Heimdall's Haven

Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes

2011-11-16T13:14:00.003-06:00

Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes
Congress is made up of mindless twits addicted to the corporate tit and this just proves it!

Chickens

2011-11-14T11:20:00.000-06:00

Well, we finished up the major open items on the coop and picked up four new hens on Sunday. The new additions are a
road island red
golden sexlink
barred rock
little unknown black hen

Long time no post

2011-11-11T10:10:00.000-06:00

Yes, we are still here and kicking. We have been really busy trying to get things battened down for the Winter. We are just about ready to get our new chickens from a friend with a farm and have a new garden bed going in. We will try to get some pictures of the coop and bed.
In Frith,
The Quinces

Great poster

2011-04-18T12:35:00.000-05:00

I wonder if this is not where we are headed with gas prices and the economy.

Great video

2011-02-24T09:42:00.003-06:00

I wish kinds in America would have this attitude instead of assuming they deserve a car at 16

Is it time we tell Congress they work for us and we are done with their superior attitudes

2011-02-22T13:23:00.002-06:00

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

            1. Term Limits.

            12 years only, one of the possible options below..

              A. Two Six-year Senate terms

              B. Six Two-year House terms

              C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

            2. No Tenure / No Pension.

        Each congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when are out of office.

            3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system. Congress participates with & on the same basis as the American people.

            4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

            5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

            6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

            7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

            8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.

          The American people did not make these contracts with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

THIS WOULD BE A GOOD START!

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

If you agree with the above, pass it on.   If not, just delete

Chickens again!

2011-01-31T11:20:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, residents of Longmont managed to convince the city council to allow us to have 4 hens, so we are getting chickens again! We have designed a coop of roughly 3 1/2 by 4 feet for the 4 hens and run of about 60 sq ft. Here are the pics of the the run and coop area with the coop being the yellow flags. We are hoping to get it done by the end of next weekend. We are have a neighbor who owns the rental next door and she has some layers ready for us to take.

Overview shot of the run and coop area with yellow flags

Coop shot 1

Coop shot 2

Proving the Existence of the Christian God by Bill O

2011-01-07T11:05:00.000-06:00

My apologies to Christians who read this blog, but this is too funny.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Bill O'Reilly Proves God's Existence - Neil deGrasse Tyson

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>

March to Keep Fear Alive

Longmont Transition Group

2011-01-03T13:55:00.000-06:00

I am becoming more involved with the local Transition movement and in doing so, I am now the admin of the Longmont group. I am very excited about this opportunity to help get this running in Longmont.

Public Hof support

2010-11-17T14:16:00.002-06:00

Heilsa,
My Kindred is trying to raise funds for building a public Hof where Heathens from all over the world can come and visit. If you can, will you help us?
In Frith,
Devin

Latest project

2010-10-20T08:30:00.005-05:00

Heilsa, Fellow Transitioners,

I was reading a great article in _Colorado_Gardener_ for thier harvest edition on school gardens which in and of itself is a great transition idea. They had some nice pictures of raised beds with framing, which I assume is used for either plant protection and/or climbing, which were made of pvc (yes, I know, not transition material, but is durable and fine for outside use). These inspired me to build a set as an experiment for our raised bed, which still has tomatoes ripening. I documented the procedure and decided to post it here and see if folks would be interested in doing a transition workshop on this.

Originally we were going to do an A frame style cold frame with a small flat ridge line, but due to the size of our largest tomato plant, we needed to make some modifications to the design and decided to build it more like a true house with stick framing and a gable roof. The bed is made of 2 4x4x8 posts stacked on top of each other for the long sides and 2 4x4x4 posts stacked for the short ends.

Here is a detailed listing of the parts used to build the frame:

12 10' 1/2-inch pvc pipes

8 1/2-inch 90-degree sleeve elbows

8 1/2-inch 45-degree sleeve elbows

4 1/2-inch sleeve crosses

2 1/2-inch sleeve tees

32 3/4x3/4x1/2-inch T sleeve reducers, (3/4 inch allows for ease of movement)

1 PVC cutter

1 bag of 1/2-inch pipe clamps for attaching the frame to the bed

Below is a drawing and cutting diagram of the pieces to be cut from the 1/2-inch pipe.

The steps for building the frame are as follows:

1. Using the diagram above, cut the pieces as follows;

A: 4 8-foot (red)

B: 4 4-foot (green)

C: 8 32-inch (yellow)

D: 10 of 1 3/4-inch (purple)

E: 3 29-inch (orange)

F: 12 2-foot (blue)

G: 2 5-foot (pink)

2. Gather 2 A pieces, 2 B pieces, 4 right angle elbows, and 20 reducer Ts.

3. Slide 2 Ts onto each B piece; slide 8 Ts onto each A piece (it helps if you attach an elbow to the end of each A and B pipe).

4. Attach A to B pieces, using elbows, forming a 4' x 8' rectangle.

5. Take 8 C pieces, 8 Ds, and 8 45-deg elbows; attach an elbow to the end of each C piece. Insert D piece into each elbow.

6. Connect one pair of C/D pieces with a 1/2-inch tee; repeat with one more pair of C/D pieces.

7. Connect one pair of C/D pieces with a 1/2-inch cross; repeat with one more pair of C/D pieces.

8. Insert one set of ribs created in step 6 into the tees at one end of the rectangular frame from step 4; repeat with the other set.

9. Insert ribs from step 7 into the tees in the middle of the frame.

10. Insert one E piece between ribs along top, to form the spine.

You should have some thing that looks similar to this;

The following steps are for making the bottom part which the top sits on (duh).

11. Gather remaining 2 A pieces, 2 B pieces, 4 right angle elbows, and the reamining 12 reducer Ts.

12. Slide 2 1/2-inch tees onto each B piece, attach elbows to each side.

13. Slide 4 Ts onto each A piece; attach to the 2 elbows on the B pieces, forming a rectangle.

14. Insert an F piece into each T in the rectangle. It should look like this;

15. Now the hard part, which takes two people. Have one person hold the top over the bottom; the other person goes around and inserts the F pieces into the Ts on the top piece.

16. Take a rubber mallet and tap all the connections until they are sold.

We added two more crosses in the middle of the spine (connected with two additional D pieces) and attached two 5-foot pipes (G) to the cross connections facing down, driving the "posts" into the bed about 6 inches. This really helped the stability and also allows for deep watering.

Here is a picture of the finished frame minus the two additional posts.

If anyone has questions, comments, etc. feel free to contact me through TC or at coultraguy at gmail dot com.

In Frith,

Devin

Funeral plans

2010-10-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

My father's funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning at 11 AM CST. Here is a link to his obituary and the poem I will reading.

Prayer for the Dead

Dear Dad,
You have set sails for the great journey,
You have set out for the long travel.
We have come to say farewell to you,
as to one who is gone for a while,
but whom we will meet again at the end of our own journey.

May the Disir keep you company as you travel
and bring you safely to the other side.
Sleipnir, carry him to Asgard´s realm!
Ship of the Vanir, speed his journey
unto the place where he will finally be.

Dear Gods, Aesir and Vanir,
receive the soul of our beloved,
take care of him and keep him well.
Let him rest and be happy within your kindness,
as he was yours in Midgard, so let him be now,
forever and for all days.

Dear Dad,
bring word from us to our ancestors,
our loved ones that have gone before.
Bring to them our love and our honor,
keep a place for us in their halls,
that we may all meet each other again at the end of the journey.

Dear Dad, for a while we will not see your face among us,
and though we miss you and your company in our daily lives,
you are still in community with us, and we with you.

We are united together by our troth and our gods,
and this community continues, here and hereafter.
This bond between us is as strong in life as it is in death,
and this bond unites us, wherever we dwell.

Meanwhile, your words and your deeds live on among us.
We remember you and all that you have been, and done.
Your name will be spoken with gratitude and pride,
and your name will become part of the tales we tell.

