Bartering Opportunties Sought

Since we are spacial challenged a fair amount of our produce is either bartered or gleaned for. Our most successful method to establish local contacts is that old stand by a hand written index card.
Quick and to the point our card states what we need & what we have to offer. Repair of antiques, yard work, house cleaning, for gleaning rights. Fair trades in potted plants. Instruction in old time skills such as spinning. Apple pressing in exchange for a share of apples.
Handing out our cards have often given us an opportunity to start a dialogue with someone about the concepts of simple living in an urban setting. Chance to make a new friend.
I originally got this idea from my Mom who would always hand a notebook sized piece of paper to the person holding a tag sale. The paper had columns of items listed that Mom was interested in buying such as boys size 6 pants or yellow patterned drapes 78" long. Often that spurred the person to send a family member into the house to retrieve the items which of course had never been considered before. She also use to leave her contact info in case they ever came across those drapes.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Solar Dehydrator

This is a close up of the solar dehydrator that DH built me last year for about a dollar in materials. Missing are the trays which come from all my old Roncho electric dehydrators.
The air is drawn into the bottom of the intake (area that resembles a black slide). As it is heated it raises coming out the area that is white (square resembles a table).
On the slide is scraps of plexi glass snatched from a trash bin @ his job hence why there are horizontal lines instead of just a whole sheet of plastic. Glass could be substituted also but would add to the weight.
I sewed a mesh cover for insect control out of sunblock material I had in my scrap pile. A close weave cheese cloth would also work well.

~~ pelenaka ~~

H. Bush, Rochester, New York

I have an addiction to stoves. Antique wood stoves to be exact. It was simple enough starting with my 1949 Hotpoint double oven ... just one hit ... don't inhale ...
Look where it has lead me.
First my 1900 laundry stove used for canning now this parlor stove possible circa 1850's. It's in awfully good shape with no holes or cracks. More than likely 1870's. Love the ridges.
Can't seem to find anything about a H. Bush Foundry in Rochester, New York online.
Stats; estimated weight is around 50 lbs. per DH, top is 11" wide x 20" long, stands 25",
flue is 4 1/2 ". The legs are removeable slide into brackets & are quite ornate.
To answer every one's question no my 1902 TOH has no remaining chimnies. All 3 - one in kitchen, front room/foyer, & up stairs bedroom were removed in the '30's replaced with radiator heating then with a forced air furnance.
But it does still have one of those bump outs that accommodate a stove pipe in that bedroom.
Or wouldn't a stove in the bathroom be the bomb on those cold Buffalo Winters?
I really should stay outta auction barns.
I may need an intervention.
Bring ladders & class B stove pipe. We'll do a Techno-Amish barn raising. I'll make New York style cheese cake & serve cordials.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Planting

The best laid plans of Mice & Men ... I was planning on growing Opalka paste tomatoes for canning this Summer but the few that did sprout up were weak. So in a moment of desperation after being told at local organic greenhouse they had sold out of Amish paste seedlings I went commercial and bought Roma paste. There is always next Summer, (wiping away a tear).
I plant my tomatoes on their side to promote root growth. Roots will pop out all along the stems if buried. I leave about 2" to 3" peaking out. Within a day what was horizontal will be vertical reaching for the Sun. In a week or so I will repeat the process until the seedling is directly underneath the PVC trellis to which it will be tied to with twine.
The white powder on the soil is finely ground organic egg shells that I saved all winter. Free form of calcium which promotes flowering.
The red plastic is a tablecloth bought at the $ store. I read that the color will increase harvest by 20% when used as ground cover. Wonder what other applications it can be used for?
Time will tell.
6 pack Roma's were $ 2.49, bought 4 = $9.56
So I'm - $9.56 in canned stewed tomatoes category. Gonna have to make up for it in both increasing the harvest in general and foraging.





~~ pelenaka ~~

Good Links

I found these two links while blog reading about wasted food @ http://wastedfood.com/.
The 1st is Love Food Hate Waste outta UK that has a great section on recipes where the search is based on what needs using up. There's a recipe called Bubble & Squeak that's worth a try for the unique factor alone. http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes
Link to converting Metric to Standard (it's a UK website after all) http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm
The second link from Wasted Food is the Society of St. Andrew, a Christian ministry dedicated to gleaning America’s fields and feeding America’s hungry.
Great opportunity to learn about gleaning - http://www.endhunger.org/index.htm


~~ pelenaka ~~

First Salad of Spring

Free Organic Baby Salad Greens grown in the cold frame. Seeds were a gift from a fellow urban homesteader. Not sure where she obtained them from no doubt a barter deal. This is a mix of non-iceberg lettuce the majority I can't i.d. without a seed catalog except for Red Oak. Wanna say the seed packet read salad mix from Johnny's seeds.

I sowed the lettuce much too close in the beginning of April half thinking it wouldn't be a problem since the seeds are 4 years old, more than likely not to grow. So now for the most part we'll just come out and kneel down next to the frame and attempt to pluck out every other lettuce plant. Make that pluck 3 leave 1.

Frugal aspect: from an earlier blog post about the cold frame http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/2007/08/happenings-on-back-40-feet.html

Materials were free wood scraps, about $2 worth of black paint, and guess of $5 worth of upholstery plastic. Still need to do that upgrade to enable the original goal to be met - growing greens in Winter.

Current pricing on organic salad greens is $4.99 for 8 oz. Frame paid for itself last season so I'm curious how much of a savings it will generate this season.

Last night we ate about $6 worth for dinner.

~~ pelenaka ~~

1. P.S. Chore list 5/5/08 - future rain barrels didn't get painted due to a difference between my engineer (DH) & myself. He has an idea for a new design ...
2. New Patio design is 1/3 completed, waiting on the take down of my greenhouse which is waiting on the final threat of frost. Extreme difficulty foraging for cinder blocks, (must be the recession).
3. New Raised bed is started but also waiting on the removal of the greenhouse. Soil was relocated from a bed located in the driveway along with found compost material (lazy neighbor who doesn't rake). Wasn't able to collect pond scum or wood chips yet. Placed rabbit cages over this bed & another to direct collect poop. Bun's are enjoying the change of scenery. I'm enjoying NOT cleaning cage pans.
4. Rabbit tractor has been put on hold until I can find a suitable pasture. First attempt @ a local park attracted a dog & owner with way too many questions. The tractor design was my smallest cage placed on the open lawn.
5. Planted a very small bed of wild garlic from a plant trade with a coworker. Garlic should be planted in the Fall when possible. Hope to trade a lilac for a Hosta next week.