The picture above is where I’m living. It’s a shipping container that has been converted to a house. It’s 40 feet long by 8 feet wide and aside from being super-cozy, it has a surprising amount of room! The inside is essentially divided into three parts: the kitchen, living area and bedroom. It was a refrigerated shipping container, so it is insulated and holds the heat produced by the small, plug-in radiator. Cooking anything on the gas stove heats the place up too. There’s a utility/bathroom built on to the side of the container. It’s got the hot-water heater, a shower, bathroom sink and built-in composting toilet. It’s awesome!

I’ve even got a land-line and DSL so I can keep on doing freelance design in my spare time! I’m really happy with the setup!

Work here is going well so far. We’ve started in on putting up a deer fence. The first run of posts have been hoisted after clearing quite a bit of blackberry and scotch broom infestation. I think we’ll get quite a lot done in the next two weeks as well, before I head to Florida for a couple of weeks.

I am enjoying working with Joe and Celina and am getting to know their kids and various family and friends. Their farm is a bit smaller than Plum Forest, and is a little closer to the scale I can see myself starting out with. There are several apple trees on the farm and we’ve been harvesting quite a few apples. We’re going to do another cider pressing here pretty soon. They’ve got barrels and barrels of apples they’ve been storing. I think I’m going to try and make some hard cider this year with some of the produce. It seems fairly simple and I’ve really started to enjoy drinking cider. It’s so much more simple than beer … it’s just apples!

Joe’s also got the tractor, a BCS 853, I’ve been dreaming about for the last year since I first learned about two-wheel tractors at Erik’s farm Ytre Lygra. So, I’ll get to have some hands-on experience with one before I consider buying it! Joe has some great implements for it as well - the 26″ tiller, chipper/shredder, mower and mini-trencher. I think he’s thinking about the rotary plow as well.

Joe’s 853 has the diesel engine, which is what I was considering as well. Right now the battery for electric start is gone, but it is really quite easy to pull-start. Not having a front-end loader would be a sacrifice, but I’ll have to get some experience building and turning a compost pile without one to know whether it would truly be a necessity or not. A tractor with a front-end loader would be something I could probably borrow from a neighbor, ideally.

Buy Nothing …

I successfully avoided buying anything on my fourth annual celebration of buy nothing Friday. Which, after listening to the various podcasts and news reports about the economy, is apparently the wrong thing to do in a lot of people’s opinions. Go buy buy buy, consume and do your part for the economy! Pah! So many people are going to simply dig themselves into a deeper hole buying things for xmas. I wish everyone would just subscribe to this idea: Buy Nothing Christmas. As someone who “doesn’t celebrate” Christmas because of my beliefs, I don’t even look at it from a religious perspective, from how the holiday has been completely distorted. But, there’s a great movie out now, produced by “Super-size Me” star Morgan Spurlock. It’s called “What Would Jesus Buy?” Check it out! Then re-think your holiday shopping, and damn the economy! It needs to be fixed in different, more sustainable ways.

I say I successfully avoided buying anything, because I came very close! I really want to get a couple more pairs of Carhartt Double-Front work dungarees and I don’t have a tea kettle! But I think I’ll try to support a local business or two, even though I won’t get it “on sale” or at a “doorbuster” good price. It will be worth it!

Peter Schiff

One last thing while I’m at it: This past week, NPR’s Planet Money had a guest on - Peter Schiff. I was floored hearing what he has to say! Not that I am an economist in any way, shape or form, but at least two years ago I was predicting that the housing market bubble was going to burst within a year. I even suggested to a friend to hold off on buying a house (she didn’t listen to me) until next year.

