Where have we been?

Wow, we have been off WordPress for a number of years now haven’t we. Seems that Linda got burned out doing the majority of the posting and I just didn’t pick up the slack.

We continued to pay our subscription just in case we wanted to drop off Facebook and I think that was a good choice.

We are still here in West Virginia and still living off the grid as before with very little change to the configuration.

We did put up a small wind generator out here. Seems a 400 watt generator was not near big enough to be much of a value. It was more like a trickle charger to the battery bank. Also last spring it was struck by lightning and we have not lowered it down or even ordered the new circuit card.

I may start this blog up again. We will see.

Sonny

SPRING BEGINNINGS

Sunday

Linda

There are spring beginnings all around us here at Pot Hole Farm. The daffodils are in bloom and we noticed small buds forming on tree branches. The bluebird is checking out the bird house and our annual Phoebe is rebuilding her nest on the gutter downspout. A few days ago Sonny was able to plow the garden and today we planted two rows of kale and a row of mixed lettuce greens.

We finally built the turkeys a house and pen last week and not a minute too soon. Our turkey girl made herself a nest in the soft hay and laid her first egg. Its not much bigger than a chicken egg, but give the girl a break its her first.

Turkey egg is the white egg.

Well we bit the bullet and invested in an outdoor wood furnace to heat the house. We finally got tired of the smoke the indoor wood stove liked puff out every time we tried to reload it with wood. Both of us grew up with wood stoves and a little puff of smoke is normal, but these new EPA regulated stoves are horrible. We are not the first to have this problem and have read complaints on other blogs. This outside wood furnace should do the trick. I know some of you are curious to know how this furnace works so Sonny will do an update later and will be able to answer any questions you may have. You would only be confused if I attempted to explain it.

Outdoor wood furnace is only set in place. There is much more that needs to be done.

SPRING-WINTER CHORES

Sunday

Linda

The date on the calendar may say its spring time, but we are already getting prepared for next winter.   Our first year making maple syrup taught us that the evaporator is an insatiable beast when it comes to its favorite fuel. Wood. The furnace consumes the wood logs in the same manner a dog scarfs  a chunk of steak and then looks for more.

We hope to get about ten cords of wood stored and set aside for the evaporator. Our house is heated by a wood stove too, so we will need to cut another three to four cords for it.

There is a stand of trees in our east pasture that we have wanted to clear out, so that is where we have begun our wood harvest. Sonny fell one tree yesterday and then another today. We cut the trunks up into rounds and have temporarily stacked them on the wood racks. Later we will use the log splitter to split them and then replace them in the racks to dry over the summer. They should be ready to use by next winter.

Wood rounds waiting to be split.

The weather is still cool and perfect for wood cutting. Better to get the majority of it done now before the temps rise. Its no fun cutting wood when its sweltering and the last thing you want to think about is fire. Thats homestead life.  You are always preparing for the season ahead.

SHOW OFFS

Sunday

Linda

Tom Turkey and his mate.

MAPLE SYRUP SALES ARE GOOD

Sonny

Thanks to everyone who has already purchased their syrup so far. We have had a few days here where it has been too cold for sap to run so we were able to orders sent out. Now is the time to order. I think we will have another sap run this Saturday.

STILL MAKING MAPLE SYRUP

Hey Everyone,

Well we are still at it around the farm. I was in the sugar shack until nearly 1a.m. last night. Last night it got down to freezing so that will be good for the Maple trees. It is snowing here this morning and I’m not sure when it will warm up again to allow the trees to start the sap flowing again.

Before the sun went down

We are going to try to head into town this morning. The county has been working on the 6 mile dirt road that we live on for the last 2 weeks. There has been some soft side areas in places and they are working to reenforce the edges to keep if from moving down the hill.

 

 

SYRUP SALES HAVE STARTED

Great news.

We just finished up bottling our last couple runs of pure Maple Syrup. Email me at hgjobe@gmail.com if you would like me to mail them out to you. The cost is $12.95 per Pint plus mail costs. PayPal works best or Our-WV webpage. Get it while it lasts.

Note: We intend to ship on Wednesdays of each week.

PHF LOGO

How do you like our new Pot Hole Farm logo.

THE SHOE FEEDER

Tuesday

Linda

Sonny and I are always looking for ways to repurpose old or worn out things. He had a pair of muck shoes that were still in good shape except that the sole had cracked at the bend of the shoe. Every time he stepped in water or mud his sock would get wet. So we bought him a new pair, but what to do with the old pair. It seemed a shame to just throw them in the trash. There must be some job they could fulfill.

People are always using old boots as planters or bird houses, why not use an old pair of muck shoes as a bird feeder? Sonny nailed the shoes on the side of the tree stump and then filled them with birdseed. The birds love it! Especially the little nut hatches. I’d say its a job well done.

The shoe feeder

SNOWFLAKES AND MANURE

Monday

Linda

Maple syrup may be the top event going on here at Pot Hole Farm, but its not the only one. We still have daily chores to attend to that include gathering firewood, taking care of the guineas, chickens,  turkeys and cats and dogs. Because we have had few days of sunshine the generator needs to be fed as well and that means going down to the Country Store to fill up gas cans. Gray cloudy days do not make enough energy for the solar panels to charge the batteries.

January is also the month we start to plan for spring projects and one of those projects is the garden. Today we took a trip over to John and Carols where a nice pile of composting donkey manure was waiting behind the barn. John used the bucket of his dependable 1970’s Ford tractor to dump four large scoops of manure into the bed of our old farm truck.

We were almost home when it began to snow. Large fluffy flakes floated on the wind and landed on the frozen ground. We used pitch forks to spread the manure over about a third of the garden while snow flakes swirled around us creating a scene fit for a snow globe.  The manure was black and rich with pink earthworms playing hide and seek in the clumps. It will lay atop the garden for the rest of winter where it will continue to decompose and feed the soil. We still need to get three or four more loads to finish covering the garden.

Spreading Manure

The snow is continuing to come down and the temperature is dropping. Time to curl up with a cup of coffee and a seed catalog.