Fire and Steel and Explosive Gases, Oh My!

This last term at school was a little different - my last required class was online (and boringly easy), and the other two classes had nothing to do with horticulture and were pretty much as opposite to each other as they could be: dancing and welding. 

You already know how much I love dancing, so I don't need to go into detail about that (except to say that swing dancing is my favorite thing ever). But welding... That world was (and still is) completely foreign and unlike anything I had ever done before. 

I picked up the textbook which reads more like a manual than anything else. If you want a dull horror story, you can read this. It will tell you everything that can go wrong while welding and say it in such a matter of fact way that you have to do a double-take to make sure that you read it right.

Between sparks, slag, extreme heat (to the tune of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit), exploding concrete, scorching hot metal, equipment that costs more than my car is worth, gas that is highly combustible and at high pressures... it was all rather intense to say the least. My brain wasn't sure how to process all of that. 

This handy chart would have been useful for the first day of class. I had no idea what the instructor was talking about when he was throwing out all these acronyms in the lecture. 

Exploding concrete? Oy. 

I had to psych myself up for each class. I had already been up early for work, and then to drive across town to school for a late evening class was exhausting. Thankfully, my dad was taking the class with me. We'd stop for Chipotle on the way to class, eat dinner, then start welding. 

The welding booths were hot (I couldn't imagine doing this class during warmer weather), sparks were flying everywhere, you can only see through the tiny window in your helmet, picking up welding sticks with bulky gloves took some serious patience with yourself. 

At the beginning of the term, we were all handed a check-off list of the different welds that we were to work on during class. Once I got over my initial terror of holding the welding torch, things went rather smoothly, and, for me, quickly. I practically flew through the list while others were still trying to bead a straight line. My dad thinks that it's because of all my sewing that I have a steady hand. I have no idea why. 

I just want to add this before going any further: welders have quite the fashion sense. :P Heavy, rough leather jackets, hats in the strangest fabric prints, stiff canvas pants, leather boots, and you can't forget the safety glasses and welding mask. Actually, you're not even allowed in the machine shop without safety glasses on - I'm sure it's an insurance thing, but seriously, there's the possibility for heavy flying things hitting you in the head. At least protect your eyes, kid. 

We started with stick welding, then moved to wire feed, and the graduated to bigger wire feed. That's about as far as most the class got through their lists. Since I finished early, I got to play with oxyfuel welding (the chunkier cousin of TIG welding), oxyfuel torch, and a plasma torch (which was super cool because you can cut a lot of metal really fast and there's sparks everywhere, and I was covered in steel flecks). 

We had the option to do a project in class if we so desired. I had no idea what to make. So to pinterest I went. I narrowed it down to two possibilities: a necklace hanging tree or cattails for the kidney bean of a pond in my herb garden. I headed to the repurposing store to see what I could find. I honestly had no idea what I was looking for, but the owner was super helpful, and I found some steel leaves that someone had hammered out. With that, I knew that I would be doing the tree. I then wandered through the aisles of Home Depot (now I know how my dad and brother feel in the craft store) until I found metal rods. 

Because the metal rods were thin enough, I was able to cut and lay everything out at home with the tools that we have. This is what I came up with

And I used all the pieces within 45 minutes of starting. We had from 6:30-9:50 to weld. My tree looked rather poorly pruned, so the next week, I brought in more branches and leaves.

The finished result:

The log round is from a maple tree that fell on the fence during one of the storms this winter. How nice of the tree to get to a level that we can reach it. :P 

Because I finished the tree much faster than anticipated, I also figure out how to do the cattails since the instructor showed me how to use the cutting torch. My cutting lines are rather jagged, but I didn't feel inclined to smooth them out - it's just going out in the garden... 

They look like I stuck swords in the ground.Now to just figure out how to get in in a stone... Hmm... 

The class certainly felt over my head at the beginning, now I feel like I could pick up a welder and melt metal whenever I need to. I guess the class did what it was supposed to. ;) Do I feel inclined to pursue more classes in this field? Not really. It's not a world that I'm necessarily drawn to, but it is good to know how to wield a welder. 

Until next time!

