Thanks for visiting this website where every few days I will document the goings on, on this farm. 20 years ago I moved my family in an old pick-up truck to he hills of Holmes county, Ohio to live a more sustainable life. What an adventure it has been. 20 years later and the kids are grown, the house is empty and the next steps remain.
So, it's the beginning of yet another year hopefully better than the last which was filled with heartache. We just finished our New Years dinner which was the traditional pork and saurekraut that families of German heritage eat for good luck in the coming year. My grandmothers, Mae and Elizabeth, were both kraut makers in their day. they each had a fine collection of crocks and both had a wood and steel cutter from their mothers I would guess. I now make my own kraut each year using one of those cutters and a crock of my own, (sounds like a country song). Brett started cabbage plants from seed this past spring and we ended up with a bunch of beautiful cabbage, so one day mid-summer I chopped and chopped and salted and pressed. Packed the crock and let it work until it was good and fermented. We canned 40 some quarts and put it away in the fruit cellar for days like this.
When the children were young and we all sat down for dinner I would list everything on their plates that came from the farm. Today was no exception but only one of them joined Georgia and I for the meal. I made a slow roasted pork shoulder from the hog we raised and butchered in the backyard last fall It rested on a bed of my kraut which was spiked with our elephant garlic and a little pear syrup. Potatoes were dug and Georgia smashed them with a little butter and I baked a crusty loaf with flour that was made from wheat grown and milled around the corner, sort of Stutzman's Farm is about 6 miles from us and I buy my flour from them. It just tastes better when you know where it came from......trust me.
January 1, 2016
January 8, 2016
Tuesday past our neighbor, David Miller of the Amish persuasion, provided us with a "Fantastic Pig" for a very good price. My boy Zak, Annie's "fellow" and my employee, Brett and myself spent the better part of the day cutting, grinding and packaging that pig for this year's freezer meat. Annie & Brett bought me a grinder and sausage stuffer for my Kitchenaid mixer which worked very well and we made some beautiful sausage.
I have become "adequate
" at cutting up an animal, this was my second pig and we did two lambs this past fall. Years ago when the children were very young I raised broilers and dressed them myself.
However, killing an animal has never been easy for me, so David has stepped in lately to help with the "dressing" as he calls it. I did kill the chickens when I did them but that was at least an axe handle away from the bird and if you have raised chickens you know what they're like and it doesn't pain me to take their life. A pig on the other hand is one of us, sort of.
January 15, 2016
Winter finally comes to Paint Valley
yesterday, my birthday, I became 54 years old, actually 55 if you think about it but who cares. It isn't a major milestone I suppose but I did tell a friend that every birthday after 50 is a BIG one! I have this terrible habit of fast forwarding and looking back and adding things. 6 years from 60 scares the hell out of me and 6 years ago was like the other day. For the younger ones out there ...pay attention, it flies by and doesn't return.
I met with my minister this week for help in dealing with all that has come at Georgia and I this past year. One of the things we discussed was my feeling of "now what?"! Our children are grown and mostly gone into the world and we are left wondering what do we focus on now. I bought the farm, so to speak, to raise my kids and instill simple values in them and I believe we have been successful.
I need a driving force to motivate and keep me focused , Georgia and I only eat so much so growing and preserving food takes much less time, the syrup business is mature and sustainable and "big enough". Permaculture, aquaculture, agriculture, culture culture............spinning in my head and spinning on my bed I imagine it will come to me or for me soon enough. Enjoy this bit o' winter it may not last!
Today is the 26th of January, 2016, my brother mark would have turned 56 today. Unfortunately, he ended his life 9 months ago on my father's birthday. Words cannot describe the anguish that we have survived over the last 9 months, only someone who has endured such an event can understand.
Pages could be written about my 50+ years with my brother but I will only write about things as they relate to this farm that I share with my wife and family. Mark had a friend, Gene and he remained friends with him from grade school until the end. Gene had gotten married right out of high school and started a family. He purchased a fix it upper house in our home town with some land, planted gardens, raised livestock, canned vegetables....country stuff. Mark would often tell me that Gene was doing this or that, I knew Gene, we played football together in High School, Mark and Gene were captains their senior year. I was a sophmore, played side by side, lost most games and bore the brunt of an older brother. It was good.
Anyway, for years I wanted to be Gene.....the guy my brother always talked about and admired. The guy who had a farm, and gardens, and livestock....so that's what I did, mostly for my family and my wife but part of me thought "Mark will think this is cool" he may have thought it or been jealous of our life but he never told me so. I hired him over the years for odd jobs and projects that I would never get to and our home is a testament to his skills and my vision, but he never put me on the pedestal with Gene, and now he is gone......forever.
Life is fragile and fleeting, enjoy each passing moment and day, stay alert and focused and alive and engaged. For like all things, this pain too shall pass.
