A good fire break around the edge is key! Inform the fire department ahead of time. They will only come out if you, the land owner, calls them.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Prescribed Burn
Raw footage of a prescribed burn of an oak savanna. This is an area dominated by large fire retardant Oaks and Hickory. An oak savanna has from 10 to 50% canopy cover. In such a habitat the ground layer receives both sun and shade which permits a diversity of grasses and flowering plants. Less than .01% of the original savanna community remains.
A good fire break around the edge is key! Inform the fire department ahead of time. They will only come out if you, the land owner, calls them.
A good fire break around the edge is key! Inform the fire department ahead of time. They will only come out if you, the land owner, calls them.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sustainable Berry Farm - The Beginning
This is my first step in developing a sustainable living model. So far I have learned that there are many people out there with similar intentions. Any and all ideas and contributions are welcome.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Water Tank and Old Time Kitchen
65-gallon water tank filled and ready to go! Complete with outdoor shower! brrrrrr ....
Kitchen is done and has GREAT water pressure!
Kitchen is done and has GREAT water pressure!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Restoration is complete!
The log cabin is now finished. We spent several weekends there over this winter. I am looking forward to having everyone out for a log cabin party.
Oh and for those concerned about bathroom facilities. No need to worry, you'll see!
Enjoy the video!!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Pawpaw Patch
A little look at nature on the farm .....
Bees pollinate most fruit trees, but the pawpaws rely on flies or beetles attracted by the color and fetid smell of the tree’s unusual flower.
The fruit you see here will be ripe in mid to late September. This grove of trees is located on a Southeast facing slope near the little Savannah. (Click here for more than you will ever want to know about pawpaws!)
Look verrrry closely at the background and you will notice a well worn game trail.
The morning fog coming in ....
Pawpaw
The Pawpaw is a Missouri native fruit. It was recently featured in the Missouri Conservation magazine. Down In The Pawpaw Patch
The fruit you see here will be ripe in mid to late September. This grove of trees is located on a Southeast facing slope near the little Savannah. (Click here for more than you will ever want to know about pawpaws!)
Look verrrry closely at the background and you will notice a well worn game trail.
The morning fog coming in ....
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| Morning view – 6:15 am looking to the South |
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Summer Happenings
Log cabin gets a visitor!
The prescribed burn mimics a natural process. The effect is to reduce non native grass species and control forest spread in grass areas. April is the prime burning time to promote warm season grasses.
More updates in cabin country.
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| Log view from valley– the brown rock has weed block material underneath |
Prescribed burn
The prescribed burn mimics a natural process. The effect is to reduce non native grass species and control forest spread in grass areas. April is the prime burning time to promote warm season grasses. Steps in the making ....
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Great news! The cabin has water!
What was thought to be just a cistern holding a reservoir of water, turns out to be a shallow well! Cool! The well was dug by hand. The diameter is large enough to accommodate men with shovels digging down to below the water table. This was most likely a community project. The walls were lined with wet laid stone to prevent cave in and reduce surface water run in.
The depth of this well is 25 foot. The first water table reached is at a depth of 8 feet. The extra depth below the water table allows for additional storage. It is actually even possible that there is more than just one source of entry of water!
The depth of this well is 25 foot. The first water table reached is at a depth of 8 feet. The extra depth below the water table allows for additional storage. It is actually even possible that there is more than just one source of entry of water!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Hey Hey Hey, Yogi, we got windows!
Yes we do, Boo Boo. White oak, true individual lites and as a bonus the glass is single pane wavy glass.
Some definitions:
A TDL is a True Divided Lite window, referring to the individual glass panes that are separated by real wood mullions. A classic window design.
Old window panes look wavy, distorted, and handmade - even after 1900. Understand their manufacture, and you'll know why.
Ever peer through an old window and see ... the glass? The distortions in antique glass are part of the charm of old windows and a historic feature well worth retaining. Though some may tell you that ripples and dimples are a sign of age - as if glass sags like flesh after a century - the truth is less fantastic, though almost as amazing.
It's all a result of how glass was made. Once you grasp the two basic methods used to make window glass until the 1910s, you can tell a lot about the age of your windows and how to care for them.
Crown Glass
For centuries, the best quality window glass was crown glass. To make panes with this method, a glass blower gathered a clump of molten glass on the end of a hollow pipe and blew it into a bubble much like a bottle. As a helper attached a pontil rod to the other side of the bubble, the glassworker broke off the blowpipe creating a hole. Then, by heating the glass and coaxing it with a wood paddle, he quickly enlarged this hole into a rough plate.
Working in front of a furnace to keep the glass hot and fluid, the worker then spun the rod with his hands, often on a supporting bench, so that centrifugal force stretched the glass out into a thin disc - a process nearly identical to a baker spinning fresh pizza dough for a pie. When the blower severed the rod, he had a disc of thin glass, up to 4 feet in diameter.
After annealing this table in another oven to equalize stresses, the glass was carefully cut into panes according to grade and size. The central "bull's-eye" - the thickest and most malformed part where the rods touched - was usually unusable and returned to the furnace.
In colonial America , however, whole or half tables of crown glass were regularly used uncut, often in gable windows. (Thomas Jefferson ordered several for the oculus and porthole windows at Monticello .) When thrifty Yankees divided up the tables, they put even the bull's-eyes to use in door or barn transoms where light meant more than a view
And there is more, Boo Boo. The porch gables are now covered and a trim board has been added to the roof edge.
When is the party, Yogi? Later, Boo Boo, later. 
A TDL is a True Divided Lite window, referring to the individual glass panes that are separated by real wood mullions. A classic window design.
Old window panes look wavy, distorted, and handmade - even after 1900. Understand their manufacture, and you'll know why.
Ever peer through an old window and see ... the glass? The distortions in antique glass are part of the charm of old windows and a historic feature well worth retaining. Though some may tell you that ripples and dimples are a sign of age - as if glass sags like flesh after a century - the truth is less fantastic, though almost as amazing.
It's all a result of how glass was made. Once you grasp the two basic methods used to make window glass until the 1910s, you can tell a lot about the age of your windows and how to care for them.
Crown Glass
For centuries, the best quality window glass was crown glass. To make panes with this method, a glass blower gathered a clump of molten glass on the end of a hollow pipe and blew it into a bubble much like a bottle. As a helper attached a pontil rod to the other side of the bubble, the glassworker broke off the blowpipe creating a hole. Then, by heating the glass and coaxing it with a wood paddle, he quickly enlarged this hole into a rough plate.
Working in front of a furnace to keep the glass hot and fluid, the worker then spun the rod with his hands, often on a supporting bench, so that centrifugal force stretched the glass out into a thin disc - a process nearly identical to a baker spinning fresh pizza dough for a pie. When the blower severed the rod, he had a disc of thin glass, up to 4 feet in diameter.
After annealing this table in another oven to equalize stresses, the glass was carefully cut into panes according to grade and size. The central "bull's-eye" - the thickest and most malformed part where the rods touched - was usually unusable and returned to the furnace.
In colonial America , however, whole or half tables of crown glass were regularly used uncut, often in gable windows. (Thomas Jefferson ordered several for the oculus and porthole windows at Monticello .) When thrifty Yankees divided up the tables, they put even the bull's-eyes to use in door or barn transoms where light meant more than a view
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