SG

Making Chevre

This school term certainly got off to a rocky start, but now that I'm getting into the swing of things, I wanted to share some of what I've been working on. In my writing class, I've been trying to do papers on farm stuffs so that I could share it with you as well! (and get double usage out of each writing session :P). Last week's assignment was to guide someone through a procedure. I scribbled out some ideas, but they were all much more involved than a two page ordeal. Then, in the sanctum of idea generation - the shower, I thought of cheese. One, because I'm totally addicted to cheese. Two, because why not? So here you go. 

Making Your Own Cheese

To some, the thought of fermenting and culturing dairy products is daunting if not dangerous. While some cheeses are more difficult to make, many simple ‘farm house’ cheese can be made at home with just a handful of ingredients, some basic equipment, and patience. This is going to focus on chevre: a soft, goat’s milk cheese.

To get started, you will need to gather the following:

Ingredients

-          1 gallon of goat milk

-          1 packet of chevre starter cultures (resources listed below).

o    Note: If you purchase more than you are going to use for just one recipe, then you will need to put the extra packets in the freezer to put the cultures into a cold-induced stasis.

o   Another note: Different cheeses are made from different cultures, so you will want to make sure that the starter is for chevre cheese specifically.

Equipment

-          Stainless steel stockpot with lid

-          A non-reactive whisk (stainless steel or silicon are fine, plastic is not recommended)

-          A large towel

-          Candy thermometer (make sure that it is calibrated correctly!)

-          Plastic strainer large enough to hold a gallon of milk

-          Giant bowl

-          Cheese cloth (can be purchased at most health food stores, online, or homesteading stores)

To get things started, you want to make sure that your cooking equipment is sterilized. When culturing any food, you only want the beneficial bacteria to be present in the product and not harmful pathogens. You can do this by simply putting your stockpot and whisk in the dishwasher and using the ‘sterilizing’ setting. After doing this, you can put the towel into the dryer to warm it up if you want (this is not necessary unless it is chilly in the house; you will see how the towel is used later).

                Once the dishes are retrieved from the dishwasher, you put the milk into the stockpot and slowly warm it up on the stove and slowly stir it constantly. If you raise the temperature too fast, the milk will curdle. Use the thermometer to keep an eye on how warm the milk is; the goal temperature is 85-86°F. After the milk reaches the desired temperature, turn off the stove heat and add in the packet of starter cultures. Whisk gently for approximately two minutes to allow the cultures to become rehydrated and incorporated throughout the milk.

Next, place the lid on the stockpot, wrap the entire thing with the towel, and place it on a quiet corner of the counter where it will not be in the way of your other culinary activities. By wrapping the stockpot with a towel, it will keep the milk at a temperature where the cultures can be active and doing their job: fermenting the milk. Let the milk sit in its miniature sauna for 12-18 hours. The next day, you can tell if the cheese is ready by slightly tilting the stockpot to reveal the solid, fatty mass of white (curds) and a yellow fluid (whey). The longer you allow the cultures to do their work, the more strongly flavored the cheese will be. 

You have almost accomplished your cheese-making task! You just need to get the actual cheese out of its protein whey bath. To separate the two parts of the cheese, you can do this in two different ways.

1.       If you want to save the whey for another use (chickens love whey), then you strain the whey into a very large bowl. To do this, place an inverted Tupperware container inside the bowl, prop the colander on top of the Tupperware, line the strainer with cheesecloth, and then gently pour in the cheese (curds and whey).

2.       If whey is of no importance to you at the moment, you can line your giant bowl with cheesecloth, gently dump the cheese into it, pull up the sides of the cheesecloth and tie them into a knot, and hang it bag over the sink to let the liquid separate. You can hang it over the sink faucet if you would like.

Let the cheese strain for another 12 hours. The longer the cheese is allowed to hang, the drier the cheese will be. Any longer than 12 hours, the cheese will be crumbly. You can experiment by adding in different herbs and seasonings to flavor your creation if you so desire (or if the cheese even lasts that long). You can also try milk from different breeds of goats; the flavor and pungent qualities of the milk varies from breed to breed.

You now have the tools to get you started on cheese-making adventures. After getting comfortable with this process, you just might become addicted to the process as this Amazon reviewer discovered.

