I made a mistake. I started a blog in the midst of summer, while farming, and while perilously close to–at least temporarily–hitting a physical and emotional wall. Surveying my life, I’m now realizing that I can’t keep updating this blog for the moment. Life is a bit busy and stressful at the moment, both with [...]
Archive for August 2011
A Hiatus Leave a comment
Photos: Off-The-Grid Cooking Leave a comment
Tonight we’re making chicken soup with the bones of two raised-and-slaughtered-on-the-farm chickens that we cooked up over an open fire last night. The soup’s being cooked on our rocket stove, which was made here on the farm utilizing clay from the land.
The Magic in Small Places 3 comments
An entry in Encounters I already wrote about the abundance of life here on the farm. It’s evident everywhere you look: the plants tall, bushy and vigorous, the crops yielding fruit and leaves, flowers and roots, the earth crawling with tiny creatures, winged friends singing and flying all over the place and the sun presiding [...]
Photos: Grounded 1 comment
Yesterday, after we harvested for the market, I headed out to the coast for a relaxing afternoon of food, beer, reading and writing. I went to a particularly treasured spot and thought I would share a couple pictures.
The Abundance of Summer 1 comment
Yesterday, Brian told me to watch the moon that night. Its track across the night sky would be a preview of the sun’s track during the winter. The moon would show me how little sunlight we would have. And indeed, the moon’s track was low on the horizon that night, skimming along just below the [...]
Photos: A Nursing Attempt Leave a comment
Thanking the Sun 2 comments
Today I awoke to blue skies. This may not seem surprising–it is August, after all–but even at this time of year, sun cannot be taken for granted here on the Oregon coast. The last week has been cloudy and a bit cool, with only a few brief stretches of good sun. As such, we’ve been [...]
The Fermentation Prelude: How to Extract Whey from Raw Milk 2 comments
An entry in The Household Economy My earliest homesteading activities involved food. I think this is common and appropriate; food is basic and elemental, inspiring and accessible. It makes sense within our culture to homestead via food because food is still so capable of connecting us with the earth on a basic level. Despite the [...]
Photos: Caterpillars and Chopped Wood 1 comment
“Photos” posts will be one of the regular features here on Of The Hands. It’s fairly self-explanatory, consisting of photos of various creatures, beings and objects I encounter in day-to-day life which I find beautiful or compelling. Particularly, the “Photos” category is for pictures I don’t have much in particular to say about–except for perhaps [...]
Tonight’s Gift 1 comment
Earlier tonight, Brian (who is the co-owner of the land I’m farming on) arrived home triumphant, holding a 10 pound wild Chinook salmon he caught while out on the nearby Nehalem Bay in a row boat. He carried the fish with a certain pride and excitement, exhilarated at his success. He had about ten hours [...]
