Newsletter #263 2024 June 21 Friday
It's been a hot week hereabouts; 90's F, with humidity of 90% or more 3 of the last 5 days. Scheduled my outdoor work to the extent possible, around the worst of it.
Primal Woods
It’s been hot, and humid. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and with that comes an adjustment to the angle of the solar panels. The heatwave is expected to break on Sunday. I’ve paid particular care to ensure that the animals have plenty of water; the pigs and chickens have better access to shade than the oxen, but the oxen have been dealing with flies. I gave the oxen a hand with the flies, too.
Sawmill Services
Let’s have a look again at progress in the solar kilns; it was wet early in the week, and has been hot and humid since. Here are the charts:
Everything is going in the right direction, but we are still not there! 72 hr. Equilibrium Moisture Content (72 hr EMC) in Kiln 1 is 8.4%, down from 8.6% on June 19, but we need less than 8%. In Kiln 2, 72 hr EMC is 11.3%, down from 11.4% on the 19th. So frustrating. But, I remind myself that this is not the loss of a fruit crop to hail or frost, and it’s not the loss of 500 head of cattle to a blizzard, like my Aunt and Uncle suffered in Wyoming. This is at worst an inefficiency, an inconvenience, or in this case both. I will count my blessings as opposed to dwelling on this delay.
We had over two inches of rain early this week, and we are expecting more Saturday night when this heat wave is broken by thunderstorms; the forecast is calling for another half inch of rain.
I went out today for a site visit to Bob’s and we are looking at a couple of days of work; lots of Red Oak and Sugar Maple. He is also clearing some land for another, and that might yield several days of work, mostly Sugar Maple; we could use it to fund the farm for sure. For this first job with Bob, we’re looking at approximately 25 logs.
Homestead Rebel Farm
The 17th was the hottest day this week, at 94°F, and that showed up in grid power consumption.
As expected, we ran the AC. We have the thermostats in the 76-77°F range; it’s more about the AC taking the humidity out of the house than it is about a cooler temperature, that is a lesson learned. On every day but the 17th the solar handled better than 2/3rds of the load, or close to that according to my Mark I Mod 0 eyeball on the above chart. That ~60kWh on the 17th cost about $8.28, worth it for a day, but it would add up over the course of a month.
Pigs & Oxen
The pigs are gaining fast, we have gone through 400 lbs of supplemental feed so far. I treated the oxen with an insecticide spray; the flies were just all over them, but on their lower front legs in particular, which they can’t get to with their tails.
A third of an ounce in 32 oz of water; 1 part in 100, is the mixture. I put that in a spray bottle and simply spray down their coats while they are eating. Safe “for use on dairy and beef cattle, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, swine, poultry, livestock premises and homes,” or so sayeth the label anyway. We use this kind of stuff very, very seldom, but Boris and Elmer were suffering from these pests, so action was called for.
Men’s Retreat
Our next Men’s Retreat is on the calendar for 12-15 September. Being Prepared and Homesteading are on the agenda, as are physical and firearms training; Justin is the man for the physical training, and we will have Carmine back out for the firearms. Little to no electronics, supplanted by a great deal of conversation and fellowship. If you or someone you know might be interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out. By all accounts the first retreat was a great time for all involved, and Justin, Geri and I are working hard to make sure that the September edition builds on that experience.
Farmhouse
Guests arrived today. Think about fall, I am. Most of September is still open, and fall, like spring, is a very active time on Homestead Rebel Farm. In the future, like this fall, I plan to have something scheduled for most weekends that guests can take part in; could be chicken or pig butchery, fencing installation, preparations for hunting season, etc. Any of that work would be a great experience for the kids, too.
News
I “restacked” a few news items over the past couple of weeks, some of it kindasorta good, some of it not. Check it out on the Notes page.
Books
Two new books this week, both started and finished. The first was economics related; What Has Government Done to Our Money, by Murray Rothbard. I have 9 free copies to give away; you can check out that offer immediately below:
The second book I listened to on Audible, and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. I’ve read a lot on preparedness, and Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios, by Mike Glover, is very highly recommended, especially if you are just becoming interested, or have thought to this point that it’s senseless, or that it is a less than commendable pursuit. Glover is a retired Green Beret, with so many combat tours under his belt that I won’t attempt to count. He was also a CIA contractor; let’s just say he has spent time in some of the nastiest shit holes on the planet. And survived. He now runs an outfit called Fieldcraft Survival. Even having been at this for over a decade now, I found the book very informative, especially the earlier chapters, and it is a great introduction to the topic. He even touches on Homesteading, though just a bit. I thought so much of it that I ordered the hard cover today. On a side note, Glover is very much into “mobility,” so if you are into cars or trucks, or preparing a vehicle for worst-case scenarios, he is your guy.
All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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