Liveaboard life: minimalism in a tiny home at sea

While websurfing on youtube, I happened across this wonderful video. Makes me smile.

Making Meat

What most people would call hunting, my friend, John McPherson, calls making meat. And that's what I like to call it too. I hunt to put meat in the freezer. It's not a sport to me. I don't hunt horns. Here I am with my second doe of the season. I feel very fortunate to have gotten her. The deer season this year has been a hard one. They brushed up early and went nocturnal. Hunting from a tree stand or a blind has been tough going. The deer are not moving much, and tend to bed down during the day. Therefore, our tactics have had to change. My friend and fellow hunter, Laine, worked together to drive the deer. He walked slowly through a cedar woods, while I followed the fence line parallel to him. Suddenly, there she was. In a matter of seconds, I drew up on her and shot. Our plan worked. I am very grateful to have been able to fill my second tag. Many thanks to Laine and to Jim and Robbins for letting me hunt on there land.

Ready for the Freezer

After letting my deer hang for three days in a walk in cooler, it was time to do the processing. Though, I have worked in a meat shop before, this is the first time I have cut up a whole carcass from start to finish. I took my time and tried to do a good job. It is important to me to use as much of the animal as possible. Except for the area around the bullet hole, all of the meat was packaged. I even saved the bones to be used as stock. I also kept the hear, liver, kidney and some of the internal fat to be used. Seen here are the neatly wrapped white packages ready to be put in the freezer. What was left of the deer was taken back to the woods and the coyotes.

My First

After returning from a week in Oregon, it was back to the farm. Most of the work in the produce fields is done by this time of year. So the first couple of weeks were spent doing basic clean up tasks like picking up hoses, putting away machinery and cleaning out the barn and various out buildings. And then it was deer season. For the ten days of rifle season, daily life is pretty much geared to hunting. As far as hunting seasons go, I was told it was a hard one. Warm, full moon nights, very windy days and a good acorn crop, combined to delay the rut and keep the deer 'brushed up'. It wasn't until the sixth day of season that I filled my first tag. Thankfully, I woke up that morning to a heavy frost and no wind. Well before sunrise I hiked to my hunting spot and waited. When the sun finally rose, it cast its warmth on the hill opposite my blind of cedar boughs. Two hours passed and not an animal stirred. At long last a cow and her calf appeared. I figured my chances to get a deer that morning were gone. And then suddenly, just below the ridge of the hill was a doe. She had stopped in a small clearing to let the sun warm her. I knew I could make the shot. Using the blind like a bench rest, I quickly spotted her in the scope. I picked my target and fired - one shot. The noise from my 308 can be deafening. The little valley echoed. The cow and calf froze still, startled at the sudden boom. I waited a minute and then left the blind, crossed the little creek and went up the hill. I found the doe where she had stood. I was ecstatic and ran part of the 1/2 mile back to the house. This is my first deer.

HOS All About Fruit Show

This past Saturday, Nick and I went to the Home Orchard Society All About Fruit Show. It is an amazing two day show, in which nearly a thousand varieties of fruit are made available to the public to sample. Apples, pears, grapes, quinces, medlars, and kiwis are on display. For us fruit geeks it is a sight to behold - and taste. There is literally so much that one could not sample every variety there. It was a real treat for me to see, touch and taste, varieties of fruit which I knew only by name. I absolutely love the muscat grapes and the russet apples - like Zabergau Reinette.

Marechal Foch

Here is a wonderful grape variety to grow in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Its name is Marechal Foch. It makes a very dark wine - the type I like. More importantly, the vines grow well in Oregon and the fruit naturally resists mildew. Where pinot noir and reisling grapes succomb to mildew, Marechal Foch will produce a bountiful and beautiful crop without fungicidal spray. In addition, Nick grows many other varieties of grapes with flavors that are absolutely superb. Some of the best are 'Kendaia', 'Campbell', and 'NY GR 7'. Tasting many of the grapes in Nick's collection, was a true delight. We sampled at least 150 different varieties.

