18 Inches of Snow      29 degrees     Bright but overcast sky

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It has been interesting reading about all the events around the Puget Sound region. People have posted pictures of the weather and told tales of their lives as things slowed or for some, stopped.

There were trees down all over my area. We had well over a foot of snow with two-foot drifts in areas. Our power was out for the better part of six days and we were snowed in.

What did that mean for us? It meant that the first day that we thought the storm was headed our way, we got the headlamps, batteries, lanterns and emergency candles all ready. We filled 5-gallon buckets of water, filled the bathtub, cooking pots and jugs too. We moved patio furniture away from the eaves where snow might later fall and crush them and we made extra provisions for our livestock. We made sure our pantry was full and there were extra snack foods for the kids as comfort and last resorts if all heck broke loose as well as a large stack of library books. We cooked in the woodstove, buried the contents of the freezer in bins in the snow, brought in fire wood and pulled out all of the poly-pro and polar fleece. After that was done, we played in the snow, enjoyed the sleds, had snowball fights, made maple syrup candy and I taught my youngest how to use a knitting nancy. We played games, told stories and when we got tired looked out the windows which framed beautiful pictures of the weather.

On SongCroft, things were a bit more of a challenge but they were not a struggle. After having the power off for as much as 16 days, we have a system and can live life pretty easily but as a friend, pointed out, even without electricity life can be sufficiently sufficient or wonderful. I love our days of being snowed in and will cherish them forever as slow days with my family.

Here are some pictures of the weather for you to enjoy.

Please post some pictures of the weather in your area too!

Fifty mile per hour winds are predicted in our area today. The hens are running for cover. It was sunny and but chilly just an hour ago. The goats were prancing around and the hens were all piled on the cabin porch enjoying the rays.

Looking outside my windows I can see the cedar trees bend to the mercy of the wind. There is a wind storm here. The lights are flickering and a fire is burning warm in the stove. I started a pot of stew to feed us for a couple of days in case we do loose power. Although we can cook easily enough without electricity, it is easier to just be prepared and have something to reheat.

I also have bread rising so that I can bake a couple loaves to hold us over. I will also keep some dough in a bucket in our ‘cold room’ (this is an unheated room we use for food storage much of the year). The extra dough will allow me to make fired bread on the woodstove later. The kids love fried bread.

We have a fully stocked wood box in the house and the cabin, this is good since we only heat with wood (Yes, our stoves are certified) and I have walked the land to make sure that there is nothing that can get blown away in the wind storm.

My headlamp has good batteries in case I need to go out and check on the animals after dark and the car is fully fueled.

Things are in pretty good order. I am ready for the wind storm. I hope the trees are ready too!

It’s the dormant season on SongCroft and other than the daily chores and an occasional “have-to” things are pretty laid-back.

We are still harvesting ground cherries, off the bush but in the greenhouse, as well as enjoying the last of the green peppers and tomatoes. The green peppers and tomatoes were picked and have been in storage. The tomatoes were picked green and have been ripening up nicely.

There is still cauliflower, bok choy, broccoli, kale, parsley, chamomile and a variety of other things we are wintering over and grazing on in these cold months. We are very thankful for the canned peaches and pears that we took the time to put up earlier this year. These little jars of sunshine are also little jars of optimism of what is to come.

This is not to say that I am not happy to be in the here and now. As my friend Roy said, “This season, whatever the season, is the perfect season. This weather, whatever weather, is the perfect weather.” I am happy in the now.

High 50        Low  34   Grey and overcast

The does are elusive in their signs of ester. It may be because we have had a coyotes on our land and the goats go very still during these times. I missed them in their last cycle. I will pay better attention the rest of the month and next.

I hope you are finding time to rest, read, ponder and contemplate during these still months. These are the times that great ideas are thought up!

High 50 degrees       Low 32 degrees            It was cold, wet and dark by 4:30! Winter is near but I’m not complaining.

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It’s Friday night and I am sitting in front of a warm fire with a glass of homemade wine and my laptop. The rain is coming down outside and I can tell we are in for more than just the light frost that we’ve had the past few days.

Its times like this that I am thankful for planning ahead, seizing the moment and for making hay while the sun shines.”

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time splitting kindling. It was cold but cold isn’t as hard to work in as rain. Don’t get me wrong, rain isn’t bad. I like rain but when I am splitting wood for a fire, getting it wet defeats the purpose. My method for putting wood up is not rocket science but it might be helpful to a few folks so I thought I would share it here.

When we first moved on to our land, that’s the first two years, we lived in a little travel trailer. It was a nice trailer with a gas stove and Corian counters (did you know that most of them build post 1990 have Corian and other “fancy-pants” amenities like that). Anyhow, we didn’t have much space so I put together an outside kitchen with shelving and a worktable. We were lucky enough to stop at a garage sale where some folks had just moved across country. They had a whole bunch of  Rubbermaid containers that they used for the move and they sold the to us. We used them for our outdoor kitchen and they were great. Now I use them for kindling.