Gods, bring comfort and strength to us in this time of change,
and help us to go on with our own life´s journey.
Gods, be in our hearts, as Dad is in our heart,
where we shall always be united in love and in troth.

So it was, and so it is, and evermore shall be so.

Hail to my Father

2010-09-27T07:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday morning, my Father passed away after kicking cancers ass for 7 long years. He was a role model that I shared more in common with than I admitted over the years. We had lots of great trips camping, biking, and even rock climbing. His kids and especially his grand-kids were his life and there nothing more magical than watching them all together whether it be reading, playing at the park, or him taking pictures of them doing things they loved. Our kids lived with him all their lives, but 4 years and we recently moved back to help take care of him, so his house where we live is now very empty and sad with all the pictures and books that he has collected over the years, but when I hear the kids playing and laughing I try and tell myself that he is here with us in spirit. He is at peace now with the Gods and his ancestors where he belongs. We will survive and strengthen as a family with old connections being retied once again due to his journey. We are still in the process of unpacking after our final move out here and on Saturday, I setup our altar and placed 2 pictures of my Dad on it, one with my family after a running event of mine and another of my parents and my wife's parents with our oldest son. Since my religion is about honoring our ancestors, perhaps my setting it up Saturday was due to some help from the Gods in preparation of his journey on Sunday. I want to thank my family, my sister, and my many friends for their support during this difficult time.
In Frith and Kin,
Devin

News from the West

2010-09-21T09:43:00.002-05:00

Well we made it to CO safely and have been busy getting unpacked and taking care of my Dad. Over this last weekend he took a serious turn for the worse with his terminal agitation and pain, so he was admitted to the Hospice Care center in Boulder county. The first day here was touch and go and one nurse told us it could have been hours, but now that he has stabilized with his pain meds to make him comfortable, the prognosis is 1-2 days depending on how things go, but either way he will not be coming back home and this is the end of his journey with us. Now we are working on keeping him as comfortable as possible and just keep reassuring him we will be alright as will he.
In Frith and Kin,
The Quinces

T-6

2010-08-28T17:59:00.003-05:00

We are six days away from leaving Minnesota to move back to Colorado to be with family again. As most know I have been out here with the boys since mid July taking care of my dad in dealing with brain cancer.

We are flying back next Thursday, packing and turning in my LPS stuff as I am starting a new job in CO, and hope to be on the road on Saturday with a quick stop for a day at Midwest Thing with our Kindred who we will sorely miss.

We have had a great run in MN, but it also made us realize that we belong someplace more like Colorado and are excited to go back.

Our homesteading endeavors will be put on hold while we deal with my dad and get acclimated to CO, but rest assured they will be back.
In Frith,
Devin

Chores and the fair

2010-08-08T12:12:00.003-05:00

We will be busy today starting a new compost pile in, putting a clothesline in, and working on the underground sprinkler system in Colorado with some swimming thrown in. I have to fully admit that I am not wanting to fix the sprinkler system since I am not a fan on Kentucky blue grass when one lives in Colorado or any semi-arid environment. I would love to Xerisccape the front lawn, but not everyone agrees with that, so I would like to find another form of softish grass that is native to the area and does not require loads of water to keep green.

We went to the Boulder county fair yesterday which was a lot of fun and I will post up some pictures later after our chores.
In Frith,
Devin

Hiking with the boys

2010-07-31T20:54:00.004-05:00

We have been in CO for a few weeks now taking care of my dad as his cancer has gotten worse, but today the boys and I took some time head to Boulder to visit some friends and just hang out together. As we headed into town Everett pointed at one of the foothill mountains and asked people could climb that. I explained that yes, it was called Mt. Sanitas and we could hike it and which point they said in unison can we go, so off we went.

We hiked the Mt. Sanitas trail which is about 1 mile to the summit and made it about 3/4 of the way before Simon asked to go back down. We stopped and called Heidi who is in Minnesota getting ready to bring some of our stuff out in a few weeks to tell her. I took these pictures at the point we turned around.

In Frith,
The Quince mountain clan happy to be back in Colorado even if it is not for the best reasons!

More control?

2010-07-29T19:26:00.003-05:00

I found this article on big brother wanting to control how we manage what the gods give us. It infuriates me the gall our gubermint has in what we control, but what is even more disturbing is that the lemmings known as the American people allow it.

Soylent green anyone?

2010-07-29T11:39:00.002-05:00

I am completely aghast at the militant actions being used to control what people eat. What is next, eat your soylent green or else? The reason for this was raid "But in the case of Rawesome, regulators allege that the group broke the law by failing to have the proper permits to sell food to the public." Is that a gun drawn offense? I mean are they to club you with a cabbage? People need to start rising up against this type of tyranny. Check out the video.

More progressive?

2010-07-16T12:43:00.002-05:00

We live in MN which is supposed to be so progressive, but have family and a house in CO where we used to live are considering moving back to so we can be closer to both sides of the family as they get older. Colorado other than say Boulder/Denver tends to be more conservative/libertarian than MN, but in someways they are much more progressive. On my way in on this trip I passed a new dairy on the city limits and then read about how in 2005 CO made raw milk legal while the nanny state on MN feels we are too stupid to make decisions about how and what we eat and are currently running a military type operation focused on shutting down raw milk dealers in WI and MN, but yet they are alright with allowing pharma and big ag to fill "food" with drugs, gmos, etc. with no real concern at all.
Here is progressive states like CO,
Devin

Urban ag is growing

2010-06-30T11:33:00.003-05:00

In the last few months, we have been contacted and interviewed by 2 people who were doing information gathering on the growth of Urban Ag/Urban homesteading. This is great to see, people getting more in touch with their food, environment, and lives instead of living in an x-box, wii, etc. Folks need to realize that choosing to grow your own food, raise animals, live a life of normal consumption of resources instead of what Americans deem as normal which is an atrocity is not weird, something for the country, etc. and does no harm to people around them. It is not more truly impacting on someone that the opposite of seeing people choose to waste energy, over-consume, etc. Hail to the growing wave of urban ag/homesteading and return to a slower way of life in general.
Off to continue building our sun shade for the back porch
In Frith,
Devin

More stupid govt intervention

2010-06-17T16:28:00.001-05:00

I am really frustrated at how people actually honestly believe that the gubernment is out to protect them. MN has had a rash of "raids" against folks who believe in freedom of choice in what they eat, but which is considered crime albeit a victimless one. Our local NPR station had this has the question of the day and while I will say the majority of comments were positive it is scary how much people are lemmings in their trust of the govt.

Busy weekend

2010-05-31T09:47:00.003-05:00

This weekend we got quite a bit done.
We finished the fence on the north side to where it almost intersects the current chicken run. We also designed and installed the framing for a removable covering for the back patio which will keep the south side of the house cooler along with the patio.
We finally got rid of all the old and moldy drywall that came out of the attic job which opened up more yard. We got the tomatoes, cabbage, beans, and potatoes in also.

We are busy preparing for Trothmoot which is being put on by our Kindred next Wednesday through Sunday.

In Frith,
The Quince Clan

Please call

2010-05-06T10:47:00.002-05:00

Please take a good look at this bill and call your govt. official with concerns. This is too important to ignore.
In Frith,
Devin

mmmm, Asparagus

2010-04-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

Well our Asparagus has started to sprout and sprout and well you get the idea. Second time in 3 days we have had fresh Asparagus from the garden and man was it good.
Hail the gods for this bounty.

2010 season has started

2010-04-04T21:04:00.004-05:00

Well the 2010 growing season is finally here. Some of the tasks we worked on here at the homestead:

Supplemental compost arrived on Friday
Finished pulling all the former raised bed frames and raking the soil flat in the back as prepping for the new open bed design based on Solar Gardening
Cleaned and loosened soil on the 300 sq foot spin farm plots
Laid new compost and planted greens, carrots, and radishes.
Planted peas along the chicken run
Started new compost frame
Peas on the South side of the house are coming up nicely and we need to get a trellis up

We will try and get pictures up soon.
In Frith,
The Quinces

New post over at the troth

2010-03-19T14:25:00.002-05:00

I am trying to keep my political viewpoints to a minimum at this site, so I will post them over at my Troth site since it is more politically slanted.
http://livingthetrothdaytoday.blogspot.com/2010/03/papers.html

In Frith,
Devin

Are the majority of Americans potential domestic terrorists according the gubernment?