Nick and the Grape Stemmer/Crusher

This past week I had the great good fortune to make a trip out to Oregon and visit my friends there. I spent most of my time with the Botner family. The grapes were ready to harvest, so I was able to help Nick pick the wine crop. The birds got some of the harvest, but we still were able to pick many tubs. Shown here is the machine Nick uses to de-stem the grape clusters. At the same time, two rotating drums at the bottom of the hopper, crush the grapes. I love this tool. It is a great time saver. In no time at all it will process many hundreds of pounds of grapes. After the grapes are crushed, yeast is added and so begins the conversion of sugars into alcohol.

Quercus Macrocarpa

Quercus = oak. Macrocrpa = large fruited.

The Burr Oak acorns are so thick this year, a grove of them carpets a city park nearby. One can't help to step on them in any direction. Rarely do we have such a productive year. It seems that only every three years or so is the acorn crop so plentiful. The latin name is justly deserved, for the the Burr oaks produce the largest acorn of all. How I wish I could turn out the hogs to all that incredibly bounty.

Watering the High Tunnel

I think the best way to water a high tunnel is with a tripod sprinkler. The plastic covering keeps the wind down and catches any overshot of water. In this particular instance I like the sprinkler more than drip tape. Here we are watering the high tunnel in preparation of planting it to 'Chicago Hardy' figs.

Believe It Or Not

This 27 pound beauty is Long of Naples. The thing is huge. It was growing up at the parents house in their garden. The neighborhood kids had a fun time watching it grow and grow and grow. One vine made two of these behemoths. This one squash could feed our family for a week or two.

Hayin' Time

I love to see a field hayed. And this year I got to participate in putting the hay by. I had the pleasure to rake. I loved it. You get to drive fast and the fall weather now is really splendid. Basically hay making goes like this: after mowing, the hay is raked into windrows to be baled.

Post Pulling

To grow tomatoes in the Midwest, the plants need to be grown off the ground. The method we use is post and string. It's the most economical way we've found to grow 5000 plus tomato plants. But now that it's time to clean the field, that means pulling out more than 1500 t-posts and rebar stakes. The best way to do that is with a tractor and two people. One drives the tractor and operates the loader, the other lassos the posts with a short chain bolted to the bucket. This method works good and fast.

It's Garlic Planting Time

About a week ago, we planted garlic. The calculation was somewhere around 5000 cloves planted. In no time at all they have already sprouted. When they go dormant for winter they will be covered with a light dressing of straw. My favorite variety we grow is Spanish Rojo. It doesn't store well but it's hot and spicy - the way I like my garlic.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

This is what everybody should have going into winter -750 pounds of butternut squash. It makes me feel rich. It's Waltham butternut. Yes, of all the heirloom, rare squash we grew this year, the winner is terms of bulk productivity is the oh-so-common Waltham butternut. It set fruit in the hottest days of summer, shrugged off the bugs and ripened unbelievable quantities of food. Now I know why it is such a widely grown squash.

Squash Grow Out Update

Here in all its glory is a fraction of our squash harvest. What a fun and interesting year it has been. This year we grew out close to one hundred different varieties. Many varieties suffered in our brutally hard growing conditions this year. Weeks of upper ninety/one-hundred degree temps, no rain for months, and an established cucumber beetle population destroyed many varieties. Of the four species of squash grown, C. moschata did the best. Most varieties performed well. However, Musquee de Provence and Greek Sweet Red withered and died before even flowering. Waltham butternut was the winnter in terms of productivity. Seminole was the winner in terms of taste. C. pepo squash like pumpkins, spaghetti squash and some acorn types did well, but forget about zucchini. The only reason we can supply zucchini throughout the growing season is with five successive plantings. Basically, from the time zucchini goes to the field the farmer has 45 days before the plants are dead from bacterial wilt. C. mixta did ok. The lighter colored varieties like gold striped cushaw didn't sunburn. C. maxima was a near total failure. Sure we got a few fruits - but that was only from late plantings - and considering the total yield I would say all C. maxima varieties trialed this year were a flop. If anyone knows of a maxima type that works in the Midwest when grown organically, please let me know.

