Worst scrabble hand ever!

Our new coffee table!

Every year, downtown Helena holds a Fall Art Walk.  And every year I tell myself, "Next year I'm going to build something to put in the Art Walk."  Well,this year I'm finally going through with it!  

I have been working on this table for about a month.  I really like the contrast of walnut and maple.  I finished the table in clear shellac.  Shellac is pretty easy to work with and I like the way it brings out the grain in walnut.

This year is Helena's 29th annual Art Walk.  The night is a bit of a kickoff to the holiday season. Downtown businesses host an artist or artists for the evening and people walk from store to store eating appetizers, drinking wine and beer, and hopefully buying some art.  The night has always been a highlight of the fall for Cass and I.  The Helena Woodworker's Guild has generally put on a great show at the Placer Building (a historic hotel downtown hotel turned apartment building).  My table will be part of the guild's display for the whopping price of NFS (Not For Sale).  Neither Cass or I are willing to part it at this point.  I am just hoping to test the waters and get a little exposure.  Maybe another year (baby steps).

We're live and streaming!

Well, it's taken a lot longer than I anticipated, but our Arduino based energy monitor is now live and online. Now we can monitor our power system and make sure our new expensive batteries don't get dangerously low on energy.

We have only had it up and running for about 24 hours and I hope to make several enhancements, but... it finally works. In the long run I hope to measure current and battery state of charge, but for the time being voltage will have to do. I will keep the blog up to date as I add capabilities and eventually document all of the equipment, schematics and code. More to come. Stay tuned if your an electronics nut like me.

First Snow

Almost ready to break out the cross country skis.....

Happy Fall

Tom the Turkey struttin' his stuff.

We're down to one turkey. Big White is in the freezer. We tried a different butchering technique this year, including a stump and an axe, and we much prefer last year's method. For now, our remaining Tom is perfectly content to roam with the chickens. He's really a pleasure to have around, with his friendly gobbles. We're not looking forward to butchering time, but he's on the menu for Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

Just an update on the SponCon project: Here is a photo of from the auction program, which features some great professional photos of the projects, including Bill's pine and granite table, that will go up for sale this Friday. See Bill's post on SponCon below.

Sawin' Logs

There's nothing cooler than the sound of a falling tree. Except for when that tree smashes into the ground and branches break and boom and fly in the air. That's even cooler.

Bill and I took our chainsaw, and borrowed a buddy's, to head into the hills to down some dead standing pines. It was a good day for cutting wood.

We now have 4 cords of wood, most of which is stacked in the shop, for our winter heat. That should do us.

We finally have a use for that climbing helmet. 

"Throw it." (voice of Stewie)

"Bad ass." (voice of Bill)

Piedra y Madera

Last Saturday I convinced a few folks from the Helena Woodworkers Guild and the manger at Helena's Restore to head over to Missoula and take part in a charity event called Spontaneous Construction (SponCon). The event takes place at Home Resource in Missoula. Home resource is a nonprofit building material resource center.  They have been hosting SponCon for the last 5 years.  In the event, they challenge teams to create something (artistic, functional, or otherwise) using only store materials in a 6-hour period.  The store is very well stocked, so with a little ingenuity the sky is the limit.

Since I was the only person in our group who had even visited Home Resource, we showed up on Saturday morning with open minds but little in the way of ideas. We all agreed that we should do something relatively simple so we could enjoy the event without stressing about the 6-hour time limit.  Our team consisted of Jeff Camplese of Rising Sun Woodworking, Will Rex of Golden Stone Carpentry, Steve Staneart from Helena's Restore and myself. Given the large stock of items, coming up with an idea turned out to be relatively easy.  Will's wife Heidi immediately found some really cool granite slab remnants.  Almost simultaneously, Jeff came across a 1" thick reclaimed pine board that he really liked.  Within minutes we had a sketch drawn out for our "Piedra y Madera" (Stone and Wood) sofa/hall shelf. The whole piece is made from a single piece of wood and likely a single stone.  The only hardware used for assembly were 6 old square nails.  Our piece qualified for the benefit auction and will get raffled off on October 19th in Missoula.

Check out the photo gallery of the event to see some of the other creations.  Also, check out this time-lapsed video posted by a friend of mine. He also has more on the re-purposed garden tool project on his blog, Montana Wildlife Gardener.