2010-03-17T17:39:00.002-05:00

I moved this over to the Troth site.

A first

2010-03-12T08:56:00.003-06:00

I guess there is a first for everything. Since the tea party has starting its march to world domination all they like to do is complain about the liberals spending spree, but I have to ask what do you expect from the party that openly admits that taxes and social programs are part of their stance? On the other hand the republican party prides themselves on fiscal responsibility, limited government, etc, but over the previous 8 years they acted more like liberals from a fiscal standpoint and more like dictators from a limited government viewpoint. Today however I heard the MN republican party leader admit that over the previous 8 years of bushship, they were hypocritical on both counts and have a long road ahead of them to get back to their roots which IMNHO includes dumping the religious right!

Assualted!

2010-03-03T13:49:00.002-06:00

I was assaulted by the driver of RYR-950 who proceeded to buzz me with a foot of clearance on 8th st around Nicollet and then when I proceeded to inform you of the law you smacked my on the face and then took off. I did call the cops and demanded to file an assault report

My biggest possible let down of this whole deal is that the DA who according to the officer will more than likely blow it off since I admitted I approached the driver and he may claim he felt threatened by my 25 lb bicycle and wool tights while he was encased in his 2K lb steel shell.

I guess I should just roll over and accept my place as a second class road user

Now this is a mayor

2010-02-16T17:05:00.001-06:00

I wish Mayor Rybak of Minneapolis would follow Seattle's mayor and actually bike to work and stop using excuses.

Heimdall Haven's CSA

2010-02-09T14:11:00.003-06:00

Here at the haven we are looking at offering a small CSA (community supported agriculture) on our small lot. We are thinking a max of 3 people and it would be based on poundage delivered or picked up. We would like to keep it very local and when we deliver do it via bicycle as to reduce our carbon impact.

One thing we are thinking is possibly doing some custom veggie growing for people who are only interested in certain types of produce, but we are still thinking about it.

If anyone is interested in considering this, please feel to pass on the information or visit our more commercial gardening site at http://quincegardening.blogspot.com/ or contact via email on either site.
In Frith,
Devin and Heidi

Will we ever learn

2010-01-27T20:41:00.002-06:00

I sent this to President Obama via a Credo petition denouncing the corporate control of our country. We need to take a hard look at where our country came from and recognize we are headed to that same fate if people do not start rising up and asking questions.
We let the Federal guberment threaten or blackmail states with withholding the fed crack line, the states do it to the counties and cities and in turn they do it to us. Our "government" has gotten to big and we all know what happens to big stupid giants, don't we?

President Obama,
Please remember we are for the people and more importantly BY the people and not the corporations. When making deals with corporations, please remember what happened in the past to begin this country and realize that could and perhaps should happen again.
The corporations trying to control this country could be look upon as England was then.

New name

2010-01-24T17:45:00.002-06:00

We are changing the name of our blog to Heimdall's Haven in honor the Norse god I feel closest in my following of the Asatru religion. Heimdall is the guardian of the gods and of the link between Midgard and Asgard, the Bifrost Bridge. I feel closest to him as father and husband and my duty of being the protector of the Quince clan. Everything will stay the same with some big plans for the garden this coming year, so stay tuned.
In Frith,
The Quinces

What we need?

2010-01-07T17:46:00.003-06:00

I received an email about this organization and found the article inspiring and it could be full of hope if people chose to follow this idea now, but I believe we are too lazy and spoon-fed to consider working this hard to support ourselves.

We are still buried under about 12 inches of snow and in the middle of a cold snap with temps of +5F/-10F respectively, but overall are doing well. We are starting our list of goals based on big, medium, and small for the next growing season along with prepping for the starting seedlings next month.
In Frith,
Devin

Transition project

2009-12-31T11:36:00.002-06:00

I have been reading the _Transition_Handbook_ which is inspiring me to try and start our own little transition group in our neighborhood since Peak oil and climate change are quickly becoming major issues in our world and our government along with the rest of the world governments refuse to take serious action.

If there are any people reading this blog in the Minneapolis and suburban areas feel free to contact me about getting involved. I know there are other transition groups in the area and I am not trying to splinter groups just get a more local group designed around my local area. I would love to work with other groups in the area to combine numbers and ideas.

Here are some links on the transition project
http://transitionculture.org/
http://transitiontowns.org/Main/HomePage

In Frith,
Devin

Why?

2009-12-24T16:42:00.003-06:00

After some conversing back and forth with my neighbor I have decided that I overstepped the bounds on this. While we do not see eye to eye and we never will, I was wrong to air this here and am removing the post
In Frith.
Devin

Is it 1776 all over again?

2009-12-08T13:40:00.002-06:00

I read this today on MPR and watched as it propagated to other news sites. I was really hoping Obama would bring some change, but all I see it the same as the last 8 years
More war
More focus on cars
More focus on having more
We CANNOT spend your way out off what we created starting post WWII. We need to cut back and live within our means.

These are the same type of comments that Bush used after 9/11. I hate that man, but at least he sent the working people money first instead of firing more money that never existed towards the fat cats.

What we need is to remember why we left Europe, fought back against that tyrannical government in Europe and what this country was found upon. Sometimes when government gets too big it needs to be trimmed back in any means required.

Do some research on the revolution and see the similarities of what has happened and what is happening.

Safety is in the eye of those not affected

2009-11-05T14:28:00.002-06:00

What our city, county, and transit authority considers safe and lit enough. I took this one night coming home of the area where we have had a rash of attacks and the government refuses to do ANYTHING at all.

Been busy

2009-10-20T08:21:00.002-05:00

The homestead has been really busy with finishing up the canning classes, me back at work and commuting 150 mile a week, prepping everything for the Winter, school, and all the other projects. I found this on a bike blog I read and could not help but post it for Paul B. Sorry to all my roadie friends and yes I do wear lycra under my wool this is as far from me as you can get since for one I ride steel baby.

Canning class 1

2009-09-12T11:38:00.001-05:00

We are just about to head out to the Harrison community center for our jelly/jam canning class which is the first in a series of 4. All classes are sold out with a waiting list. We would love to do another run, but the season is ending. Next year we will do 3 sets throughout the Summer.

A new job

2009-09-06T14:19:00.002-05:00

After over 5 months of being jobless I am scheduled to start a new job at a financial company on Tuesday. I will working through a local recruiting company for 3 months and then will be transferring to an employee if all goes well. This a job I have always wanted doing production system administration as a full-time job using the latest bleeding-edge technology. My good friend Paul works there and put in a great referral for me. It is around a 13-15 mile ride each way so I am hoping to start racking the miles up again.

I have removed the X from the Randonee and converted it back to a full-time regular commuting rig. I am researching front hub generator options since I will be moving to 2nd shift and traveling home at 10 pm in the dark.

OCA: Take Action

2009-08-28T11:54:00.001-05:00

OCA: Take Action

Shared via AddThis

RIP Edward Kennedy

2009-08-26T07:41:00.001-05:00

His death is the end of an era.

Golden potatoes

2009-08-17T07:11:00.003-05:00

Everett pulled this lug out of his bed on Saturday morning. We have yet to eat it, but will soon. It weighed in at 1 lb 2oz.

Just in time for school to start

2009-08-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

Just in time for school starting, so be prepared to make sack lunches which is better for everyone anyway since we do not support local food systems in our school lunch system.

