A hand pump on your well is an excellent off-grid alternative. Mine is about as simple as they come, but still requires periodic maintenance. This month, I had to replace the bottom seal. I coaxed a few more months of…
Well Hand-Pump Maintenance
Building a Hügelkultur raised bed
For a while now, I’ve wanted to try out some Hügelkutur in my gardening. This Spring provided an opportunity. This post is a step-by-step of my experiment. I’m always looking for where else around the property I might grow things.…
Baking Bread Using (only) Wheat Berries
If you baked a loaf of bread using ONLY your fresh-ground wheat berries, what would you get?
New Chicks: The sustainable flock
My brooding hen’s eggs hatched this past Friday. At first, four of her seven eggs hatched within hours of each other. A fifth egg showed “pipping” but little progress. The other two eggs showed no sign of pipping. They may…
Survey for Book 3
I have a very short survey up at FreeOnlineSurveys, asking what people would prefer for the distribution of Book 3. If you listened to the Epilogue podcast, you know the background to the questions. So, here’s the link: https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/6IDbzuU3 If…
Book 1’s audiobook now available!
It was a longer project than I imagined but at long last, Book 1 is finally available as an audio book. It is on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3jZ9evM A good while back, some friends lamented that my books weren’t available as…
Death of a Porcupine, to Save a Tree
Our mystery animal turned out to be a big porcupine. For several months, I was content to leave him be. When he started eating on my best apple tree, he crossed the line. I set my defenses and caught him…
Maple Syrup Season Begins
New Hampshire had been in a sub-zero deep freeze for the past few weeks. Knowing that the start was near for the maple sap flow, we watched the weather carefully. A string of warmer days coming was our clue to…
Delighted at five below zero
This morning, the outdoor temperature at the homestead was five degrees below zero. We a few more days of such cold in the forecast. Most people complain about cold snaps like this, but I couldn’t be happier. Why? It’s good…