Canning 101

Bill and I have dubbed ourselves with a new acronym (actually an acronym within an acronym): DADrunCs (DINKS against Drunk Canning). DINK= Double Income No Kids.

In the midst of our canning frenzy last night, we had a couple of beers. No doubt, it was wildly fun and we giggled and cranked the tunes as we processed 50 pounds of tomatoes. But, disaster eventually struck. I burned myself. And then, I did cardinal canning sin #1: I inadvertently let the lids boil instead of simmer. It is marked clearly on the lid box, like the surgeon general's warning for canners. But I blew it off as no big deal, something I would never do stone cold sober. So, after all the prep, and 70 minutes in the pressure canner, 2 of my 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce with sausage failed to seal. We did not, however, blow up the pressure canner, so all in all, the losses were minimal.

On the bright side, I researched a new method of sterilizing jars. The trouble with water sterilization is that it takes so much energy to heat up the water. Not to mention, I have limited space on my stove top. The oven method is simple. First, clean your jars in soap and water, place them on a cookie sheet, and preheat the oven to 225-250. And then you let them cook for 20 minutes, keeping the oven door closed. Remove them with a mitt, fill them promptly and place them in the canner. Viola! Simple. And so much more energy efficient. Of course, this method is not FDA approved. However, according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, sterilization of jars is not even required for pressure canners or for water bath canners when used for more than 10 minuets (20 minutes at my elevation). So, in most cases, all I really need to do is heat the jars, which the oven is perfectly capable of doing.

Lessons Learned:
1. Don't boil the lids!
2. DADrunCs
3. Sterilize canning jars in the oven.

The Broody Breaker

The chicken Blondie turned out to be a wonderful incubator. She sat on her eggs dutifully, clucking angrily whenever anyone approached her nesting box. However, it turns out, she was a horrible mother. Horrible, as in: she literally pecked her chicks to death. Bill and I were heartbroken when we found the first dead chick, pecked and mangled, lying outside the box. I frantically researched options and ultimately, I stole five of the remaining seven eggs out from under mama Blondie, and attempted to set up an artificial incubator. Some of the eggs rocked and "peeped", so I knew the time was close. I carefully set them in a box with wood chips, and angled the heating lamp accordingly to keep a temp at 100 degrees. I dabbed them once in a while with a moist paper towel. That night I sat by the box for an hour and watched. Then I slept for an hour, rechecked. Solid 100 degrees. Then, 2 hours later, the temp was still holding strong. Then I made the mistake of falling asleep for four straight hours. I woke up in a start, ran to the box, and to my utter horror, saw the thermometer reading 137 degrees.

It took me exactly one week to stop feeling so terrible that I could write about the results. No question, Blondie was bad, but so was I. I had cooked the chicks.

I did bring myself to check the eggs and calculate fertility rates. Blondie started with 11 eggs. Of these, only four (36%) had developed almost fully. The two eggs I left under Mama Blondie turned out to be unfertilized.

From beginning (acquiring the rooster and introducing him to the flock), to end, this hopeful-turned-horrible project took about 7 weeks.

Just to be clear, I am not giving up. And, true to my streak of impatience, I went straight away to Murdoch's ranching store and, against Bill's better judgement, bought the solo egg incubator they had on the shelf. I was determined to hatch some baby chicks even if Blondie wouldn't cooperate.

The incubator I brought home is made by Little Giant, model 9200, which is a still air (no circulation) variety. I added some accessories: an automatic egg turner and a fan, to increase probability of survival. (Eggs need to be turned 2 to 3 times a day to prevent the yolk from sticking to the shell and screwing up chick development. Also, a fan keeps the temp more uniform.) When I pulled the contraption out of the box, I was staring at, basically, nothing more complicated than a Styrofoam container, two pieces fitted together, with two plastic windows on top to watch the incubation progress, and a place for eggs and a heating element inside. Very efficient, but nothing fancy.  

I knew energy would be an issue, but the heating element itself runs about equivalent to a 40 watt bulb. This is do-able when we have decent sun days, like we're having now. So I was ready to dive in again and gather up some more eggs. Bill semi-grudgingly let me scheme and dream along, all the while gently reminding me the energy requirement for this endeavor might be too high. It wasn't until he pointed out that beyond the 21 days of incubation, we'd require probably another 6 weeks of a heating element for the growing baby chicks. That would put us running an inefficient heating lamp into November and December...months when we just don't have that kind of solar energy.