Canning class registration is now open

2009-08-05T11:57:00.002-05:00

At our local community center we are teaching 4 classes on canning different vegetables and fruits and I wanted let people know registration is open just in case there are local readers interested.
Blessings,
The Quinces

Blugrass fest and updates

2009-08-04T09:44:00.003-05:00

This weekend we are going camping for the 2nd time this year thanks to our great neighbor Liz who comes from 2 blocks away to take care of the chickens. Now that is neighborhood community for you. We are headed to the Minnesota Bluegrass and old-time music festival near St. Cloud to hang out with the Zahns again and catch up.

We picked up 2 new hens and yes they are hens to replace the roosters we had to part with. The garden is coming into full productivity and we are going to be canning some stores this week of tomatoes, beans, and some blueberry jam of which the berries we did not produce, but are local.

Heidi is working a fair bit for her old or should I say not so old boss and my job search is not going well at all, but I keep plugging away.
Blessings,
The Quinces

Call your senator about this farce of a bill

2009-07-28T09:50:00.002-05:00

We cannot let agri-business and companies like Monsanto control what and how we eat. Please take 5 minutes to make these calls and record the comments.

Local meal

2009-07-16T19:46:00.002-05:00

Last night we had a nice Asian rice-based stir-fry with most of veggies being either local or from our garden. Here is a picture of the ingredients which were zucchini (garden), bean (garden), mushrooms (local), carrots (garden last year), green and regular onion (garden), hot banana pepper(garden) and garlic from our garden. The only non-local food was the rice and tofu. Oh and the Amish past tomato was local also along with some kale that is not in the picture due to the afterthought.
Namaste,
Devin

Canning classes

2009-07-15T18:19:00.002-05:00

The Quince homestead will be holding 4 canning classes starting 9/12 and the next 3 Saturdays from 2-4 at the Harrison community center. If you are local keep an eye out for the classes in the park brochure. Here is the basic idea:

Learn to make your own jams and jellies, can fruits and vegetables with a pressure cooker, and create unique recipes for pickling, inexpensively. Safety in food preservation is essential and easily learned. Only cost will be for produce and canning jars (unless donated). Take home and enjoy your hard work and preserves.

Four two-hour classes:

Class 1 Make jam from fresh fruit and jelly from juice.

Class 2 Can fruit in hot water bath; prepare fruit for drying.

Class 3 Can tomatoes and sauce in pressure canner.

Make salsa and seal in pressure canner.

Class 4 Roast peppers for canning. Can peppers, pickles, radishes,

onions, garlic, etc. in pressure canner.

Food Inc.

2009-07-15T11:40:00.003-05:00

The Quince homestead attended a free screening of the movie Food Inc. put on by Chipolte last night which was very well attended. The movies was very good and provides lots of information on how screwed up our "food" system is. I was worried it would be a bit like Micheal Moore's shock movies, but this was well done, to the point and very low on the shock factor. There was no real gore footage of animal abuses, etc. though there were some shots of real food preparation such as chicken slaughtering at Joel Salatin's farm along with large scale processing plant shots. I would consider this a must see for both followers of the food movement, but also others as well. We did take the boys to see this and the whole way home they were a question a minute about what they saw. They were also the only kids at the event as far we could see.
A huge kudos to Chipolte again for sponsoring this!
Namaste,
Devin

Spin-farming

2009-07-06T14:30:00.000-05:00

We are trying our hand at farming a neighbor's property who has a small plot of land. She was trying figure out what to do with, so when she was out weeding it we asked if we could. She said we could have about 250 sq ft to work with and today we got it finished and everything planted. In the East bed we have soybeans under the mulch and in the middle bed there are radishes, carrots, and planted. Finally in the West bed we have 2 rows of tomatoes (yes more), 1 row of peppers, and 2 eggplants along with some flowers. Here are some pictures to give an idea. Next year we are considering really getting organized and trying our hand at Spin-Farming. Since we feel we can grow our needs on a much smaller footprint with better planning and this may be able to give a run at our dream of urban farming for real.
Here are some pictures of the plots. So far we have radishes, bean, green onions, and carrots starting from seed.

Summer Solstice party

2009-06-26T13:53:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday our neighbor Barb invited us to a Summer solstice party at her Unitarian church which like the Winter one we attended was a blast. They had lots of poking at our dictator/governor Plenty Pawlenty and consumerism in general. Here are some pics of Heidi and I and one of the family.

Spring hath left and Summer hath arrived

2009-06-23T21:25:00.006-05:00

and with a vengeance to say the least. Our temps this week are 90's and humid with no real break in sight. We were supposed to get rain, but I guess our Governor must have decided to allot that from the budget also with everything else he vowed to protect and lied about. Yeah, you Pawlenty or should I say plenty since that is what we have had of your dictatorship.

We have been cooking on the grill to save heating the house with the stove/oven. Yesterday we made potato gnocchi with local potatoes, green beans, and asparagus. We also made a loaf of bread on the grill which was real chewy, but really good. Here are a few pics of the bread

Tonight we made pizza on the grill. We are also trying our hand at farming a neighbor's yard who gave us about 200 sq ft to work with. We will be putting tomatoes and squash there along with some soybeans which we sowed today.

On the job front there are a couple of opportunities, but nothing firm yet. I am getting more involved with the local food movement and am waiting to hear back from our local housing entity about leasing some vacant lots for community gardens. On Thursday I am giving an overview on urban ag to some neighborhood residents.

Today I attended a great presentation by Rose Hayden-Smith who gave an awesome and inspiring talk on the history of Victory Gardens.

Permaculture at its best

2009-06-16T18:03:00.006-05:00

We put in the corn today after we used the last of the 15 cubic yards of compost delivered on 4/14. The main issue was that the weight of the compost compacted and need a little tilling. Since we do not believe in tilling, we were at a loss, but then we remembered we had 13 little tillers. Here is a little video of 11 of them at work.

Over the weekend Heidi finished priming the coop which you can see in the video. We are still only getting 5-7 eggs a day on average which is a little frustrating since we have 10 layers. Any thoughts from the ether?

The Quinces

Done

2009-05-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

I have been working way too long on this post or more accurately should I say I have been working too much in the garden, so I will post this and try to another one up soon.

We finally removed most our driveway from the garage (tool shed) down to where there is maybe 30 feet of driveway left. Here are some before and after pictures
Looking E. We took the asphalt out to about the back of the truck in this picture

We also took out all the driveway leaving about 3 feet next to the garage door which is about to the recycling bins in the 3rd picture.

Now for some pictures of what it looks like now. We are going to have a 4 foot path on the North side to allow the bikes, trailers, and motorcycle to get out and the rest will beds for our black raspberry bushes.

We also took out the grass on each side of our front walk to put in 2 sets of potatoes along with a 3rd set in last years corn bed in front. We planted 29 tomato plants on Monday and last night I went to the first public for homegrown minneapolis.

Local food/urban farming meeting

2009-04-28T21:03:00.004-05:00

Tonight we attended a meeting sponsored by IATP on local food planning geared towards Urban farmers and gardeners. It was great to see the large number of people of different walks of life and economic standing at this event. They had 2 urban planners if I remember right who spoke along with Will Allen from Growing Power and to say the least he was downright inspiring! Oh and there must have been at least 20 bikes there which was awesome to see.

We also rode part of the way to our house with a nice person who may spend a few days in July helping on the farm as a way to get more experience with urban farming.

We transplanted the tomatoes today for the last time before they go in the ground for the year. Tomorrow we will plant carrots and another round of radishes

We are also working on starting a garden design/support business geared towards helping people get their own gardens off the ground or maybe even has far as tending their gardens, so if anyone is looking for some help with design, building beds, or anything else gardening related, have them send us an email at quincegardening (at) gmail.com

Namaste,
The Quinces

First harvest of the year

2009-04-25T21:02:00.002-05:00

The last few weeks we have been a bit worried about the Asparagus plants we planted last year. We bought the 2 year ones as to harvest this year and so far no spears until about a week ago. Tonight we had our first dinner with our own Asparagus and let me tell you there is nothing like home grown Asparagus!

