Newsletter #260 2024 May 24 Friday
Geese, goslings, docks, tree work, firewood, kiln drying of lumber, pigs, oxen, reading, writing; you name it, it went on this week.
Primal Woods
The goslings are back on the property, and it would appear they are a few weeks old. There are only a couple of places on the lake where they can get up on a surface like our yard provides, and to be honest, most people just don’t like geese. That would not be us. One year I didn’t have to mow until August; geese are herbivores, and they literally mow grass, and of course, fertilize as they go; you can’t ask for more than that.
Sawmill Services
Another update on the solar kilns, which have been in operation since the end of April. A week ago we were only seeing temps in the kiln about 30°F above ambient, now we are closer to 40°F above ambient, and should see 50°F in mid-summer. We still have George’s lumber in both kilns, 1 inch boards in one kiln, and 2 inch boards in the other. Here are the charts:
A clear downward trend for Relative Humidity in Kiln #1, and an increase in Temperature; just what the wood doctor ordered.
Surprisingly, because this is the 2 inch lumber, we are almost there; that dotted “EMC 72 Hr Ave” line is approaching the top of our 6-8% range; it is at 8.4%. Beautiful.
Progress on the 1 inch lumber is lagging the 2 inch; the only thing I can think of is that this Kiln still sees some shade in the afternoon, it is maybe 150 ft closer to a tree-line to the southwest than is the other Kiln. Still, we are making progress and we will get there. The EMC 72 Hr Ave stood at 11.4% as of late this morning.
Homestead Rebel Farm
The solar system is kicking ass, as it should this time of year. Since I finished messing with it, trying to get the settings in the software to my liking, we have “imported” no grid power.
I haven’t seen the battery State of Charge (SOC) below 45%. It’s all good.
I am seriously considering the Generac® 7,500-Watt (LP) 6,000-Watt (NG) Home Standby Generator as a replacement for the grid. The power company has us coming and going, and I’m sorry, maybe it’s my age, but I just can no longer abide situations where I have no control and no say in pricing. They want to pay me 5¢ per kWh exported to them, and charge me 14¢ per kWh imported; like I said, they’ve got us coming and going. The short story is, selling grid power is their business, and WE collectively, are their competition; they don’t want competition.
As I wrote last week, I still need to do the math, but with fixed charges for the grid-tie of $50 per month, even with no grid electricity use, I’m expecting that the generator will be a financial win.
Pigs
I moved the shade wagon over by the pigs; if I’m not mistaken the black pigs are gaining on the white pigs; the black were very significantly smaller when I picked them up. I added some de-wormer to their water this past week, and I brought in some pig organic mineral and vitamin pre-mix from Fertrell to add to their feed.
I’m thinking Monday or Friday of next week to turn them “loose” in the woods; they look to be trained to the electric fencing.
Oxen
Boris and Elmer are good, looking fit. I need to do some more fencing, a lot more, for both the Oxen and Sheep, but it will have to wait for some cash flow. I’ve got a couple of milling jobs on the calendar for next week, and here is a shameless plug for “every little bit helps.”
Garden
Geri is turning the whole place into a garden.
Some Irises on the corner heading to the Farmhouse, the work of Jeanne & Ed Cohen no doubt, former owners of the Farmhouse.
And this is the view out the picture window at one end of our dining room table.
Farmhouse
Access to the lake has been reestablished!
I think I’m going to actually anchor the floating dock, with concrete anchors made in 5 gallon buckets, instead of using posts; I think the 80 lb concrete anchors, at least two, and maybe 4, will be better than 16 ft long posts holding it in place.
Meanwhile, I’ve done some work cleaning up blown-down trees. The problem with blow-downs in a woods, is that they usually don’t fall to the ground; the canopy gets hung up on other nearby trees. The dangerous part is actually getting the tree on the ground.
This tree was not an exception to the rule; I’m still kicking, so we’ll call that a win. This is also how the gym membership is avoided. “Green” Hard Maple firewood rounds are heavy.
I mentioned last week that with our friend Justin Reich, we are running a “retreat” at the Farmhouse the weekend of 7-9 June, which I’m really excited about. Justin sent out an invite to the men who will be joining us; I think it’s perfect.
Geri is going to be a big part of the weekend, and I’m looking forward to working with her on such an important project.
News
Nothing to report on the news front; I guess I’ve been too busy to get to it. But, you can check out the Notes page for what I found, well, notable.
Books
I’m still working on Sacred Marriage. It’s good, but I’ll wait until I finish to comment more extensively.
On the other hand, I started and finished, and wrote a book review, of Lost Connections.
All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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