Things have been going really well. I’ve been enjoying the midwestern spring. Everything is growing like crazy. We have some amazingly fragrant roses in bloom right now near the house, and one single flower is potent enough to influence the air for six feet in all directions. Working for Athens Electric, I’ve helped another couple of families reduce their dependence on fossil fuels (namely coal in both cases). I did quite well, I thought, in the solar course I mentioned in the last post. Getting the certificate of completion from that course won’t necessarily open any doors immediately, but it has increased my competence and understanding on the job, and I have gotten a couple bumps in pay as well. Mostly, completing the course and passing the test puts me firmly on the road to NABCEP certification, which is the whole point.

Fermenting is going well. The batch I took the video of turned out great and is already mostly gone (consumed!). I did start a 5-gallon batch and it is bottled and conditioned and just about ready to drink! It will be nice to have a lot more stock to pull from instead of just 10 bottles from a one-gallon batch. Yesterday I started my first mead. There’s a local guy here, Bradley, who has been doing a lot of mead making. Even scaling up to 200-gallon batches and licensing from the state and all that. He’s serious. But … really only does “sweet” meads. Although they are very good, I’m not a fan of sweet drinks. I’m going to try and do a “dry” mead. I was going to do a straight mead, just honey and water, but those fragrant roses made me wonder if anyone has ever done a rose mead. A quick google search did find a recipe or two, along with quite a few people with the name “Rose Mead” and a city in California called Rosemead … so, I had to try it. 2.5 pounds of honey and a pint of rose petals, a few other ingredients and some yeast and hopefully I’m on my way. Because I’m making a dry mead, though, it will be 8 months to a year before really drinking any of it. It will be worth it.

One really cool thing that happened in the past month: the Nelsonville Music festival - where I volunteered on the recycling crew and camped out with friends for a weekend of music, relaxation and fun – it will definitely be an annual destination.

It was really a great festival. A few groups really stood out and I’ve got some new music to get into: Givers, the Ragbirds and Drakkar Sauna. I certainly didn’t get to see all the music at the festival, but pretty much all I did catch was good stuff. Loretta Lynn was there, arguably the biggest draw of people to the festival, but I was on a volunteer shift and had absolutely no desire whatsoever to watch. It’s just not my thing.

Later this week I’m heading up north – picking up my Brother at the Detroit airport and heading further north to do some camping and catch up with family a bit. I’m looking forward to getting out of town, but I already know I will be looking forward to getting back to Amesville …

I’ve been chomping at the bit to get busy and work with my new employer: Athens Electric. We’ve got a fair amount of work lined up with more about to enter the pipeline. We completed one job here in Amesville in February and are looking forward to getting on with more upcoming projects.

Next week I’m taking an Entry Level Photovoltaic (Solar) System Installation Training course at Washington State Community College. (Yes, it is odd to me that I left Washington State last year, but yet I’m going to attend a “Washington State” institution here in OHIO … I believe it is only called so because it is in Washington county. Go figure …) In my spare time recently I’ve been going through the books for the course – Solar Energy International’s Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual and the NFPA: 2008 National Electrical Code. The course should be great, and ought to catapult my solar career and greatly enhance my on the job mojo. On the 31st Drake and I are starting a new job near Dayton. I’m sure I’ll be posting back on how that goes!

Other than work, I’ve been trying to enjoy my time off. I’ve been hanging out with my new friend Anna a bit. I hope to do a lot of outdoor activities with her as the weather improves. This Sunday, March 21 is the spring Farm Day here at Green Edge. We’re having a potluck at the Grange and giving farm tours from 1-4pm. I’ve been doing some hiking with a local group called Multigenerational Appalachian Woodland Explorer. We’ve mainly been exploring various members properties, as they have some very interesting geologic features and such. I spent St. Patty’s at Jackie O’s in Athens, mainly to hear my friend John play, but also to meet up with friends.

Making cider has been a fun project for me and I’m keeping it going. I have a 1-gallon batch that is close to being done fermenting, and I just started a 5-gallon batch in the past week. Between the two I should have a fair bit more cider to enjoy and share. I might start another 5-gallon batch in a couple weeks, depending how available locally pressed cider will be. One of the things I like about the fermenting process is watching it happen … seeing the activity in the cider, watching the millions of bubbles rise to the top and the gas escape through the air lock. My blackberry has a video camera built in, so I captured some of the action. Check it out!

Anyway, that’s about it. I thought it was about time to update the old blog. I’m really anxious to get working though, and earning money … not that I need or want a lot of it, but not having any income can be frustrating.