We also started ripping out the driveway today with a friend's bobcat. I hope to have it all out tomorrow before the parade of coops starts at 2 PM. I will try and get some pics up soon.

Spring update

2009-04-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

The boys had Spring break last week and since I have been looking for work we got a ton of work done. We finished the new coop minus painting, the old coop torn down and used the old posts to make a cold frame. We planted radishes, lettuces, arugula and onions in the bed. We are also putting the pepper and tomato seedlings in the frame but still in the trays. We also put up a trellis for some grapes and maybe other vertical growing. The old clothesline is back up between the coop and the garage since we lost the other pole we connected it to when Barb started on her house next door.

We built 3 new beds where the chicken run used to be where we found ~200 garlic heads we planted last year. We transplanted these to one of the new beds. We transplanted our broccoli and brussel sprouts in 2 of the new ones. We also received our potatoes and are excited to get those in the ground.

We have the parade of coops this weekend where a number of flock owners open their homes to people for viewing coops and birds. We also are working on moving the 15 cubic yards of compost still so we can work on taking out most of our driveway for conversion to food production.

I will try and get some more pictures up soon, but here are some quick ones

The nerve!

2009-04-11T13:07:00.002-05:00

I received this in my inbox today. Please consider sending an email denouncing this!

Dear Friend,
The Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) has a bone to pick with
Michelle Obama. MACA represents chemical companies that produce
pesticides, and they are angry that - wait for it - Michelle Obama isn't
using chemicals in her organic garden at the White House.
I am not making this up.
In an email they forwarded to their supporters, a MACA spokesman wrote
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=1309
, "While a garden is a great idea, the thought of it being organic made
[us] shudder." MACA went on to publish a letter it had sent to the First
Lady asking her to consider using chemicals -- or what they call "crop
protection products" -- in her garden.
Michelle Obama and has done America a great service by publicizing the
importance of nutritious food for kids (she's growing the garden in
partnership with a local elementary school class) as well as locally grown
produce as an important, environmentally sustainable food source.
I just signed a petition telling MACA's board members to stop using
Michelle Obama's garden to spread propaganda about produce needing to be
sprayed with chemicals. I hope you will, too.
Please have a look and take action.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/wh_garden/?r_by=3454-1822373-Yre0PLx&rc=mailto
Thanks!

New freedom gardeners group

2009-04-02T08:59:00.002-05:00

I belong to a nice and active internet site that has a ton of groups within it that are a wealth info. I started this one to help connect TwinCities gardeners and homesteaders. There is is also a good one on Northern climate gardening and another one of food perservation

On the coop front, we are almost done sealing it up and making the initial run and are hoping to get them transferred before the weekend.

Thee axe hath fallen

2009-03-27T12:17:00.007-05:00

Well, on Wednesday I rode to work and was a few hours from being done when I was called into the HR office and told the company's goals could no longer benefit from my contributions and that this was my last day at work. They so kindly (not) escorted me to my cave to get my stuff and I left.
I believe this may be a blessing in disguise, as I have not been remotely happy there for a long time. We just need to weather this storm till I find something else. I have some side work lined up for a few weeks and am hoping unemployment will not be a big deal (first timer there). We figure Spring/Summer is not the worst time to be looking/unemployed since we will have the garden to feed us along with farmer's market stuff. Heidi has yoga and is looking for more work as am I.

With all the time on my hands, I started the new coop which is on the north side of our property and gets more winter sun. Here are some pics of the work so far.
After building the frame looking North:

After the floor joists are in

Looking West with the South wall. We are using some reclaimed bathroom frosted windows on the South side.
Looking South
More pictures to follow, but basically at the end of the day today we have the S, W, and E walls up. Tomorrow is the North wall and the rafters.

Ist seminar

2009-03-17T14:15:00.003-05:00

This Saturday (3/21) I am going to be giving a presentation on Urban food production at our local housing fair

I plan to discuss basic gardening techniques, ways to transform a backyard into a food production machine in an efficient manner, touch on basic permaculture ideas, and finish with food preservation. All this in 30-60 minutes depending on if I have to share my time with someone talking about community gardens.

I am also getting involved in project being started by city focusing on local food that has me really excited!

Friday we are picking up 5 new hens from another member of our chicken email list!

Tomatoes transplanted

2009-03-14T16:18:00.004-05:00

Today we took our first round of tomatoes and did the first transplant of them. Here is a before picture of them

We transplanted a total of 75 plants with 10 little stragglers not quite ready to go yet. Our peppers are doing okay, but not great. Hopefully they will kick start with the warmer weather.
Here are pictures of then finished product

Woohoo we are legal

2009-03-13T09:47:00.002-05:00

Last night I got home and there was a letter from Animal Control that contained our actual legal chicken permit with us being approved for 12 hens and 1 rooster! We have been waiting over a year for this. Now onto bees and goats :)

We are looking at 50-60's for the next week, so I am hoping we can the snow, ice, and water drained away so we can start working on the new chicken coop.

Clean Coal?

2009-03-10T21:08:00.001-05:00

A great video debunking the clean coal myth

Devin

Great Kunstler post

2009-02-16T11:44:00.005-06:00

Ok, I feel really stupid. I want to be clear that I did not write what is below the date, that is all Kunstler! Sorry for any confusion.

Kunstler has a great post on how bad things are getting and how Obama appears to be falling into the same trap as most politicians. Let's continue living the unsustainable life.