Resources

Starter cultures:

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Outdoor-Chevre-C20G-5-Packets/dp/B0064OLRH6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484686169&sr=8-3&keywords=cheese+cultures

https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/real-cheese-starter-culture-chevre/19938

Catching up from Spring Term

Where to begin? It certainly has felt like another looong term, but I survived. ;) Here's some shots to get you up to speed. This is a text and picture heavy post, so here we go. 

Special dance for a guest caller that came to the area

Practicum harvest

Turkey poult

This picture has a bit of a story with it... It all started with my car not starting when I was running late to class. Phooey. Thankfully, I had another car option to get to class. I didn't have time to deal with the problem until the next day after classes.  

It took all afternoon, but I finally managed to orchestrate a tow truck that was 'approved' by the insurance company to get my car to the mechanic. They took one look at it, and said that the only problem was some corrosion on the battery terminal. Seriously?! I looked at that and didn't think that it was that bad. Apparently so. $40, a bunch of phone calls, and an afternoon later, my car was doing just fine. Thankfully, everything worked out well, but it was still a hassle. My classmate the next day asked what was wrong with my car, and after explaining my tale of woe, she said 'Well, was the mechanic cute at least?' 'Uh... yeah...' '!!! When's the next time you get to see him?' "I don't know; next oil change maybe?' The next week, apparently word got around about the 'cute mechanic' and some others were asking if I had asked him out yet. 'Nope.' 'Well, when's your next oil change?' 'A long while.' And this is after I was already convinced that my car was playing match maker because she kept coming up with all these random little things that needed to be checked. :face palm:  

Anyway! Continuing on! My fun class for the term was kitchen herbs. I honestly didn't fully know what to expect from the class, but I knew I wanted to take it. I walk into class to find out that it was a cooking class! Booyah! We've been learning how to grow all this fantastic food, now it's time to learn how to use it! From mocktail sangria, branch dressing, melon mint salad, green bean radish and basil salad, warm maple rosemary sundaes, and much more. Can we have more classes where we eat our way through to earn credits? I guess that would involve going to cooking school. Never mind.

Even with work and classes, my sister, a friend, and I still managed to squeeze in a fun concert one evening. Djangophiles were fantastic, and they have my sister convinced that I need to learn to play the upright bass. To humor her, I looked up the prices for a bass... Yeah, not going to be doing that anytime soon. 

 

I brought in the peonies before it started raining. Love the giant, luscious blooms!

I can't resist the words: free plants

Moving meat chickens out to pasture

Needless to say, these shoes look like something you would find in an archaeological dig after I was through with them.

My red legion poppies started blooming on Memorial Day weekend. Rather fitting, I thought. 

After her yearly adventure where we don't see her for a couple of weeks, she showed up at the back door, wanted food and water, and then curled up in the nearby basket and slept. You crazy kitty. 

A local farm had early ripening blueberries. Nomnomnom! 

That's all for now! I'll post some pictures from work later.

Until next time! 

SG

Winter Term - A Much Needed Update

This term at school has been a long-haul and a whirlwind. Even though I only signed up for 10 credits, the homework load seemed bigger, days longer, and really in depth projects. 

Just a few of the resources that I listed for one of my projects

It also didn't help that one of the classes, which was required for my certificate, had long-winded curriculum, an indifferent instructor, could have been entirely online without the unnecessary class lectures, and didn't have any material applicable to actually doing anything in horticulture or agriculture. (/rant) It's almost done, and I won't have it hanging over my head.  

Sunrise on my commute to class

My fun class of the term was herbal products. The instructor sure packed in a lot of material in the three week span of the class! 

Snippet of the syllabus

Distillation and essential oil demo using Douglas Fir 

 On top of classes, I started a new job. Yep. I'm crazy. The beginning of the year involved my last day of my job at the farm store (that I couldn't get to because we had freezing rain), training for the new job, and classes starting. That was quite the week. . 

The new job is at a chef's garden, and I'm loving it. 

Here's just a few of my pictures from the garden

That's a lot of micros.