I finally came back to reality, abandoned my immediate plan to start again, and temporarily packed up the incubator. It can wait a few more months to hatch some chicks. And so can I.

Lessons Learned:

• It is extremely hard to try and simulate the conditions underneath a broody hen (I failed miserably). She keeps it 99.5 degrees and 80% humidity. She also turns the eggs several times daily, until the last week of their development, when they do best to stay in the same position to prep for hatching. 
• Not all hens make good mothers. 
• "Time and tide [and sun] wait for no man". But sometimes you do have to wait for it.

Adventures in batteries!

Well, the time for new batteries has finally come.  Our original batteries have been dropping off one-by-one and although they've been more than adequate throughout the summer (when the days are long and the clouds are few and far between), they have little chance of making it through the winter.  Our current batteries have lasted up to 6 years. I only say "up to" because some have lasted longer than others and some were purchased earlier than others.  I don't know all the details because I didn't do the purchasing. Had the batteries been taken good care of, we may have gotten 10 years out of them...but they weren't.  The previous owners did a number of no-no's associated with the batteries.

• No-no #1: They didn't really have a good idea how much energy they were going to use when they purchased the batteries. It turns out running grow lights uses a LOT of energy and their batteries weren't really sized to handle the demand. 
• No-no #2: When they discovered the battery bank wasn't big enough, they added more batteries in series instead of starting from scratch. Mixing old batteries with new batteries is always a bad idea.  Even if the batteries are of the same type, as batteries age the lead plates get thinner and thinner.  Even when the batteries are resting current flow from the new batteries to the old ones. The old batteries work harder than they should even when they should be resting and the new batteries get dragged down to the level of the old ones. 
• No-no #3: When they added the new batteries, they created 5 parallel strings.  The fewer string the better.  Five is a lot!  With five strings, an equalize cycle is required frequently to keep the batteries at similar state of charge (SOC).  
• No-no #4: They didn't know how to run an equalize cycle!  I asked the previous owners how often they equalized the batteries. I don't remember what they said, but I know the take home message was, "we don't".  

Given all of the no-no's, I guess 6 years isn't so bad.  At last not until you considered they spent about $7000 on batteries.  Ouch.  Lucky for us, we were able to learn from some of their mistakes.

So how did we go about deciding what to get for a new battery bank?  There are a ton of choices out there.  First, we needed to know how much power we use. This varies a bit, but on big days we are at about 3500wh/day.  The general rule of thumb these days is to get a battery that has about 4 times the amount of your daily requirement. This gives you about 2 days of autonomy if you keep your batteries above 50% SOC.  Traditionally, people planned for much more that 2 days of autonomy.  There has been a shift to smaller batteries as of late.  The logic for this has a lot to do with the price of renewable energy supplies.  The price of batteries has remained pretty stable over the years.  The price of solar, however has been going down everyday.  Since batteries don't last very long if they are undercharged, it just doesn't make sense to get a battery that is oversized for a charging system.  Batteries are rated in amp-hours (ah) -- at 24V (our system voltage), 3500wh/24V = 145AH. We use about 145AH per day from a 24V battery bank.  145AH x 4 = 590AH.  So, we were looking for a capacity of about 600AH.

I looked at a number of different options with the following in mind:

• 600 - 800AH capacity
• Lead Acid - I like being able to equalize and monitor the specific gravity of individual cells, so I decided against sealed batteries. 
• No more than 2 strings - preferably one.
• Long life
• Affordability

I finally decided on a forklift from Giant Battery I ended up getting a model 12-85-13.  Fork lift batteries are big and heavy, but can last up to 20 years with proper care.  The model I got weighed about 1100lbs.  Since it weighed so much, putting it in the crawl space was not an option.  Instead, we will built a small (2'x4') extension off the back of the house so we could move it into place with my neighbors backhoe.  The additional bonus of having it up and out of the crawl space is temperature.  Batteries perform there best at around 70F.  We were losing a fair amount of capacity by storing our batteries in the 45F crawl space.

The forklift battery at home in our new mini-extension. 

The new battery has been in place few a few days now. The installation went off without a hitch.  We'll see how it does this winter.  Time will tell!