PTO Sprayer

Here is yet one more useful tool on the farm. It is a sprayer. Because we are an organic farm we don't use synthetic pesticides, fungicides, etc. What we do use are OMRI approved sprays such as BT and Actinivate. The crops that are sprayed are cabbage and broccoli. They are sprayed to control cabbage loopers. The other crop sprayed is tomatoes. They are sprayed to control tomato hornworm. Here the spray boom can be seen in the upright position. It was set up this way to be driven between the tomato rows while simultaneously spraying both directions. I wish we didn't have to spray anything. But sadly the midwest is thick with hungry bugs.

Hogs

Three weeks ago we got some pigs. Seven in all. Five boars and two gilts. The black and white pigs in the picture are Ossabaw Hogs. The small reddish pig is an Ossabaw/wild pig cross. We got these pigs in order to make use of the waste produce we generate. What can't be sold goes to the hog pen. They absolutely love zucchini and tomatoes - even preferring it to feed corn. Later in the fall they will be fattened on acorns and then butchered. In the time we've had them, the boars have been castrated. That was an experience I'll never forget. These pigs maybe small but they are powerful. Oh, and I have to say I laugh every time I go to feed them. They make the most obnoxious but humorous sounds as they chomp up their food. To listen to them eat tomatoes with mouths wide open is just hilarious.

Fruit Tree Nursery Row Update

Here it is mid-September, and this is how the grafted fruit trees look. Its been a continual struggle against weeds but I've kept with it. And to keep the trees growing it has required more organic fertilizer than I had imagined to keep them from 'stalling out' as Farmer Jim calls it. Thankfully, though, the extreme summer heat seems to have passed.

Improvised Watering

The saying around here is, "You're never more than two weeks away from a drought." And it's been more than two weeks since we had any rain. Without water, the fall crops won't grow. To water we have a few options: drip tape, sprinklers or water tank irrigation. We're out of drip tape. Sprinklers work in the house gardens but in the far fields the only feasible option is to use water tanks. The setup seen in the photo is our solution to the lack of rain. It works but it's slow. If I had to do the field layout again I would space the rows wider so that I could drive the red truck down them. With the red truck I could use the 500 gallon tank which would be much faster. Live and learn, I guess.

Earthway Seeder

This handy little tool is an Earthway Push Seeder. In one motion it will open a furrow, drop in seed, and cover everything with soil. It allows the gardener/small farmer to plant a lot of seed very fast and in very precise rows. It has its problems, but for the most part is a great time/lower back saver.

Long of Naples

This is a squash I have been watching. It is Long of Naples. I got the seed from Baker Creek. The vines are huge and vigorous - something I like. And the fruit is huge too. The thing is two feet long. I have found that most squash from Italy or France or anywhere else in western Europe do poorly in the Midwest. But this one may prove to be the exception. I hope it tastes good. If so, I'll try it as a field squash. Surely, there is more to the world of squash than Waltham butternut.

The Pumpkin Patch

Our pumpkin patch. Such a beautiful sight. I love to just stand and admire it. It made it through extreme heat and plagues of cucumber beetles (and the bacterial wilt they transport). We are growing three varieties: Winter Luxury Pie, Small Sugar and Young's Beauty. I've had a pie made from Winter Luxury pumpkins. It is heavenly. And what I love so much about pumpkins is that we can grow it organically and with only a few tractor pulled tools. So no chemical sprays or hand weeding necessary. I can't wait till harvest.

Tarahumara Popping Sorghum

No, this is not corn. This is a grain sorghum - and it's tall. It stands 10 feet (a few are 12 feet tall). It didn't really start to grow until we got some rain. In fact I didn't think it would make it. I figured it would have dried up. But to it's credit, it just waited with leaves curled day after day, week after week. Then the rain came and it tripled in size. They are now starting to flower. Hopefully, the birds will leave me some ripe seed. My sunflowers were denuded by little finches well before the seed was even half ripe. If it turns out grain sorghum is too susceptible to bird attack, I think I'll move in the direction of sweet sorghum to make molasses. Sorghum does extremely well here.

