Gabi LeBlanc Log: Difference between revisions

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=6.2.12=


Got the teen chicks into the reinforced chicken tractor, now they can graze and they're loving the young Queen Anne's Lace!  It's good to see them out of their baby cage.
[[Category:Personal Logs]]
 
Keeping the chickens out of the garden by sticking cardboard in the fence.  I'm trusting that if they can't see through the fence, they won't challenge it.  Time will tell, I'm just trying to tip the balance in their favor.  If they eat the sorghum sprouts, then I'll count it as a success in growing my own chicken feed, and hope that they leave some leftovers for us to use later.
 
The Greeks got here in due time, they had a flight delay so we had to make two trips, it was a late night trying to track down their new itinerary yesterday but all ended well.  They are here and happy.
 
Just got news that my kombucha came to the PO box!  Going to start a brew later today, we'll see how the starter survived shipment.
 
Spread some sunflowers out in front of the HabLab.  If they come up in time we can harvest the oil.
 
Today is a day of meetings, business, and GOODCOW.  She is coming here at 3 this afternoon, I am low on sleep but high on anticipation.  Expect a joyous homecoming news update later tonight.
 
To Do:
*Put out a trough for the cow's water
*Kombucha starter
*Soak, Seed beans
*Spread hay in garden and irrigate
*Spread hay and water sunflowers
 
Here's a funny tidbit, I just read this in [http://www.cultivatekc.org/ Cultivate Kansasa City]:
"On our recent simulcast with Iowa Public Radio (KCUR, HPM), farmer Issac Phillips from Richland, IA told us, “The Farmer of the Future will  have to be a livestock specialist, an attorney, an agriculture scientist, an accountant, and a veterinarian. You have to be a jack of all trades." While Kate Edwards of Wild Woods Farm told us, "The Farmer of the Future is not yet defined. It depends on those who aren't farmers." What do you think?"
 
Sounds accurate, at least from what I've experienced in my lifetime.  I'd revise this statement to include farmers of the "present", as many farms are going under (more so during recent past years of recession) and in order to stay in business many farms are changing, adapting, shifting, diversifying their models and strategies.
 
=6.30.12=
 
Thoughts on living here after two weeks:
*everything I was excited about is even better than anticipated
*the bad things I anticipated finding out about..either don't exist or I just haven't looked hard enough
*the community here is amazing
*I feel like I have a radical amount of liberty here.  I make my own choices about how I spend my time, and I feel good about those choices because they benefit myself and others.  I have so many people at my fingertips with valuable knowledge, and they are more than willing to teach and help me.  I can be myself without holding back for the sake of others.  I don't have to fit into any kind of niche, I don't feel cramped mentally or physically or socially.  Part of my role here is to create my own environment to suit my own needs.  I feel empowered.
*I have been successful in making shifts in my lifestyle that I wanted to make:
**waking up early
**fostering zest for what I do that keeps me motivated and energized through any kind of challenges
**living in a way that I can be proud of (off-grid, low impact, adaptive and in tune with established cycles)
**ingesting fewer toxins
**being less exposed to consumer culture
**simplifying my life
**learning things that I have always wanted to learn, but didn't for one reason or another
**feeling like I can do absolutely anything, and knowing how to go about it even if it's completely novel
 
My biggest fear about leaving was that of losing relationships with the Davis community.  Turns out, almost everybody is accessible through the internet and I've been able to keep in contact with old friends.  Additionally, before I left I concentrated most on dissolving my sense of borders and separation, in order to dispel my impending trauma in becoming geographically separated from loved ones.  It actually worked.  I look up at the sky, and feel a thousand others doing the same.  Our hearts beat human blood, our feet stamp the same dirt, and we are all in this world together.  Loneliness is a far-away notion.  When I irrigate, I see Leo in our old garden watering tomatoes and contemplating life.  When I pick an apple, I see Lex tromping around our old farm harvesting pink ladies.  When it's too hot to sleep, I see myself and others congregating on Agrarian Effort porch late at night to fan each other's sweat and commiserate.
 