Celeriac floats

Romanesco Cauliflower

Mustard Micros

 I only had about 4 days on the new job before I was left to fend for myself for a week and a half. My coworker/supervisor went on vacation while I held down the fort praying that nothing in the garden died on my watch. The kitchen would make requests, and I was supposed to get what they needed. My coworker also left a list of things to work on weather-permitting. Nothing out of the ordinary, just routine. But it was all new ground for me. I'm glad to report that everything survived (including yours truly). My coworker says that she left things in good hands, but I was feeling woefully awkward and unsure of myself. It took me longer than it should have to find that tatsoi to harvest the raabs. ;) In my defense, it was hiding in the tubs on the other side of the greenhouse. 

Even with all that going on, I was still able to get to the OSU small farm conference, a few concerts, a dance, and a soap making class.  

Honey and goat milk soap! 

 Looking at all that, it's no wonder I'm so tired. 

Until next time!

SG

Fall Term

 Apparently it's been a long time since I last posted. 5 months to be exact. 

School certainly has taken a lot of time and work fills in the other days, so between those two things and whatever moments I have to work on things around the farm, I don't have the mental or willpower to even think about writing a blog post. I was thinking that I could be posting all the papers that I've written for classes, but it would have to be a show-stopper and not some quickly thrown together excuse of an assignment that seemed to be the theme of this last term. I was ready for the term to be over before it even started because of how tired I was. Yeah, it certainly has been a long haul the last 10 weeks. But it is almost over! I have my last final tomorrow, and then I'm free until January. Well, free to catch up on all the things that I've put off. 

My fun class this term was a fall flower arrangers garden. Just about every week we did some sort of an arrangement featuring different techniques used in the floral industry to bring home. My mom loved Tuesdays because she never knew exactly what sort of creation I would come home with. Because the class was smaller, we were also able to cover other topics that the instructor had researched such as the flowers of Jane Austen's world. I nearly died of happiness when my number wasn't called for jury duty, so I would be able to go to that class.  

One of my other classes (food harvest) did a farmer's market with produce harvested that very morning by the students in the class. The leftovers from the market were up for grabs for those that helped with the market clean-up. I was just hanging out at the college waiting for my next class, so those days I was able to bring home all sorts of vegetable goodness. Mom loved seeing what stocked the fridge after I came home from class. The day before Thanksgiving, the instructor essentially let the class loose on the farm site at the school and we divided the spoils between everyone to supplement the meal the next day. Fresh brussel sprouts, cabbage, salad mix, chard, butternut squash, cauliflower, bok choy and more were brought home that day. We pretty much didn't have to buy any vegetables for Thanksgiving because of all that I brought home. 

This last Saturday, I had a workshop that featured different herbal products that you could make yourself and use as gifts. 12 ladies sat around the tables in the classroom, and we just had a blast. We made an herbal tea, spice blend, a fines herb mix, diffusers, sprays, wreaths, and more. I was in heaven, and I can't wait until the actual herbal products class that they'll be having next term.

An herb wreath on the left and a Christmas wreath on the right 

Until next time!

SG

Of Edibles and Finals

After finishing the finals for the term, I got to bring home all these lovelies from my propagation class. Apples, figs, kiwis, herbs, and grapes, oh my! 

And this doesn't even include all the microgreens that I got to bring home as well! 

So I scoured the greenhouse on campus looking for my plants, loaded them up into the backseat of my sedan (yay for rubber floor mats!), and headed home. The skies were blue, the trees are all in bloom, the grass is green again, and the wild mustard covers the hillsides with a blanket of yellow. The classical radio station was playing lively string quartets all the way home (nothing else was on the radio). It was a good way to derazzle from studying for finals. Now onward to spring break and getting these guys into the garden!

Until next time!

SG

Project Assistants

...Or rather not.

For my class, I needed to assemble a collection of weed samples and correctly identify them. In order to get good pictures, I headed outside since my camera likes light. The only problem with working outside is that you are suddenly in cat territory - especially if you work on the porch. They seem to gravitate there. 

The fat cat thought that it would behoove her to roll around in my samples. 

The half-blind one was content enough to just watch me work. Rather... sleep while I work. This cat has the right idea about life. :P 

But at least they stayed out of my 'working zone.'

