Keep Close to Nature's Heart...

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away,

once in awhile, and climb a mountain or

spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

John Muir 1838 -1914

I find that seeking out moments with nature have to be not only on her terms, but when she wants to keep her beauty close to her own heart away from prying eyes. She keeps her beauty protected for those who seek out to see it and that are there just for that moment and time.

Passing through a field, I see the plants, flowers and seeds. When I look at the woods or while walking through the woods I see the trees as a part of my life for that moment. I look at their form and shapes, their limbs and leaves as pieces of art.

As I sit in a spot I look and see everything God has provided us in our world. If you think about this a moment, as you sit there and watch the leaves fall, you are seeing in your life a moment of time that will not be repeated.

Yesterday I took a trip into McConnell Mills State Park after the big ice/snow storm pushed through. People had already adventured into the key locations before I made time to go there. But I knew a few places others wouldn't venture into and I could go there and sit and reflect on the sounds and beauty.

The storm had left behind a glass covered forest, as the trees were covered heavy with ice and snow. I sat along the river and listened to the water rush by. Knowing the ice would leave it's toll, I could hear the stress of the trees as branches could be heard crashing down.

As the wind blew ever so slightly, the sound of the cracks of branches could be heard like wood in a fireplace. The pops and cracks would sometimes be followed by big crashes, and other trees would begin to crack from the wind and sound. I sat there listening to this being played out all around me, and I was thankful to be able to go to a place where the scenery was so different from my own mountain spots of the homestead. The scenery and sounds always seem so much more defined and louder in new places as you visit them.

I left these photo's as large as I could so you can look at them and see how they make you feel. This is what I saw around me as I ventured into the park and took in all that was around me.

 

The Wild Boar Hunt..... Taking Some To Share

There have been a handful of people in my life that, with time and life, have slipped away from. Chris was one of those people that has and I regret this, but such is life..

Chris and I have done a lot of big things together, big game fishing, Elk, Boar, Deer hunting. Although he is a better salt water fishermen than me, I can slay 2-3 large mouth bass to his one. One year we made it to AAA fishing circuit and had two sponsors. 

We got up early in the morning, back then we had pagers, and he had paged me ready to go and head to our final destination.. South Carolina

We had taken some personal time off work, we worked at the same company, and we were known to hangout outside of work...

He had told me of a spot down there where his cousin had hunted a year before, and at the time it was a $800 Boar hunt and we paid for lodging and meals. We were promised each a hog to bring home... I packed the video camera and off we went...

I was so excited, and we were talking about the "what if's" as young men do... Adding a lot of dreams in it and it created some very interesting conversations... We got there and we needed to attend a short two hour class to understand about hunting Boar and working with dogs... Next day we go on the hunt....

Drawing straws, he got to hunt first and kill the first hog while I filmed it.... Within 15 minutes the dogs had a hog chased under a downed tree... The guide told Chris he could jump on top to scare the hog out, and made him aware of our locations and shoot only when he was sure.. So he climbs up does a couple of bounces on the trunk, and out came the hog..

To me, filming it, it was like I was watching it and not thinking about that thing headed my direction... But so it came, and it was so fast, by the time I realized what was going on, the Boar plowed right into me and knocked my on my arse... Camera went rolling and all.... I jumped up knowing that the day before Boars have been known to charge at people... I got up, scared, grabbed the camera to keep filming... Chris didn't kill that hog, but he spent years telling the story on how I got attacked by a Wild Boar....

We both did, in the end get hog meat to bring home.... 

The Meal, Pioneering With Children....

As a child, we as a family would go camping and fishing along the river banks of many rivers in two states. As we traveled or stayed at camp, we had sandwiches during the day but we always had breakfast and dinner on a open fire cooked in cast iron pots and pans. Often these meals were one dish meals..