Alas, 2010 has started off great! The end of 2009 was quite a bit of fun as well. I’m hoping to make this update as painless as possible, even though there is a LOT to report. I’ll try to stick to the highlights at the expense of some detail.

Michigan

OK. So my winter travels started off in Michigan at Jenine & Chris’s house. My mom and her husband, Gary had decided to spend xmas in Michigan. I think they were mainly hoping to visit with his family, who all live in Michigan. But they also got a white xmas to boot. Which made things all the more fun. We did quite a bit of sledding! With the kids at Jenine’s in Metamora and then up in Alpena. In Alpena we even had a great sled spot that spit us onto some frozen water! It was pretty cool.

I had a brief visit with the majority of the Sparks family, Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Roy & Keith et al, etc. Then my Mom and I headed to Alpena because she had choral performance on Sunday, December 20. Gary stayed in Metamora so he could drive to Alpena with Anna, who was driving to Michigan from Colorado with her two boys Randy and Jake. Once we all made to Alpena, we all (Mom, Gary, Anna, Randy and Jake) had a fun time hanging out, playing cards, building stuff, opening presents, eating, playing music, sledding, etc. It was a fun time!

After xmas we packed up the house in Alpena (which involved loads of chores like draining pipes, emptying and unpluggin appliances, etc.) and we headed back to Metamora to spend a little more time before we headed our separate ways. Mom & Gary got an electronic keyboard for their grandkids. I had a great time going through the piano book with Cassidy. She was like a sponge, soaking up the lessons! We blazed through like 35 pages in no time. If she keeps at it, she’s going to be a great pianist!

Train adventure

I took the train from Michigan to Chicago. And wow was it FUN. I hopped on in Lapeer, Michigan, transferred (barely) in Chicago and hopped off in Seattle 52 hours later. I was aboard the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle. The ride, for all intents and purposes, was pretty much exactly how I imagined: the seats were mildly uncomfortable, I would not be able to sleep, and the food would not be very good. I will say it is way better than traveling on an airplane. The seats are way bigger, you have way more room and there is way more room to walk around. The only really annoying thing about the train was the stinky brake smell. For some reason, whenever the train slows, a horrible electrical fire odor inundates the air inside the cars. It goes away, but it is odd. Overall, I would definitely ride the train across country again. However, unless the two people I met on this trip are with me, I doubt it would be as much fun.

Although the train from Lapeer to Chicago was almost two hours late, almost missing the connection with the train to Seattle, I’m really glad it was late. I would not have met Lindsey, otherwise! She and I ended up being the only two people on the Michigan to Chicago train that needed to get to the Empire Builder before it took off without us. The conductor announced to the whole train to let the two people up and to the front of the train so we could disembark first. So, while she and I were also on the same exact train for almost 8 hours in Michigan, it wasn’t until we were dangerously close to missing another train that we got to meet. We started chatting while pulling into Chicago’s Union Station and ended up (much to the consternation of the conductors) sitting together for most of the looong ride across the country. One of the best things about meeting her (besides the fact she’s like totally hot and a very fun and interesting person) is that she didn’t mind me sleeping next to and from time-to-time on her and vice versa.

I also met Jason, who was also Portland-bound like Lindsey. I maintain that there were not two other people on the train I would have rather met than these two folks. We spent just about all the travel time together, talking, eating, farting, playing games, drinking whiskey, sleeping … Lindsey taught us how to play Golf. A really fun card game I’ve since also showed Robert and Amy. I think at this point I’ve written too much about the train … so I’ll just say that it was a great ride and I recommend it – as long as you are up for meeting some new people and making some friends. If not, it would just be one long boring ride!!!

Island time

As soon as I arrived in Seattle, I headed for Vashon Island. For those who didn’t know, pretty much the whole reason for this trip was because my friends Shane and Emily invited me to their New Years party! It was sure a great reason to take a trip, and the party was indeed the centerpiece of the trip. It was a blast! I got to make many more friends while having such a good time. Pizza making, music, dancing, poetry … Tom put on an incredible and truly amazing magic show. I just love spending time at the yurt. Such great people! I miss them dearly …

Of course while I was on the island I had to see my friends at Plum Forest Farm and at Sun Island Farm and others in-between. I got to stay in the cabin I helped Rob built, which was quite nice. It was like coming home, really. I slept really well, like I’d just been away from my bed there. I met up with my friends Marcy and Mario for coffee and lunch, respectively. The island was such a good time, as always. On my way there even, on the ferry, I ran into Barbara Wells – who offered me a ride. Then I in-turn offered to help her move the beautiful bamboo bookshelf from the back of her car. We ended up meeting up several times while I was on the island. Such a cool little place. I met up with Dr. Bob Norton for wine tasting and coincidentally ended up back at Barbara’s house because Bob had a meeting with her. I even learned to knit and started learning the banjo! I think I pick up a new skill every time I’m on the island. It is such a rich and inspirational place.