When I split my kindling, I pack it in to the Rubbermaid containers ( rubbery plastic boxes with tight fitting lid). The lids are the solid kind not the one’s that are split down the middle. Trust me when I say the “split-lid” boxes don’t really seal and when you most need your kindling, it will be full of rainwater if stored outside. (Murphy’s Law)

I store several of these boxes near the backdoor where they are easy to reach. My goal is to have at least 7 of these large containers full at all times as well as firewood stacked nearby. If I use one up and I get a clear day, I split more to keep the supply up. This way I have kindling and firewood handy at all times.

My method has been really helpful more than once. The year my kids both had the chickenpox I had wood handy. When the kids and I were snowed in for 16 days without my husband home, I had wood handy. You get the picture.

A little work done in preparation for busy times, emergencies or just for days when you want to stay in your pj’s is well worth it to me!

I hope this has been helpful to you.

High 74     Low 49        Humidity-99% and overcast

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/

Click the link. Find out about our programs and classes!

Things have been busy here. There has been a lot of food preservation happening. We have hundreds of jars of tomatoes, peaches, pears, jams, salsa, chili sauce, saurkraut, pickled beets, and a large variety of pickles cucumbers and kim chi.

We will be putting apples and root vegetables in to cold storage very soon. The milk flow has slowed a bit but is still coming. The chickens are molting and laying a bit more sparse but are on their way back in to full swing.

The Apprentices from 2010 had their last class and are off to all sorts of things. There was a big canning party put on by some of the alumni! When the apprentices are organizing community canning events, I’d say that my time teaching was well spent!

I added a photo of them with their certificates of completion. Aren’t they cute!

I will be spending more time getting ready for the 2011 apprentices and transitioning to a new year. Registration has just opened for the 2011 program. People are already signing up. We’ve filled up for the past two years. If you want to take the course, now is the time to get registered!

I attended the Cascadia Transition Network Summit and the Northwest Permaculture Convergence. They were two very inspiring events with lots of “Cultural Creatives” in attendance. It gave a great opportunity for building transition networks.

One of my highlights of the weekend was spending time with a young man named Tim. He wasn’t actually attending the event. He was working there. We had some wonderful philosophical conversations and I got to teach him how to propagate herbs for his culinary explorations. I hope he caught the gardening bug!

Tim, if you read this, I hope you will remember our conversations. I hope to hear about the beautiful story you write for your life!

Among the many things happening in our lives is other transition of the cabin in to a learning center. We are opening our cabin up as a classroom for SongCroft and as a space for event rental. This will give us the ability to take more students as well as have more space for activities. We have hosted Doula trainings and other day events. This is a valuable and rare space to hold intimate sized classes in a rural setting.

We will also be making our products in the cabin and will soon have an online store. This is big news and quite the transition!

Thanks for stopping by. Please let us know how your Autumn is going. Please do let other folks know about us. We would love to hear from more folks!

High 75 Low 50       Absolutely beautiful clear blue sky!

It is late August and the winter vegetable garden has been planted. Broccoli, kale, cauliflower, collards, chard, beets, spinach, lettuces and more are all in the ground. The trick now is to keep them moist during our bursts of warm days and safe from slugs on our wet days, at least until they are larger and sturdier than they are now.

Winter gardening is for the moment, what I look forward to most in the garden. Don’t get me wrong, I love my garden year-round. The warmer seasons bring colorful flowers, berries and all types of heat-loving beings. I enjoy a homegrown tomato at least as much as the next girl but life is so busy in the summer with kids activities, campers staying on SongCroft, the milk flow and all that the slow paced winter garden is when I can really breathe.

Also, we are still in construction on various projects on our croft so we are often busy doing related projects on dry days.

There is also the fact that the Farmers Markets are booming with fresh local produce right now, at reasonable prices, but in the winter it will be hard to come by. Not many folks tend a winter vegetable garden here when prices go up to $3 a bunch for kale and little is locally sourced! I find winter gardening the most “bang for my buck.”

Yes, I am definitely a fan of winter gardens. I hope you have put yours in too!

Registration for the 2011 Self-Sufficiency Skills Course is open! http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/

High 84  Low 55  Clear with a beautiful blue sky!

It is high summer and the sun is out.The summer harvest is on. It is almost 85 degrees today and the rain has finally stopped. Not that I am complaining. We are fortunate to have the rain that we do. It’s just that we cherish every moment that that great yellow orb hovers above us!

We were in Nelson, B.C. for a wedding of a dear friend last week so I am a little behind schedule on chores. While we were away, our chickens got out and pecked away much of the Winter garden.  The rows of carrot seed that I kept moist and nurtured through the warm days, the meticulously laid out patterns of red and green cabbages with yellow beets between were all pecked and thrown about like a giant tossed salad.

Upon inspection, I could see that some of the carrots were still sprouting, so I left them. I replanted the rows with more seedlings. It will be interesting to see where the carrots end up. Perhaps there will be a secret message from the hens hidden in the carrot tops.