I also started down the road I’m on because I believe the way most Americans live - in debt and consuming a ridiculous amount of material goods, wasting energy in the process while driving their vehicles commuting crazy distances and eating food from they don’t know or seem to care from how many thousand miles away it came … ok, I’ll stop … What I’m getting at is Peter Schiff predicted the economic crash years ago, and everyone was laughing at him. My agreement with him is kinda shaking me up a bit, because it is becoming obvious to me now that I am economically more Libertarian than I realized. I guess part of that is realizing it means. It certainly does not mean I’m a Ron Paul supporter, all of a sudden. The only reason I say this is because Schiff himself hovers around economic libertarianism. And, I agree with everything I’ve heard him say. Especially what he’s saying about the economic “bailout” …

Another good turkey day

I spent Thanksgiving this year again at Robert’s house. This year his awesome girlfriend Amy joined us. We had a Plum Forest Farm chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and pumpkin beer. I don’t have any pictures yet, and will post one or more when I do!

I was a horrible photographer this weekend, though. I didn’t take my camera to the conference at all. I wasn’t really sure what I’d do with it there. I went for a walk Monday in Bellingham and snapped a few shots along the way, but that was it. I didn’t get photos of either of my couchsurfing hosts or any of Fairhaven! Silly me. I’m not sure why. I just didn’t think about it … maybe it’s because I think I will go there again and spend more time there.

First domestic couchsurfin’

I couchsurfed the whole time I was in Bellingham. My first host, Jessica, wasn’t even there for two of the three nights I crashed at her place. So awesome! She just left me the key and I slept there after the conference. She got home on Sunday night and cooked me a really awesome pasta dish with some of the produce out of her own garden! Her gypsy peppers were better and redder than the ones we grew at Plum Forest!!! Then I surfed with Jim and Rick in Fairhaven on Monday night. Man I wish I had taken some pictures! Jim and Rick have a great house in a great location with an amazing garden! I also met their friend Mike, who was great company and my tour guide around Fairhaven. Both experiences were absolutely great. Just such amazing people couchsurfing hosts are!

Farming, farming, farming

The conference was pretty amazing. So much information. Too much information, really, as conferences usually are. It was awesome to be around so many like-minded people. Everyone I met was really easy to talk to - we all had so much in common!

Over the course of the conference, there were five workshop sessions. Each session had five different topics to choose from. It was so hard to choose! I was really happy with all my decisions except one. Here’s what I did:

1. Nutrient Management and Soil Ecology
2. Local Marketing: Two Multifaceted and Complimentary Business Strategies
3. Greenhouse Propagation and Season Extension
4. Pest Management of Slugs and Cabbage Maggots
5. Efficient and Appropriate Use of Farm Equipment

The last one, #5 was completely mis-titled. The description says the presenter would “concentrate on those pieces that our operation uses the most and which are of greatest benefit to us.” Which he certainly did, but his presentation had absolutely nothing to do with the title of “Efficient and Appropriate Use of Farm Equipment.” It should have been titled: “What equipment Mike uses on his 35 acre farm and what he thinks of it.” To me it was especially inappropriate because one of the first things he told us is that they use a very traditional tillage method on their farm - meaning they run their tractors over the land many, many times plowing, discing, fertilizing, rotovating, cultivating, etc. etc. etc. when every piece of sustainable agriculture knowledge I’ve heard and read is for the most part against such tillage practices. Anyhow … it simply didn’t have one iota to do with what I’ve done or will do with farming.

That little rant aside, the conference was just awesome. I met so many folks, talked about so many different farms. Ate some good food, tried some great wine and got to meet people I’d heard of and conversed with over email, but had never met before. So great! I especially remember Autumn, whom I got to know through several conversations about farming and her farm in Oregon. She bought one of the herb pots I’d been eyeing on our dinner tables. I didn’t get out of my last session in time to buy one before they sold out! Thanks Autumn! You rock! These herb pots were on some tables through out the conference. They were 4 different kinds of herbs - in my case sage, rosemary, mint and thyme - in a terra cotta 6″ pot. After the conference was over, rather than throwing them out, they sold all the pots and leftover food that was unused.

Officially in business

The other big thing I did in the last couple weeks - I’m officially a sole proprietor doing business as Wilson’s DesignWorks! I took the plunge after I errantly forgot to ask a client to make the check payable to “Steve Wilson” and got a check made out to Wilson’s DesignWorks. That prompted me to take the step to make what looks and acts like a business into a business. I just hope it’s not going to cause me any heartburn … tax or headache-wise!!!