Seattle

Phew! Ok. This is getting long … So while I was in Seattle I mainly stayed at Robert & Amy’s new apartment. I initially wasn’t sure if I’d stay with them at all, being a newly-wed couple and all. I was glad they were glad to have me and I really enjoyed spending time with them. While with them, I popped open a couple more bottles of my cider, which I had transported all the way across the country, just so I could share it with them. They were both delicious! The Cider #1 ended up not carbonating, which is fine, because it is quite a nice white wine-like cider. Joe’s Birthday Cider has carbonated nicely and I’m quite happy with that one overall.

The morning after I got to Robert and Amy’s they helped me decide to make a last-minute trip to Portland to see Lindsey. I hopped on yet another train and 3.5 hours I was walking through Portland with Lindsey. It was another great adventure within an adventure and I wish I had more time to spend there with her. She’s got some great roommates a cool job and Portland is just a nice place to spend time in.

After my quick jaunt to Portland, my remaining time in Seattle was spend having Sushi at I Love Sushi with my friend Kevin, drinking pints of hard cider at the Hilltop with Jim and Shane and having an extended lunch and visit with my friend Nazma and her husband Suheil. I stayed with Robert & Amy all but one night and am really glad for my time there.

Ok, ok, enough already …

Now that my travels are nearly done, what’s next? I’m heading back to Amesville/Athens, Ohio to pick up where I left off. Part of me sorta wishes I hadn’t bought a return ticket from Seattle. I could have easily spent more time out there. But, I’m really happy with my life so far in Ohio and I’m excited to get back and pursue things further!

Before I headed off for my travels, I started working with Drake, a solar electrician in Amesville. We started on a 2.1 KW grid-tied system and I loved it! We’re hoping to get a lot more work and I hope to be a lot more involved in the business.

I’m still doing some design work and have some people to get back in contact in the new year. I hope to move off the farm soon and move closer town in order to get more involved socially in Athens.

Ok. Enough. If you want more details, give me a call!

From what I’ve experienced and what others have told me, there are basically two ways to go about fermenting things like ciders, wines, etc. You either take the scientific approach and measure things out, keep track of the progress and know more or less what you are getting. Or, you take the more “artistic” approach and essentially throw things together, loosely follow some guidelines and see what you get. People are successful from both approaches, it is really just what fits your personality. It is certainly less expensive to just throw some stuff together and see what happens. But I like to know what’s going on. So, while I’ve got a fair amount of stuff, I could spend a lot more acquiring kit. It’s not high-science, it’s hardly even basic chemistry we’re talking about here! Observation is mostly what I’ve done. People have been making cider for hundreds of years, so the basics are easy to follow without doing all the nerdy stuff. The recipes are pretty straightforward and if something says it takes 3-5 days, if you wait 5 days you’re good to go to the next step.

The biggest concern, really, is finding good sweet apple cider to start with! Most of what is available in a grocery store is pasteurized and has preservatives added to keep the cider from fermenting and spoil while it is sitting on the shelf. Pasteurized is OK, but any unwanted additives are not. If the label doesn’t say simple “Ingredients: Apple Juice” and maybe water it’s probably got something you don’t want. You’ve definitely got to find good starting stock, good juice/sweet cider before any of this stuff below will matter! (You can, of course, buy expensive apple wine base from a web site and start with that.)

Here’s a link to a place that basically has the kit I bought with a bunch of other stuff included: http://www.leeners.com/cider.html
At this site, on the left side, half-way down the page – look for the 1 Gallon Winery. It’s $44.95. From what I can see it comes with just about everything you’ll want. And, you’ll be able to do lots of different things than just hard apple cider. There are a few more things you should get, though.

The kit above is pretty comprehensive (I wish I had bought it!). One more thing to get for sure: I’d grab 1 oz. Yeast Energizer. The energizer might not be essential, but some recipes I’ve seen call for it and I’ve used it in my latest batch. You could probably skip it, but it is cheap. Definitely get some sort of brush to clean the glass carboy and bottles (about $3) as well.

If you want to go the measuring route, pick up a hydrometer and the test jar that’s needed. Search the site above for a 14″ Plastic Test Jar and a dual purpose hydrometer. (Or click this.) These two optional things will tell you approximately how much alcohol you will end up with by measuring the specific gravity before and after fermentation. The hydrometer can tell you when fermenting is done, but it is pretty obvious when it is done – things stop happening! No more bubbling and no gas releasing through the air lock. And, as long as you follow the timeframes on the recipes, you don’t really need a hydrometer.

