Week 2: 2/2 – 2/9
After I published the first blog post last Monday, I made
several more errands in Clark. First, I
went to town hall and got the paper work required to become a resident of South
Dakota. Once Claire and I become
residents we can purchase hunting and fishing licenses. I also picked up a water testing kit to
ensure that the well water at the cabin is safe to drink. I will mail the water sample to Pierre, South Dakota next Monday. From town hall I walked to the hardware store
where I dropped off a list of materials (mostly lumber) in hope of a
quote. I am eager to return to town and
find out how much our tiny home will cost to build. To finish my visit, I stopped at the post
office and registered our address with the United States Postal Service. Now all I have to do is build a mailbox and
we should be able to receive and send mail!
When I returned home that evening, I received a phone call
from one of my brothers, Mateusz, telling me that he had suddenly gotten work
off and was heading my way as we spoke.
Yes! Company! I know I’ve only spent five days alone but it’s
nice to have a friend to talk too. The
moon was almost full that night and it lit up the fields like it was
daytime. I couldn't resist. Misty and I walked through the grasses for two
hours while awaiting Mateusz. We have
several owls that live on property. One
of them is a barred owl and as I stood still in a moonlight drenched field, I heard
it. “Wo-wo-wo-woooooo”. I called back to the best of my ability. To my surprise, it responded! For the next five minutes, I had an
incredible conversation with an owl.
However, this conversation was cut short by the sound of the rumbling
engine of my brother’s car.
Mailbox Memories
My brother is finally here and he comes prepared with a
Native American flute, Frisbees, and a couple of items I forgot to bring. However, despite his company, I still need to
build my mailbox. Mateusz is good with
his hands and has some experience with carpentry so he happily offered to help. This was my first time building something from
scratch and I was a little nervous.
The main post is simply two, two by fours screwed
together. The arm that extends from this
post (also two, two by fours screwed together) will hold the mailbox 42 inches
above the ground (required height).
There is a two by four in between the arm and the post that ensures
support. I made two 45 degree cuts in
this small piece of lumber and it turned out okay. I’m still new to working with power saws and
sometimes it can be difficult to make a straight cut with my Dad’s old circular
saw.
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After all the pieces were assembles, it was time to apply a
coat of varnish and stain to protect it from rain and snow and to make it aesthetically
pleasing. Once the stain had dried, we attached
the mailbox to the post with fasteners. After
churning our own cement from a concrete mix, we placed the completed mailbox in
a five gallon bucket, made sure it was level, and poured the cement in. Just like that, Claire and I can now receive
and send mail. The mailbox is not
perfect by any means but it was a good starter project. Two days later I received my first letter
from my Dad. Thank you Mati for all of
your help and advice!
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| Applying a coat of stain and varnish |
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| Mati and me standing next to the new mailbox |
The Old Barn
There is a parcel of land 30 miles from the cabin that is
home to an old horse barn. It is falling
apart but there is a fair amount of good lumber left inside and it is my
intention to salvage some of it. When
Mati and I arrived, the first thing that caught my eye were four large support
beams that were dangling from the ceiling in an old room. These beams were doing nothing in terms of supporting
the barn so we knocked them down, I pulled the nails out, and we loaded three
of them into the bed of the truck. I
hope to return for the fourth soon. I’m
not certain what Claire and I will use these for but I have a feeling they will
be useful at some point. I also tried to
use a nail puller to pry free some of the lumber from one of the horse stalls. After pulling out four nails, everything
seemed to be going smoothly. On my fifth
nail, the teeth of the cast iron nail puller snapped off! I guess it’s too cold outside to be using
these old tools.
Two years ago in the spring, my cousin Michael, my friend
Phil, and I spent several days clearing the green ash that had grown up the
side of the barn. We took the logs back
to the cabin and left the branches to dry inside the barn. It just so happens that I am currently
running low on kindling and the dry ash branches that reside in the barn are
just what I need. While I stood in the
barn breaking branches and making piles of kindling, Mati found his way up an
old windmill. This flimsy, metal structure
stands 30 feet above the ground and of course, my brother is on top of it! To finish an awesome day at the barn, Mati, Misty,
and I went for a long walk through the cattails that surround the property. When we returned, I cleaned out the wood shed
and stocked it full of dry kindling!
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| Mati climbing an old windmill |
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Walking through the cattails after working it the barn
Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
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| Cleaning out the wood shed Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
Frisbee and Fun
Both of my brothers and I have always been fascinated with
Frisbees and whenever we see each other, throwing a disc is usually the first
thing we do. The wind on the prairie is
constant and this allows me to throw to myself for hours on end. However, nothing compares to tossing with
another human. On Mati’s last day of his
visit, it was 45 degrees in the shade with little wind. In other words, we tossed a Frisbee the
entire day. To end this beautiful day,
we traveled to a nearby parcel of land that sits on a lake. As the sun set, we played flute in the
grasses, launched long throws across the icy lake, and tried to keep Misty from
visiting the fishermen. It was the
perfect end to a wonderful visit.