Of course, there are things I miss about where I came from, but I'm coming to realize that all of those things are also here, I just have to shift my perspective a bit:
*Dumpster Diving - I think I just haven't looked in the right place, but the storage system at FeF is more than fulfilling this category
*Neighborhood foraging - fewer fruit trees, but there is a diversity of edible weeds (cattails!)
*Organic produce - I kind of appreciate this one, it's all the more motivating to grow and forage
*Live music - Sure, there might not be a band playing every night, but we make plenty of music ourselves, day in and day out
 
Things I really appreciate about this place:
*the culture is different from my own, which is stimulating
*the trees grow tall and thick
*there is WATER almost EVERYWHERE
*it is not flat.  There are hills and I get to ride my bike up and down them.
*sometimes the sky comes up pink at dawn, and there are amazing clouds to stare at almost every day
*at night the stars shine in a thick twinkling mat
*FIREFLIES
*the sounds of insects and birds blend into a soothing white noise that lulls me to sleep
*it gets so humid that I ooze sweat and feel like a warm wet ball of clay
*I have fostered a strange affection for ticks
*Didn't know it before, but I am immune to poison ivy, for now
*elder trees grow all over the place!
 
=6.29.12=
 
Tested out the biochar kiln today!  Unfortunately, my phone ran out of juice before I could upload a video.  Same story with the standup for the day.  I'll try tracking down a charger tomorrow so I can get those online.  Very exciting burning, the biogas started flaming right on schedule, and it actually went way better than I expected.  Simple stuff to make, really.
 
Helped Aidan build his mattress.  First time using the string trimmer!  It's so shiny and new, I have a lot of respect for it.  Found out it came with a metal blade already, so now we have a tri-blade "and" a notched blade.  Perfect.
 
Read up a bit on surveying, got some writing done for the [http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Surveying_101 Wiki].
 
I've got a kombucha baby coming in the mail from an old housemate.  Should be here tomorrow, I can't wait to start brewing!
 
=6.28.12=
 
<html><img src="https://docs.google.com/drawings/pub?id=1hJjLzHQaiGTIopqC7u5YU3CzFiyczQq5HqmCUMOxSTg&amp;w=960&amp;h=720"></html>
 
Added a diagram to the [[Biochar]] wiki, and hopefully I can get a load started tonight so I can make a video of the process to demonstrate.  After that comes application, and you can bet I'll be documenting the results.
 
Finished spreading all of Tim's horse manure this morning, we rocked it from 7 to 11 and got it dumped and spread on the grapes, berries, and many trees going up the hill.  Discovered that we have a decent crop of asian pears coming in!  One of my favorite fruits!  The apples are also impressing me, we might have enough to bake a couple of pies!  I also had a happy discovery yesterday - one of the more dead-looking sweet potato slips grew a very promising leaf!
 
I've got Graham building me some hand tools from scrap metal, for when the weeds need discipline.  He made two hand hoes yesterday, and today I told him what I want to see in terms of a digging knife.  Cheap, quick, simple, built on-site, customizable, and much sturdier than ones I would find at a store.
 
=6.27.12=
 
Today I built a biochar kiln.  [[Biochar]] is pretty useful on a farm with deadwood as a byproduct.  I used a simple replication of the Gunther Folke Biochar design, minus the biogas reservoir.  It can be retrofitted if we ever see the demand for biogas here, which is very likely, but probably not for a few months at least.  If there is time tomorrow I'll start a load to demonstrate how it works.  I'll also draw up the design I came up with using very rudimentary materials (2 barrels in bad shape, rebar, some roofing metal, 3 nuts and bolts to hold up the inner lid.  [[Aaron_Makaruk|Aaron]] sent me this [https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=000e119ddd&view=att&th=1378f196764981de&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_h2qbdqxt0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8kFxXHKm1q777BFIzspUW3&sadet=1340853489720&sads=C7JCOks12AMW4j2Qhe6NWdTYUFQ glimmer of inspiration] before I was even on-site, and it had been nagging in the back of my brain ever since I got here.  First taste of welding using the tools here, thanks Aidan!
 
Tomorrow I'll be shoveling horse manure ([https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=000e119ddd&view=att&th=13830466d8534f74&attid=0.2&disp=inline&realattid=d48f91cb28caa800_0.1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8kFxXHKm1q777BFIzspUW3&sadet=1340883549836&sads=RAitxf5XDxpBRhg-Iib162H7UgI Tim is awesome]), then taking Yoon Seo to the airport, as well as picking up Briana, plus 2 tents for our Greek guests who are arriving in a few days.
 