The last thing you’ll need is bottling equipment. Since bottling is probably 2 months away from the day you start cider, though, you can hold off on capping equipment. You’ll want some priming sugar (priming is what you do when you bottle to make the cider fizzy.) I bottled with the 2-gallon bucket that came with the kit, a funnel and a borrowed capper (and bottles!). A hand capper is $17.95 at the web site above. A 4 1/2″ funnel useful for bottling and other things is only like $2 (you may already own one that will work?). Caps are cheap (less than $4 for 144) and just ask friends to hold back bottles – although they have to be non-twist off. You need the bottles that require an opener… Or, over the two months you are fermenting, drink about 10-11 bottles of something and save them. If I had Grolsch beer bottles, I’d use them! By the end of fermenting and bottling, I have 10 bottles and about 8-9 ounces of cider left over. (This last 8-9 ounces has some sediment in it, I’m going to let it settle and then drink it! When I bottled I couldn’t siphon off this last bit, but I couldn’t let it go to waste.)

Minus the capping equipment, it would be about $74 with shipping to get started. It’s a little steep sounding, I know. When you compare it to what the $19.95 ciderup.com whizbang kit, $74 sounds like a lot. However, I think ciderup.com is really overcharging for what they are selling. There’s about $9 worth of equipment in the ciderup.com kit (based on prices at Leeners). Mainly, though, I think you need more than just a glass jug to make decent cider! I imagine it’s possible to do it that simply, but I don’t think you’d be happy with the results.

Here’s a list of stuff to get started. The number on the left is the web site part number:

One Gallon Winery $44.95
1 oz. Yeast Energizer $1.95
Wine Bottle Brush $2.95
Dual Purpose Hydrometer $5.95
14 inch Plastic Hydrometer Test Jar $3.95

This stuff would be $73.64 with shipping from the web site above.

One other thing I thought about – I have a baster, just one I bought from the grocery store. It helps getting stuff into the test jar in order to use the hydrometer. You and Tracy might already have one. It is not necessary unless you get a hydrometer and test jar.

There are a lot of little things I’ve learned in the three batches of fermenting I’ve done so far. I won’t write them all here! If you have questions along the way, either post them as comments here, email me or give me a call!

First, the cider. It’s been racked to a 1-gallon glass carboy and has been in its secondary fermentation stage for over a week now. The bubbles slow down and speed up with the change in temperature, it seems. And, over time if I understand it right, the fermentation will slow down as well. It smells delicious when I sniff the airlock as it releases. I’ve got a ways to go, though before I get to try any. It will be in the current carboy for another almost two weeks. Then, I’ll rack it to another carboy where it will continue for another two months – maybe longer depending on how “clear” it is. How long, I guess, will also depend on where I’m at (Ohio? Florida? Elsewhere?) … starting fermentation experiments like this is essentially a semi-permanent move – it takes a while for the process to finish! It’s probably not a good idea to be moving around carboys full of fermenting liquid. I think it would pretty much ruin the investment.

For my second fermentation project, I decided to go pick some concord grapes at Cherry Orchards. At the market I asked Neil Cherry about his concords and he invited me to come pick some at a discount. I gladly accepted because I really wanted to see his place. Alas, I forgot my camera, so I didn’t get any pictures of his orchard. It’s a beautiful place, though. It’s been a family farm for at least two generations now. He’s got 15 acres in production – apples, pears, grapes, berries, pumpkins and some other veggies. They sell at a couple farmers markets and have a great on-farm stand as well. I needed at least 6 pounds of grapes for my wine recipe, and buying them at the market would have been an expensive proposition. So, I picked 11 pounds! And got a good discount.

They are beautiful grapes! And, pretty tasty too.

Making wine was definitely a bit different than cider. Albeit, I didn’t exactly follow the cider recipe … so this time I tried to follow the wine recipe closer. I had bought a hydrometer and other testing equipment to aid in the process. I rinsed the grapes, de-stemmed them and weighed up 6 pounds. I have a two-gallon primary fermenting bucket, so I decided to try and make a gallon and a half of wine … so I weighed out three more pounds of grapes, bringing it to a recipe and a half. After I put the grapes in the nylon sack, I crushed them by hand.