February 16, 2009
President's Day

A creepy feeling ushers in President's Day this year as the suspicion grows that nobody in charge of anything knows what what to do next. The usual yin-yang consensus has solidified in congress along party lines, both equally idiotic. In the White House, Mr. Obama is under excruciating pressure to "do something" as systems unravel and economies augur into darkness. Amid all the anxiety and raging cluelessness, one thing is clear: we're doing everything possible to evade reality.
The reality we can't face is that one way of life is over and a new one is waiting to be born. It's been waiting, really, since the early 1970s, when God whacked the USA upside its head to announce that we'd outgrown our once-stupendous domestic supply of oil. I remember those fervid months following the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 (I covered the story as a young newspaper reporter.) The basic message was this: from now on we'll be running this show on other people's oil so we better start doing things differently. Back then, the not-yet-lost-in-a-fog-of-greed Baby Boom generation rolled up its tie-dyed sleeves and got to work doing a lot of forward-looking things: micro hydro-electric, passive solar houses, rural homesteading, the next generation of public transit (BART, the D.C. Metro), the first wave of urban gentrification....
Then, in 1979, the Ayatollah tossed out the Shah of Iran, we got another dose of oil problems, and a year later, President Jimmy Carter's clear-eyed view of the oil situation as "the moral equivalent of war" got overturned in favor of Ronald Reagan's dreadful Hollywood nostalgia projector. As usual in times of severe social stress, the public got delusional. Mr. Reagan was very lucky. During his tenure, two of the last great non-OPEC oil discoveries came into full production -- Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and the North Sea -- and took the leverage away from the Islamic oil nations who had been making us miserable with their threats, embargos, price-jackings, and hostage-takings.
Americans drew the false conclusion that Ronald Reagan was an economic genius (a similar thing happened in Great Britain with Margaret Thatcherism). The price of oil went down steeply while they were in office. Britain could kick back and enjoy it's last remaining industry, banking, on a majestic cushion of energy resources. The USA resumed its major post-war industry: suburban sprawl building. Reaganism got elevated to the status of a religion, though it was little more than a twisted version of Eisenhower-on-steroids. Under Reagan, WalMart embarked on its campaign to destroy every main street economy in the nation. The Baby Boomers came back from the land, clipped their pony tails, discovered venture capital, real estate investment trusts, securitization of "consumer" debt, and the Hamptons. Greed was good. (No, really....)
The first President Bush's Gulf War jolted the oil markets briefly, but Saudi Arabia was demonstrably on our side in that conflict, while the non-OPEC oil supply was goosed up by production from Mexico's giant Cantarell field. The slight economic shudder caused by the Gulf War was enough, though, to unseat Bush Number One in favor of the Boomer Bill Clinton. A puzzling figure in many ways, articulate and magnetic, Bill Clinton was hardly a reformer, surely not in terms of the national lifestyle. He was in so many ways an exemplar of it. He'd been governor of WalMart's home state (and his wife sat on its board of directors). He was a pure product of the New South, the sunbelt, with its economy literally driven by everything connected to cars -- new suburbs, malls, fast food huts, Nascar. He wasn't about to pull a Jimmy Carter and try to prepare the people for some harsh realities.
Really nobody saw what was going on during the Clinton years. The public was sleepwalking in a Martha Stewart nesting fantasy. Clinton was as lucky as Reagan. The only geopolitical conflict he faced was the Balkan gang-war that attended the collapse of Yugoslavia. Baby Boomer greed went into overdrive during the Clinton years as the former hippies hit their mid-life career strides, epitomized in billionaire-worship and the eventual money-grubbing book deals both Clintons made on departure. Does anyone remember Mr. Clinton saying, even once, that an economy based on suburban sprawl building and car dependency might not be such a good thing? Of course not. Under Clinton, the SUV became our new national bird. The price of oil flat-out crashed while Clinton was in office, sinking to the $10-a-barrel range by the time he handed over the White House keys to Bush Number Two.
Poor dim "W" rode his generation's last wave of cultural inertia into two terms as little more than custodian of things set into motion by others years before. Reality was shifting starkly "out there" but "W," raised in the protective globe of great wealth, coddled in made-to-order business deals, surrounded by political triumphalists and Jesus Jokers, couldn't see through the brush-piles in his mind. (Maybe it was all that cocaine from the years before.) He paid lip service to a murky notion called "energy independence," but to him that just meant finding a home-grown way to maintain extreme car dependency and all its perilous usufructs. The 9/11 tragedy allowed him to pretend to be a man-of-action, but as the various wars and occupations ground on, "W" more or less disappeared into the deep groove of his own limited programming.
During those years, more than a few things happened to inform the American people -- not all of whom were dim, of course -- what was up. For one, a cohort of senior geologists retired out of service to the oil industry and started publishing their own dark thoughts about the world's energy future. The discussion of these matters spread to the internet, where it grew in clarity and insight. We began to understand, for instance, the connection between our energy predicament (peak oil, so-called), and the growing parallel fiasco in hypertrophic debt creation that was driving the banking system and threatening to wreck it.
Now we've arrived at the moment of wreckage. Meanwhile, Barack Obama sailed into the White House on a tide of "hope" for "change." The change was unspecified, by both Mr. Obama and the general public (and the news media that audits its thinking). What is dogging many of us who supported Mr. Obama is the delayed entrance of much-vaunted change. At this moment of "stimulus" and TARP-II, it seems to have been about a desperate attempt to preserve the hypertrophic debt economy of "miracle" mortgages, blue-light-special shopping on credit cards, and endless happy motoring at all costs. And by "all costs" I mean literally bankrupting our society at every level to keep on living as if it were still 1999. This naturally alarms those of us who perceive a need for more drastic reprogramming in American life.
Mr. Obama is not dim. The euphoria that attended his election was largely about acquiring a leader of first-rate intelligence and sensibility, compared to his lamentable predecessor. I like to think that Mr. Obama really does know what's up -- that "change" means we have to live a lot differently, not mount a campaign to sustain the unsustainable. I suspect that President Obama has learned over the last several weeks that the nation's banking system and economy -- indeed, the whole world's -- are in way worse shape than anyone imagined before January 20. He is faced with the immediate crushing problem of appearing to do something while a tsunami of catastrophic debt deleveraging sweeps away the first outlier nations and their economies and bears down on the G-7. I suspect that in a few weeks, or possibly even a few days, Mr. Obama will have to start announcing all kinds of new and more drastic measures that will shock the stunned American public -- things like bank holidays, nationalizations, possibly even dollar devaluation.
As I've said more than once, I believe this basically honest and intelligent president will have to take on the role of the nation's hand-holding camp counselor or school teacher. When the time comes that he assumes this role, I think he'll do it pretty well, even though great pain and misery will be abroad in this land.

2009 progress

2009-02-09T12:41:00.003-06:00

2 weeks ago Heidi started out tomato seedlings and yesterday I noticed we had around 10 sprouts so far. They are so tiny and it is hard to imagine every year that these will grow to be 3 feet tall and produce bounties of food.

We did the final numbers on our insulating projects for the front room and attic (soon to be our permanent bedroom) and it looks like a go. As soon as we get the garage a bit more organized and some space created, we will be buying the lumber and insulation so we can get started as soon as the weather gets warm enough to not deal with moisture on the underside roof decking.

We also started trying to dig the snow and ice away from where our new coop is going to go, so we can get then in before the growing season really gets swinging.

As always, we are getting excited about Spring.

Newest member of the homestead

2009-01-24T19:25:00.006-06:00

Since we have a problem with critters i.e coons, opossums, etc. and recently lost a hen to something, we have been discussing getting a dog. I have stopped a few times at the humane society, but no there were no dog breeds we were looking for such as German Shepard which are great for protection, but today we did and there was a 2 yo shepard/Akita mix, which is what we were more or less looking for. A great cross of 2 breeds known for their loyalty.
Here is a picture of myself and Griz and in case you are wondering, he is the one on the right.

The Razor farm challenge

2009-01-20T14:06:00.001-06:00

We have taken the Razor Family challenge
We are eating locally, raising our own chickens, eggs, and growing even more of our own food. We are also looking forward to this Spring when the city of MPLS will hopefully lift the ban on hoofed animals, and bees.
Will you also take the challenge?

Maybe we do have hope?

2009-01-18T08:51:00.002-06:00

Maybe we do have hope, but I have to wonder haw can a 7 year old understand the basics of humanity when over educated adults cannot?

I believe life is good.

I believe God is in everything.

I believe we're all equal.

I believe we can help people.

I believe everyone is weird in their own way.

I believe hate is a cause for love.

I believe that when I meditate I feel peaceful.

I believe we should be generous.

I believe brothers and sisters should be kind to each other.

I believe kids should respect their parents.

I believe I should not whine.

I believe people should wake up early.

I believe people should go outside more.

I believe in nature.

I believe people should use less trees.

I believe we should help the Arctic and rainforest animals.

I believe people shouldn't throw litter on the ground.

I believe people should not smoke.

I believe God is in good and bad.

I believe in magic.

I believe people should not give up.

I believe love is everywhere.

I believe that God helps us to have a good time.

I believe we live best in a community.

I believe we can protect people in danger.

I believe we should help the poor.

I believe it's OK to die but not to kill.

I believe war should not have started.

I believe war should stop.

I believe we can make peace.

First seed orders for 09

2009-01-07T11:37:00.002-06:00

Heidi and I ordered tomato and pepper seeds for starting later this month from Seed Savers. Here is what we ordered for now. We are working with the Brazletons on our bigger orders for everything else. We are excited to get working on the garden again. We also planned out our new coop and where we are moving it to to get the chickens more light in the Winter. I now know how the old farmer/homesteader felt, no rest for the weary.
Tomato, Czech's Bush
Tomato, Amish Paste
Tomato, Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Tomato, Martino's Roma OG
Tomato, Large Red Cherry
Pepper, King of the North
Pepper, Alma Paprika
Pepper, Ancho Gigantea
Pepper, Rooster Spur OG
Pepper, Wenk's Yellow Hots OG
Pepper, Thai Hot OG
Pepper, Bulgarian Carrot

2009!

2009-01-04T11:26:00.016-06:00

Today at the homestead is a balmy 4F for the high. When I went out to deal with the chickens at 8, it was -3F, but it was a dry cold :)

We changed the picture on the blog to better reflect the season including the 3 inches of new snow we got last night. Over my vacation I helped my neighbors contractor do some work on her new house which included setting 3 flat skylights and 11 windows so the roofers can start next week.

