Newsletter #311 2025 Jun 11 Wednesday
What a week! An introduction to raising sheep last Thursday kicked it off, and a great milling job yesterday capped it off.
Primal Woods
Sawmill Services
I milled yesterday with Alice and Leonard on Steve and Lara’s property. Have I said lately that the best thing about my work is the people I meet and spend time with!? Well if not, let yesterday be a reminder. And after nearly a decade of milling (which itself is almost unbelievable) we chalked up a couple of firsts yesterday; the first time we put a log on the Wood-Mizer’s loading arms and I could not pick it up with the hydraulics, and the first time a single log yielded over 500 board feet of lumber. Yup, it was the same log.
The biggest log started at 15 feet in length and 29 inches across on the small end, 37 inches on the big end, and had only been felled a couple of weeks ago, so very green, which is to say very wet, and very, very heavy. We ended up cutting two feet off the big end, and still I needed help from Leonard’s skid steer to lift it. You can see in the second picture above that the blade is at 33 inches and it is a still a little bit inside the bark. It took every trick in the book to roll it over on the mill until I got it cut down to a more manageable size.
Milling this one log took 2 hours and 20 minutes. Thankfully no iron was discovered. It scaled at 505 board feet. The next log was a foot longer but three inches smaller in diameter, 14 feet and 26 inches; still a huge log. The third log as a very respectable 17 inches in diameter and 15 feet long; we called it “the toothpick” after the first two!
Final statistics:
3 logs
1,132 board feet (scaled in the logs)
6 hours on-site; 189 bd ft/hr
4.1 machine hours; 276 bd ft/mach hr
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. It was a great day, not my first, with Alice and Leonard; great people, and they know what they are doing. It was my first time out with Steve and Lara, the logs were on their property, but I had met Steve at Men’s Group a couple of years back, and they are a great couple with a beautiful family. It was a wonderful day all around.
If you or someone you know are interested in our Sawmill Services, check out our Primal Woods page on the subject.
Pure Maple Syrup
I can attest that the Tart Cherry Pure Maple Syrup is awesome on vanilla ice cream. It’s not often that I eat ice cream, but I will have to keep my guard up; it is sooooo tempting!
Homestead Rebel
After David and Charlotte’s visit, David sent me a note asking if I had some sort of picture of the farm which would make possible putting what I write about in visual perspective. Great idea! So, I put this picture together, and yesterday Timothy spent some time validating my “virtual” measurements. Pretty close, if I do say so myself.
And also as a pdf…
The sheep pasture and turnips patch (winter feed) are planned for this year, what Timothy and I are hoping a praying is accomplished; it is enough to support 20 sheep and lambs. The workshop is future, too, though we plan to get a start on it this year. It is all a work in progress, and probably always will be!
Sheep
Last Thursday Timothy and I visited my friend Brian H. at his farm near Paw Paw; our purpose was to learn as much about shepherding as we could, specifically with respect to facilities (fencing, sorting pens, hand tools, etc.) and timing of various events in the lifecycle and calendar year. And we got a chance to help Brian with some work he had on tap.
First up was de-worming. Brian showed us how it was done, then Timothy and I gave it a try; a oral dose of 4ml or 5ml depending on the age of the sheep.
Then came the interesting bit. Castration. This method is non-invasive, but still painful no doubt. It is basically a clamp that crushes the spermatic cords without breaking the skin; more easily done when the lamb is say three months old. If a ramb lamb is not to be kept as breeding stock, it is castrated so that it does not impregnate any of the ewe lambs. Which reminds me, if you are a male in the food supply, it is going to be a relatively short life, relative to the females.
The bloodless castration clamp looks as painful as it is.
We learned a lot, all of which will be incorporated into our plans, beginning with the fencing project. The details of the sorting system, a gathering pen, a forcing pen, a chute, and the sorting pens, have yet to be committed entirely to paper, but will be done before fencing begins.