Once I did that, the rest of the recipe was pretty easy. I added a lot of sugar. I wasn’t so sure about this at first, as I wanted to just ferment the grapes and see what happens. But it turns out that concords don’t really have enough sugar to make a strong enough wine. Apparently because of the length of time wine needs to “mature” in the bottle (a year or more!), the alcohol level needs to be high enough to “preserve” the wine until it’s ready. I guess by keeping any nasty germs or bacterial incapacitated? The recipe called for a starting specific gravity of 1.095. I had to add 5 cups of sugar to get it to that level. After I achieved that, I added the yeast and away we went.

I didn’t take any pictures of this process. I probably should have, because it was a lot more exciting than the cider! I didn’t really expect the consequences of fermenting a higher-alcohol product. The fermentation was a lot more vigorous and audible and messy. The decision to make a gallon and half was not a good one. The little 2-gallon bucket, along with the sack of crushed grapes and the added water and sugar was too much volume for the little bucket. When the fermenting really got going, the sack of grape pulp expanded with CO₂, decreasing the airspace in the bucket. I was cleaning up mess after mess as the fermentation was also creating foam and the pressure was pushing the foam up through the air-lock, making a mess of the airlock and oozing down all over the bucket and sometimes the counter. It was amazing, really. When the cider was just bloop-blooping air bubbles through the air lock every 20 seconds or so, the wine would bloooooop-blooop-blooop-blop, bloop, blooop, bloop constantly almost. Obvious that there was a lot more activity with all that extra sugar.

I stirred and pressed the grape pulp daily to encourage extraction. I tested the SG and when it got to 1.030, I was supposed to rack it to glass carboys. I did, hoping it would make less of a mess in the carboys because the sack of grape stuff wouldn’t be causing a mess. However, my hope didn’t materialize. The racking process went well. I thought all was great, until I left for the afternoon and came back later to find it had essentially boiled over! There was so much activity and so much foam, that I lost inches of wine through the airlock as it foamed over. Whoops. Lesson learned – I bought a “One Gallon Wine Kit” … do one gallon of wine in a two-gallon bucket. Buy a bigger bucket to do more!!!

Things have calmed down now and I don’t have to swap out clean air locks twice a day when the wine foams over. There are apparently ways around the foaming, with additives and such. But I feel like I’m adding enough chemicals already … this is definitely not organic wine … and I know now why there isn’t much organic wine – because to keep things clean, sterile and wild-yeast and bacteria free, you pretty much have to use some chemicals. Nothing horrible or toxic, but definitely chemicals.

Anyway, I really enjoy the process of wine and cider making. All the testing and racking and air locks is very lab-like and the chemist in me (thanks Mom and Dad!) enjoys that kind of stuff. Recently, my friend Jeff mentioned that if he were me, he’d be learning all about wine-making and planting a vineyard somewhere. It’s a pretty damn good idea, really. People will always love alcohol, especially local, well produced brews. I can see this fermentation thing being a part of my life for years to come. I just need my own space to have my own little operation! That, along with space for the wood shop, welding studio, computer room, etc… I’m gonna need a lot of space.

Not a whole lot else is going on, really … the farm is great. But I’m yearning for my own place. The weather is getting cold, although we had a really gorgeous past week. The one electrical/solar possibility is sounding fairly positive, and I should know more this coming weekend, when I hope to meet with the guy who may hire me. There will be a lot of changes this week, I feel. This time next week I will probably know more about what the rest of the year will be like. I’m gonna hold off on making any further plans for now.

Yesterday at the farmers market, I bought 1 gallon of Apple Cider – unpasteurized and no preservatives added – from Cherry Orchards in Crooksville, Ohio.

After the market, I went to the Athens Do It Yourself Shop – a home brewing shop in Athens – and bought a 1-gallon Vinter’s Best winemaking kit.

Once I got home from the market, I tore into the kit and found the recipes and started in on the process. Around 3pm or so I poured the 1-gallon of cider into the primary fermentation bucket and added the crushed Campden tablet to the mix.

Today, around noon, I added 1/2 a package of yeast to 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and added it to the fermenter. I’m excited at this point, because now is when things start to happen! I’ve got the lid on tight, and the airlock installed.

I just used the yeast that came with the kit. It’s a Red Star Montrachet “Active Dry Wine Yeast.” I’ve heard and read that champagne yeast is the best to use for cider making, but I just wanted to use what I already had.

Home brewing is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while! Especially after I went to the store the other day to buy some beer and everything was so damn expensive. I’ll probably do some cider for now, maybe try some wines but I definitely want to try out some beer soon too.

I am going to try to post updates as things happen!