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Sunset over the lake with Native American flute in the background
Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
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| Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
Aquaponics
It is now time to start making adjustments to the plants
growing in my system. My brother
mentioned cutting back the oregano so it can branch out. Two days after I cut the main stem, the plant
already sent up three new shoots. I
tried cutting back the mint and all of the chives and I got the same result. It amazes me how fast these plants are growing. I guess that’s the fish poop at work! Now I have fresh chives and oregano to add to
my dinner and fresh mint to add to my eggs and tea in the morning. I also added a sugar snap pea seedling to the
tank. Hopefully, this plant will one day
produce delicious peas for Claire and me to munch on.
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| Breakfast: 2 eggs and mint tea |
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| Dinner: chives, oregano, onion, carrots, quinoa, and peanut butter |
Planting Our
Future
When I was child, one of my most vivid memories was
exploring my parent’s vegetable garden, searching for peas, beans, tomatoes,
and whatever else I could eat. I will
never forget the first time I tried a freshly picked bean from a plant that my
parents grew. It was so satisfying for
me as a kid, I can only imagine how rewarding it was for my parents who put in the
hard work. I want to eat locally and
organic for the rest of my life but I found this almost impossible living as a student. With no money and no time, I was only able to
grow my own lettuce. Now I have an opportunity
to teach myself, work with the soil, and respect the land that has fed me my
entire life. Only this time, I have the
chance to grow the food my own way.
This summer, Claire and I intend to keep a garden in order
to supply ourselves with fresh produce.
The garden will not be planted until May and we will have to wait even
longer before we can harvest fruits and vegetables. We didn’t want to wait that long for fresh
greens, so Claire and I invested in 19 different types of organic seed, 20
pots, two bags of potting soil, one bag of vermiculite, one bag of peat moss,
and individual planting cells. After two
week of living here, I now have seedlings of the following: Yellow pear tomatoes, Martino’s roma, red salad
bowl lettuce, tre’s fine maraichere, spinach, Amish deer tongue lettuce, jalapeno
peppers, bull nose bell peppers, lemon balm, Swiss chard, and sugar snap peas. I planted three seeds per cell and as the seedlings
poke through the soil, I am able to thin out all but the best. The thinned lettuce seedlings are a great
addition to any meal. The sugar snap
peas are the only seedlings big enough to be moved into individual pots or into
the fish tank.
During college I purchased a pressure sprayer for $10. It was the best $10 I have ever spent. If you want to get into growing your own food
indoors, I would highly recommend one of these.
You can adjust the nozzle to several spray settings and the locking
trigger allows you to spray with ease. It’s
great for starting plants from seed and for spraying existing foliage.
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| Pressure sprayer |
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| Watering a newly planted sugar snap pea |
I am also experimenting with micro-greens. These are small sprout like plants that only
grow to be several inches tall. I have sunflower
and pea micro-greens. I have tried both types
before and one little sprout tastes exactly like the fruit of the plant. For example, a sunflower micro-green tastes
exactly like a sunflower seed! The seeds
are planted on top of an inch of soil and are supposed to be ready for harvest
after 7-10 days. I’m personally having
trouble getting them to grow. Many of
the seeds I planted sprouted and died soon after or didn’t sprout at all. The ones that survived look good but it has
been 15 days since I planted them and they are still not ready to pick. I planted several trays and am eager to see
what becomes of them.
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| My cousin Michael helping me plant sunflower micro-greens |
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| Sunflower micro-greens after 15 days |
In all honesty, I planted way too many seeds. I wanted to compare the affects of temperature,
lighting, water, and environment (yes I sing to my plants) amongst different plants. Thus, every window in the cabin and the garage
has some sort of plant growing in it. In
the end, my goal is to have 20 plus pots full of edible plants. If things continue as they have been, Claire
and I should have multiple raised beds of lettuce by the end of March and
tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and peas by the end of April. All inside the comfort of our home! For now, we are relying on the micro-greens
for fresh produce.
This week has been absolutely wonderful. The visit from my brother reminds me of my
family and like always we had many adventures under the sun (and the moon for
that matter). My plants are growing, my
stomach is full of soup, bread, and rice, and the weather is phenomenal. The only thing missing is Claire. However, only six more days until we are
reunited! I’m in the midst of constructing
sawhorses and raised beds out of old two by fours and I hope to complete them
before I see my wonderful lady. Until
next time, peace and love.
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The moon setting
Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
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Misty picture of the week
Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
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Sunrise
Photo Credit: Mateusz Fischer |
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