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!

High 34            Low 26    Bright and sunny in the afternoon, thick fog in the morning and night.

Whew, I made it. It’s been a busy holiday season. Even though I have worked a lot, I can truly say it’s been a Happy Holiday season. I have worked most every weekend selling our farms “value-added” items. SongCroft Naturals is expanding it’s all-natural skin, body and hair care from Farmers Markets, to Holiday Fairs and now in to retail establishments. This is exciting news. We now have products and gift baskets in the Yogalife Studio at Greenlake as well as the Natural Clothing Company on First Street in historic Snohomish. We are happy to partner with both owners who are wonderful people that support other small local businesses.

Now that the business events are over, I am taking the next two weeks off to just hang out with my family. We will go ice skating, make a gingerbread house, bake cookies, make name tags, watch classic holiday movies, wrap presents, play board games and create memories that can only be created through true connection and love. This is what Happy Holidays are made of.

My side of the family will join us on Christmas eve for a dinner of smoked chickens, roasted vegetables, baked quinoa, salad and pumpkin pies. A great deal of the ingredients will be from our land. We are still harvesting cabbages, collards, kale, carrots, turnips, beets, onions, spinach and parsnips. We have squash set aside from local farms (those who had extra sent some our way after our ducks made chop suey out of the vines).

We will exchange gifts, play some games and I think the younger generation will be playing with nerf guns and magic cards. (neither of which are something that I can relate to). The rest of us will likely be making jewelry, talking and laughing at life through stories and memories.

I especially value this Christmas as one where I can enjoy both my own family (as my children are still young and at least one still enjoys toys) and my mother who is starting to show her age. I find myself cherishing every moment that I get with her. How fortunate I am to be able to experience this before she leaves this world. A Happy Holiday for her is to have her girls together with their families.

To update you on what is happening on the farm, as mentioned, we are still harvesting the aforementioned vegetables and we also have a lot of herbs. We put up a few hundred pounds or apples and potatoes for the winter so we are enjoying them. Our “Liberty” apple and “Spartan” produced well for their first time. Next year I will likely have to thin them a bit to get bigger fruit. Our medlar gave plenty of fruit. They are palatable but not especially juicy. While they would be helpful in a time of scarcity, they are not proving to be a family favorite.

The hens and rooster , Iris, are doing well. They have a very nice dry space thanks to Brian’s work this past Spring as well as the recent coop improvements made this past week. There are now added roosts inside the coop and tomorrow morning I plan to staple a layer of greenhouse plastic across the top of the walls to lower the ceiling in hope of it holding more heat in. The plastic is clear so light will still come through the rigid clear poly-carb roof and the air trapped between the two should create insulations. We have not added a light.

The turkeys are doing well. I added a nesting box today so we will see if we get some eggs. There is a hen that is squatting every time I walk past her. This is a good sign that she wants to hatch some eggs. I will get a leg band for her and over the next couple of weeks, I will band three hens to save for breeding. Midget Whites are good breeders so no artificial inseminations is needed.

The goats are still not bred and just like last year, they are not showing strong signs of wanting to be. There has been no one calling out, flagging her tail or anything else. I thought for sure they would go in to ester on the full moon but instead they got totally silent and pretended to be statues because coyotes came to visit. Maybe the coyotes scared the hormones right out of them (kidding)

I sold six rabbits this past month.  Lots of people have been interested in our rabbits. They are a good bunch and easy for people in the city to raise. They produce great manure that is highly valuable. I have been able to use it to barter with. I love raising rabbits!

Our ducks are still quacking about. They are not interesting in going in to their pen at night and are hard to catch. I am hoping ot catch them soon before a coyote or bobcat gets them first.

Well, that is the skinny on what is happening down-on-the-farm. How are things up your way?

Happy Holidays!

High 34  Low 26   Clear, cold and crisp!