The Pressure's On: August Updates

After two years of water bath canning, we dug in and bought a pressure canner today. Nothing against all the vinegary sweets we've created via water bath...pickled beets and dilly beans are still on our 2012 agenda. We were just ready to start putting away more of our garden. And with only 8 cubic feet of storage in our solar powered freezer, canning is the obvious way to go. Right now I'm babysitting a batch of stew that's merrily steaming along in the canner. It makes this really nice, steamy metronome sound as the weight rocks on top, and it's peaceful just to sit by and listen. So, as that cooks, here are some updates:

Straw Potatoes

 The garden went nuts this year. We've had a long growing season, and frost is not in the forecast for the next couple of weeks. A couple people asked about straw potatoes, so here is a more in depth look at the process. Our ground, as mentioned in prior posts, is hard, rocky, and low in organic content. A friend told me about growing tubers in straw. This is my second year, with good results so far. Also, this year, I can really see the straw composting and adding to our garden soil. Here's how:

1. Put potatoes on ground and cover in 12-14" of straw.

2. Water

3. Watch them grow.

4. Harvest by pulling back the straw.

The Pig Debate: Grain vs. Grass

Our hogs went to slaughter last week. Hanging, they weighed 150, 159 and 159. We were pleased, and are looked forward to the maple-brined, smoked hams and bacon. Buying grain, however, is something we didn't enjoy...especially with the price hike this year. Bill and I have been looking into options of grazing, and might be branching out into heirloom varieties of pigs who can sustain themselves on grass. Large Blacks or Red Wattlers are the ones we're particularly interested in....so next year, look for pastured pork in place of pink Yorkshires on Blue Cloud. The grazers won't put on 200 lbs in 3 months like our pinkies did...but we won't be buying grain every week either.

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!
	We added a new addition to the farm. Our rooster, a gift from a neighbor up the road, is scrawny and his crow is giggle-worthy, but he is successfully fertilizing eggs! (And, he doesn't crow until about 9 AM!) We'll see if broody Blondie (at it again, and determined as ever) can hatch any chicks in about 20 days.

The Gobblers It's about that time of year again. The turkeys are getting big and about ready to be put into the freezer. Bill really improved his gobble this year and has become quite the turkey farmer. See it for yourself. (video coming soon)

Pesky Sheep

A recent speed-bump in our progress came when our neighbor's twenty head of sheep escaped their pasture....and roamed on our land for several days. Our orchard and windbreak got munched on, and, though the damage could have been worse, seeing those nibbled-down, broken, leafless branches, I was immediately deflated...and then enraged. I debated putting lamb chops into our freezer. But Bill, as always, calmed me down. And we put up an electric fence. And crossed our fingers that our neighbors will take care of their pesky roaming fluff-balls.

A Grizzly Glacier Tale

Bill and I wrangled a couple of my brothers, Josh and Nick, and Nick's girlfriend Casie, into coming with us on a two-night backcountry trip into Glacier National Park, with an itinerary putting us over Gunsight Pass. 

The A Team: Casie, Nick, Bill, Josh, Cass 

Probably about 8 or 9 miles in on the first day, through wind and hail and rain-soaked undergrowth, we were finally nearing the top of Gunsight Pass. The trail became a chiseled pathway right into the mountain-side, with sheer, rocky drop-offs to the lake below. Up ahead, there was a snow crossing that looked a little treacherous with the steep angle. We were studying the snow, and Josh pointed out one additional potential complication: two grizzlies foraging for grubs just below the snowfield, maybe 200 yards away. We had a moment of excitement and drank in the sight for a few minutes, then decided to press on. We crossed the field without any indecent, and made it 200 yards up the trail, to a fantastic overlook. While admiring a mountain goat on the opposite mountain, a couple of us looked back and were surprised to see a grizzly coming up the trail after us. And, then...it broke into a run. For your enjoyment, and for the "grizzly tale", here are some videos, courtesy of You Tube. 

Needless to say, other than a pepper spray to my face, and maybe a few pairs of wet underwear, we came out unscathed. After the first day, the weather became a sun-bather's dream, and we stretched out on the rocks to pick huckleberries, unhurried and happy.

The Gunsight Pass hike scenery was jaw dropping, and the campgrounds had character and beauty. Pit toilets earned not so consistently high marks, but the open pit toilet at Lake Ellen Wilson campground, with its unmatched overlook of the lake, set the bar high for all other pit toilets out there. There were a plethora of mountain goats, many of whom visited us in camp and tried to lick at anything salty. We also got to check out one of the park's only hike-in chalets and grabbed a tasty lunch of soup, sandwiches, and pie.