We also installed a new house exhaust fan in our kitchen to help deal with the moisture in the house, which seems to be helping since we are down from high 60's to low 50's and little moisture on the windows :) The Freeze yer buns challenge is going well with us staying at 50 at night and 58 during the day with a few days of 60 to help with bread rising since we set the dough on the radiators.

On New years day, we went to visit the Zahns where the snow is much more abundant than in the cities. The boys had a fun time and it was great to see them again.

Just rode over 5000 miles for 2008 which was over twice what I did last year. Am hoping for around 6 this year with a larger emphasis on more errands on the X.

In the Spring the same neighbors concrete contractor is going to demo 3/4 of our driveway which should give us 3 more beds.

We are planning on growing a vertical bed with peas, beans, sunflowers and some other quick growing plants to help deal with our other neighbor who seems to have some aversion to seeing, hearing, or anything else to do with chickens or anything with our green lifestyle. We are doing this to deal with it in a positive way instead of a negative way like putting up a useless fence that takes up space. We are also researching plants that help with reflecting negative energy in hopes to keep it out of our homestead.

Here are some quick pictures of the homestead buried under snow.
Our Asparagus bed

The chickens are doing well and laying an average of 8-9 eggs a day including Eva, our Ameraucana who is laying cute blue-green easter eggs.

Last 2 pics are of the back garden covered in snow

And this would be bad?

2008-12-23T09:37:00.004-06:00

Awesome video on what may happen if we choose to follow the old path of failed transportation

Sharon's predictions for 2009

2008-12-15T15:17:00.000-06:00

Sharon's predictions for 2009 are up along with how she did for her 2008 predictions. Lots of great info. Today's ride was cold -8F with -30F windchills. Of course the climate change naysayers were out in force denouncing the idea since it is cold again. Guess they forgot to mention that the 2 days previous were 30's and raining.

Equal rights my a$$

2008-12-11T13:50:00.002-06:00

This was sent out yesterday by the MPLS police department in response to a series of muggings on the Midtown Greenway which is our main E-W bike trail and a major commuter artery.

Robbery/Assaults
‘Midtown Greenway - Hiawatha LRT Trail’

Recently we’ve had series of robbery/assaults on the Midtown Greenway. They’ve occurred in both the 3rd and 5th Precincts at different locations along the trail.

Typically the victim is surrounded and pushed off their bicycle. The attackers are taking wallets, backpacks and purses. Many of the assaults have occurred after dark. Some have occurred during daylight hours. So far the attackers are not stealing the victim’s bicycles.

The suspects have been described by their victims as groups of 2 or 3 younger males. At this time we do not have more specific descriptions of the suspects. It appears that more than one group of suspects may be committing these crimes.

The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating these crimes. Police are doing extra patrol on the Greenway. The Police Dept. met with the Midtown Greenway Coalition to discuss some prevention strategies.

What You Can Do?
If you can, avoid riding or walking the Greenway after dark.
Whenever possible ride/walk with others, not alone. You are much safer with a group than you are alone.
There are “Bluelight” phones at intervals on the Greenway that will connect you directly to 911. Carry a cell phone as well. If you aren’t close to a phone, you can call 911 if you need help.
Pay attention to your surroundings. If you see people ahead of you, that make you nervous or uncomfortable, exit the Greenway at the nearest ramp.
If you should be assaulted, try to stay calm. Give the attackers what they want. The more you resist, the more likely it is that you will be injured.
Be sure to wear a bike helmet while riding. If will reduce you chances of injury considerably.
When you call 911 give the operator your location. Due to recent changes in our police reporting system, the Greenway is now listed as a street (i.e. Midtown Greenway W. (Nicollet Ave. westward) and Midtown Greenway E. (East of Nicollet to the river). When you riding or walking during daylight hours take some time to familiarize yourself with the addresses of the cross streets over the trail. It will help ensure a quicker police response.
If you have questions please contact Crime Prevention Specialist Don Greeley at the 3rd Precinct – 673-3482 or donald.greeley@ci.minneapolis.mn.us.

My response is this:
Someone needs to ask the question of the police that if there were a rash of violent crimes such as car-jackings on Chicago, portland, etc. would they advise motorists to take a different route or would they increase police visibility? If the answer is increased presence, why is the greenway different?

There is a big ride Saturday to take back the greenway from these sorry excuse for people at 4 PM.

Free enterprise?

2008-12-09T11:20:00.002-06:00

Apologies for the swearing, it was not created by me, but I could not resist posting this.

Cool trading party

2008-12-06T08:34:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we used up some of our saved up carbon to drive out to Stillwater to buy a Christmas tree from a local vendor who claims to use sustainable practices and to attend a trading party that our mailman introduced us to. He sometimes trades us goat milk for pies, quiches, or bread and his Wife had him invite us to this party. We brought 4 smaller loaves of break, a dozen eggs, and two batches of cookies the boys made for trade. After introducing what everyone had, the maybe 20 people not including kids milled about offering this for that and so forth. We traded everything and ended up with some good stuff:
2 loaves of pumpkin bread
a skein of hand spun wool yarn
lots of greens (mustard, etc.)
a ceramic tortilla warmer
half-pint of blueberry jam
The boys traded cookies for other cookies, a slice of homemade cheesecake, some solar recharging glow sticks, and some raspberries.

This weekends plans are canning pears, strawberry jam, transferring Heidi's wine to the secondary fermenter and bottling my beer. Also started work on my new neighbors house doing the internal framing.

No, just say no from Sharon

2008-12-04T19:08:00.002-06:00

Over at Sharon's blog, there is an awesome post on what may come to be if America continues its destructive course with gluttony and consumerism. We need to band together and build smaller more local communities to make these things do not come to fruition.

Green Meme #2

2008-11-30T08:34:00.004-06:00

Well, Lisa tagged us for the Green Meme blogger. Here is our post.

Guidelines:
1) Link to Green Meme Bloggers. (use image if you like)
2) Link back to whoever tagged you. (no need to wait to be tagged!)
3) Include meme number
4) Include these guidelines in your post
5) Tag 3 other green bloggers.

1. Do you use baking soda toothpaste or baking soda shampoo? If not, would you consider it?
Not yet, but we are probably considered a bit odd, as we only shower/bath once a week using a bath like the Ingalls used to do. The kids go first, then Heidi, and finally me. We do have to top of the warm water by the time Heidi is going in, but only by maybe 5-10 gallons and we only fill it maybe with 20-25 gallons total. No soakers for us.

2. Do you make any home cleaning products?
Not really, but Heidi's saying if it does not come out with vinegar and elbow grease, it can be lived with.
3. What is your top green issue at the moment?
Over consumption of everything! We need to realize that we CANNOT continue to live at the rate we as a human race do. We need to make a change to a more simple lifestyle and yes I see the irony of that statement while I use a computer to post this.
4. Given unlimited cash, what is on your green wish list?
Everything wool and sustainable products :). In addition, we would completely renovate our house to off-grid with wind, passive solar, and ditch our stove/oven for a wood burning oven and stove used both for heating and cooking. We would also add a real root cellar downstairs in the basement. Replacing the roof with a living roof would be the last thing I can think of currently.

5. Have you implemented any new green act/behavior/product this month?
Not to toot our horn too much, but we have been living a green life much longer than "Green" as existed as a trend the way it does now. This makes it very hard to implement new things easily. While we have always practiced water conservation in ways from yellow let it mellow to rain barrels and water redirection for watering our homestead gardens, this month we started something new. We have 1 bathroom that gets 99% of the use and we disconnected the trap to the sink and harvest the water into a 5 gallon bucket that we use for flushing the toilet instead of wasting 1.6 gallons for the 3-5 flushes a day in addition to the water used for washing hands, etc. Hearing the water hit the bottom of the bucket or the water already there really makes hit home the amount of water being used/wasted.