The farm I am on is pretty great. Out of all the farms I’ve been on, it’s only the second one that is certified organic. The other one having been in La Chalaguere, France. There are similarities and differences between the two, even though the general characteristics of a certified organic farm are the same. Both grow very similar crops, but they differ quite a bit too. I think La Chalaguere was a bit more diverse in the crops they grew when I was there, and they grew a slight bit more than we do here – 7 acres there vs. about 5 acres here. Both have multiple greenhouses, all growing tomatoes in the summer. However, here in Ohio we will be transitioning the tomato houses in to greens (i.e. kale, chard, collards, etc.) for the fall and winter. I’m not sure what they did/do during the colder months at La Chalaguere.

We grow tons of salad mix here at Green Edge, but we don’t bother with sweet corn. La Chalaguere on the other hand, didn’t bother with salad mix, choosing to grow beautiful heads of lettuce. And, La Chalaguere grew sweet corn. Albeit, not a lot of sweet corn, but they did grow it.

Anyway. I could go on all day about the similarities and differences and probably bore anyone who reads this to death. Essentially, they are the same. The main difference being the French farm grew a few more things that the French enjoy and the American farm growing things local Ohioans enjoy (and things that are most economically viable – for instance, they don’t grow broccoli, because they don’t make enough money from it!!! the French would never think of such things.)

One more comparison – marketing. The way each farm sells their products are the same in only one way – the farmers market. The Sunday market we went to in France was a bustling market, for sure. But it was a small market. Two vegetable growers, and that’s it. The entire market fit under a structure not much bigger than a large house. La Chalaguere also sold at their local village local market, but it was tiny and mostly not worth the effort. Here in Athens, Ohio the local market is huge. I lost count of how many vegetable vendors there are. Well over a dozen. And there are loads of other things, mostly food-related though. Not so many crafts. Green Edge goes to two markets, a Saturday market in Athens and a Wednesday market in Columbus. Green Edge sells to quite a few difference restaurants in Athens and in Columbus. They sell to a few grocery stores, Whole Foods among them. However, their 100+ member CSA is one of the main ways they sell their produce. They will have a winter CSA as well and sell at the Athens market all winter. There are very few, if any, farmstands here, unlike Vashon Island where every farm has one.

Aside from the farm, the surrounding area vaguely reminds me of where I was in France as well. The foothills of the Pyrenees are slightly more pointy, where the hills around here are well rounded on the top. But it is definitely the undulating terrain that I like. There are hills and dells and ridges and valleys, and flat bottoms near streams, creeks and rivers. Loads of trees and greenery everywhere. The main growing area is in a valley, along a seasonal creek.

It is beautiful, to say the least. I’m happy with the area, terrain-wise anyway.

The main reason Green Edge Gardens is great, though, is (of course) the people. The owners Kip & Becky are great folks. My “boss,” Dan, even though he doesn’t really seem like one (which is a good thing), is great too. Corey, the other intern living on the farm, is good company. Every one else, Julia, Cale, John, Gwenivere, Rob and Amelia are great. We all get along pretty well and get loads of great work done. I’ll have to get them all to agree to a group photo one of these days.

My living situation is sorta similar to Plum Forest, however it’s not quite as nice. I essentially sleep in a small cabin (or shack as some call it). It’s a decent structure, but a far cry from what Rob and I built at Plum Forest. The cabin here is uninsulated, unheated and the roof and ceiling are one in the same – corrugated metal. There’s no plywood between the roofing and the inside. I thought the rain was loud at Plum Forest! At least there we did it right, with roofing, tar paper, plywood, insulation and another layer of interior plywood between the inside and the outside! Needless to say, it gets chilly in my cabin here.

The rest of the time when I’m not sleeping or working is spent in the basement living/eating/kitchen/bath/laundry area of the main house. Amid the two water pumps, the dehumidifier, the gas hot water heater, clothes washer and dryer, Corey and I end up spending quite a bit of time. I don’t know if I will even bother to take pictures of the basement area. It’s cozy, but admittedly a bit dismal.

I have gotten out into the surrounding area a bit on the weekends. My first trip was with Corey and Julia. A Sunday trip to the Hocking Hills State Park where we stopped by Ash Cave, Cedar Falls and Rock House.

It was a beautiful trip. Quite a tourist-ridden trip, though, as we went the Sunday of the Labor Day weekend. People were out in droves. We even skipped Old Man’s Cave which is probably the most well known of the “caves” in the area. (In my opinion they are not caves at all!)

The next outing was with John, to bike the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway from Nelsonville to Athens. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Perfect weather. His wife, Tera, drove us to Nelsonville. We made a stop by the Rocky Boots outlet store where I was interested in seeing what kind of socks they have. I grabbed four pairs! they were on sale and they are quite decent socks. I’m happy with them so far. I was running low because all I wear is hiking socks and after three years of hard wearing farm work, I’m wearing some of them out.

