Big Dreams

A friend sent me a link to a property listing (pond, fig trees, greenhouse) and said he was thinking about bugging out, what would it take to be self-sufficient and possibly scale up to being able to support some folks.

Obviously I love that sort of thing and pointed out the rocky outcrops under the soil there and put together the ghost of an infrastructure budget and now I'm trying to think it out laterally because while a pig rotational system works well for me here, obviously there are lots of other good systems. And if time is allowed to be an input, well. It was a throwaway remark on his part but it put me back into future-oriented hope mode.

And in that vein...

...One of the earlier seed preservationist people who retired recently is going to send me some Morden corn seed, which is in his opinion the earliest corn in the world, a couple days earlier than my mini gaspe. He's also going to send me more genetic breadth to gaspe. This is amazing. Morden has a significant genetic bottleneck; it would be really good if I could find another source. He's looked around and hasn't, but Morden is the name of an agricultural research station in Canada so I'm going to contact them and probably try to get in touch with some native seedkeeping groups around there and see if they want some seeds back and if they have some for me. This is jumping-up-and-down-in-front-of-the-mirror and randomly-squealing news.

I only just realized last night that I have an abundance of aspens I want to cut down, and I've been meaning to put in some mushrooms. So if I cut the aspens into logs or have them chipped I can innoculate them, they're a pretty good substrate for a lot of things. I have some learning to do on how to make that work: how old the logs need to be, when to innoculate, should I do chips or logs, what humidity ranges are ok, do they need to be under snow in winter for temperature protection, etc. Also some logistics: where are my humid spots, and which ones are out of reach of birds; how do I get some of those trees down and chipped; which mushrooms do I want to try.

I'm sad all the time, but at least that's not the only thing going on right now.

Big Dreams

A friend sent me a link to a property listing (pond, fig trees, greenhouse) and said he was thinking about bugging out, what would it take to be self-sufficient and possibly scale up to being able to support some folks.

Obviously I love that sort of thing and pointed out the rocky outcrops under the soil there and put together the ghost of an infrastructure budget and now I'm trying to think it out laterally because while a pig rotational system works well for me here, obviously there are lots of other good systems. And if time is allowed to be an input, well. It was a throwaway remark on his part but it put me back into future-oriented hope mode.

And in that vein...

...One of the earlier seed preservationist people who retired recently is going to send me some Morden corn seed, which is in his opinion the earliest corn in the world, a couple days earlier than my mini gaspe. He's also going to send me more genetic breadth to gaspe. This is amazing. Morden has a significant genetic bottleneck; it would be really good if I could find another source. He's looked around and hasn't, but Morden is the name of an agricultural research station in Canada so I'm going to contact them and probably try to get in touch with some native seedkeeping groups around there and see if they want some seeds back and if they have some for me. This is jumping-up-and-down-in-front-of-the-mirror and randomly-squealing news.

I only just realized last night that I have an abundance of aspens I want to cut down, and I've been meaning to put in some mushrooms. So if I cut the aspens into logs or have them chipped I can innoculate them, they're a pretty good substrate for a lot of things. I have some learning to do on how to make that work: how old the logs need to be, when to innoculate, should I do chips or logs, what humidity ranges are ok, do they need to be under snow in winter for temperature protection, etc. Also some logistics: where are my humid spots, and which ones are out of reach of birds; how do I get some of those trees down and chipped; which mushrooms do I want to try.

I'm sad all the time, but at least that's not the only thing going on right now.

More future

I'm making more soap.

The last soap I made had sugar in it for extra suds, sunflower seed oil to make it more nourishing/moisturizing and to make it spoil faster (it felt right), salt in it to harden the bar, and both kinds of grit. Plus it had every scent to make me feel nourished: roses and joint soothing and benzoin to remind me of Tucker and fir needle to remind me of the woods. It's for getting through memories and hard times and is every colour, the kind of confused mix of cranberry seeds and walnut that reflects my current inner state. It will not last forever, I'll need to use it up before 2 years.

Today I'm making shea butter soap, so rich like a blanket. Sugar for suds, no grit, and sweetgrass and sage and birch for cleansing and the first sap of spring. It'll keep well and won't spoil. One day I'll be ready for it and it will be there, white and clean and gleaming.

Soapmaking is a thing we did together and it will always bring him to mind.