missing time

It's been far too busy for blogging around here... planting gardens, raising meat chickens & pigs, cutting firewood... all that stuff. Our famous Narragansett Turkeys became proud parents last month. It was a very exciting time around here... (this is what passes for entertainment 'round these parts)...


It takes a long while for the little birds to work their way out of the shell...

Jack the dog was absolutely amazed that a living creature could pop out of something he enjoys eating so much... he was literally shaking during the entire process!

These two turkeys are already running around the yard, and mamma turkey laid a second clutch of eggs. Three of those hatched last week and the little chicks are in the small brooder growing like crazy.

That's a quick update... I'll post more when time allows. Until then, keep smilin'!

Live And Let Die

During these difficult economic times, we New Hampshire folks have to come together and help each other out. This Summer, when the 'out of staters' come back to their vacation houses here in the Great White North... it's going to be important that we show a little compassion. Some folks will be having trouble paying for the necessities of life... you know, the kid's riding lessons,the wife's tennis pro, the country club fees, the live-in nanny, the maids and butlers... I mean, do you know what it costs to tune up a Bentley!!

So, this Summer... whether it's at the gas station or the recycling center or the local sushi establishment... you may just bump into one of these poor folks... and this year it's far more likely they may actually speak with you... ya know, "morning"... or "how'z it going?" This is really a cry for help! You know damned well, under normal circumstances these folks would never give you the time of day... so lets all show them what New Hampshire is all about. Please consider making an anonymous donation of a million or two to help keep Buffy & Little Regis out of the soup kitchen this year.

We'll all sleep better knowing that when Summer is finally over, these poor slobs can still make it to Tahoe for the Christmas season. Thank you.

Sticky Fingers

Well, it's been a long while waiting for Spring to rear her elusive head, and nothing says SPRING in New Hampshire like the smell of boiling maple syrup. We only have a few sugar maples here on the farm... far more oak and red maple. My neighbors down the road at Delrossi's, our local high quality Italian trattoria & purveyor of acoustic guitars, banjos & fiddles, are good enough to let me tap some of their generations old trees. I boil sap the 'old fashioned' way... in a century old cast iron cauldron, with a wood fire.

It takes on average, about 40 gallons of sap to get 1 gallon of good syrup... but these old trees must give a higher sugar quality sap, because I always seem to get an extra pint or more from that same 40 gallons.

Jack has been through this before, and knows this is going to be a long day. Today, we started our fire at 7AM, hoping to get a jump on things.

Here we've got a good boil going....

The boys & I pose for a photo as afternoon passes... we ended with about 4 gallons of reduced sap by about 7:30. The next day we finished it off slowly on the big wood stove in the barn. This time around, I started with about 48 gallons of sap and ended up with a gallon and a half of dark amber syrup. The weather has been perfect lately, 20's at night and 40's during the day. Perfect temps for a good sap run. If all goes well, I'll get in 2 0r 3 more boils like this one. That should keep us in syrup for more than a year, with some extra for X-mas gifts!

Not everything around the farm is as exciting as boiling sap... but get your rest now, Jack...next month the piglets will be here!

A Ruckus On The Farm!

I haven't had a lot of time for posting lately, too busy keeping everyone warm around here... and cooking. I love to cook in the Winter!

The economic depression is finally creeping into New Hampshire. Usually, we're pretty well insulated (excuse the pun) from economic waves, as the hardcore yankee values common in these parts tend to curb excesses one way or another. Extreme poverty and perverse avarice don't sell well around here.

But like I said, some hardship is rearing its ugly head in my area. Why, just the other day some unemployed fella tried stealing one of my prize turkeys. The jerk will never try THAT again!

I'm not sure who those other folks were lurking in the yard... but we all had one hell of a laugh together!

Faces...

on a cold Winter's day...

Hey, at least the sun is shining!

One more day closer to Spring!

Dog Days of Winter

Baby, It's cold outside! It kinda makes you want to move your activities indoors. I wonder what other folks do to keep from going crazy this time of the year ... bears sleep... fish dodge trucks falling through the ice... a lot of us plan next Summer's garden with our bounty of seed catalogs. But when that's done, after taking the meat out out of the freezer and before starting to cook dinner...?



For me, the choice is easy... I've got a friend that is always there for me. Someone that never second guesses, and always wants to do what I want to do. Oh, and I don't mean my best friend, Jack the dog...

That's my secret love... my Gibson J-160e... isn't she beautiful?! And you ought to hear her sing! Actually, she sings a lot better than I do.... but at least she's in MY CONTROL! You other guys better find your own girl!


