Science Seeks the Farmer

USDA Yearbook of Agriculture 1920

By L.C. Everard – Chief Editor, Division of Publications – an article from the 1920 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, public property

Something is wanting to science until it has been humanized, said Emerson. That was long ago, before the development of the Department of Agriculture. Were he here today he would probably say something is wanting to agricultural science until it puts on its overalls and gets out between the plow handles. And the scientists of the department would agree with him; for though they may in their laboratories surround their work with a cloud of hard words and harder ideas like a smoke screen anround a battleship, they realize that their investigations and discoveries are made for the sake of mankind, and acquire their chief value when the veil of thechnicality is torn away. Cyclonic action means something to the farmer when translated into term of rain or snow or fair weather. And scientific study of the life history of Ascaris lumbricoides becomes a blessing to him when a way has been found to apply the knowledge so as to save his pigs.

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Thankful for … Butternut Squash

Every fall cucurbits rise to fame and infamy. They appear on porches as testaments to their diversity, as monsters and vampires, as modern art disguised as a vegetable smashed on the ground. They bring folks to a local farm, bring families together around a hot pie, and bring coffee lovers to love or hate the words ‘pumpkin spice’. They are a symbol of fall, harvest, and abundance. I am thankful for them. I am most thankful not for the pumpkin, however, but for the Butternut – cucurbita moschata.

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Thinking In Long Terms

Times they are a changing. Time marches on. Time waits for no man. Time flies. There are many sayings about time and our interactions with it. Theorists would have you acknowledge that whether or not time is linear is still not a settled issue, but from a human perspective we see time pass from past to present to future at a constant rate. It may seem to speed up and slow down depending on our circumstances, but we know that each day is equal to the last, and we can’t go back and change anything after the fact. We can however affect the future with our actions in the present.

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Rain-forest Sounds

Living in a rain-forest has its perks.  People may not remember that the Appalachian Mountains are covered by one of a very few temperate climate rain-forests in the world.  The sounds from the front porch every morning make it glaringly obvious.

 

 

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Daily Simple Breakfast Oatmeal Recipe

One of my pet peeves is how recipes on the internet are usually preceded by an autobiography and timeline progression of how the recipe came to exist.  I will give you the recipe and then if you decide to continue reading that is your choice.

Daily Oatmeal: Serves a family of 9

What you will need:

  • 3-1/2 Qt pot
  • 2 cups whole oats (or 3 cups steel-cut oats)
  • 1/2 cup powdered milk (or 1 quart milk)
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 quarts water
  1. Crack 2 cups whole oats in mill – as coarsely as possible without letting any whole grains make it through unbroken (2 cups whole oats should make approximately 3 cups “steel-cut” oats)
  2. Combine all ingredients in pot.  Pour the water in last and fill to within a comfortable distance of the top of the pot.  You will be stirring frequently and sometimes vigorously to stop any burning and sticking, keep this in mind.
  3. Cook over medium-low heat for 3 hours total, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.  If you feel any residue build-up on the bottom of the pot, use the wooden spoon to stir it back off the bottom.  As long as you stir within 15 minute intervals you should not have a problem.
  4. After 1 hour the liquid should be up to almost boiling temperature you will notice the oatmeal forms a dense bottom and you can hear it boiling underneath this.  It is very important to stir until all grains are scattered evenly through the liquid every 15 minutes.
  5. After 2 hours you will notice the oats swelling and the liquid will begin to thicken noticeably.
  6. After 3 hours if desired add 1/4 stick of butter, remove from heat and stir until fully homogenized.
  7. Let cool 10-15 minutes then serve!

If faster cooking time is desired:

  • Begin cooking on high heat but staying with it at the stove and stirring constantly for 15 minutes.  Then reduce heat to medium-low and stir for 5 additional minutes.
  • Resume recipe as if there is 1 hour left.

We have this oatmeal 4 days a week and we have never heard any complaints about lack of variety.  As the children filter into the kitchen in the morning I can hear more than one say “Yay, oatmeal! Hey guys we’re having oatmeal today!”  Sometimes we have plain oatmeal without the cranberries, sometimes we have dates, a can of fruit, frozen berries, or anything else we feel like putting in.

This entire recipe costs less than $1.50 and feeds our family of 9 comfortably so that we are all full for 3-4 hours even when working outside.  If you don’t have a mill substitute 3 cups steel-cut oats and the rest stays the same.  I added information about shortening the cooking time, but in my opinion this should not be done –  the longer and lower temperature it cooks the better the quality of the finished meal.

