Green Acres Weekend Update

Though I'm really enjoying using this blog as a creative outlet and as a forum for some dialogue on sustainable living and other topics, I sometimes get overwhelmed with all my post ideas.  When I first started it, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to write about, and the opposite is true.  For someone who's a social introvert, I can't seem to shut up in writing.

So Byron suggested I do one post that briefly covers some of the goings-on during the week.  I don't know yet if this will be a weekly sort of post since I have problems with consistency and organization in general, but here is the first Green Acres Weekend Update.  And by the way, how do you like the SNL shout-out in the title?  I actually haven't watched the show since the early to mid-1990s, so I'm not sure what triggered the memory.  Party on, Wayne.  Party on, Garth.

I wrote recently about planting our berry rows.  This week Byron got all the cedar posts installed; we're using cedar because several trees on the property had been knocked down before we moved in, and they're rot-resistant.  In fact, we've heard that setting them in concrete can actually promote rot in cedar because the concrete absorbs water and lets it sit there, whereas water will eventually evaporate or drain from the ground.  We have yet to assemble the cross-pieces or wire, but I don't exactly expect the berries to undergo any sort of growth spurt in the coming months.

Byron dug holes over 2 1/2' deep.  Charlie was the self-imposed yardstick.

The old timers around here say that when you take dirt out of a hole, you have to put it all back.  In order to do that, you shovel in a little bit of dirt, then compress it.  Repeat.  Again.  And again.  Etc.

Byron is using a digging bar our friend Melvin gave him to compress the dirt.

This is the blackberry row.  We had some blueberry bushes we transplanted from Other House, so we planted them at the ends of the rows in hopes that they will finally do well here.  We haven't had much luck with blueberries, but we're hoping the more acidic soil here keeps them happy.

Another thing Byron did this week was provide us with venison!  He hasn't hunted in years; in fact, prior to this the last deer he "got" was with our van.  Byron used to be an avid hunter and he's still a great shot.  That being said, we're thankful for this provision.  It's always a little disconcerting to be this close to your food, as I mentioned a while back with our chicken slaughter experience.  And I had the honors of cutting up the meat: tenderloin steaks and ground burger.  We added a couple pounds of bacon to the burger since venison is so lean and will fall apart if you try to cook it in any sort of patty.  Byron read that the rule of thumb is about one pound of bacon to nine pounds of venison, though I think we ended up with a slightly bigger ratio than that.

Is there some sort of unwritten rule that hunters don't smile???

This is so random, but I was excited enough about my little discovery to take a photo: my Kitchenaid Pro handled kneading four loaves' worth of whole wheat bread dough...which is 12 cups of flour!  It didn't overheat!  It didn't chew up the dough and spit it back at me!  Maybe I should write a review on Amazon to show all those HATERS what a Kitchenaid Pro can do!

Happy Kichenaid Pro = happy home baker.

Finally, Byron has almost completed re-installing the heart pine flooring in the parlor!  We will still have to sand it down and Waterlox (a tung oil wood sealer) it since we prefer a natural finish to a dark stain, but it is so nice to say goodbye to at least some of the plywood!  (And yes, I still have to mud the drywall.  Sigh.)

So that's out Green Acres Weekend Update.  Oh, and I'm surviving tin whistle, but only because my sister-in-law, Dawn the Music Doctor, helped me - the Music Moron - out the other week.  She also poked her head into my classroom this week and gave me some pointers as I was attempting to teach six little girls to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in unison.  Sorry, no MP3 downloads available right now.  I know you're disappointed.