Puddles

Finally!!! Starting August 4, our summer drought has ended. What a relief!!! We had nine weeks of no rain, with temperatures in the 100s topped off with spells of crushing humidity. I'm so glad that's behind us.

Squash Harvest

This smiling group of folks is part of the farm crew hear at Bear Creek Farms. We are standing in front of a cart of winter squash. It was a hard year on the squash grow out. Many varieties lost the battle to the heat, insects and diseases. However, a few varieties persevered. Those that worked well were: spaghetti squash, golden delicious, seminole, gold striped cushaw and waltham butternut. Waltham butternut was by far the best producer.

The Spreader

Here is yet more one pto driven, three point hitch tool for the tractor. It is a spreader. Anything from fertilizer to seeds can be broadcast with it. We will be using it shortly to spread our fall cover crops.

Packing Shed Washing Machine

When dealing with many thousands of pounds of produce throughout the year, anything that can be done to decrease hand labor is highly valued by me. So let me introduce the washing machine we use to wash and sort our hybrid tomatoes. Because they have thicker skins, hybrid tomatoes tolerate machine washing. Inevitably, some are lost to bruising or cracking, but that loss is insignificant when factoring in the labor saving efficiency of mechanized washing. Contrast that with the heirloom tomatoes we also grow which must be wash individually by hand.

Attack of the Bean Beetles

This is a photo of common beans, Phaseolus vulgaris. This is the type of bean that makes green beans or pinto/navy beans when dry. When grown without any sort of human intervention, this is the result. Bean beetles make swiss cheese out of the leaves. Yes, I know that the organic farmer can use floating row cover or a few select sprays to keep the bugs away. But what I am looking for are crops with a good deal of 'resiliency'. Crops that tolerate the diseases and insects of this place with little to no attention from me - the farmer. So instead of common beans, I prefer to grow the following types of beans in the summer: summer peas (aka southern peas, cowpeas, black eyed peas), soybeans (hairy leaved types only - smooth leaf types suffer excessive bean beetle damage), lima beans and peanuts.

Onion Storage

In the room opposite the bunkhouse, the onion crop is laid out for curing. The windows are covered. An air conditioner and a de-humidifier keep the room cool and dry. The de-humidifier was set to keep the air moisture content at 35 percent. So far this is the best arrangement Jim and Robbins have come up with to cure onions. In the past they have tried to dry the onions in the field. But that didn't work. Last year they put the onions into an open greenhouse, which had been whitewashed. That was marginally successful. All told, organic field production of onions in the Midwest is a challenge. The difficulty lies in keeping them weed free while they are growing. Curing them once harvested is the next big hurdle. This year we still threw away about 2/5ths of all the onions because of neck rot.

Small Town Pride

Just west of Cottonwood Falls, is the town of Florence, Kansas. This mural can be found on main street - it is impossible to miss it. The picture speaks for itself. I love it.

Chase County Courthouse

On a trip to Oklahoma to see my extended family, my Mom and I stopped in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. The town of 950 is in the heart of the Flint Hills. There can be found the Chase county courthouse. If memory serves me right, it is the oldest continuously operating county courthouse in the state of Kansas. Also, in Cottonwood Falls is the Emma Chase Cafe. They serve the best chicken fried steak I've ever eaten. And the gooseberry pie is divine. Their sign above the kitchen reads "pie fixes everything". Amen to that.

Rolling Onions

The onion crop is maturing. As each plant ripens, the top falls over. However, they don't all ripen at exactly the same time. So when a 'good amount' of plants are ready, the whole crop is rolled. It helps the onion begin the drying process. The roller is a four foot wide plastic drum. It can be filled with water to make it heavier. But for rolling onions, we leave it empty. I love this task. It has an elegant simplicity that appeals to me.