Been irrigating, chicken tending, keeping up with lots of visitors and collaborators ([http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/American_Farm_School American Farm School], Will Bratton for the [[Horto Domi]], a dairyman from Vermont who might prototype the GVCS dairy milker, to name a few)  Oh, addressed some envelopes today for the kickstarter.  It was great to see the breadth and scope of those addresses, really makes you realize where our audience comes from.  (Planet Earth!)
 
=6.26.12=
 
Corn and sorghum are in the ground, spinach and chard and cabbage are in planters, squash and melons are in seed flats, and everything got watered.  Good day today.  Starting to sleep more, that's a nice change.
 
I have diversified my technological capabilities!  Using [http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Mac expert instruction], plus a USB flash drive, I now run linux on this silly little laptop.
 
 
=6.25.12=
 
Rome wasn't built in a day, but the chicken tractor was.  It's on wheels, is about 50 square feet, and is made entirely of what I scrounged on-site.
 
We'll plant corn, sorghum, and millet tomorrow.  I'll be starting squash seeds in the greenhouse for the three sisters, and transplanting some cucumber starts to a container with a trellis.  The blackberries are just now starting, and there are plenty of tomatoes even though none are getting color yet.
 
If I have time tomorrow I'll either stuff another straw mattress, or weld a biochar kiln.  FeF officially has its own string trimmer!  Wooo!
 
=6.24.12=
 
Today is my sister's birthday!  Happy birthday Celeste!!
It is also Aidan's birthday!  Happy birthday Aidan!!
To all those whose birthday it is, congratulations.
 
[http://youtu.be/hbrnNKqt6dg The first garden plot is all set to be planted!!] I've been manifesting some great timing with the weather, as soon as I finished this video, spread the rest of the cardboard, and went inside to make coffee, it started raining buckets.  Thanks, universe!
 
Yesterday I went to Kansas City and the surrounding areas.  First I dropped off Aaron at the airport.  (FeF already misses you, come back soon!)  Then I went south to pick up the electric fence from a craigslist ad.  Then I went to Kavitha's house and enjoyed great conversation and refreshment.  Even got to do my laundry!  (Thanks so much for everything, Kavitha!  The papasan is being put to very good use already.)  Then I got back to FeF to meet the visiting family.
 
Woke up this morning pre-dawn, stared out my window listening to the birds, waiting for the sun to give me an excuse to start my day.  The apples are falling larger and sweeter now, and the pears are delicious!  I've been roasting [https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=000e119ddd&view=att&th=13814beab058aeae&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1405491879634534400-1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8kFxXHKm1q777BFIzspUW3&sadet=1340541789566&sads=AP8vD8z6ezr49OHLI29Xocm8cIA chicory] to make DIY coffee, it grows all over the place here.  In the photo you can see the plants, and the roots that I snipped off.  I figured the easiest, least consumptive way to roast it was to chop it fine.  It turned out great, brews like motor oil, no caffeine, free of charge, and the cost of transportation is the time it takes me to walk from the shop to the HabLab.
 
So this is the first full week I've spent at FeF.  I dig it.
 
=6.22.12=
 
Yesterday was pretty epic.
*[http://youtu.be/lzk0HH-2wQw I made my bed!]  [http://youtu.be/BzTnaIbUWa0 And slept in it!]
**Thank you [http://www.dancingrabbit.org/ Dancing Rabbit] for inspiring us!
*Tim mowed down a bodacious amount of ragweed and brush
*We tried plowing the mowed area, but ran into problems with the turning radius of LifeTrac with the plow mounted on the back corner.  Decided to use the bucket to scoop soil and mound it, now we have passable rows!  Aidan was plowing until 10 last night, and we very nearly finished but then the LifeTrac needed a break.  Laid out the cow panels, so today we'll be trying out the soil pulverizer and setting up the fence.  Then I can wet everything, cover it with cardboard so it'll be ready to plant.
*I got sunburnt.  Mild bummer, overshadowed by feelings of accomplishment.  I guess that means it was worth it.
*Marcin's gone so I'm keeping track of the well pump so we don't dry up.
*Chicks got their first taste of CRACKed corn yesterday.  They're lovin' it.
 
