Jim Black

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since Feb 25, 2013

Biography

We are a Jewish family on a small organic (non-certified) farmstead in foothills of the Rocky mountains in north-central Idaho. We are near the Clearwater River and Clearwater National Forest. We have a large vegetable garden and raise cows, goats, pigeons, chickens and our most special crop, and the reason we live the simple life we do, is our children.

Our goal is to raise our family in a healthy, country, close to the earth kind of way. Animals, gardening, baking, making cheese, herbal remedies, natural food preservation, bio-dynamic gardening methods....all of these are integral to our main purpose of immersing our selves in something life affirming...This takes so much time and effort, but it is so much fun. Having volunteers is so wonderful for us. We love sharing what we know and having the help has been an amazing blessing.

This year so far we have gotten so much done with our volunteers. We have built up beds in the new hoop-greenhouse, built new raised beds totaling 330 more square footage to plant in the garden, built a large goat shelter (which they love

) and we are now in the process of salvaging the 1940's logging cabin that we have disassembled. I can't even begin to list all of the smaller projects that have been accomplished, such as digging garden beds, weeding, planting, milking, watering, making cheese, making rice milk, cooking,bucking hay.... Current projects include, developing a spring, brushing out and doing improvements in the goat pen, building fence, building an addition on the chicken coop, finishing our sauna and as usual making cheese.

As of right now we are enjoying our beautiful winter weather, and enjoying our time in our sauna which is complete on the inside but needing a few finishing touches on the outside.

The hoop house is still supplying us with fresh greens and our cow Joy is keeping us supplied with fresh milk.

Stays of at least 1 or 2 weeks are suggested. If things work out well we are open to extended stays. We love community.

We expect helpers to work 5-6 hours a day and since we are Jewish each Sabbath (Saturday) is a day off. We try to leave plenty of time for fun.

Transportation from Lewiston ID and Missoula MT areas may be possible.

Languages spoken here are English, some Spanish, and a smattering of Hebrew.

We are very family friendly and children are more than welcome, as we have a bunch of our own.

We are able to accommodate vegetarian and gluten free diets.

Nearby attractions; The Clearwater river and fishing, swimming and boating is only 8 miles away. Hot springs are about an hour and half drive up river. Also nearby is the Clearwater National Forest and the Nez Perce Tribal Reservation, so exploring there can be fun as well.

Blessings!

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Recent posts by Jim Black

Canoeing Partner Needed

At 43 I find my self canoeing without a partner. I am not alone on this trip down the river, I have 9 children ( 19, 17, 17, 15, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3 ) some look to me every day for reassurance, and guidance, some for a little navigational help.

I have paddled the rough waters of community, helped it grow, and watched it crass over the falls of life, I have been a friend of success, and also a slave of failure. I have found a rhythm on the water that works for me and my tribe. But yet someone/someone's is missing.

I am landed (free&clear) been homesteading for over 13 years. The place looks great, just a few more projects. Theirs always a few more projects. The cob oven is built, the sauna is built, the garden soil is built, the green house is built, the house is comfortable, fire wood is in the shed, books in the library, if the power gos out for good then good. We have grown 80% of our food for the last 7 years. Its a lot of good work.

Can you believe some people pay to exercise CRAZZY???

Did you know hard work bring a good night sleep, clean food and water brings health, dirty hands make for a clean soul, nothing is better than a cup of coffee in the morning with someone you love.

So SWM Idaho, 43, 6 foot 6 inches, Stocky build, Strong back, Kind heart, Ugly as sin, In search of? Female with kind heart, gentile soul, steady rhythm, not afraid of the rapids on the river the hard times are when you grow the most. Age unimportant, looks even less important, work ethic a must, loyal to the power of 10.

Purple Mooseage if interested. Shalom Jim
p.s. spelling and grammatical errors are meant to entertain the over educated.