Moving on

I’m moving to Sun Island Farm this weekend to start work with them November 17. I’m really looking forward to it! I’ve got some heavy-duty Carhartt rain work wear now and am ready for the elements like I have never been.

I just wish I could get used to this time change!!! It is so darn dark at 4 pm! I’m tired and ready for bed by 8 pm!

This is a new era! Goodbye neoconservative crooks and liars!

Actually, this year it has flown less than ever. Farming is by far a different way to experience life and the passage of time. It seems like so long ago I was just starting at Plum Forest Farm and we were sowing seeds, preparing new beds and building the garden for the season. Seeing the plants grow from the tiniest seed, through transplanting, tending (weeding and weeding!) and then finally harvesting throughout the year is such a great experience. It totally brings you closer to what is real. I’m going to miss it! And, I’m forever changed by the experience here. Now we’re essentially tearing down the garden to retire it for winter. Removing irrigation systems, weed-barrier pathways, stakes, rocks - everything we need to do to be able to till large areas and sow cover crop seed.

So the deal for me over the next few months - I’ve accepted a winter internship at Sun Island Farm. I’ll be working with them to develop more of their infrastructure. They are a smaller and newer farm than Plum Forest, and they don’t have a farm stand, or a harvest shed, or an all-important deer fence. I’m really hoping that we get to some solar electric and hot-water system work, which is what Joe, the farmer (no pun intended or reference to “Joe the Plumber” - the fake talking head hired by the McCain camp) does in addition to farming. I really want to get involved in solar in a big way and become a proponent of that. It’s go to be part of a new economy going forward.

If it’s not clear to some, this means I’m staying on Vashon Island near Seattle, where I’ve been all year just about. I like it here. I’ll be on the island until April at this point, after which I’m not sure where life will take me. I’m just enjoying where I am for now.

The election

One of the biggest things on my mind lately is the election. I’ve already cast my vote for Obama, which I knew I would do months ago. I’ll stop short by saying here that I really can’t understand why anyone in their right mind would vote for McCain/Palin. It is so obvious to me that McCain/Palin are the absolute wrong leaders at this time for the USA. It fully and completely escapes all comprehension and reasoning of mine why I have people, whom I think of or thought of as friends, who are going to vote for McCain. I just … I don’t know. I can’t even begin to imagine what these people are thinkging, other than they have been made to be very, very fearful and afraid.

Me and farming (again)

I read back over what I wrote last time. I definitely love growing food, and without a doubt, if I casted any in my last post - my internship here at Plum Forest Farm is the best thing I’ve ever done with my life. Second only to taking a year off and traveling. It has changed the way I will live forever and is exactly, exactly, exactly what I wanted to do this year. It has been absolutely great and I wouldn’t trade the experience I’ve had here for anything.

love and life

I continue to be a naive dufus when it comes to women. The good thing is I’ve never had such absolutely amazing women in my life. There are four women that I totally adore and would be lucky to end up with - I just need to figure out and/or find the guts to actually do something about one of them. Silly me. If it’s not obvious to anyone else, find a partner is one of if not the more important thing I think in my life. Now I just have to figure out how to not let it rule my thoughts and cloud my judgement, which it has a tendency to do. I just need to have fun with it, as a good friend has stated more than once. I get to focused on an end goal and I skip over where I am now and I need to enjoy now a bit more … we all do!

I just read that Obama now has a double-digit lead in the polls. Not that he’s really and truly going to be able to do much for us. I certainly hope that he can, but I’m hopeless for the government anyway as no matter what anyone says - it’s a corrupt system. Obama is 10,000 % better than McCain, for sure. He’s still a politician, and corporate greed still has him in their pocket. I’m happy for him! Whoever you are, whatever party you support, I just hope you get out and VOTE!