To Do:
Field Work:
*Sink rebar, wire panels
*In between existing rows:
**Plan A: use soil pulverizer
**Plan B: dig furrows and pile that soil into a third row
*Hydrate and cover with cardboard
Writing:
*I still need to write my [http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Leblanc_Contract Contract]
*Working on the Garden Plan drawing for the south side, it's in progress.
*Continue Flashy Scrum Control Panel development for Neosubsistent Agriculture
*Write a letter to my folks so they know my address works out here.
 
=6.20.12=
 
Ordered everything we need last night.  Once I make a trip to Kansas City this weekend we'll have complete infrastructure set up for GoodCow (yes, that will be her name), the garden, and surveying the space.
 
Cut all the rebar I'd need for the electric fence.  [[Will Bratton]] might be coming out to build us a [[Horto Domi]].  Learned some basic CAD last night, thanks [[Yoonseo]]!  Never thought it would be that much fun, and we'll have more tutorials weekly, so now when I find myself with a spot of free time at night I can borrow someone's computer and design a sorghum press, fiber mill, a tool for <html><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutching">scutching fiber plants</a></html>, and anything else I've ever dreamed of wanting.
 
About to pick up the plow attachment for the tractor, and today will officially be my first time driving LifeTrac.  Excited?!  You bet!  Expect a video to come with a tractor tutorial for future LifeTrac users.
 
South Indian food tonight!  I can smell it and I can't wait.
 
Tomorrow looks like manure pick up, much belated mattress stuffing, and lots of yardwork.
 
=6.19.12=
 
Lots to do!  Zip zip zip!
 
We have SEEDS!
 
<html><img src="https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=000e119ddd&view=att&th=13806a963d6b475b&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1405238803014090752-1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8kFxXHKm1q777BFIzspUW3&sadet=1340148416039&sads=gAd3AQ7pztVdhAJJuq-kNBrunuQ" height="400px" width="600px" /></html>
 
Thank you, Hummert Seed & Supply!  Brought a catalog back with me for next time.
 
Here's what I bought:
*Sorghum
*Rainbow Swiss Chard
*New Zealand Spinach
*Buttercrunch Lettuce
*Golden Acre Cabbage
*Crenshaw Melon
*Seven Top Turnip
*Sugar Baby Watermelon
*Golden Crookneck Squash
*White Bush Scallop Squash
*Stowell's Evergreen Corn
*Golden Bantam Corn
*Mississippi Silver Cow Peas
*Missouri Wonder Pole Beans
 
Carrots planted, parsnips planted, started some cukes, cilantro, dill, and kale.  We need to run the tractor through the south side of the greenhouse, cover it with cardboard, and plant it next week.  I'd like Marcin to run a tractor tutorial so everybody can learn who wants to, and we can document it for future residents.
 
Buying everything on the [[Gabi Shopping List]] right now.  It's a lot of stuff, and my job will be so much easier when we have a string trimmer.  I'm also itching to start surveying.  Thanks to [[Chris DeAngelis]] for loaning me The Fundamentals of Surveying, it's great!!  Also reviewing Dan Schellenberg's videos a few more times.
 
Learning some CAD basics tonight, my first project will be designing a sorghum press.  We'll need it, especially since I bought five pounds of seed today.
 
=6.18.12=
 
Woke up earlier than expected.  It's a gorgeous day, I've got computer things to do so I think I'll post up out of doors for the work.
 
Going to KS City today to pick up electric fence polytape.  New place for me, we'll see what food I can forage while I'm there.
 
Got a lead on sweet potato slips from the East Coast at Scott Farms.  We'll see what they've got.
 
Writing Garden Plan, finished up Survey Tools List.  Next up: concise shopping list encompassing everything I haven't bought yet.
 
Feeling pretty well adjusted, it's a bit like I've been here for weeks instead of 4 days.  Still feeling out the rhythm of the week, but I'm very comfortable here.  Unexpected, but encouraging.  It means that I made the right decision coming here and there's not a lot of jarring changes that I need to adapt to.  There are some small ones and I'm excited to learn and grow and change as I have the same effects on my environment.  Good people, good plants, good weather, soon to be good soil, and I am empowered by all of it.  Happy Monday!
 
To do:
*google map to Dwayne's house - done, thanks dorkmo!
*garden plan - in progress
*order shopping list
*os cartography software/sourcing - in progress
*review awesome books that chris lent me on surveying etc - in progress
*vlogs
 
Personal To-Do:
*Turn scrap Satellite Dish into Roof for Dog House
*Put more screws in my walls for hanging things
*GET MORE SLEEP.  Never expected that to be a problem here, but there you go.
 