The system above is from Sydell; the gathering pen is at lower center-right, the forcing pen would include the hemisphere at right, and the cone (hence the forcing into single file), the chute (top center) and the sorting pens at left.
Oh, and finally … you know how the President spares a turkey at Thanksgiving? Well, we decided to spare a year-old ram from castration!
If Timothy and I can pull off the preparations; this will be our first Ram.
Oxen
Timothy has completed the cross-fencing of the Oxen pasture, and the oxen are happy campers, moving to new grass every 3-5 days depending on which paddock they are in before the move. The water system is functioning well, but we have not yet figured out how to keep the water from freezing in the winter; same goes for sheep water.
Pigs
We will move them or expand the area yet this week. And we still have 1/2 of a pig left for sale, if anyone is interested.
Geri and Timothy freeze dried some raw milk this week.
Which reminded me of this meme…
Layers
We have lost two of the pullets, to Toby apparently. I did not catch him in the act, but Timothy did the last time. I wasn’t there to correct Toby’s behavior instantly, and later correction is not helpful, as he would not know what I am correcting him for. So. Here are most of the remaining pullets out foraging.
And the rooster and a couple of hens under the truck.
Meat Birds
Maybe another week, and the Cornish Rock Cross meat birds will be on pasture. As they have been designed, they are growing fast.
Farmhouse Airbnb
David and Charlotte arrived Friday for a visit, staying in the Farmhouse. I first met David over a decade ago, and he and Charlotte have visited Primal Woods at least twice in that period. David came across Primal Woods through an internet search for “how to turn logs into lumber,” and the rest as they say, is history. He has been my friend and mentor ever since. Then, I was blessed to be able to visit them at their home in Ohio, and meet their son Tucker, who was also with us this past weekend. Geri was our hostess, and did a beautiful job of keeping us all well fed, and of making sure that I had enough time to spend with David and Charlotte, and Tucker! It was a great weekend, I am so grateful that I was able to have this time with all three.
David had not yet seen the farm, so they all got the full tour. We spent a lot of time eating, and talking, and some of David’s stories from bootcamp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, had me practically rolling on the floor; I laughed until my cheeks hurt, as did I think everyone else! And he remembers the names! Now I will take credit for knowing the names of two, count ‘em, two of my company at boot camp, but David takes it way past that. So, so funny, in hindsight of course; I have no doubt it was not fun, or funny at the time!
We have already planned our next visit; Timothy and I will be heading for Ohio before he heads back to Hillsdale in mid-August.
I want to thank David, Charlotte, and Tucker for making the trip, and sharing of themselves. And I especially want to thank my beautiful wife Geri, for bringing it all together.
News and Notes
Not this week, I don’t want to spoil the high!
Books & Such
My Mom recommended Lincoln's Battle with God: A President's Struggle with Faith and What It Meant for America, this morning, and I downloaded it through Audible. If my Mom recommends it, it’s good, take her word for it! You won’t regret it.
As I write, Timothy has been out brushhogging the future Sheep Pasture. One thing is clear, we have a grazing animal deficit, having to do so much mowing! And another thing I think has become clear to Timothy; everything takes at least twice as long, maybe three times as long, as you think it should!
Don’t go! We cannot do it without you! Help us to keep the wheels on this effort, by visiting the website, and buying some of our Pure Maple Syrup!
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All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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I want to express my appreciation for Geri and John for the hospitality they extended us this weekend. We learned much about what it takes to build a sustainable business from the ground up. What they have accomplished is truly inspiring.
The farmhouse, B&B is a wonderful experience all by itself. The building is wonderfully furnished and fitted out including a wraparound deck and a screened in porch. Is a perfect retreat those who seek that. For families and groups, there are all kinds of entertainment possibilities just as you would have them at your own home. Lots of yard, fishing, kayaking, and the tranquility of living under a canopy of trees.
If you come, you will be blessed.
David, Charlotte and Tucker