The huntress couldn't stay away from my cheap studio set-up. She even had the nerve to get comfortable right smack-dab on top of my samples.

'Dis plant - I like it.'   

Strangely enough, there weren't any samples of cat mint. 

Until next time!

SG

Finding My Place

I'm finally doing it - going to college! I've had to put this off for too many years, and now that I'm finally feeling good and up to doing things, I can actually consider driving to and taking classes.

Throughout the years, I've been playing with wanting to do various programs and different colleges, but I've never felt good enough to do much of anything or that they weren't for me. Maybe this time was for really pinpointing what I'm supposed to do and where God wants me to be, where I'm going to attend school, what I want to study, etc. 

This past summer has really shown me where I can thrive - in the dirt. :P I was looking at the Urban Agriculture program at a local community college for a little while, but I just tucked it into the back of my mind for another day. Then I got the job at the farm store down the road from my house. My favorite part of the job is all the work I get to do in the greenhouse(s). Yes, it's stuffy and humid and hot, but I get to work with plants and get my hands dirty. I've unknowingly become the 'plant girl' since day one, and if neither of my bosses are around to answer questions, customers are directed to me. Now, I am FAR from being the all-knowing horticulturalist, but if you have questions, I just might be able to answer them (or look them up on the internet). Where I'm supposed to do has become more and more clear to me throughout the summer -  it's time to start the farming program. 

So I applied to the college, took the placement test (which landed me exactly where I needed to be for the program), and registered for classes. The best part so far in all of this was ordering books, rather, getting all the books. For six credits this feels like a lot of books.  

But they look amazing! (Yes, I've quickly read through all of them already). 

Needless to say, I'm really excited about all of this. :) 

This has all has felt rather like Rapunzel getting out of her tower for the first time, but instead of a super-imposing 'parent' keeping me back, it's been my health. If I start singing 'That's When My Life Begins,' you now know why. :P 

Until next time!

SG

Wall Flower

As promised- here is a work from one of my classes this year. It is a Shakespearean sonnet entitled "Wall Flower" that I wrote for my British Literature class

Wall Flower

All alone along the wall she stood there

wanting to be special; it's her first ball.

She feels as if she's vanished into air;

the host stands up, beginning dance does call.

Other ladies seemed far more beautiful

although she was in his very own eyes;

the men were anything but plentiful

"What's the wrong with me?" she quietly sighs.

Attracted to her by her modest dress

He came to her; she fiddled with her hem.

Light of foot fantastic they did finesse;

her knight in armor, his treasure'd gem.

The eve'ning wore on, together entranced

om each others' arms, together they danced.

Wow...

Ahh!!! I am so :terribly: sorry that I haven't blogged for a LONG time!!! So to catch y'all up because I'm noticing the last post was from the Hoe Down in October...

Right now, I'm taking 3 classes from an absolutely AMAZING teacher: British Lit, Shakespeare, and Old Testament Survey. As well as a Spanish class from another teacher who is quite skilled in the art of the language, but it really isn't my favorite class in the world... the four years of Latin behind me hinders and helps, if you know what I mean. ;)

A couple of years ago, I got through about half of the British lit program by myself (the teacher gave me her curriculum and schedule), but due to some health issues, I wasn't able to get very far... So this first half of the year has been review for me, but I feel like I'm getting more out of it by sitting in the classes and listening to the lectures. Let's just say that I've been a note-taking monster. ;) I'll have to post some of the stuff that I've gotten from the teacher later! =D

The Shakespeare class has got to be one of my most favorite classes EVER!!! We're going through seven (at least, I think that it's seven...) of the plays in depth and casually acting out the entire play with Mrs. English stopping to unpack all of the hard metaphors and language. I never really thought that I would enjoy Shakespeare except for the little kid books that have illustrations and simplified story lines... but, oh my goodness, the people in the class are great, the goofy things that we do to make the stories more enjoyable, ect, just make the class all the more wonderful!