At any rate, we are harvesting summer cabbages, purple and green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, chili peppers and zucchini just to name a few.  I hope you are all enjoying your local summer harvest because it slips by way too fast!

Baby Chicks and a Good Hen (click here to see a video of the hen and chicks)

I just have to show you our new baby chicks! One of our hens decided to sit on a nest of eggs and today they began to hatch. No matter how many times I see a baby chick newly hatched, I am still always amazed.

Our hen sat on the nest, diligently, for 21 days. She kept the eggs warm, turned them several times a day and rotated them beneath her so none of them got warmer than any of the others. She never got up. She never left them. She is a faithful mother. She’s a good hen.

Her nest is inside a dog crate. It is private and safe. The kids and I placed a water feeder and food within her reach.  It was her very own private hotel complete with room service and a bed of straw.

When I checked on her today, there were  four baby chicks and several eggs that she is still trying to hatch. One baby chick was hatched moments before I saw it. It was still wet and a bit groggy. There were two black chicks that look like they are Australorps and another yellow one that looks like our hen, an Auracana.

You can watch them in the video. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

High 59    Low 40            Overcast morning with clear afternoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xWHETBd8BA

SongCroft Spring Tour (click above to see the video)

Today was the first warm day in along time. I actually saw people in shorts and tank tops. With all of the hail and heavy rains of late, I think people were truly optimistic and taking whatever they could get.

It was a beautiful day to explore with my son Simon. Among other things, we went on a trillium hunt. We looked for the precious flowers that hide in the shadows of the forest. We found lots of them but were delighted with every one. Simon was pleased to bring to a secret place where fifteen bloomed together, all in different stages.

Simon and I explored the creek, looked for frogs and salamanders, discussed the lives of the arborial faeries that live in the massive cedars and hemlocks and watched a pileated woodpecker. We collected maple blossoms to add to our supper, a mediteranean quinoa dish, and told each other secrets.

Today was a day to slow down and enjoy the weather, my children and the arrival of Spring.

It was precious.

High 55 Low 31

Overcast Morning with blue skies in the afternoon but it’s pouring now!

Wow, what a busy day. It has rained and even hailed here most of the week so when I woke up this morning to mild weather, I put my working clothes on and got busy!

After getting the kids breakfast and the house semi-settled, I got busy collecting eggs and checking on all of the chicks and ducklings. Our eggs are such beautiful colors that they are really the best naturally “dyed” easter eggs!

In the goat shed. I mucked the kidding stall and the main loafing area. After putting down fresh straw, I cleaned out the water feeders and feeder racks. Then I brushed the herd down and fed them. They were very happy.

I checked Aggie, our three year-old black Nubian doe, to see how close she is to kidding. Sure enough, I could feel all the way around her tail so the time is very near.  I offered her some herbal tea with raspberry leaf and she sucked it down in one long draw. I have been keeping my eye on her all day. She should have at least one kid by late tonight.

Next, I ran a hose through conduit across some paths to the goat shed. This will be buried when we bring in some fill dirt to level out the area a bit. Yeah, no more tripping on the hose!

I then mucked out the chicken yard and laid out fresh straw for them. They were hilarious as they ran around snatching up all of the worms that were hiding under the old straw. When I muck, it is really funny because the chickens are watching me and darting around, trying to get worms and trying to keep out of my way. I call it the chicken dance.

I used most of the old straw mixed with manure to lie down on the uneven paths and surrounding ground. I am using it to level out the terrain, which is really difficult to walk on when it’s slick. It is slowly becoming more even. My goal is to be able to wheel a hand-truck with hay bales across this area without wrestling it at a 60-degree angle.

The ducklings and young pullets were out in the chicken tractor today. They got a breath of fresh air, grass to eat as well as some nice bugs. We put them back inside for the night because the temperature is dropping and because we don’t want them to be anyone’s snack.

One of our ducks is on a nest of 12 eggs. She just sat on it today so the clock has just begun ticking. We’re on day one of 26 to 28 days. I’ll post photos when they hatch.

We also have a hen on a dozen or so eggs. They are not all hers but she didn’t care. She just wasn’t getting off the nest. We will show them to you soon too. They will be a mix so it will be fun to see what kinds they all are.

The bunnies were all given “green chop” and alfalfa to munch on. They are all such nice bunnies that we haven’t been able to come up with names for the does. Our buck’s name is Mr. Clementine T. Bunny The T. stands for Trustworthy. He was named by the kids. The three does were all going to be called Easter Bunny but that was just too confusing!

Now it’s time to feed the kids dinner before I run-off to play doula and mid-wife to our goat. We will be having homemade chicken rice soup and rosemary flax baguettes, all fresh from our kitchen.

This is a typical “stay-at-home” Spring day on our croft.

If these sort of topics and activities interest you, you’ll love the Spring issue of the Newsletter!

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-self-sufficiency-newsletter/