So John and I rode from Hocking College to Athens. Such a great trail! It reminds me a lot of the West Orange Trail put in through Winter Garden, where I grew up. Very nicely and smoothly paved. Running along an old railroad grade through the woods, along some roads and fields. Very cool. Next time John and I or whoever will bike from Athens to Nelsonville and back to Athens – when we did the 15 or 16 miles to Athens we both decided we could have done the round trip rather than being lame and having Tera drop us off! Next time. We capped off the ride with my first visit to Casa Nueva, arguably the best hang-out spot in Athens for the discerning non-party-animal non-student.

And so last weekend was the Pawpaw Festival. The Pawpaw is an interesting fruit. I’m not the biggest expert on it yet, but apparently it is one of the few native tropical fruits to the US. It’s very banana-mango-like. It’s an odd fruit – the skin is apparently toxic, so you gotta peel it. And it has these huge seeds. It’s quite good though. So good they have an entire festival centered around it! Pawpaw samples, foods with Pawpaws, pawpaw icees, pawpaw ice cream … pawpaw beer. Mmmmm.

So that’s the update for now. There’s more to write, for sure. I’m going to try and be better about posting goings on. Especially because the next few months will be interesting. I don’t have winter plans yet. I’m not sure if I’d like to stay on at Green Edge or not. I’m still very much thinking about going the electrician route. Possibly even taking classes at Hocking College for commercial and residential electricity. However, I’ll only do that if I can get around the out-of-state tuition. I’m going to follow just about any lead I can for an interesting winter employment. I’m definitely at the point where I need to bolster my financial situation again. My accounts are looking pretty grim. So ideally I could find a job doing some electrical work starting as soon as I’m done here in late November. I’ve even thought of going to Walt Disney World and working there over the winter, or possibly even just staying there and doing an IBEW-NECA Journeyman apprenticeship there. I still very much want to be closer to brother and sister, especially when I see pictures of the nephews! And when I talk to old friends whom I miss. As much talk as I’ve talked about not ever wanting to live in Florida again, part of me thinks it is all but inevitable. With this December being exactly 10 years from when I moved out of Florida initially, it could be time to go back.

But I also think I could settle here. There is definitely good community. And I like the small town rural feel of the place. I look at land for sale from time to time as it truly is affordable here. However, there are a few things that turn me off about the area too … perhaps I shouldn’t be too hasty.

The suspects who have been charged with terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks were fueled by a variety of motivations and influences, and often a mix of them: politics, family, economic deprivation, social alienation, the work of a terrorist recruiter. Religion sometimes provides a general framework and sense of identity, but other factors and events frequently drive the transformation.

It’s obvious to me, and has been for years that indeed – economic deprivation is the start, the first downfall of any criminal. Be it a drug-dealer, drug user, thief, “terrorist” … if you’ve fallen on hard times, and can see no other way to get by – you turn to crime. Or you join the army. But who the hell wants to do that?

Especially when you have someone that pays attention to what government does. When politics comes into the equation. It is easy to see how one-sided and elitist, really pro-American but also anti-American at the same time politics can be. There have been articles about Osama Bin Laden, where he’s been quoted expounding that American foreign policy is one reason they fight. A terrorist is simply someone who has been economically deprived and has identified those who are engaging in the deprivation.

A terrorist recruiter is probably the scariest part of this simple equation posted by the NYT. The recruiter is simply taking advantage of those who have been economically deprived and are tired of the politics.

The family impact and social alienation is where things really sting the individual, I can imagine. And, when people really start thinking of retaliation. At home the government and its safety and security measures racial profile and essentially suspect everyone who isn’t obviously white as being a terrorist. Because of the terror alerts and the constant media attention on Muslims of Middle-Eastern and Arabic descent, it seems most people are simply afraid of associating with anyone potentially that looks like a terrorist. This social alienation has got to stop before things get better.

Everything in that mix of influences has got to change before the “war on terror” will ease and cease to exist. Simply not calling it a war on terror, which I think is already happening, will help the situation. I’m not excusing the actions of terrorists by any means. I don’t think they are right in doing what they are doing. I just wonder if the government gives any thought to their plight. Because, in some ways, they are right. It’s not that “the terrorists hate our freedom” as some in high places have said. They hate what we do with our freedom. We waste it. Squander it on Britney Spears and McDonalds and endless, pointless crap. We waste oil and energy. Eat too much and drink too much. We suck oil out of the Middle East and burn it in pointless ways, supporting pointless and wasteful industries and habits. They are messengers, delivering their messages in horrifying ways, yes. I definitely don’t condone that whatsoever. But I do wish the world, and the USA in particular, would change in ways they would like. It would not be a surrender. The terrorists would not “win.” We’d all win. And what is wrong with that? I can’t be the only one who gets that.