If anyone is still unsure of why the global markets are tumbling, here’s a great primer on the base of the problem. And, if you have not listened to This American Life before, I highly recommend checking it out. They do some great stories. I know I have totally put checking my investment account off, and finally did this morning to great surprised gasps. Bloody hell! I wish I hadn’t done that. It’s bad. Really bad. Thanks Bush and Greenspan, the greedy fucking banks, realtors, mortgage brokers and the whole sub-prime mortgage industry fiasco. You’ve done us all a great service!

I realized this morning that I haven’t updated my blog in a month. And, a few things have happened. So here’s the update:

Pullman trip

My trip over the mountains and across the vast expanse of nothing that is Eastern Washington was a great one. The weather was awesome for the trip out. And was a bit crap on the way back. I had a wonderful time with Joel in Pullman. It was really great getting to spend some time with such a good friend. We ate really well, did some touring around the Pullman/Moscow area including some cider pressing, bike riding to an unknown reservoir for some swimming, buying a ton of veggies and fruit at the Moscow Farmer’s Market and even did some heavy-lifting for Joel’s new woodshop he’s going to set up in the basement of his apartment.

No November motorcycle trip

One thing the Pullman trip solidified was that I am definitely NOT doing a winter motorcycle trip down the west-coast. The long-distance riding was ok, in nice weather. But I would not knowing leave on a trip with the definite knowledge that the weather will be horrible for at least the first half of the trip. It’s still a trip I want to do, but it certainly is not a priority. Which reminds me … I need to contact all the wwoof hosts and let them know I’m not coming!

Not sure about Chicago

I haven’t bought airfare to Chicago. I’ve been having second thoughts, for obvious reasons. However it would be absolutely great to visit my cousin Jude and his family, as I don’t get to see them often enough. And, from my research into visiting Chicago, it sounds like a really great city. I’d venture to guess I’d really like the place. But I just don’t know. It’s a tough decision. Mainly because there are excellent things taking shape on the island and I want to pursue those. I’ve definitely grown to love the island and if I find what I’m looking for here, I would stay in a heartbeat.

Me and Farming

I essentially have a month left in my internship here at Plum Forest Farm. I’m having mixed feelings. Maybe I’m just ready for the season to be over and am looking forward to the restful winter. Maybe I realize it is a ton of work and am not prepared to do so much work for so little reward. Honestly, though, I absolutely looooove growing food. It is one of the best things one can do with their time and energy. But growing food and selling it to other people can be a bit of a bummer. And, my conclusion from this year, on this farm, using the methods we have been using - you can’t make a living doing this. Or I can’t see it happening, anyway.

I like the farm life, the farm setting, the people, the food, but I value my back more than any of that and can’t see sacrificing it now. When I have a full-on farm experience again, it will have to involve offloading as much manual labor onto a machine as appropriately possible. I.e. manual labor such as the things that are hugely taxing on spinal cords, bones and muscles like working the soil, hauling compost, etc. And, for sure using some sort of time-saving weed-suppressing agricultural plastics technology. Not that we never use machines. Obviously in the picture above I’m on a tractor. But it’s not the farm’s tractor, and there’s really no other way to scoop mucky cow shit or turn or build a compost pile weighing several tons. That tractor just needs to be utilized a bit more.

To cap off my internship, I’m going to the Washington Tilth Producers annual conference. I’ve even got a scholarship to go! It should be a great experience and I’m really looking forward to meeting some fellow farmers, seeing a bit of Bellingham and attending some great workshops.

woo hoo!

If you need web hosting, let me know! hosting[at]wilsonsdesignworks.com

The good news is that Alissa and I are having regular great conversations on the phone. So things are going better in that department. But, I have no plans (yet) for going to Chicago! There’s a lot about her that I really like and I’m not prepared to give up yet!

I’m busy planning my motorcycle trip in November. I’ve got some panniers on the way to carry my stuff. A few wwoof farms have responded and I’ve got my route planned all the way to San Francisco right now.

I still don’t know what I’m doing in 2009 yet! I’ll take it as it comes!