=6.17.12=
 
Lots to do at once, I think I'll be working on my day off, since my energy is undiminished after only 2 days of being here.
 
Leaving to find our cow in about an hour, really excited to meet her for the first time.  Teddy, too.
 
Emailed MFA to see if they have rods, because my usual source, Livewire, is in California.  They're probably closed on Sunday, so I'll hear from them on Monday.  Just set up buying our first piece of the fence, the polytape.  Dwayne is selling it through craigslist, I'll be picking it up at 2:00 tomorrow.  These were his directions:
 
8294 W 335TH
69 TO FORT SCOTT
7 MILE SOUTH OF LEWISBERG
69 AND 335TH
 
Moved into the solar cube, because the hab lab is a bit too comfortable.  I prefer a place that is only used for sleeping, and doesn't have the space or accommodation for much else.  Also I wanted to live in the box, from the beginning my instincts told me that I wanted to live there.
 
In charge of the chicks while Briana is in Texas.  She'll be back in a week.
 
Paid deposit on cow, I am in love with her.  She's number 17, is a Jersey Holstein cross with Brown Swiss and Shorthorn genetics as well.  Teddy's dropping her off two weeks from Monday, so that's the 2nd of July.  Need to figure out what kind of grain to feed her so the transition to being grass fed doesn't do her harm.  Also it'll be her incentive treat every morning for milking.  She's docile, has a great udder, isn't too big, clear eyes, good feet, everything I would want in a cow.  Contemplating names.  Thank you to Teddy, for being such a friendly dairyman.  He truly loves his herd.
 
Set up my hammock in the wooded area over the creek bed.  Also found a berry patch in the ravine.  Gooseberries, mystery berries (look like black rasberries?), and picked some mulberries off the tree, too.  Blackberries are coming in, not near ripe yet but I'll be ready when they are!  Same story with the grapes.
 
=6.16.12=
 
Woke up early, did some sourcework for the cow, went to the Saint Joseph Farmer's Market with Aidan.  Found it pretty limited in terms of organic produce, only one farmer there sold organic food and it was mostly greens.  Also, more processed/canned foods than I was accustomed to seeing.
 
Met a guy named Joel who raises lamb, asked him what he does with his bummers, I'll probably be looking for some lambs to diversify our grazing polyculture in a couple seasons.
 
Found a couple more berries that I'd like to propagate here: aronia berry and gooseberry.  Pretty sure I can find some gooseberries if I just rummage around in the native trees.  Aronia berries we'd probably have to buy seed for, but it would be so worth it.
 
Came back, and after a quick meeting we started stuccoing one of the outer bedrooms at the HabLab.
 
Took a dip in Pony Express Lake and washed the stucco off my clothes.  Found a roadkill deer coming back, brought a couple bones with me for the dog to chomp on later.
 
Had a meeting with Marcin about the cow, talked to a guy in King City who can sell us a first calf heifer, jersey-holstein cross, for $1100.  He sounds personable, I can't wait to meet him.
 
=6.15.12=
 
Rolling down towards Factor E, I got an overwhelming sense of affection towards the native plants, the smells in the air, the moisture and lush green surrounding the creeks and ponds, and overall felt like I was heading to a rightful place.
 
Pulled up to Factor E, gave myself a tour of the property, focused on not feeling daunted and instead inspired at all the potential here.  Moved into the HabLab, meaning I took a couple egg crates out of my car and put them in a convenient corner.
 
Met my team mates, had a meeting with Marcin outlining a concrete work plan.  Looks like the first focuses will be getting a dairy cow out here, surveying, getting the garden going, and
 
Did laundry in town, picked up mattress shells for straw stuffing.  Attempted straw stuffing, realized we were not using the correct tool.  Decided that a lawn mower is a better strategy.  Tried to borrow one from a neighbor, but he didn't have one.  Fortunately we didn't come back empty-handed, he gave us a bunch of beets, carrots, and onions.  We'll be using Tim Gravlin's lawn mower when he comes in later this week.
 
Engaged in some community-building card games!  I had to duck out eventually because I was nearly falling asleep at the table.
 
Slept the best sleep I've had in a while.  Excited and rushing into many projects at once, but I've got excellent folks around to help me keep my head on straight.

Latest revision as of 04:08, 17 December 2022

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