8 years ago

permaculture singles

Cob oven Cracking

Thanks again John and Jay

We were using 1 part sand to 3 parts clay, I have a test bach going right now with 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. I will see how they do. Not sure if our clay is the right clay is sure builds up on your feet in the garden and the kids make pots out of it all the time.

Our oven will measure 3 feet by 6 feet. I called the feed store and they have hemp rope (that a lot of cutting) any idea how much fiber to add ?

Jim
Hebrews West Farms

11 years ago

cob

Cob oven Cracking

First off thanks for your reply
Would you still us a straw or binder in the first layer it will end up being the fired roof. What are your toughts?

11 years ago

cob

Cob oven Cracking

Shalom all

We are in the process of building an out door cob bread oven.

We have laid the hearth, and put up a sand dome mold, covered with wet news paper, we put 4 inches of cob on the out side of the sand dome.

This was done last sunday night 7-1-2013.

With in 2 day we have major cracking almost 7/8 of an inch.

With in 7 days you could see down to the news paper on the sand dome.

Last night we took the sand out to see how bad the cracking was. Its to bad to keep so this morning we broke it down to start over.

Some question for the more experienced cobbers out there.

Would more sand in our mix prevent the cracking?

Would more clay in our mix prevent the cracking?

Was 4 inches of cob to much?

Would 2 inches be better?

Our temperatures on the days it was drying was in the high 90's to low 100's did it dry to fast?

Also we are in Kooskia Idaho, if any one wants to come play in the mud with us there welcome, we tend to play at the river in the hot of the day so we would be glad to put you up on the farm for a couple of days, hell we might even fire up the sauna.

Thanks

Jim

Hebrews West Farms

11 years ago

cob

Get Your Sauna On!!!

Hi there!

We are a Jewish am ha' aretz family on a small organic (non-certified) farmstead in the foothills of the Rocky mountains in north-central Idaho. We are near the Clearwater River and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. We have a large vegetable garden and raise, goats, pigeons, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and our most special crop, and the reason we live the simple life we do, is our children.

Our goal is to raise our family in a healthy, country, close to the earth kind of way. Animals, gardening, baking, making cheese, herbal remedies, natural food preservation, bio-dynamic gardening methods....This takes so much time and effort, but it is so much fun. Having volunteers is wonderful for us. We love getting to know other cultures, sharing stories, experiment with new ideas and having the help has been an amazing blessing.

As of right now we are enjoying our beautiful spring time in the Rockies. Snowing one minute, sunshine the next, gentle showers the next day. We are enjoying our time in our sauna which is complete on the inside but needing a few finishing touches on the outside.

The hoop house is still supplying us with fresh greens which we planted last fall, and we are in the midst of planting starts for this years' garden. The goats will be kidding in the next couple of weeks and then it will be back to making cheese! Yea!

We love to share our little town with those that visit. The Clearwater river is just a few minutes away. With fishing, swimming and boating. Hot springs are about an hour and half drive up river. Also nearby is the Nez Perce Tribal Reservation, so exploring there can be fun as well. There is tons of wildlife to experience, deer, turkeys, elk, the occasional moose, black bears, cougars wolves, and plenty of other smaller creatures to enjoy.

Stays of at least 1 or 2 weeks are suggested. If things work out well we are open to extended stays. We love community.

We expect people who stay with us to help out 5 to 6 hours of work a day. Since we are Jewish each Sabbath (Saturday) is a day off. We try to leave plenty of time for fun.

We are very family friendly and children are more than welcome, as we have a bunch of our own.

12 years ago

volunteer offerings

Cedar bark mulch

Does any one have experience using shredded cedar bark as mulch, I am worried about, the tannic acids in the bark killing my soil. ANY THOUGHTS???

12 years ago

mulch

Rock dusts near Everett WA?

Hello

5 years ago you could get glacier silt from the white river, we used it on our roe crops with great results. It was cleaned out of the city of Tacoma's water diversion imbetween Buckley and Enumclaw Washington As i remember it was free but you had to load it.

12 years ago

rockies