A New Use for the Brush Mower

Now that the harlequin and blister bugs have arrived in mass, it is time to till in the kale rows. Before that is done, the plastic needs to be removed. And in order to make that job easier, we use a brush hog mounted on the tractor to mow off all of the above-plastic plant material. Seen here is the row after the kale has been mowed. All that is left is a two inch piece of stem. I can't imagine trying to lift the plastic without mowing it first. It would be nearly impossible to separate the plants from the plastic.

June Corn

Thanks to Stuart Pollack we have a rare variety of field corn. It's called Mexican June. But we just call it June corn. It's called June corn because it is planted in June. (Most corn around here is planted in early May). June corn is well adapted to this climate. Despite having been planted at the start of a mini-drought now in it's sixth week, this corn is growing without any problem. Another added benefit of this corn is it' size. It grows ten feet tall or higher. Because of that, the ears are out of reach of hungry raccoon hands. Many modern sweet corns grow to around 5 or 6 feet. This is well within the reach of our local hungry wildlife. Though June corn does not make for a good sweet corn, it is superb as a flour corn. Made into cornbread it is superb. The old saying is knee high by the fourth of July. Well June corn is already up to my chest.

Desert Life in the Midwest

Wouldn't you know it. The Missouri River is in flood, but down in Saint Clair County we haven't seen a productive rain in over six weeks. Everything is dry. Thankfully, the farm well is a good one - capable of a continuous flow of 5000 plus gallons a day. However, it is not enough to water all the fields according to our weekly schedule. To help alleviate this - we have resorted to spot watering with three tanks. They are filled from a second well about a mile up the road. The two tanks shown here each hold 275 gallons of water. Combined with a third tank which holds over 500 gallons that gives us almost 1100 gallons to water with. Ideally, two trips to the second well give us 2200 gallons of additional water per day. It helps. But what we really need is some good rain - and a reprieve from the heat and humidity.

The 500 Gallon Tank

The third tank mounted on a trailer, holds 500 plus gallons.

Potato Digger

When it comes to digging potatoes from the garden, I get out the digging fork. When it comes to digging potatoes on the farm, out comes the potato digger. It mounts behind a tractor by way of a three point hitch. When the PTO is engaged, a conveyor of metal slats digs under the potato plant. Dirt, weeds, plants and potatoes are moved up the vibrating conveyor. Then the whole mass of earth and vegetation falls off the back. Then workers - like me - sort through this mass to find and pick out the potatoes. I should say that before this machine is used - a brush hog is used to mow off the withering potato vines.

Bacterial Wilt

This is the effect of bacterial wilt on cucumber. It is a disease spread by biting insects like cucumber beetles. In addition to cucumbers, summer squash and melons are highly susceptible. The only effective way to deal with this problem is a continuous replant. The idea is to be replanting a fresh crop every two to three weeks. That's a lot of extra work. Sadly, organic methods to control the cucumber beetles (and therefore the diseases they spread) are largely non-effective - especially in the numbers that are present on this farm. 'Surround' kaolin clay will work when the plants are young - but it can't be used once the plants begin to flower. And sticky traps don't work. I've seen the cucumber beetles 'swim' right out of them. Bacterial wilt is a huge problem for organic growers in the midwest.

Musquee De Provence

This photo shows the importance of growing varieties suited to one's own region. The lifeless brown vines are Musquee De Provence squash vines which have died from bacterial wilt. Being from France, it has not developed a natural tolerance to the insects and diseases that thrive in the hot, humid summers of the midwest. My goal is to know which varieties of squash do well here and which do not - Musquee De Provence does not.

Garlic Harvest

My goodness, look at that garlic. It is huge. I swear some of the bulbs had a four inch diameter. So to anyone who says organic doesn't work, take note. My favorite varieties are Susanville and Shangtung Purple because they are the biggest. The Shangtung Purple is especially beautiful. The garlic is now all harvested and has been put into a shaded, well-ventilated drying shed to complete the ripening process.