In Old Testament, the same teacher as the above two classes, I know isn't she amazing!!!, is essentially taking all of the stuff that she learned in seminary and turning it into a class - complete with learning ancient Hebrew, some of the words (the language is so much more beautiful, deep and descriptive than English! English is such a shallow language when it comes to expressing things). I'll have to post some of the stuff that I've gotten from that class as well... Take the Hebrew word hesod for example. When translated into your simple english bible it is "loving-kindness" but in actuality, it means so much more! It shows God's love, a love so deep that he would make a covenant with mankind, for us. Truly, most of this stuff is over my head, but what I have gotten makes the Bible so much richer and fuller and so much more meaningful.

The Spanish class... well... I did learn how to say "Live long and prosper." - Spock.
(whatever you hit to make and upside down exclamation point) Que' Viva used y prospere!
yeah, it's beneficial. ;) No seriously, I'm getting more than that.

So that's my school life... homework. Lots of it.

And now back up to November 2009. We had company; lots of family all over the place! =D and some family that I haven't seen since forever ago (think little kid and I hardly remember). Actually, when I walked into the door, my great-aunt thought that I was my mom. Apparently I have my mom's mouth - that's what she said! ;) Day after thanksgiving - Black Friday - our Christmas tree farm opened for the season. Oy vey, talk about busy. It was the kind of busy that if you added one more thing, you would just break down and go absolutely insane. On second thought - it was insane...

So Christmas break wasn't neccessarily a break per say. It was more of a take on the world and fall over exhausted.

While all this chaos was going on, December saw some of the most frigid December I've seen. (now for a political note: almost ironic since Obama and the world leaders were meeting in Coppenhagen to discuss global warming. shows them what they know. God will make foolishness of man's wisdom). Our well pump decided to die. Well, it was a little more complicated than that. Some pipes in the barn froze and essentially burned the pump at the bottom of the well. That was an exciting weekend in the midst of all the Christmas business. And my grandma was coming the next week. Imagine - a family of 7 without water for several days and more company on the way. The disaster zone that was created in a mere day was hazardous enough...

So... continuing on with the story. The day after Christmas (remember my dad's mom was still visiting us) my dad's brother and his daughter snuck in and gave Grandma probably the best Christmas present that she got. =D Grandma's facial expression when my cousin snuck behind her while she was doing the dishes and gave her a huge hug. ^_^

So that's a quick catch up with as many details as I could remember for now.

Thank you for reading!

Time Does Fly...

It feels like yesturday I was looking at the calender thinking how long and wonderful summer was going to be. Let's just say I blinked before I could catch myself. I thought that I would have all the time in the world to get some reading done, sewing projects completed, craft room organized again (honestly, you can never organize things enough!), complete all the requirements on my NARHA certification... yeah, the workshop/training session is only a couple weeks away, and I don't even really know where to begin... I've read the horsemanship manual through level 3, but Level 4 is huge... I need to become a member, get 25 hours of teaching in (I probably won't even be able to get 5...), and so much more! What happened to my summer?! Oh, yeah... I've been camp counselor, gardening, traveling, quilting, etc... The camp counselor thing has taken up 4 weeks so far and I have another to go... But I wouldn't trade the time spent for anything else.

I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the camp counselor thing (and I have my share of stories, believe me! =D) Like in the camp from last week, one of the boys was commenting on how he's at a highschool reading level. So, being homeschooled, I had to ask him what he's read that places him in that level. He named some books off but all of them were contemorary/modern novels that I wouldn't really count as anything worth reading (like The Davinci Code, which was one of the books that he named off). I asked if he had read any Homer, Dickens, Austen, Emmerson, Steinbeck etc. (I've read these authors and more in a lit class that I took from an amazing teacher. Go read some classics and original works! You'll be amazed at some of the treasures that you can find in them!) The little boy said that he hadn't read any of those (My bad! He's in the public school system. Not to really dis on the public schools, but you lower your standards when it comes to whatever comes out of those prison cells)... So I said that he wasn't really in the "highschool level" (Publis schools... what legacy is America leaving her children? Not a good one). We started mildly arguing about it (leave it to me to make anything an arguement... bad habit...) and he finally said "Okay, I'll be the big person here and not argue with you." Ouch. He's going to be entering middle school very soon. Let's just say that I was dying from laughter from that!