For Christmas my sister installed the Country Living grain mill I’d had sitting in the living room in its box since this summer!!

From Self-Reliance

With the extender bar, it really isn’t bad to use at all. The handle is wide enough that you can turn it with one or both hands, so by varying your motions you can get quite a nice workout. I find it really nice to be exercising on a machine with such tangible results, instead of my energy dissipating into useless noise or friction heat.

From Self-Reliance

And yes, a brand-new staticky plastic container meant approximately half the flour ground flew off in the opposite direction… upwards, or gluing itself onto the mill body. I now have a pack of valved respirators to use during operation. They should seriously be included in the mill combo packages.

Having the grain mill and the pressure canner out at the same time, with two looms and a drumcarder visible from the kitchen door, makes me feel like I’ve reached my goal of Pioneer Woman…

There are lovely photographs I have not shared with you! These are all from my Permaculture Design Certificate course in Columbiaville, MI in the summer of 2009.

From PDC Aug 09

This was the first time I’d seen teasel. One of the earliest fiber prep tools – you can see the resemblance to cards for aligning fiber, or a stiff brush to raise nap. This seedhead dried to a lovely stiff tan and still resides in my craft room.

From PDC Aug 09

Detail of a bark wigwam at The Willows.

From PDC Aug 09

The inner bark of the Basswood / Linden / Lime tree makes a lovely strong cordage. This was conveniently harvested for us by car tires running over the fallen branches. At The Willows.

From PDC Aug 09

A lean-to roof in the process of being thatched. This was absolutely so much fun to do, and as I worked above my head, I ended up with plenty of scratches on my forearms to show off with the pride of a 3-year-old. At the Straw Bale Studio.

From PDC Aug 09

Someone else was interested in the lecture.

(Chicken forage planted where the chickens have access to it directly means less food you have to bring to them.)

From PDC Aug 09

Morning at the Land Stewardship Center, where we camped.

From PDC Aug 09

Some geese camped with us.

From PDC Aug 09

Does anyone know what these gorgeous 5-foot-tall flowers are?

You can identify a permaculturist’s house by the candy left on the pillow. The lovely Holly hosted me two nights during my travels.

I’ve wanted to internet-marry Sharon Astyk since the local Urban Harvest group read her book, Independence Days, in 2009, and I became a loyal blog reader. Here was someone who values the same things I do, who worries about taking care of her loved ones in such a way that resources are left for other people to take care of their loved ones, and who had gone past worrying to actually doing things to make the world around her better.

Around the time the book was coming out, she had started an Independence Days Challenge on her blog – following in the footsteps of Carla Emery to each day:

• plant something
• harvest something
• preserve something
• waste not
• want not
• eat the food
• build community food systems

Holding the challenge on one’s blog is a lovely idea – not only formally reminding yourself of your committment, but holding yourself accountable for results in the eyes of The Intarwebs. So this year, I am formally joining. (I will probably also start tracking my progress on her Anyway Project as well, as eating mindfully is inextricably intertwined with building resilience.)

So, this last month:

Plant something: mung bean sprouts. Wayyy too early for starting things for outside. I shall also count taking advantage of the unseasonally disturbing weather to cover the emergency-drainage-fix bare dirt in the front yard with straw “books” – if we get any moisture this winter yet, this should prevent erosion AND give me a head start on mulched beds. I was going to plant herbs there anyway, but how nice not to have to remove the sod myself!

Harvest something: mung bean sprouts

Preserve something:  Becky Vs The Pressure Canner Round 2: Beef Stew: The Redux went much better than last time (although the claim that the canner can hold 19 pint jars is an utter lie. I only got 17.)

Waste Not: Veg scraps go to rabbit, and rabbit is now mostly litterbox-trained! woot! I don’t really mind having to add the paper pellets in the litterbox to absorb the urine, as it smells less than the de-facto hay absorbant from her previous arrangement, and has less seeds for the compost pile to worry about. Plus, having a lovely 5-gallon pail (with Gamma Lid) of droppings at the top of the stairs waiting to be carried to the freezing outdoor compost pile gives me a convenient spot to park the veg scraps she can’t eat. Bunneh definitely illustrates how the permaculture technique of adding new elements to a design connected with multiple other elements, makes everything function better.

Want Not: put up shelves on a long unused wall in the living room; got a drumcarder for the 7 lbs of black Corriedale in the garage that’s wanting to be blended with the grocery sacks of angora; splurged on Spoonflower prints for living room window quilts.