The big change right now is with my web host. I’m going to be transferring this site very soon. I’ve went with Geekstorage.com and so far am happy with them. It’s certainly a drastic difference compared to absolute mess the last time I switched hosts. I don’t like the geekstorage name so much, but I guess that’s partially because I don’t want to really admit I’m (sometimes) a geek!.

I’ll be transferring steve-wilson.net very soon and there will be a day or more when it is unavailable.

Lastly … I’m also in the business of reselling web hosting. So, if you need a web host, I can help you out with that and give you a good deal!

While that’s not a good or bad thing, necessarily, it’s amazing how many things that lyric can apply to all at once. Mainly what I’m applying it to right now is my love life. Or, now, my lack thereof. In my last post I mentioned Alissa from Chicago. Well, she’s back in Chicago for almost a month now. And, things have changed. It was different when she was here, apparently. Sure it was! I don’t know what it is or what happened, exactly. Of course I want to say it was on her end, but who knows. Maybe it was my fault.

In any case, I’m bummed and disappointed because - I truly felt with her that I had found what I am looking for. After she had left I thought, possibly incorrectly and mistakenly, way to much about what I ought to do to keep things fresh and interesting between us. I felt like, I really want to hang on to this girl. I mean, it is not like I was calling her every day, or emailing her every day, or poking her on Facebook every day. We talked every once in a while on the phone. I sent her an email here and there. I asked twice in an email two weeks apart if she’d had any more thoughts about me coming to visit. (Which, I thought would be crucial to anything lasting.) I mentioned a visit once on the phone and got very positive response (not so much with the emails). Also in an email I tossed around some travel ideas, about meeting in Chicago and going on a trip, or her joining me on a motorcycle trip somewhere. Or various other ideas.

But I guess I pushed it too far. Pressured her a bit more than she wanted. Had I known that she doesn’t feel up to a relationship, I would have never kissed the girl. I mean, you can’t ask that before can you? Wouldn’t that ruin something?

After feeling so good about the connection between us, I felt really stupid to find out she’s essentially not interested. How does that happen? The only thing I can think is that it was all in my head (which, everything is, really). She showed interest in me too (fleeting or not, maybe I need to be able to tell the difference?)

How do people find each other and stay together?

I guess 2000 miles between you at the very beginning (i.e. days after) of a relationship isn’t the best thing for keeping things going. And, finding out if the other person is looking for the same thing you are (a relationship) is key, I guess. I don’t know what to do now. Do I let it go? and if she wants to rekindle something later, renew my interest then? She knows how I feel about her and my desire for there to be an “us”, I’m pretty sure. Do I call? keep in contact?

Damn.

Any secrets?

For the moment this recent occurrence has made my future planning easier. I’m now planning my motorcycle trip down the west-coast. I may have the first wwoof farm already lined up. I’m putting some feelers out for freelance work.

I still don’t have even any vague plans about 2009 yet. Although, they could involve a drastic move away from the Northwest. Or could involve extensive two-wheel traveling. Either way I think farming will be part of it.

Send me some freelance work if you got it!

My mom’s visit was a lot of fun. I didn’t write much about that, but it was really great to have her here. We went to the strawberry festival a lot, listened to some great live music, walked and talked and got too much sun. She helped around the farm a bit. And, mostly fed me well and was a great mother! I got spoiled, having someone here cooking all (or most) of my meals. Her being here made the week of me running the farm go a lot better.

