Newsletter #270 2024 Aug 09 Friday

Progress on all fronts this week, but mostly on the Farm and the Farmhouse Airbnb

Primal Woods

Pure Maple Syrup

This picture came from Jackie, with the comment, “The best afternoon coffee combo.” I can’t argue, and have enjoyed the same combo quite often recently. I’m back to black coffee for a bit, but man, our Pure Maple Syrup and half and half (or whole whipping cream) turn coffee into a truly delicious experience.

Sawmill Services

There will be a milling job and pictures in next week’s Newsletter, but this week I only had to help with loading some lumber for shipping.

A thousand board feet headed west in a box truck.

Homestead Rebel Farm

The Cornish X are still growing rapidly.

We are going to butcher our own chickens this year; that bit of fun is scheduled for August 24th.

The chicken plucker is a big part of making the butchery process as efficient as possible; plucking the chickens by hand is the most time-consuming part of the process by a large margin. Geri found this plucker, it is an investment; processing chickens last year cost $4.50 per bird, more or less, and doing it ourselves will return the investment with less than 150 birds.

If you are interested in pastured chickens please let me know, otherwise we are just growing them for our freezer. If we sell, I’d guess the price will be about $3.50/lb, but I’ve yet to do the math. In other words, we don’t “do” cheap food. Great food yes, cheap food no.

The pigs too are doing well.

Of course it has still been wet, though it looks like we have a full week of dry weather in the forecast. About the time you are reading this, I will be just returning to the homestead having picked up three more feeder pigs. These pigs will be butchered sometime in January; if you are interested in spending a bit of your annual “bonus” on some great pork, let me know.

And the layers are laying, including at least one of the younger birds.

When they first start laying, the eggs are significantly smaller than those of a mature bird. Egg production is about to ramp up.

Men’s Retreat

As a reminder, our next Men’s Retreat is on the calendar for 12-15 September. And we have now added 2025 dates; 20-23 Feb, 5-8 Jun, and 4-7 Sep. If you or someone you know might be interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Farmhouse

Geri and the Farmhouse are getting great reviews!

My improvement this week was to add an exhaust fan to the new laundry room.

There is a lot happening in fall on the Farm, including butchery of a pig in late November; that will be a learning experience for all involved, and you are welcome to be involved!

News

Two news items really caught my attention. The first regards the police state we are now living in; if you don’t believe that we are living in a police state, this first report might change your mind. Let’s just say that former Democrat presidential candidate, and congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, has been labeled an enemy of the regime. The TSA, now a part of the Department of Homeland State Security, is a piece of the American Stasi.

The second item was equally disturbing, and prompted me to order another book.

Books

I’m still immersed in Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War.

---

All the best, and may God bless you and yours,

John & Geri

Earn rewards, free access to pay-walled content, by referring a friend!