Alas, this was a very quick and unedited post. I just had to get these thoughts down … sorry if they are incoherent and don’t make sense.

March is here and I’m thinking strongly about farming. I’m really wishing I had my own place. I think this year I either want to partner with someone or do more freelance work to save money to buy a place for next year. For now, I’m at Sun Island Farm on Vashon and it is a great option to stay here, as I’ve got a great living situation and I certainly wouldn’t mind spending another summer on the island.

However …

North Carolina, here I come?

This week has shifted my attention to North Carolina. I’ve thought of NC before. But it’s been years. And, I have not done any farming research into NC since I’ve been farming and thinking about a place to farm. Needless to say, I haven’t mentioned it much over the years. The reason I’m thinking about NC is that my delicious farming friend Dana mentioned it being on her list of places to buy land. A little bell with off in my head … hmmm … I kinda forgot about North Carolina.

It turns out it’s quite a great place for small-scale organic farming. The cities of Asheville, Chapel Hill and Raleigh have quite good markets and supportive communities of farmers and shoppers. So the market is good.

It’s closer to Florida. But far enough away. It’s a 10 hour drive or so. Not exactly a hop, skip and a jump, but an easier trip than from the far opposite side of the country like I am now.

It’s also beautiful and quite a bit more affordable place to live. From my research, the Asheville area is very mild tempered. The average annual temps are close to what we have here in Seattle, plus or minus ten degrees or so in the middle of winter and summer. One page even said there are no bugs … which is like Washington too …

All that and it is closer to my family. I can’t deny the urge to be closer to them. Especially now with my brother on the verge of divorce. I really want to be closer to them so we can all see each other multiple times a year. My mom and my brother have said repeatedly their dream is that I have a farm somewhere that my nephews can come and work at in the summer. And what a great dream it is …

North Carolina is sounding good. And I might do something crazy or sensible (depending on how you look at it) and move there. Maybe this year.

Not Chicago.

If you read my last post, I was looking forward to a trip to Chicago. And it was a trip I’m glad I made. But, I can’t say it turned out quite how I had … well … I’m not sure what word to use here … let’s just say it didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped. It was a good trip, though. I had a good time and found out exactly what I needed to know. Which is – I not going to Chicago! Mainly things didn’t work out with Alissa and I. Something I mostly knew before my trip. She’s not ready to tell me why she isn’t ready.

I enjoyed my time there. Alissa planned out a great weekend and we did all kinds of stuff – from working at a Farmers Market, to taking a great long walk in the city and even doing some contra dancing. And overall I don’t like Chicago as a place to live. I think it’s a great place to visit. There’s a lot of great stuff going on – especially it’s “green” initiatives. It’s just too … too big, too gritty, too cold … too much of a big city for me. The trip confirmed my place in the country.

I will say it was really nice to spend the weekend with a good friend, though. It was very different from my typical weekends on the island in the container where I’m mostly by myself.

Dana Doodad

My delicious farming friend mentioned above is Dana. She’s standing right next to me in the photo below. I’ve known her for over a year now, but didn’t meet her in person until April 2008. She’s farming at Old Tarboo Farm in Quilcene.

Dana is an amazing girl and I wish I was closer to her so we could spend more time together! She came out to the island last weekend for dinner and live music. We cooked some good meals and we finally got to spend some quality time together. Previously I had visited her at Old Tarboo, but it was always on her working days. We worked together on those days, and that was fun and satisfying for sure. However our alone-time was usually at the end of the day, a bit tired and sweaty and with me knowing I had to keep an eye on the time to catch a ferry back to the island. I’m hoping to see Dana again in a couple weeks to go do some dancing up in Port Townsend!

Continuing Education

It’s been a busy year so far on the farm. We’ve built a kick-ass shed from the ground up. It’s very cool to have the second small building construction under my belt. I can’t wait to build my own some day! This one was similar but different in a lot of ways from what we built at Plum Forest. Very cool …

This past week I went with Joe and had my first experience with solar work! We continued a solar thermal project he started working on in the fall. I don’t have pictures yet, as I didn’t think about taking my camera that morning, but I wish I had! We disassembled a botched installation and installed a new panel. I mostly took down a fried Thermomax Solamax Evacuated Solar Tube panel. Then we modified the mounting system to accomodate a new Alternate Energy Technologies solar collector. I learned the very basics of solar hot water systems. It was awesome! I hope we get the chance to do some more solar work while I’m here …