The audience that I play for is a bit critical, though. It helps to keep you on your toes. When they're not impressed... they just stare at me...

One things for sure, though... music does tend to sooth the savage beast!

What do YOU do to keep from going crazy this Winter??

January Thaw?

Here we are in the middle of January, and about half way through the wood pile. Every year it's the same thing. Mid January and half of my wood supply gone, a controlled panic starts to gnaw at me. But upon reflection, we always have enough wood to last until Spring. Figure... we start the basement stove in late September, and it runs steadily through March and sometimes a lot of April as well. So it makes sense that half of our seven and a half cords are gone. By the time the snow is gone and the stove cools down I'll be firing up the chain saws and wood splitter, just to start the whole cycle over again.

Heating with oil would be easier, but I can't grow my own... so this is the next best thing. Besides, have you ever tried cooking dinner on top of an oil burner?

Now I know what you're thinking... 'what a lucky guy, cooking potato pancakes on the wood cook stove, I sure wish I could be doing that!', but I've got to tell you all, It really isn't as easy as you might think. There are a lot of obstacles to cooking on a stove like this... things you might not think of at first glance. Let me explain,

For starters, you've really got to watch your step. A hot stove tends to attract the attention of various loiterers that you have to learn to work around. The good news is, if you drop any food on the floor... don't worry about having to bend over to pick it up!








The temperature is starting to moderated here on the side of Mt. Monadnock. It's up to +12F.


Thursday morning we had a reading of -15F and it got up to a whopping +5F for a high. Needless to say the chickens have been spending all of their time in the coop lately. The heat lamp in the ceiling points down on their waterer, keeping it thawed out, and with the additional light I'm still getting excellent egg production from my ladies. I've read various opinions about artificial light in the chicken coop... but the girls wouldn't appreciate life without the heat lamp... Winters are too long around here for that. I'd rather have happy chickens that lay well for a couple of years than miserable frozen birds that produce seasonally for 4+ years. I add 8 or 10 new birds to the flock every year to make up for the occasional fatality or untimely demise. That helps keep the egg supply steady too, as my neighbors have come to expect.








Even with all of these frigid nights, Mr. Tweedle, the tom turkey has yet to change his evening ritual. At sundown he flies onto the coop roof, and come morning he's still up there... only coming down when I show up with food... crazy bird.

Well, I guess that's just about it from our little farm for today... time to stoke the stove and pull out the guitar.
Next time I write, we'll have a new President! Something tells me we're all going to still be in the same freaking mess, though. Mary says that I should give Obama a chance, but as far as I can see... he's hired all of the same clowns that created our financial crisis... to try and get us out of it!? It doesn't make any sense to me... but then again... neither do 'securitized debt obligations' or 'credit default swaps'!

Oh well, see you at the waterin' hole....

Happy Birthday Pop Pop

100 Years

That used to sound like a heck of a long time... I'm not so sure anymore.

My Grandfather saw a lot in his life. Born to a BIG family, I'm pretty sure he was the baby. Like a lot of people back then, work was an important part of life. He served in the National Guard, and then the U.S. Navy.

When the United States joined in the Second Great War, Freddie reenlisted... known as 'Pops' to the younger volunteers. His vessel took part in the invasions of Sicily & North Africa. My Grandmother followed every move the Florence Nightingale and the U.S. Navy made as that war raged. Her journals, and every letter Freddie sent her are right here in her hope chest, a part of my home now. I joined the family in 1960. Pop Pop had purchased a small hardware store in our home town in Massachusetts. I've got many fond memories of that old store... they don't make them like that anymore. Wooden shelves, weighing nails on the old brass scales that now live here with me.

I think everyone out there has a favorite grandparent, the one that made the biggest impression on them. For me, It's always been a toss up between Freddie & his wife Rena. My Grandfather is the one that visits me most often in my dreams, so that must count for something.

Happy Birthday Pop Pop

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Edna's Farm

I hope I don't curse myself, but Mary & I are hoping we can find a way to make this OUR farm.

We drove up to central Vermont the other day and and met Edna. She'll be heading for a warmer climate later this winter and hopes to leave her homestead dream in good hands.

Having a barn like this would allow me to take my farming up a notch. There are lots of different areas for a variety of critters. Edna has three horses and a bunch of goats living here right now, but they'll be moving south too.

The land up there is beautiful. The forest streches for miles and miles. A year round creek bisects the property, and there's even a swimming hole!

Here's Jack, hard at work already. "Horses are in the corral... what's next... better go check on the chickens!"

A born farm dog.