Author Archives: Grumpy Old Farmer

Americauna?

When we got our meat bird chicks back in May the hatchery sent us a “mystery” bird as a bonus.  It is always a guessing game as to the sex and type.  Our last mystery bird we guessed as a female until we caught “her” crowing.  He has now become one of our nicest and most protective boys.  This bird we guessed as a rooster and is now laying eggs.  Guess we suck and guessing!  So now that we know HE is a SHE we had to figure out what breed she is.  We have settled for now on Americauna.  She has the pudgy cheeks and feathering of one so until we see or hear differently “Squirtel” is a female Americauna.  Any opinions?

IMG_3703            IMG_3702

A Film Everyone Should See

A new documentary entitled “Fed Up” has hit the scene.  It is narrated by Katie Couric and I must say it nails what is wrong with our nation’s eating habits and our food system today.  It is quite an eye opener and for anyone who cares why we have a diabetes and obesity epidemic this will pretty well put it in perspective.  My family has watched it.  Having a 19 year old son who has been influenced by food advertising and led to believe that processed foods are some how “real” foods instead of food like substances, it really opened his eyes.  Sugar is the new cocaine.  Watch this and recommend it to others.  You might just save someone’s life.

Because of this film I am attempting to go as sugar free and processed food free as possible.  Indeed that is the cornerstone of why JAZ Farm exists.  My weakness isn’t so much sugary and processed foods as it is liquid calories…. in particular, wine (hear me sobbing as I write).  If one is to be able to be active and energetic as the years go by, the old jalopy of a body needs to be kept in shape.  You can’t have clear and efficient fuel lines if you keep stopping them up with goo.

Watch this show….  everything you may know about food could very likely be wrong.  Don’t torture yourself by saying you are going on a “diet”.  Make it a change in lifestyle.  I did, and I am adding this to it.

https://movies.yahoo.com/video/fed-trailer-161051027.html

original

The Ending Of The Harvest

This is just a catch all update to wind up the 2014 harvest.  We have yet to have a freeze so many of the plants would and do continue to produce.  However, knowing Colorado pretty well, if we were to let these go until the first freeze it would likely be accompanied by a foot of snow!  So we have started putting the beds to sleep.  This involves pulling up and composting the plants, spreading compost on the beds and adding fertilizer, covering them with straw and then covering them with staked down burlap to keep it from all blowing away during the winter blizzards.  Its a big job but just like the saying, “How do you eat an elephant?  Answer:  One piece at a time”  A couple of beds per weekend and we will have it all done in a month.

Between the harvesting that Zina did while we were away for astronomy and the harvests of the past two weeks, we have put up more potatoes and squash, dehydrated a bushel of peppers, made beet and carrot juice and frozen it, and finished up shelling the last of the beans.  It has been amazing.  The food is SOOOOO good.

IMG_0009

The Next Project For The Farmers

As posted previously, Zina has decided that she really likes the tasks involved with wheat, bean and corn production.  She spent hours this season cutting down wheat, picking beans and corn.  As a result, next year’s addition to the growing menu is going to be dent corn and organic spring wheat along with the beans.  The total area will be around an acre.  The book I’m reading about small scale grain production lays out a detailed plan for rotating the wheat and corn behind legumes (beans and alfalfa) and clover.  This helps to build the soil and to replenish the nitrogen being extracted by the grains.

Processing all of this by hand would be a fools task.  However, it has been a challenge to find small scale equipment as most of this ridiculous country has gone to massive scale production.  Homesteading equipment is a bit hard to come by unless you are willing to buy, refurbish, and then use, antiques.

Our search has not been for nought.  We tracked down a hand cranked grain mill, a corn seeder, and a peddle powered thresher (cuts the heads off the wheat stalks).  I found a small disc harrow for the tractor and a chain link harrow.  These are for preparing the soil and covering the seeds.  I will need to rent a trailer to get the disc to the property however.  It weighs 500 pounds and I would never be able to get it out of my pickup!

 

Corn Seeder

photo

Treadle powered thresher

photo-2

Grain Mill

 

Grain Mill

We Are All Official Now!

We saw an ad on Facebook awhile back and were astonished to see our name on some shirts.  After grousing a bit about how nothing is private anymore and that they likely got our name from our Facebook information, we thought, Wow!  That might actually be fun.  It was kind of interesting that they were able to custom make JAZ Farm shirts, hats and sweatshirts just from information we typed into their website.  They turned out great!  I guess their online marketing works!

photo-3

Let The Stargazing Commence

Aaron and I made it down to Okie-Tex Star Party on Friday evening. It is in the panhandle of Oklahoma near Kenton Oklahoma (not sure how it ever got a name as it it basically a bar and a church).   After a two year hiatus while we built out the farm the trailer made it with no issues and the astronomy gear has been “stellar”!  Saturday morning we arrived at the entrance at 7 am to stake out our territory.  The guys I am with have done this numerous times and knew just where to set up.  As we speak, the field is filling with all of the usual astro gear and gizmos.  Some is very simple and basic, others intensely hi-tech.  One thing for sure, we are not surrounded by the uneducated sort.  This is geek central.  Just my crew consists of me (a financial advisor), two attorneys, two software engineers and a physician.

The skies are incredibly dark.  We were able to see the milky way from horizon to horizon.  This is getting harder and harder to find due to the light domes emitted from our apparent fear of the dark.

The first night of observing usually involves the pleasure cruise of hunting the more prominent eye candy.  Local folks know the event is happening and are eager to have us help them tour the galaxy.  The Swan, Lagoon, Trifid, and Eagle nebula near Sagittarius are big hits.  Andromeda, our nearest galaxy, is an eye opener as well as the big globular clusters of M13 and 92 in Hercules and M22 in the southern sky.  They wow big time as they look like giant galactic diamond rings made up of millions of old stars.

Going forward, most of the astronomers will go deep.  They will break out the observing lists and settle in to a week of hunting down faint fuzzies that will include galaxies hundreds of millions of light years away.  Many will be imaging, using their high tech polished glass, CCD cameras and computers to capture and create images of amazing clarity.

This is a badly needed break.  It has been over two years since our last star party and hanging with friends and especially my son for a week is a rare treat.  Much thanks to my wife for kicking me out the door.  She says the dog keeps looking out the window wondering where we are.  I miss them a bunch, but wasn’t about to turn this down.  Now that we are here…. it looks like it needs to be an annual event.

The Boys with their toys (mine is the closest and Aaron’s is the one next to it.

IMG_3648

My scope on the right and some of the other astronomers getting their gear assembled.

IMG_3640

 

Our arrival and just getting the gear out onto the ground.  It is a long and heavy ordeal to get everything situated.  One doesn’t go to these for just a day or two. It takes to long to set up and take down.

IMG_3636