Life is Change

So much has changed since I last wrote here 5 1/2 years ago. Syona and I are no longer together. I have since remarried and settled in New Mexico. I currently own and operate a web hosting and design company specializing in services for small business. Visit Homestead Digital Media Services to learn more about how I can help you build an effective online presence for your small business.

I also write a blog at salebarncafe.com. You can follow the link to see what I'm up to these days.

Find me on Twitter @Ravenlaughing

Thanks for stopping by.

Jeremy

New Directions

Our lives have taken drastic new directions this year.  We are still adjusting to be more sustainable.  Please join me at Thought and Memory Blog to read more on the new directions.  I will leave this blog up as an archive, but we will not be actively writing on it at this time.  Thanks for following, and please join me at Thought and Memory.

W.U.F. Update 04.04.10

We are working on getting the potatoes planted today.  We also have peas and Chinese greens that need to be planted.  We are taking a break for lunch and I wanted to share that we have a ton of volunteer spinach around the yard.  Our mints are doing well and are about ready for the first harvest.  The bronze fennel is poking up now.  The strawberries are thriving.  We also have volunteer garlic and onions coming up right now.

Sy planted blue pansies around the Circle this  past week.  We have a ton of pansies to get in the ground.  They are self seeding and edible.  The flowers are quite tasty with a salad of spring greens.  I can't describe how they taste as different colors of flowers seem to have different flavors ranging from sweet to slightly nutty.

I will be posting some pics later after we get the potatoes and such planted today.

Spring Is Sprung.

Here are some early spring pictures from W.U.F.  There also pics of the truck we bought with tax return money so that we have an effective and reliable vehicle to haul the things we need for the garden.  Stay tuned as spring continues to unfold, as we will be busier with planting and such, but will be posting more often as well.

Our Indoor Greenhouse for seedlings.

We upgraded the lighting in a mini indoor greenhouse we built about a month ago.  We had one T5 full spectrum.  We added two more today.  This will give our seedlings all of the light they need to be great plants.  Our indoor greenhouse is made of a steel utility shelf, wrapped in mylar bubble wrap.  Sy was at Pet Smart and they had just received a shipment of fish and the mylar wrap was used to protect them during shipping.  Sy asked if she could have some and they gave her the whole box.  We still have enough to wrap another utility shelf.  We used the years of accumulated unused masking and duct tape we had, to hold it together.

We currently have carrots, spinach, lemon bergamot, pansies, and creeping thyme.  The carrots and spinach plants are going to planted in large pots so we can have fresh indoor grown spinach until the spring crop is seeded outside and comes up.  We are going to try growing our carrots in large pots as well.  we will cut the bottom out of the coconut fiber seed cups, and plant the in a large pot.  The lemon bergamot is a useful herb to have in the garden.  The pansies are edible self seeding flowers that we hope to have as a permanent self sustaining crop in our garden.    The creeping thyme is a blooming ground cover that is xeric and tolerant of being walked upon.  Our plan is to replace the grass in the pathways  and in our sacred circle with the creeping thyme.

We both have garden fever right now and are ready to plant.  It won't be long.

Cactus Juice Is Bottled. 02.01.2010

We bottled the prickly pear melomel.  It is a gorgeous color.  We of course sampled and it is still a bit hot, but has a smooth almost smoky flavor.  It is a little drier than I would of like, but still very good.

We ended up with 18 bottles or just over 19 liters.  Think about buying wine at ten dollars a bottle.  Now figure we spent approximately $30 to make this batch.  If you like wine or honey mead, it is well worth it to make your own.  There is some initial investment in equipment, but it will pay for itself in the first couple of batches depending on your setup.  This is how we take one step closer to self sufficiency.

Read W.U.F. Update September 18, 2009 to read more about this batch of Cactus Juice.

W.U.F. Update 01.28.10

Well folks we are almost back to that time of year again when this blog will be updated more frequently.  It has been a busy winter.  We have spent time sorting and deciding what stuff we need to get rid of.  We had boxes that hadn't been opened since Sy and I moved in together ten years ago.  The plan is to have a huge garage sale this spring.

I have also spent some some time on spiritual pursuits.  I continue to study and practice Asatru, but have recently incorporated a healthy dose of Buddhism into my life.  I have taken up meditation and yoga again.  These are things I haven't done in a few years.  I am feeling better than I have in awhile, mentally, spiritually, and physically.

The big news is that Sy has started some of the cool weather seedlings this past week, and we will be starting more soon.  We started some yard cleanup a couple of weeks ago.  We were having 60 degree days in January and couldn't pass up the chance.  Last year we named our compost pile Mt. Stromboli.  The new pile is called Mt. Vesuvius and promises to be just as rich.  We will be using of off Stromboli this year while Vesuvius breaks down over the next year.  The section of yard where we keep the compost is full of giant tree roots. It is nearly impossible to dig to get the grass because of these roots, so this is an ideal area for us to keep the compost piles.  

The prickly pear melomel has been racked a couple of times into fresh carboys, and is now about ready to bottle.  I plan to let it age awhile in the bottle before drinking, but judging by the smell coming out of the air lock it should be a very sweet mead.

I recently changed the look of Decriminalize Common Sense Blog.  It is now called World Freedom Advocate.  While I still post my opinions, it has now become a true portal to activism.  Please visit.

Well that is all for now.

                                                       The Prickly Pear Melomel (Aka Cactus Juice) 01.28.2010