Sometimes during the day we had to gather firewood for the fire that needed to last through the night. We tried to always keep a clean camp, but you know how that goes. I remember sometimes rubbing dish soap on the bottoms of some aluminum pans before Mom would cook on them over the fire. But 90% of the time she cooked on cast iron. Fried taters were almost a staple for us as were many non meat meals.

We did have a cooler to cart stuff around and they would go to the store when needed to get stuff. I had many Dutch oven meals, chili and corn bread, stew and biscuits, pot pie, shepherds pie, cobblers the list goes on. Having a fireplace or a place in your backyard to build a fire, you can create a simple one dish pioneering meal with your children or even a relaxing date and change it up a little. But allowing your children or grandchildren to help out will create wonderful memories that they will carry with them all of their lives. After dinner, roast some marsh mellows or try my fav, roasted pineapple over an open fire....

 So the next time power goes out, even if comes back on. Don't travel to the next town over, have a fun time cooking on a fire with your family or friends.

The Haters, The Lovers, The Seekers.....

As I sit in comfort of my plush chair, the fire is keeping this space warm and the smell of the fire reminds me of childhood days of living on the farm. I know that wood I split was well worth the effort as I knew these days were coming, and I would have to keep us warm. It was the same way back on the farm.

Today the world is a whole different place, but there are spots and places that have stayed the same just as I was raised. People are trying to get back to the basics and teach themselves the skills needed to live off their land, I am one of those people. To me, its in my soul, part of my program, what I believe in, what I desire. I was never a " keep up with the Jones " or "faddish" type, maybe as a teenager but that has long since been gone.

When we moved here I had many dreams on how I was going to make this land work for us. I have struggled many times with different aspects of living self sufficient. I haven't gone without, I have always provided, and the food I eat and gather is bar none the best. I know that when we pop open that canning jar, whatever is in the jar was made with hard work and lots of love. Pride is something I feel, but its also my drive to live the way I do. No words can describe to you how I felt in my heart when that day I opened my freezer and all the food that filled it over half way was of my own effort and hard work. The rewards of doing it on your own are many, more than some people can see, but also ones that people seek to understand it.

The Haters
Haters is a strong word, but these are the people that think that meat in a package was grown in a garden or a product made by man. Shake your head if you want, I have a neighbor that thinks just that way, clueless. They are the people who look down on you, or feel sorry for you because you "have to" live the way you are. They think that the efforts you make to make maple syrup is a joke because they can go to the store and buy it without any effort.
Its easy to go to the store and buy a dead processed chicken, after cooking it, its okay to throw some of it away if you want because there is no relationship between that chicken and you. I was at a KFC, yup I said it, sue me, KFC....... When I ordered some wings. As I sat down to eat them, I opened the hot sauce and began to chow down (KFC does have some killer hot sauce). After a couple, I bit into one that had a dark substance all around the meat and bone. Raising and slaughtering animals myself, I knew that was a blood clot caused by abuse. At the hands of a human, that chicken died in a manner less than respectable, at least in my book.
The haters don't have a clue as to why it was like that... Frozen veggies and fresh.... They sit around and complain about the economy and food prices, but harvesting lettuce in a field is below them. They are the people supporting big Ag companies so that the basic gentle farmer can't make a decent living at working the land or raising meat to sell. I don't hate the Haters, I want to open their eyes, teach them, let them taste their own rewards. I want them to raise one chicken and harvest that chicken to feed their family.

The Lovers
These are the people who might not have land, might not understand what we do or how we do it. They are looking at us, reading what we do, and living through us as we get on with life. Lovers are those that understand why/what we are doing. They sit on the side lines because perhaps that is all they can do because they need to learn and be taught how to do something on their own. They don't envy us so much as appreciate what we do and what makes us tick. They do what they can to recycle, and do what they can to keep the landfills less filled.  Lovers ask questions about what we do as well as love the food we share with them. Some lovers cover their like for us because they don't think they can do what you do. But they are always the first to stick their hand up for free veggies when we have extra to offer. Believe it or not, Haters can be closet Lovers, in fact a closet Lover will be your seasonal friend. They are easy to snuff out, you just have to see who is kind to you during growing season and dislikes your lifestyle when growing season is past. I am positive you can say " Hey, I know someone like that! " Lovers also don't make fun of us, they are eager to understand because perhaps they will someday be a Seeker. I like Lovers and I will gladly keep sharing what I do, in hopes someday, you will post that you decided to try it for yourself and love the rewards of your hard work and thank me.

The Seekers
I am a Seeker... Seekers are those, ( I will remind you, at ANY LEVEL) that are seeking a new/better way to provide for their family by doing it themselves. They seek out like minded people to join with to learn and understand. They want to join those people that are doing it and get their hands dirty. They want a wood fire, they want to pop open the canning jar, they want to understand how basic needs can be met by hard work and understanding how to do it. They respect others who have to live that way, they look at those who have to live that way as a friend. A Seeker can cover themselves with a blanket that was sewn with yarn and understand the warm they feel was made with a pair of hands not a factory loom. They embrace the smell of a wood fire, and will even cook a meal right in the living room because while the open fire heats the room, it can also cook a meal in a pan. ( Did you ever image looking at your fireplace that way?) 

I really like it when people tell me that they tried something I have taught them to do, or they buy a book that allows them to make something all on their own. It isn't my goal, but an added benefit to teach others while I learn myself. I know some of you have been with me a few years now, and as I have hit the bumps along the way, you too have hit them with me. Thanks for hanging out with me and I hope your doing something SS if you weren't already doing it yourself. Jason

The Grain Mill, A Rare Insider Look, Part 2 of 3, A Social Media House, Bartering Hub

Now we have information at our finger tips, but back when I lived on the farm, this wasn't so. Relationships were important to keep, and the Mill was the place where folks would get together and pass on news that was going on. The counter help would have to be some one that was good at keeping inventory, math, feed/food information as well as a good, friendly gossiper. A person who got along with everyone, and did so to help spread the word of the information they had gotten else where.

They had to be a Master Gossiper, one that didn't take sides, or hold judgment against different people. After all, the information they told would be the information that you told them to spread. There were certain things that wouldn't be spoken of, and some matters of family business weren't spread. There was/is a fine line of spreading that information.

I am not sure of the workings of the grain/feed business, as the crops we grew were to sustain our own farm. We sometimes had to buy grain in if we didn't have enough to make feed for our hogs. That's right, we were in the hogging business, or pork producers. Not a huge operation mind you, and I am not convinced that we were that successful at it.

From slaughtering our own hogs, storing them in a freezer until the buyer came by, to making scrapple to sell locally. I still think to this day, if Mom could have gotten that recipe out, we would have been known throughout the eastern seaboard for our scrapple, it was that good.

We were one of those familys that John Cougar Melloncamp would sing about, when he wrote the song Rain on the Scarecrow. A small farm run by country folks trying to make a living in the dirt. But soon technology and factory farming would put us out of business. I will not say that Mom and Bobs business plan was not at fault either. When your a kid, you don't always get the information you want from adults.

Thou we owned the farm, I think about 20 acres, we leased about 140 more from the state for 50.00 a month. The bank really owned the farm, and I remember the day I climbed in the truck and left the farm for the last time. I remember the banker, Randy using a staple gun to staple something on the front door, a foreclosure letter no doubt. Country living at its finest, and everything I ever knew.

Our local Mill, which is long gone, took up a local collection as they had done many times before for other families that suffered from the same out come as we had. They kept our line of credit although we couldn't pay it back, or perhaps later it was paid back.

I was shocked when I moved here to have a Mill in my backyard. But not just any Mill, thou its 26 years later, it remains the center hub and supply store that anchors this community, just like the one when I was a kid.

So now that I have shared what the Mill meant to me/us/to a community as a child, I hope you have learned why it is such a important place.

Please take a little time to watch the first 40 seconds of this video to try to understand what farming was about back in those days. I suspect it is much the same these days. Even though my homestead sits on 5 acres, its mine, and no bank can have it. It might not be much to some, its more than others, and I can, at a small scale, work this land as I learned back on the farm. With a old milk farm at the bottom of the mountain, it isn't hard to get tied up in making my land produce food. I do have a real since of pride during harvest time.

Everything else I do to be self sufficient today, were important things to do back on the farm to make ends meet or put food on the table. As food prices go up, the population increases, food becomes more GMO and less valuable as a food source, I am pleased with all that I do for myself and family.

Maple Syrup Making: How To Video, Another Self Sufficient Skill Accomplished

This year, with the unseasonal warm temperatures, maple syrup making time is cut short. I am not complaining at all, and grateful to see brown/green ground and feel the warmer air around me. Even some of the 600 plus bulbs I planted last fall are coming up, at least the ones the moles haven't eaten. However I am quick to remind myself that flowers bloom at different times and kept the rule in my mind while planting to ensure a beautiful spring.

I had spent a few days over the last couple weeks with Tom Sr. while he was syrup making. He seems to be less stressful when he's not around certain people or has had some rest. Either way, I was so happy to spend some time with an elder learning the self sufficient skills by passing it down. I felt like I was spending time with my own Grandpa learning the skills. It brought me to a different place.

A place that I created in my mind, a place where I am learning the life skills of being self sufficient from the elders of my own family. Its a sad reminder of the loss of people in my life, but life is what it is, and it made me feel good inside to be there doing it with Tom. If I took other peoples lives for granted while they were alive, I am sure I would feel guilty. Karma taught me many years ago to live/love for today, not hoping for tomorrow. The feelings of spending time together brought me some really good, much needed kinship. I suppose we humans, the ones searching to live self sufficient, search/look to elders for knowledge. I can see this idea in many Indian tribes and history that I have read about them.

So gathering sap, boiling it, adding more sap while boiling it, until you run out of sap and end up with a syrup in your pan. Filtering is a small issue to consider when taking this on, but common sense goes a long ways. The more sap you can boil, or larger batch you can do, the less filtering you have to do. I did a quart jar of fines, what is fines? Fines is a term Tom uses to describe the final end product of syrup that contains all the really fine particles that he isn't willing to figure out how to remove, and they are super fine.

So, if you have ten minutes to spend with me and watch my video, it won't be ten minutes wasted. I hope that you learn something about syrup making and enjoy the video.

If you remember it was just a few years ago when I attended a how to class sponsored by the state on making maple syrup. Now I have 7 pints of of syrup to last me till next year.

The Bloopers On Making Syrup!!! No Liquid In Your Mouth Warning

Well, there is nothing funnier then getting together with friends and have a couple drinks and do a self sufficient video on making maple syrup. I also am going to release, " Sugar Shanty Trash Talking" what a whoot!! 

I am going to set this video up for you... You know how we all say things like " WELL WHEN I WAS A KID, THE BUS DIDN'T PULL IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, I HAD TO WALK 1.9 MILES IN STORMS JUST TO GET A RIDE TO GET AN EDUCATION"

No really, I did have to walk that far to the bus stop... Ask the wife we measured it..

Anyway we were talking, telling stories about these types of things, and Tommy Jr. after trying Toms Yolk carrying idea.....

So anyway, he thought he would cheer Tom up by saying something about all the years they had done this together. Raw and uncut, I present to you his presentation/skit

 

Maple Syrup, Sap Gathering, How To, Production Of, To The Table

In a small rural town, where I live, we often depend on each other for many things. There are calls for help, friend needs a helping hand, working together to hunt/fish/gather food, and keeping/storing food for long term uses. Sometimes it might be helping with slaughtering animals for food, gather mushrooms in the woods, smoking (my department) and canning.

This time of year, in so many small towns, out in the rural America, there are folks hanging out in their sugar shanty cooking down maple sap to make that REAL yummy syrup, maple syrup. There are many prizes/rewards for such hard work, its a social event between generations, the work in the fall to prepare the wood needed for this event. Its a rumor, or in my case a proven point that this is a mans event. Hundreds of gallons of sap needed to make enough syrup for consumption as well as to sell at the market or to visiting city slickers. If your from the city, that isn't meant as a cut down or insult, its used just like you might call us country folk. Some of the images you will see might even make us look like hillbillies, but were not like that at all.

So here are tom Jr. (t) and Tom Sr.(T)  this is a bucket carrying system that allows him to carry up to 10 gallons of sap to the tractor, being that he has to travel up hill, his shoulders/neck hold the weight.

 

This is a food safe 55 gallon collection container attached to a three point hitch. The hitch isn't used in this application and is used only to hold the barrel as its driven down along the higher road so we can bring the sap up to empty our buckets, and return to the woods to gather more. Wrapped with gray tape, a screen is attached to catch large debris.

This picture shows the color of the sap collected, the sample on the left is getting a rusty color, and the right is clear. Illustrated here is what to use and when to stop tapping the sap from a tree.

Collecting of the sap from the trees can be tough if you don't plan ahead. Tom using his tractor, will drive down the road while sap that is being collected is dumped into the large container. On this day, a collection had taken place, and just a few left for the purpose of this blog. I also wanted to show you different methods of hauling the heavy buckets.

Lets head into the sugar shanty AKA Syrup Shed....    

  As you can see, the fire is going, and it takes about one cord of wood to get 19 quarts of syrup. Depending on what type of hardwood maples you tap into, the amount of sap used to make one gallon of syrup will be different. With sugar maples, the final product will be a light color, and only 35 gallons of sap is needed. With the most common standard hardwood maples, it takes 48-52 gallons of sap. Those numbers aren't defined enough because depending on the sugar content of the sap from the year before will be different, from year to year.

In this photo to the left side, on the shelf is a holding tank, it holds sap that is slowly allowed to drip at a rate that the water is boiled from the square pan. It is filled from the barrel that is mounted on the three point hitch from the tractor. There are also two holding containers inside the shed so while collections are going on, a constant supply of sap is near by to keep the square pan full. A small sock place at the end of the tube that drips into the square pan, is a last stage type filter prior to boiling the sap. The sap will again be filtered from stuff collecting during processing.

Also, sap will continue to be added, and the fire stoked/banked through out the night and day until enough of it is ready to be set for final processing. In this case, this is Toms sugar shanty and oven, and owner of the trees we used to gather the sap from.

During the production of maple syrup, in some kind of manly type relationship or social acceptance, a cherished drink is made and shared amongst the men working together to produce this wonderful product. The drink called, in this neck of the woods, Slurple is a traditional method of acceptance and is shared during the processing.

I do admit that this isn't the only drink shared within the processing shed, its the best and most self sufficient.

tommy, bottle in hand, expresses his joy of being the subject of this shot. tommy is Marks brother-n-law as well as a good friend to Mark. I am a good friend to Mark and met tommy through Mark. tommy is the fungi king of all time I mentioned before. He is a centennial soul, and a great fellow to be around, there has never been a dull moment when he or Mark is around.

As the sap boils, it is sifted to remove bits that collect in it as it boils, Tom is shown here using his screen to remove the waste at the top. A small sample is shown once the gravity level is checked, and brought to about 31-32 its cooled, graded to Grade A Amber Medium, canned and stored for future use. I have canned it and used it 5 years later without any noticeable change to taste.

I had a great time today, spending time with good friends, doing something together, and talking about being self sufficiency and making our own. Though Tom, tommy or Mark don't blog about being self sufficient, I can assure you they are as much as me if not more. 

Tom bragged a lot about being self sufficient and how proud he feels about living the fine life. He even mentioned how he wish he had moved to Alaska, a place where he says his skills could be used. He build his own house from wood he cut, and bragged up his own level of skills.