Newsletter #248 2024 Mar 01 Friday
We are in between Pure Maple Syrup season and spring; a different sort of week
Primal Woods
Pure Maple Syrup
We shut down production of syrup in the past week. Cleanup of the Sugar House, Evaporator and Buckets is still in progress.
And it was a good time to wrap things up; with the temperatures consistently above freezing in the 10-day, sap flow will be minimal, if any. It was a short season but I’m happy with it; we got Amber, which is all I could hope for.
Sawmill Services
I’ve got one log from Travis in front of milling the 25 walnut logs for George; I expect to start next week. There are three more jobs in the funnel, and at least one of those should also be in March. This will be the earliest start of the Sawmill Services season we’ve ever made.
Homestead Rebel Farm
Due to how underweight the oxen were at the outset, I went through more hay than expected as they made up for lost time. Fortunately my friend Brian H. sent me a text a couple of days ago, which led to me fetching these round bales this morning.
After the first few weeks the oxen have been going through about a round bale (850 lbs, more or less) per week, so this addition to our supply of hay should take us into the first week of May. It looks like good hay, too. I am hopeful that by May new grass will be available on pasture, and we be in no need of more hay until this fall. (You can see Elmer there at the right edge of the photo.)
Here, I am going to repeat a section from last week, with the addition of two items:
Farming is approaching the top of the list, and three things are at the top of my mind:
Pigs; the plan is to run 6-8 pigs this year, $400 down payment required, let me know if you are interested, or want to know more about how this works. We will start earlier than last year, perhaps much earlier, maybe as early as March. We’ve learned a lot, and aside from not having the pigs onsite long enough, 2023 went very well.
Meat birds, aka broiler chickens. I’m thinking 75 birds; again, let me know if you are interested in pastured chickens.
Perimeter fencing. If I’ve learned one thing over the course of the past few years it is this; don’t bring on animals if you are not equipped to manage them effectively and efficiently. Before we start with sheep we need water-tight perimeter fencing. Oh, and a another thing…
Training the oxen and putting them to work!
Restore lake access from the Farmhouse; build and install a dock.
Restore the Barn well to an operational status.
And I will repeat, if you are interested in pastured pork or chicken, please let me know in the comments, send an email to john@primalwoods.com, call me at 269-487-6365, stop by, or send up a smoke signal! Especially with the pork, we will only run as many as we have orders for.
Also, if you are interested in helping with some of this work, and the fellowship that goes with that, we would be very happy to accommodate.
News
I spent even less time in the news this week, which is probably a good thing. Between now and November I expect there to be more and more insanity on display. I did put up several Notes as the week went on; news items that struck a chord.
Books
My small group brothers and I celebrated completion of A Year With Men last night. I think we all made significant progress, but doubtless, more work lies ahead. Along this same line of inquiry, I was asked to be a board member at Outpouring of Hope Ministries, and I humbly accepted. I not sure I’m the guy for the job, which might be the understatement of the year, but regardless, it will be another leg on the journey. With the first board meeting came homework, the book Letters To The Church, by Francis Chan.
I’m about 2/3rds of the way through Letters…, and if this book doesn’t challenge our view of the American church nothing will. Having said that, it is the church I want and need. I’m excited, and anxious at the same time. The cost of going down this path will be high; that much is promised.
I’m about 200 pages into Giants In The Earth and its been a great read so far, especially with reference to place names I’m familiar with in South Dakota. Nothing but grass from horizon to horizon, except along the rivers where trees (for firewood and building material) could be found, just as my Mom has described it to me. By the way, the title comes from the Bible:
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4
Then next book to be read is unopened on my nightstand; The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America’s Secret Government, by David Talbot. I can’t say that I’m excited about what I will learn.
Online Presence
Work continues; I don’t know when we will go “live” with it, but inside two weeks I think. The shopping experience should be much improved, and there will be pages for the Farmhouse, and clear links to the Homestead Rebel Farm Substack.
Interestingly, and disturbingly, my web developer was able to pull pictures off of the old Primal Woods Facebook page, which I deleted, permanently, what must be at least three years ago. That just goes to show that nothing that hits the web ever leaves the web. Act accordingly.
All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri