Gray Henon

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One pile done!  Might hold off on the second one until cooler weather.  The sheep seem to enjoy laying on it in the meantime.  Concentrated charging and crushing, I like it!

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A coupleish loads left in the first pile…

I’ve seen a few hobbyists run antique wood fired steam engines for small scale sawmilling.  An auger setup connected to the fire box could remove coals for quenching while the engine ran the sawmill, generator, etc.  No doubt it would work, but probably beyond what the average homesteader would be willing to do.    Don’t think small steam engines are particularly efficient either.

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Weather and schedules finally cooperated for some spreading this evening, still lots to go.  Got 7” of rain in three days.  Grass is growing!  Put up a ram this morning that I held over from last fall.  Sure is nice to see the results of all the work!

Sulfur is another possible neutralizer.  Not sure what compounds it might create though.

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I’ve split and burned 2 piles since the last post.  The new to me section of steel pipe seems to be working very well, both piles were nearly completely charred in the center, even the one that contained a a lot of only moderately dry white pine. I’ve been lighting the pile in the center with the weed burner directed into the pipe.  It definitely produces a bit more smoke than lighting the pile from the outside.  We don’t have a lot of air quality problems in our area, but I would not recommend the method in an area that does.  

Both piles were topped off with several loads of well seasoned red oak out of my woodshed.  A bit more difficult to split, but the yields look really good!  I was planning to spread a bit this morning, but ended up spending a good deal of time troubleshooting my fence charger.  One wheelbarrow load was enough to tell me I didn’t need to be spreading until the sun goes down.  Spread the load over the current sheep bedding area.  They seem to like lying on smooth ground.  I’ll be interested to see if they continue using the area or move on to a different area.  Either way it will be a win.

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I used to do a fair bit of patching, but found that worn clothing just blew out somewhere else in short order.  I’d still be willing to patch a newer garment that was torn on a stick, for example, but in general I just wear things until most would consider them rags then start over.  I seem to have an endless supply of free t shirts.  I’ve bought a lot of nearly new pants at thrift stores over the years, but also treat myself to new cotton duck pants and jeans from time to time.  The farm seems to eat weaker pants pretty quickly!

We grow around 80% of our meat, and hover around 25-30% of our overall food needs.  We probably peak at 75% in the summer and fall when lots of veg is coming in.  Easy enough to grow plenty of food on 6 acres of fertile land in zone 7, but things get hard when it comes to cooking and preserving it for the off season. The rest of the family is not remotely interested self sufficient food production.  My wife enjoys a hobby level of production/preservation and the kids couldn’t care less, so I mostly go it alone on many larger scale food production/cooking endeavors. Last winter, I ate homegrown stewed/frozen pears and eggs for breakfast almost every day.  I do most of the cooking just so I can include home grown foods, which might otherwise become compost or artifacts for future generations in our home.  

In terms of calories, good old meat and potatoes do the heavy lifting.  We’ve raised beef, lamb, pork, rabbits, ducks, and a handful of other poultry.  Lamb and chicken eggs have proven to be the best fit for animal protein in our system.  I’ve never been willing to commit to dairy, so we buy a good bit of it.  I could be happy with dairy on occasion, but it is a staple for the rest of the family.  We grow a pretty standard veg garden.  Pumpkins and winter squash preserve easily, and we have eaten a lot of them over the years, but even I am a bit burned out on them.

Mulberries, blueberries, and figs have probably been our best producing perennials.  I can only eat so much of them though due to their high fiber and sugar content.  Our chestnuts are starting to produce meaningful quantities.  I have experimented with roasting them and they are okay, but this fall, I want to try using them like potatoes in soups and stews.  I’ve planted a lot of pecans and walnuts that are just beginning to bear.  I think they could be an excellent staple food for us, if they ever produce in large quantities.

Test it.  Build a couple desk top “houses”, one with, one without biochar.  I’d be interested in seeing if mixing lime in with the biochar would lighten it color wise and improve reflectivity.

Was feeling a bit overwhelmed a while back with everything that needed doing on the homestead.  Partially exacerbated by the personal desire to turn the continuously falling trees on my property into biochar.  Also grappling with the adulting of my teen sons who contributed a good bit of labor to the homestead during their tenure.

My conclusion was that I need to prune, hard.  No more raising beef, dropping back to a pig every other year instead of every year, and a smaller garden.  Still trying to keep up the biochar project.  I’ve got around 4 cords of wood cut that I’d like to char, but after that, planning to take a break and work on other things.  

Endeavors that have made the cut are wood heat/cooking, sheep, chickens, veg garden, and the fruit/nut trees I planted in my pasture, and of course biochar.  

Equipment (other than hand tools)includes a weedeater, push mower, chainsaw, trash pump, and garden tractor.  Resisted the urge to level up on equipment years ago when a friend was telling me about servicing his Kabota by the book and the cost of a rear rim when it rusted out.

Hard to say if it will be enough to relax a bit, but that is the goal.