If there is any oatmeal left (never at our house) it can be put in the fridge and is good if not better after a day or a few days in the fridge.  If it is sufficiently thickened you can even fry it in some oil for a breakfast treat or bake it and slice it up as a bread.

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Garden Row Markers – Woodburning

Rowmarker3

Over the years, we have made many attempts at differentiating all the rows of a garden in some way that’s easily visible while in the garden.  Each of them has failed in one way or another.  This year, with the arrival of our 8 year old daughter’s All Season Strawberry Collection from Burpee’s, we decided to try yet another iteration of the garden row marker – woodburning. Continue reading

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Meat Rabbits; or How Children Can Provide Substantial Assistance on a Homestead, Part 1

Buck

Mature breeding buck

A few years ago we began asking the children this question: “If you could pick one farm project, what would it be?”  We got many wide-ranging answers, some realistic, some not.  One answer was given by our son – meat rabbits.  Our first step was to have him do what free and readily available research he could.  Once he exhausted our own home library, we bought the Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits, a pre-owned copy of course.  The Storey’s Guide series are one of our go-to introductions to any topic.  They are well-written by experts in the specific topic relevant to each book, they start from the beginning specifically for someone with no knowledge of the topic, and they go into enough detail that anyone could start that project without a more advanced book. Continue reading

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Mountain Art, While Supplies Last

Balancedrocks

Mountain art

With the snow relinquishing its hold on the hillsides, we have been spending much more time wandering through the woods.  If I walk slowly enough, the woods will reveal creative opportunities in every direction.  At my feet there is a pine cone that looks strangely different from the rest.  To my right, a rock that sparkles in the sun.  On the bank beside the path, a gnarled root that would make a great paperweight or bookend without any alterations whatsoever.

On a recent trip two of our children carried half of their body weight in rocks home because they couldn’t bring themselves to leave such wonderful treasures behind.  When they learned they wouldn’t be allowed to bring armloads of rocks inside, they quickly found creative outlets for them.  For one a massive addition to her fairy garden, to another a great start for a decorative stone border for her strawberry patch.

Burl

The burl on this tree will make a few beautiful bowls or one gorgeous bushel basket.

What I love about these woodland art supplies is that as long as we manage the wilderness with gentle benevolent intent, there will always be more creative project prompts ready and waiting.  I never go into the woods with an artistic purpose in mind.  The things I see and find will guide the process organically.

The balanced rocks in the feature photo took maybe 3 minutes of my time, but I get to watch their journey through the seasons for the rest of the year.  I definitely didn’t expect that I would do that on that walk, but there was a pile of stones that was just waiting for rearranging.  I don’t doubt that snow will knock them over this winter, but that will just give me a clean canvas for next year.

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Children in the Woods

childrenwoods

We often take walks in the woods.  All of us appreciate the wilderness, discovering new things on every foray.  Yesterday I got a chance to focus on a few subjects more relevant to hunting (both wild foraging and deer hunting) by leaving the path.  Leaving the path is something you only want to do if you are confident in your knowledge of the terrain, but even so it still requires some faith in yourself and random circumstance.  I of course stressed the dangers of leaving the path, and we discussed the other options available to us before putting it to a vote which was almost unanimous. Continue reading

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Helpful Children

“Many hands make light work.”  I would argue that many small hands make light-hearted work.  Children love to help, and often get giddy with excitement when there is an outdoor job to be done.  Many times the job to be done couldn’t possibly accommodate as many workers as have volunteered, so I try to delegate down to the smallest task to involve as many willing helpers as possible.  Usually this means the smallest children have completed their part of the job very quickly and move on to asking poignant and sometimes existential questions about the work we are doing, followed by spontaneous outbursts of energy which most times will culminate in a game of tag around the area where I continue to work.

Like the phases of matter, solid to liquid to gas, these phases of children’s helpfulness are just part of the natural order of things.  They heat up and cool down, settling back in to take a knee for a couple more questions before exploding outwards at full speed with no warning.  If I were to time how long the job would take, I would not be surprised to learn that it took me far longer to complete the work with their help than without, but neither I nor they would have gotten nearly as much enjoyment out of it.  Pausing to wipe sweat from my brow becomes a moment of joy, my sore back and aching feet forgotten as I watch the children squealing with joy when a hand just misses its mark or a ball goes flying over a head.  They are helping me dig this hole just as much as if they held the shovel themselves.

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