Tag Archives: rural living

February 16, 2023 · 9:47 am

Black Locust Coppicing, Part 2

In continuing to document the coppicing project (Black Locust Coppicing, Part 1), I have above a photo of the stack of firewood from Plot A. It was cut using the saw in the picture – an 18″ Corona Razortooth pruning saw (Hand Tools: The Simple Choice), which I cannot recommend for out-of-the-box usage of this magnitude. The saw blade itself is fantastically sharp and an efficient cross-cutting tool, but the handle is less than ergonomic and quickly reveals hot-spots and pressure points. Thankfully they have the handle attached to the blade with removable screws and I intend to replace it at some point with a custom wooden handle of the proper shape. Uncomfortable handle notwithstanding, with the help of family (Helpful Children) the wood was cut in less than 3 hours.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under agrarianism, hand tools, homesteading, trees, Uncategorized, woods

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 9, 2023 · 2:17 pm

Black Locust Coppicing, Part 1

Pile of harvested black locust poles

In an attempt to move closer to sustainability (Thinking in Long Terms), I have begun the process of coppicing black locusts for many uses, primarily firewood for heating purposes. Black locusts have among the highest BTU’s per cord of North American trees, and have a few properties which make them endearing to me personally and to many of the homesteading persuasion. They are a pioneer species which can compete with grass species favorably if not mowed, are among the fastest growing hardwoods, are leguminous nitrogen fixers, are slightly more deer resistant than other trees due to their sharp thorns, and the wood has been known to last decades as fence posts. Their thorns do make a nuisance for the grower as well as the deer, but a good pair of leather gloves mostly makes it a non-issue. I will try to provide a detailed data-set as this project goes on so that we can all benefit from more than just anecdotes, and over time I think it will if nothing else allow me to better plan my own projects and heating needs.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under agrarianism, hand tools, homesteading, trees, Uncategorized, woods

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

December 22, 2022 · 3:28 pm

Mulching Comparison Experiment, Part 2

1935 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture; A different time with different solutions

I find it necessary to address the sustainability of each of the methods of growing that I will be comparing in my Mulching Comparison Experiment, Part 1. Sustainability is very important to consider when undertaking any agricultural venture. When I say sustainability I mean it very literally, not just speaking from an environmental standpoint. Can this method be sustained indefinitely under the current or foreseeable future conditions?

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under agrarianism, homesteading, soil, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 15, 2022 · 11:42 am

A Poem

The ice glistens,
The fire crackles,
The joints creak,
The tea steams,
The soup boils,
The mind turns inward.

The winter approaches.

2 Comments

Filed under art, poetry

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 1, 2022 · 8:03 am

Subsoiler aka Chisel Plow (not a hand tool)

In my last post (Battle Royale (Agrarian Style)) I revealed that I have indeed used a tool on a tractor to accomplish an agrarian goal. I used a single shank subsoiler, aka chisel plow or ripper, to help prepare a hillside to become a productive orchard. There were definitely ways that I could have used hand tools only to suit this purpose, but it would have taken years worth of work and crop rotations. This solution allowed me to jump ahead with minimal investment of time and money, and with minimal negative consequences. Read on if you are interested in the reasons behind this exception to my rule (Hand Tools: The Simple Choice).

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under agrarianism, hand tools, homesteading, pond, soil, trees, Uncategorized, water

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 29, 2022 · 11:02 am

Mulching Comparison Experiment, Part 1

Garden with a view

I am starting new gardens from scratch this year, and in the interest of learning new things in new places (Thinking in Long Terms), I have set up an experiment to compare a few different methods of gardening. I will keep this as brief as possible, and expound upon each of these methods as I update you with progress reports over the following years. Each bed will be planted in the spring with potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and an assortment of vegetables, along with a row of sunflowers and buckwheat. I have no expectations or knowledge of how the results will look, this experiment is purely out of curiosity and I am excited to see how the different methods turn out. How will they yield, handle drought, soaking rains, etc?

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under agrarianism, food, hand tools, homesteading, soil, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 27, 2022 · 3:25 pm

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.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under agrarianism, books, USDA Yearbooks of Agriculture

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

November 18, 2022 · 4:51 pm

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.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

October 8, 2014 · 9:15 pm

An Introduction

I live in a beautiful rural county in Appalachia that few have ever heard of, fewer have seen with their own eyes, and a pittance actually have the blessing to call their home. This county is surrounded and sectioned by the sort of steep but gently undulating long ridges that typify the ancient and amorous Appalachian Mountains. In a narrow highland valley, between two such ridges, on the crest of a supple hill, lies a small town with no traffic light, no gas station, no post office, no commercial venture of any kind, just a grouping of houses smaller than a single block in a standard suburban housing development. Close enough in distance to this town to be considered a resident of it, but far enough distant to be blissfully uninvolved in the geopolitical and social affairs of its few nosy and gossiping inhabitants, my family and I reside on a small farm, and give thanks every day for what we view as a blessed existence. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under introduction

Tagged as , , , , ,