Eat the Food: made lots of 100% whole-wheat and flax bread dough for Christmas, and am still eating the last of the frozen flatbreads from the last batch; used 2 cups of my precious Hidatsa Shield Figure bean stash in a Jamaican Oxtail recipe (with actual grass-finished oxtail and neckbones.  The neckbones were quite meaty and amazing, actually.) Lentils in crockpot right now, with the last of a bag of onions and some disappointing sausage from the depths of the freezer. Terribly proud of myself for making last-minute veggie stirfry for two without having to go to the store.

And incidentally, started (albeit did not finish) two knitting projects from stash.

Build Community Food Systems: added eggs to my grass-finished beef herd share; for Christmas got 50 lbs each of local organic dried black beans, green peas and green lentils, and shared with friends and family; applied for the open spot on the North Dakota Community Forestry Council. I’ll be presenting two sessions at the ND State Horticultural Society Conference in Bismarck in July, and just learned this entitles me to a free vendor space. Now to plan for a High Plains Permaculture presence…

From Spinning

A glorious Rose supported spindle in birdseye maple, and a Phang in tulipwood, by Lisa of Gripping Yarn.

Check the chatoyance on the maple…

From Spinning

I had hoped to use these as airplane spindles (the supported style would be ideal for using with those little tray tables) but the Phang looked wayyy too much like a wooden stake. No way I was letting that beautiful piece of wood be confiscated.

From Spinning

A prized braid of Bee Mice Elf merino-bamboo-nylon in colorway Plum-age, spun at the 2nd Annual North Dakota Handspinner’s Conference in Jamestown. This was a commission for a Christmas present. Bee Mice Elf is practically impossible to get now.

From Spinning

Look at the beautiful marling.

From Spinning

So shiny…

Gah! No posts since April 2011? Ouch!

Well then! Also done in April 2011, spun at the Harvey get-together: Brock Samson.

From Spinning

The Palette, Before the Spin: red corriedale top, white merino top, red sari silk threads, red and gold mohair locks, stripped denim, stripped white cotton t-shirts, flax, carbonized bamboo, tussah silk cocoons, feather monarch butterflies on wire, #10 crochet cotton as a binder.

From Spinning

This section would be lovely reproduced as a holiday yarn, in and of itself. Red corriedale, wild-harvested tussah cocoons, gold mohair locks.

From Spinning

From Spinning

I believe I took 2nd place in Novelty Yarns at both the 2011 Shepherd’s Harvest Festival and North Country Fiber Fair.

From Spinning

I ended up popping the butterflies off their wire backing, spinning in the wire with 1/4″ hanging unwrapped, then reattaching the butterflies on the other side of the orifice before winding on to the bobbin. My Clemes and Clemes Modern has a pretty narrow orifice. I am seriously thinking about upgrading to the bulky flyer – I have some 1/2″ skull beads calling to me.

On April 7th, the snow in the backyard had finally melted, after a first attempt a couple weeks back was derailed by a surprise six inches. I tiptoed through the mud to check on my shiitake logs. Brushing away the protective straw, I found this six-inch monster – on a two inch diameter, two year old log!

As big as my hand!

The top side had a peculiar translucent quality that hinted it had been frozen and thawed before – so this had definitely been growing in March. I can see why Field and Forest calls this strain Snowcap!

I trimmed off the especially squishy bits. The rest was delicious.

This Sunday, High Plains Permaculture will be screening the documentary “Garbage Warrior” at the Bismarck Public Library meeting room C – 2-4pm. This is a story of Michael Reynolds, designer of the Earthship, and his efforts to get the design into use. I’ve been enthralled with earth-sheltered housing for a while now, and this is a particularly wonderful DIY option that rescues material from landfills while providing thermal mass for heat regulation, and greenhouse space. I hope you’ll join us!

Hello Internet Searchers: Just so you know, Bismarck does have a spinning group which meets the 3rd Saturday of every month at Impact Gallery on 4th and Broadway – 10 -12:30ish. September’s meeting is postponed to the 25th due to the downtown street fair on our usual day. We’re a small, welcoming group – bring your wheel or spindle and chat with us! If you’re on Ravelry, we do have a discussion group there – North Dakota Spinners.

I am procrastinating writing a solar dehydration class.

I just got Martin Crawford’s Creating a Forest Garden in the mail Thursday, and flipping through the pretty pictures has reminded me of a plant I want to incorporate into the garden next year – soapwort.

It’s pretty, low enough to blend into the other ornamental perennials already present, and extremely useful. The jar in the below picture (from a Junior Master Gardener show and tell session) shows some suds from just shaking purchased shredded dried root in a jar with cold water – imagine how much better you can do extracting with hot water!

Or, don’t imagine – check out these people. This is so going on my project list.