The day my mom left we had a wwoofer scheduled to arrive at the farm. All I knew about Alissa was that she was an art teacher from Chicago. I can say now with a smile on my face that she was the most interesting and the most beautiful wwoofer ever! From the moment I saw her walking up the driveway, carrying her backpack, I was like “Wow.” We worked together, cooked a meal or two together, talked, watched a movie, and to me there was never a dull moment. We ended up hitting it off really well, and for lack of a better term, I’d say that I pretty much have fallen in love with her. Or at least I think about her every day and a lot of what I think about is when and how I’ll get to see her again! Alas, she was only here for a week, one great week! We hope to spend more time together some time in the near future.
Other than two incredibly excellent women being in my life … the farm is going well. We’ve got chickens coming out our ears! The Cornish cross birds are out on pasture converting their feed to meat, and it’s amazing how good they are at it. A couple weeks ago we got 100 egg-laying chicks in the mail and they are growing fast too. We’ve had our two biggest weeks at the farmer’s market and have nothing but more great stuff to come. We harvested all of the garlic, and whoa - it is soooo good! I have no idea what kind boring white-skin garlic the grocery store usually sells, but the garlic we have is awesome. A few of the varieties I remember are Siberian, Silver Skin, Killarney, Italian Red. Onions are almost ready. There’s more ripe tomatoes every day. We harvested our first potatoes last week, a red variety called Huckleberry. Summer squash is growing like bonkers. I picked a bunch of raspberries and boysenberries (and ate a lot in the process :).

We’re caught up on weeding, for the most part, too. Which is an amazing feat. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple beds that have weeds almost as tall as I am … it’s just means the beds we care about are all tended and beautiful. Today I renovated the mobile egg-laying coup with new dividers. We’re hoping it helps the chickens break and eat less of their own eggs. Yes … the chickens know how good their eggs are and will eat them. I think the problem was they didn’t have their own private laying cube, just this open area that was easily shared by other crazy chickens. They would all be piled in this one spot for some reason, like 5 chickens on top of each other. Then the bottom one would get claustrophobic and want to get out, and crush an egg. They’d smell the yummieness and start eating away. This egg-eating would happen several times a day and we’d lose several eggs, probably more than we know. The next thing we have to figure out is how to keep a few rogue chickens from flying over the fence and laying eggs in random places. We’ve found a few caches where they make a cozy spot and lay, but it’s usually too late, after they’ve layed several eggs who knows how many days before.

The chickens, the animals, are definitely a big issue on the farm. I’ve personally went back and forth on the whole animal thing. I haven’t decided yet whether they’ll have a place on my farm yet. This week is a bad week for me to decide, anyway, as I’ve been fatigued and can’t quite seem to build up enough energy and momentum to really get going in a good way. I’m feeling a bit tired, really. Maybe it has something to do with not really having a day off for a few weeks. And, I know it’s got something to do with being on a total high with Alissa around, and then her being gone and 2000 miles away. Funny how that works!

I’m also riding my motorcycle a fair bit. And, now I’m almost completely official official. I took a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Intermediate Rider Course this past weekend in Bremerton. Essentially now I have this little card that I can take to the DoL and get my full motorcycle endorsement on my license. Also I think I can show it to Progressive and get a discount on insurance. The class was good, I’m glad I took it. That’s all I’ll say before I say something not nice about it.

Phew, well, so much for going to bed at 9. I’m tired and need some sleep. I’ve been woken up every morning by my alarm for the past two weeks. One of these days I’ll get caught up!

But …

A flickr pro account ($25 a year!) is not exactly cheap on a farmers salary.

I’m thinking about letting my flickr account go back to the free version in August when it is set to expire. (Which, I don’t quite know what that will mean yet for the photos and sets, collections and such on my flickr account.) I’m looking at just doing all my photos via my web site, since I already pay a yearly hosting fee for tons of web space.

I also, years ago, sort of invested in a product called SlideShowPro. It’s based on flash, is easy to use and I also have the SlideShowPro Director running on my web server. So I already have another photo presentation mode.

The only slight issue I have, is presenting photos this way isn’t as fun as flickr! No commenting, group sharing, I don’t get to easily peek at all my friends photos since I won’t be on the flickr site much, titles and descriptions aren’t as prevalent (which, maybe most people won’t care about that anyway …), the notes feature on the photos is pretty cool, etc., etc., etc… I also think it’s very cool to be able to tag photos and also view others photos tagged with the same words.

Anyhow, I guess some feedback would be cool, on what people think about my photos page as opposed to using flickr.