Shovel Cultivator

Hooked up to the Yanmar tractor is the shovel cultivator. It is used in the space between the raised beds - aka the aisle between the rows. Its purpose is to break up compacted soil and destroy weeds. The working end is called a shoe. It is a piece of sharpened metal shaped like an arrowhead. Those metal shoes can be found at the bottom of each 's-curve' piece of metal (which are bolted to the white toolbar).

Rotary Cultivator

Here is another of the farm-made tools. It has a unique and specialized role. Its purpose is to weed and side dress the edge of the black plastic raised beds. It goes where a shovel cultivator or a roto-tiller can't go. Farmer Jim calls this tool a rotary cultivator. He made it from a larger cultivator. The tool bar was shortened. All but two of the cultivator arms were removed and the space between them was widened so that the tool would straddle the raised bed. The tractor in this picture is shown in the tomato field. The raised beds are being cultivated before the t-posts go in.

Rotary Cultivator Up Close

Seen in closer detail are the 'octopus-like' wheels of the rotary cultivator. They are ground driven. This means that as the tractor moves forward, the wheels turn. This causes the wheels to spin and cut into the soil, thereby lifting out any weed seedlings. At the same time, soil is tossed onto the edges of the black plastic bed, helping to keep wind from lifting any uncovered edges.

Broccoli Harvest Begins

The hot weather of summer has arrived. Suddenly, the broccoli is ready. Really, it is perfect timing. The lettuce harvest is pretty much done. So to have broccoli to sell is great. Thankfully, Whole Foods loves broccoli and they bought all we had. Just yesterday I delivered a load of 600 pounds to there two main stores in Kansas City.

Grafting Bands Removed

On June 1st, I removed all the grafting rubber bands in the fruit tree nursery. They are needed early in the spring to hold the graft together. But then they need to be removed six to eight weeks later, or they will start to restrict the new growth. When I have time I'll do an inventory to see what percentage of the trees grafted successfully.

Fire Blight

For all of those folks I met in Oregon, let me say how lucky you are not to have this disease to deal with. This is a pear tree on a downward death spiral from fire blight. What began a month ago as shoot tip die back, has progressed rapidly into whole limb death. Because of this disease the only pear varieties that I choose to work with are those with a natural resistance to fire blight.

The Lettuce Harvest

This is the view from the packing shed looking out at the East Lot. In the cart and the large black tub, is a fraction of the romaine lettuce harvest. What I love about head lettuce is how easy it is to grow. It also is a good source of early income. Though after weeks of getting it ready for market, I do have a case of 'Lettuce-itis'. The fact that it is now all gone and sold makes me happy. Zucchini is now planted where the lettuce was grown.

The End Result

Here is the sad news to report. My initial attempt to use paper (instead of plastic) as a raised bed cover has failed. In less than two weeks, violent storms and gusting winds have caused parts of the paper row to become ruined. Despite these set backs, I hold out hope that paper can replace the plastic.

The Problem Exposed

This shot shows where the tear in the edge of the paper begins. Every two feet or less, a tiny failure would start. It started after passing under the roller and before the wheel that pushes the paper edge over the side of the raised bed. Clearly visible is the tear and flap of paper turning back towards the silver roller.

The Paper Bed

Here is a shot looking down the row of paper. As you can see, the experiment kind of worked. Unfortunately, the left side of the row ripped along the edge every two feet or so. That would have to be addressed. I have also been told that laying paper onto a flat surface (instead of a raised bed) works just fine. But flat beds just don't work here. With our downpour rains, crops on flat beds will drown. In conclusion, I think paper has some potential to replace plastic. But getting it laid onto a raised bed without tearing the edges is a flaw that definitely needs to be overcome.

Up Close Shot

To start laying a row (be it paper or plastic) begins like this. An operator on back pulls out the drip tape. Then the bed cover, paper in this case, is unrolled. The machine is lowered to contact the ground. A shovel is used to add dirt and weigh down the end of the paper or plastic. And finally, the drip tape is tied to the shovel. Just to note, the dog in the picture is Lily. She is the resident farm dog.