Kudos to Nick and Casie for introducing us to this delicious "gourmet" backcountry meal, which will definitely be a part of our next trek: 

Beefy Noodle Bowl

• 3 Tbsp beef jerky, shredded
• 1 3-ounce package of Ramen noodles
• 1 1-ounce package instant onion soup
• 2 Tbsp mixed dried vegetables
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 or 2 packets of soy sauce, optional

At home: Discard flavor packet from noodles, combine all dry ingredients in a quart size, freezer zip lock bag.

On the trail: Boil about 2 cups water. Add to zip lock bag, then stir or shake gently until all is soft and rehydrated. Season with soy sauce as desired.
Makes 2 servings. This receipe courtesy of One Pan Wonders

Third Time's a Charm up the Grand Tetons

The French know how to name mountains: The "Big Tits".

After a three-year quest of trying to climb a mountain (strike up "Chariots of Fire"), we finally did it. The first attempt was cut short by a lightening storm. The second attempt happened to be a good water year, and we couldn't find a way to forge the raging creek/river early on in the ascent. But this time, we made it up the mountain of Table Rock...and finally saw the Grand Tetons, up close and personal.

Table Rock, on the Idaho side of the Tetons, is a 14 mile trek (roundtrip), with over 4000 foot elevation gain from the trailhead. If you plan on going, take more water than you think you'll need and a camera. And, of course, a dog to pose for you.

July

Just a few updates from the farm...

The Great Scape

Who knew that garlic scapes were so delicious? Bill and I had no idea that the curly green tops (scapes) of garlic were meant to be harvested and enjoyed as a Fourth of July delicacy from the garden. This is our first year of growing garlic, so we were clueless as to the joys of scapes until our neighbor pointed out that we should "cut those tops off."  A little oil, salt and pepper, and onto a hot grill, and they were something like a marriage of asparagus and greenbean, with a good kick garlic. Next year, more garlic scapes!

The Grill Master testing his scapes. 

"Well, that's a big coyote......waitaminute. That's not a coy..." 

We had our first wolf sighting at Blue Cloud: a big Gray, about 200 yards in front of our property. He didn't seem too afraid of us....just stared us down for nearly a minute then loped up and over the hill.

Piggie Tales

The pigs are getting huge; they have at least doubled in size in the past month. They've developed a liking for the tennis balls that Stewie incessantly carries around and sometimes drops into their area. I caught one playing with the ball by dunking it repeatedly in the water tank. Sometimes, they just carry them around in their mouths.

This is "Blue Eyes", who squeals when you scratch his ears or back.
He's running toward me for a good ear scratching.

Nothing like a good, stiff draught on a hot sunny day.

Hoggin' the feeding trough.

Dry and Drier

Despite the hot temp and life-sucking winds, our baby windbreak is green and growing. Bill put in well over 2000 feet of watering hose (PVC pipe and dripper tubes) with drippers that deliver 1 gallon per hour.  We have well over 90% survival rate since the planting.

It's an extremely dry year, and, already, there's been a significant fire (the Corral Fire) in Helena that burned down four homes. For the Fourth, the county banned all private fireworks. Local firework stands, apparently, were feeling the heat when the county issued the ban. One fine, upstanding TNT-booth owner implied that the ban was violating the Helena-area "people's freedom". I believe he was referring to that amendment about having the right to burn down our homes, as well as those of our neighbors. Anyway, it is hot, windy, and looking like it's going to be a big Montana fire year.

The Elizabethan Collar, a Stewie Staple

Stewie is, again, in the collar of shame, recovering from a leg laceration. Total vet bills to date are: well, too many to count. But this is his fourth go round in his plastic halo. I can't believe we're actually considering pet insurance for this dude. If Baxter could roll his eyes, he would.

The Hot House

Using 2 cattle panels, bent and attached to two 3x6 foot raised beds, and covered with plastic sheeting, we created a small tomato and pepper growing house. It's our newest addition to the garden project.

Wild West

My little sister is getting married, so a little Montana-style celebrating was in order. All the best of western Montana: Chico Hot Springs, the Mint Bar, Big Dorothy's (brothel turned restaurant/bar), and Last Chance Gulch, added some good juju to her bachelorette bash.

Mom of the Bride, The Bride, and Bride's Big Sis