It’s the end of November 2011 and baby it’s cold outside! I spent the morning breaking ice on the animal’s water feeders and making sure everyone has adequate bedding to keep them warm. I hung white tarps up on the outside of the chicken run to prevent side-rains from soaking the ground but to allow light to still reflect in on our girls. I added some herbal tonic to everyone’s water so that they will have the benefit of extra vitamins, minerals and immune system support before the temperatures drop even lower this evening. We are hitting the mid-twenties so far.

This is the time to be nesting and resting  after a busy spring and summer but I am busy with holiday markets for our value-added product line, SongCroft Naturals. This means there is not rest for this girl until after December 25^th.

At that time, I will curl up in front of the fire with a hot cup of tea and work on the batik quilt crazy quilt because baby it’s cold outside.

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!

High 33   Low 20

Snowing with high winds!!!Whoohoo!

(If you want to learn even a little of what you are reading here, our apprenticeship program starts Jan. 15th. Last call for registration!)

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

Folks email me all the time saying they get tired reading the list of things we do. Well, you might want to grab yourself a cup o’ tea and kick your feet up ‘cuz this is going to be a long one because I’m going to give a summary of 2010!

All in all, it was a good year in many aspects. We accomplished some of our goals and completely failed on others. Okay, failed is pretty harsh. We just didn’t get everything we wanted to get done done. I am sure we got more accomplished than the average bear since both Brian and I are ‘Type A’ Capricorns.

Our apprenticeship program filled up and we had 3 teens all year!

We had a successful Fish Camp here in conjunction with Wolf Camp.

We took a few camping trips as well as went to our favorite seasonal gathering.

The things we didn’t get done were due to a matter of lack of weather, money, time or energy. The early part of Spring was very wet.

When we went on a camping trip, the chickens got out and scratch up much of our garden beds. I replanted and got things under control, so I thought, and one of the kids didn’t latch the gate so the chickens rearranged everything again. It is amazing what they can do with my tidy little rows in an hour! Of course, they left the forest garden alone since it would’ve taken more effort to walk over there.

We lost part of our duck flock, we think to neighbor dogs, so we are down to just three. Our son was heartbroken when he found his pet duck “Blackfoot” dead in the field.

We sold lots and lots of eggs all Spring and Summer. That was a nice supplement to the family budget.

We also sold a few goat kids too. We got a lot of milk and enjoyed the cheese.

Brians workshop was built and we will finish it in the Spring.

Our cabin was transformed in to a classroom and manufacturing facility for our SongCroft Naturals Personal Care product line. (The ingredients are so safe I can use them on my babies!)

We grew a good garden that is still providing us with fresh vegetables. We had tomatoes until early December and ground cherries too!

I “put up” lots of canned meat, fruit and vegetables, pickles, kim chi, as well as dried fruits, herbs and vegetables too.

I caught two bee swarms and hived them.

We put in the forest garden in April and it’s looking good.

We are one year closer to harvesting asparagas!

So, to the coming year. What are our goals? Well this is what I have settled on:

1. Finish Brian’s shop!
2. Enjoy our apprentices
3. Launch SongCroft Naturals our all natural Personal Care Products and have a Farmers Market booth.
4. Grow a bountiful garden that is well and truly chicken proofed!!!
5. Have more of the family’s help with harvesting more often so our production stays up and our waste in minimal.
6. Preserve more foods and herbs than last year.
7. Learn to smoke different meats.
8. Clear the spot behind the cabin so I can plant new beds. I haven’t decided what to plant there yet though.
9. Plant an evergreen edible hedge on top of a berm to create privacy as well as more perennial food.
10. Plant an evergreen privacy screen near the road.
11. Make more soap than last year. We ran out and I got too busy to make more.
12. Plant more trees for firewood.
13. Which reminds me, reinforce the goats browse area.
14. Fix all of the little jobs like greenhouse door handle, hinges on the compost bins, etc…
15. Re-design the lower part of our land.
16. Build new hay storage.
17. Build a new rabbitry.
18. Expand the summer chicken yard from 16×30 to something like 30×30.
19. Host Farm Camp.
20. Host Illumina Girls Camp.
21. Host Fish Camp.
22. Camp more, play more
23. Sing more.
24. Dance more.
25. Breathe more consciously.

