbial Planting

2009-05-09T12:04:00.005-06:00

"Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth..."
The garden is coming alive. Onions are planted. Garlic is awake. Seedlings are coming on.

exodus

2009-05-03T08:49:00.008-06:00

"...and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness..."

Just a hop, skip, and a jump down to four corners area for a little r & r in the dessert.
Well a lot of relaxin' and a little rest.
Four days of hiking canyons, hunting for ruins, and mesa top camping

Genesis

2009-04-24T10:36:00.003-06:00

"And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

Spring is in the air and it's time to start planning the garden. Also time to start seeds indoors. We have started lots of flowers, herbs, and veggies this week including basil, thyme, sage, borage, four o'clocks, forget me nots, marigolds, hollyhocks, chiles, maters, and broccoli just to name a few. We get most of our seeds from a local Colorado seed bank called Botanical Interests. They are an heirloom, open pollinated, non g.m.o. specialty seed source that has countless varieties of plants that do well at Colorado elevations and climes. We get all our chile seeds from native seeds/s.e.a.r.c.h.. They are a seed bank specializing in native southwestern plants and heirloom varieties of the puebloan peoples and have several varieties of several crops that were collected at high altitude pueblos. Chile Alcalde and Chile Santo Domingo have worked well for us. Think global buy local.