I hope you enjoyed reading our summary of 2010 and being witness to us setting goals for 2011. Somehow it makes it a little more of a commitment if others know that the goals are set. (Maybe I should mention the 10 pounds?)

Oh, and if you come by for a visit, feel free to roll your sleeve up!

Thanks for reading. Your comments are welcome. Please do share our blog with others that you think might be interested. Happy New Year!

High 40   Low 30  Grey skies and snow on the ground.

http://livingsustainablyinsnohomishcounty.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-2011-newsletter.html Potlucks with a Purpose

Transition Port Gardener

Yesterday I spoke at an event called Potlucks with a Purpose. They asked me to come and share the story of how our family came to live the lifestyle that we do and to give tips on how to move towards a post-peak oil life.

It was a good group of folks. I especially enjoyed listening to an elderly gentleman. Tom is  blind and somewhat feeble in body but he is still mentally sharp and had a lot to share about growing up in West Virginia, the child of a coal miner, and how he went to college and became a chemist.

When I got ready to leave folks told me that Tom wanted to speak to me. When I sent to him, he took my hand in his. He thanked me for sharing our story and said that he admired the risks we have taken and the passion we have and that he felt inspired to hear younger folks living this way, with intention. Tom made my experience rich and meaningful. I am thankful for meeting him.

Multi-generational opportunites to build community and to learn are important and rare. I challenge all of us to work to gather our communities, young and old, so we can learn from each other.

If you would like me to talk to your group, please send an email so we can discuss the possibilities.

HIGH 34      LOW 22   Clear sunny day with ice and a bit of snow still on the ground.

It’s two weeks until the new apprenticeship program begins! Marilene posted a special in honor of her birthday. We only take registration until January 15th. After that, you’ll have to wait until 2012! Look at our facebook page for the special offer only good on January 6th!

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

Breeding time is an exciting time of year. This year seemed to come later than normal be cause the girls were just not showing strong signs of being in standing heat. Although we had a nice cold snap in November, which often gets the ball rolling in regard to breeding season. My girls were just not in the mood. It very well may have come from the stress of having coyotes on our land.

The coyotes never got a chance to make a kill but they visited several times in the late fall and even stood right out our backdoor yipping and making a fuss. Our goats were scared, as they well should be, and remained still as statues.

We got snow just after Christmas and fortunately one of the does went in to heat. I brought her over to a neighboring farm where I bred her to what I do believe is the most beautiful buck I have ever seen. He comes from amazing bloodlines so the union should result in lots of milk and cheese!

It might interest you to know how I get my girls over to neighboring farms. I do not have a truck with a canopy. I have a Subaru wagon. The does jump up in the back, sometimes with the encouragement of a banana peel or other such treat.

I grew up with a family pet goat that used to ride around in the car like a dog. (Really) We lived out on the coast in a small town of about 80 people. Things were real boring at times so my dad would take Amber for a ride just to get folks gossiping and making a fuss. This was one of his more minor spectacles!

In about 5 months from now, right around Memorial Day Weekend, we will have kids born. I will be back to milking and the rhythm of the seasons will take another turn towards abundance.

I can already taste the chevre!

High 52  Low 43    Cool and with a rain on and off all day. Windy evening.

Did anyone else stay up to watch the lunar equinox? How cool was that? I hope you had a clear enough view. In my area, it was a bit cloudy but we got some nice clear views for sure!  Even though the evening air was quite cold, the kids and I were up until the early morning watching the magnificence of nature. The last time a lunar eclipse happened was in 1638! Although we will have more lunar eclipses, the lunar eclipse in 2010 will be the only most of will see in our lifetime on a Winter Solstice.

The next evening we kept the fire going. Our fireside vigil was kept with happy hearts. We drank tea and cuddled with quiet talk about dreams. We sang songs enjoyed each other’s company. Here is one of our favorites:

Round and round the earth is turning

Turning turning until morning

And from morning round to night

We hope all of you are enjoying this dream time season!

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.

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/ (Register for our apprenticeship)

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.