Let's see who I can come up with for people to tag.
1. The Brazeltons since Paul has been slacking in his posting duties
2. Barb, our new neighbor who is building an awesome green house next to us.
3. Sashsa who I am very much admiring in her moving to Amish house :).

More local eating and prepping for Winter

2008-11-23T14:55:00.007-06:00

While we always try to eat locally, the last few meals have been amazing. Last night was a egg and potato frittata made with eggs from our chickens and potatoes from our garden. The rest was local produce from our coop. Sunday morning was pancakes with local ingredients and potatoes from our garden again. We also had a friend give us some raw goats milk and we made goats milk for the first time. We dug up about 20 taters and Heidi estimates we should have around 100 taters in the ground to get us through the Winter.

Saturday was our Family day with a visit to the Y so the kids could expend some energy at the kids gym. We also attended presentation at our local Raptor center which was really cool.

Sunday was homestead day with lots of Winter prep and Fall planting. We drained the rain barrels of their last water, mulched the hops, roses and remulched some other beds. We planted 117 garlic plants for next Summer and cleaned the chicken coop.

I also baked my first loaf of bread and while it leaves a lot to be desired from a looks standpoint, it tasted awesome.

2008-11-21T12:55:00.003-06:00

On a local listserv that deals with issues in my city, there has been some bantering about renewable energy sources mainly revolving around heating which is a huge deal here in the Northern Tundra of Minnesota. We have some who believe that burning corn and other biomass is the answer and others who feel wind, solar, etc. is the answer and others still who feel a mix is needed. While I am obviously not for fossil fuels, I felt the biggest action that needs to be taken is our overall reduction in our consumption of everything! Here is what I posted as an idea to someones request for ideas on alternative energy.

Jim, and hi everyone,

Could I suggest that we all join forces and work together? How about if we
team-up and brainstorm ideas for alternative
energy in Minneapolis?

One thing I have not read in this thread and if I missed it, please let me know is the reduction there by conservation of energy. Our current President-elect has hinted at it, but not come outright and said we need to do some serious thinking about how we live in America regarding over-consumption of everything from resources to food.

There is NOT enough alternative energy to support how the average American currently lives not matter what we do, so the only option we have is to reduce and become truly more self sustainable by actions such as eating locally, growing our own food, reducing our dependence on oil period and other fossil fuels, not just foreign oil.

Things are changing and not for the easier, so unless we seriously look at how to reduce our consumption, we are doomed. Our city should be less concerned about silly housing codes, such as peeling paint on windows, etc. and implement a plan to teach urban agrarianism. This last Summer we grew over 300 lbs of produce and put up enough veggies and fruits get us through the Winter until our Spring harvest starts along with the other local vendors and all on a standard N MPLS city lot. Imagine if we started acting locally i.e. as a neighborhood community and then a city and so forth and what we could get done.

Just my 2 cents,
Devin

Heidi's b-day and overconsumption

2008-11-14T11:56:00.002-06:00

Well, yesterday was Heidi's b-day, so we splurged a bit and went out for dinner. First time in a quite awhile. We have really cut back on our spending in the last year and Heidi has been doing an awesome job of keeping us fed with tons of our food along with local stuff from the farmers market and the co-op.

Her Mother's old dehydrator arrived in the mail as a gift for her b-day which if it works will be an awesome addition to our storing tools. It is probably 30+ years old, so who know if it works, but it is basically a box with shelves for the food and some sort of heat source, so it should be fixable if need be. We are working on mulching and covering the paths and new beds with cardboard for next years garden.

We are averaging about 5 eggs a day and the chickens are enjoying the weather. We are trying to finish getting the front room insulated, so we can move down there instead of up in the attic.

There was a great post over at Urban Prairie on our economy and how shoving money at banks, etc. is not going to help.

November APLS carnival posting

2008-11-12T09:42:00.001-06:00

I am taking part in the APLS carnival for November and here is my submission.

We at the Quince urbanhomestead feel that buying and living locally are 2 of the most important things in healing Mother Earth's wounds. The Winters here in MN are the biggest obstacle to be full-time locavores and we try to be honest in our locavorism and the farther into the Winter it gets, the farther our local becomes. In the dead of Winter, we make local the mainland US, but we have sworn off bananas, mangoes, or other tropic fruits from afar countries. We will buy Florida Oranges once a month to help with the vitamem C deficit here. We have put up quite a large amount of stores for the Winter and looking forward to trying to "live off them" for the Winter buying only what we do not have and need. Over 80% of the stores are from our garden and
10-15% of the rest is local with the rest from within the US.
Namaste,
The Quinces

Weekends work

2008-11-09T18:07:00.005-06:00

Here on the urban and rapidly-freezing homestead, this weekend we finally turned on the heat for the year set at 50 at night and 58 during day when we are home, as on Friday the temps dropped into the upper 30's during the day with rain and our first dusting of snow on Saturday morning. Lows were mid 20's and the chickens are thriving. We finished insulating the coop and sealing it off. We also built our homemade water heater, using a reptile heater pad and an oil pan to keep the water in the coop from freezing. We also moved the thermometer to nearer where the birds roost and are seeing the temp go from low 30's to mid 50's and still climbing. Installed the frame and cut and installed 4 shelves for the 2nd set of root cellar storage shelf.

Heidi canned 7 quarts of pumpkin, 3 pints of apple butter, and 2 containers of catsup. Also in the works is some apple and carrot and apple and green tomato chutneys.
Namaste,
The Quinces

Obama and the Kim Stanley Robinson climate trilogy

2008-11-05T14:50:00.004-06:00

I just finished reading the climate trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson that consists of the following books:
Forty signs of rain
Fifty degrees below
Sixty days and counting

Basic idea is about a group of scientists and politicians who are trying to stop climate change driven disasters. One of the major characters is s Senator named Phil Chase who becomes President at the end of 2nd book. His character reminds me of President Elect Obama in where he could take our country if he chose to and before the issues in this series come to fruition. I hope he has the ability and strength to address our climate issues with things other offshore drilling, alternative fuels, and other ideas. As a society, we need to realize that we consume far more than we produce since this is the answer to a large part of our energy issues. For now, we keep driving less, growing more, and reducing our impact on the world.
Namaste,
The Quinces

Woohoo

2008-11-04T22:09:00.002-06:00

Welcome President Barack Obama! Here is to hope, prosperity, and healing Mother Earth!
Way to go in uniting for change!

More work on the hometead

2008-11-03T10:44:00.004-06:00

This weekend we insulated the the W and S side of the coop and added another light to the coop, organized our new 10 bales of hay, and did some other cleanup prepping for the Winter.

Here is a picture of the chicken's new run, which is really quite a nice little aviary!

Prepping for the Winter

2008-10-26T17:13:00.005-05:00

This weekend, we made our last trip to the Farmer's market for the year when all the vendors would be there, but it was still much more quiet than the weekend before. We made plans to continue getting our milk through the Winter using a new local shop and visited them for their grand opening on Sunday.

Back at the homestead, we transplanted a bunch of pepper plants and 2 eggplants into a cold frame created with some bales of hay and old storm windows we rescued from the trash.

We also bought 4 pints of organic cream from a local dairy and used them to create 2 lbs of butter and 1 pint of buttermilk for freezing. We figured out this is cheaper than spending 6 bucks per lb for organic butter, as organic cream is 3.50 a pint and makes a 1/2 pound of butter and 1/2 pint of butter milk.

Updated with some pictures of the butter:

Last night was the first cold night for the chickens < 32 and tonight looks to be colder with temps between 20 and 30. They seemed to survive the night just fine, but Heidi is really worried about them, as she has never had livestock in a cold environment like MN.

On the commuting front, I am now on the backside of the mileage, as I am shooting for around 5K miles this year and am about to crack 4200 with 2 months left. Someone at work asked me the last time I drove to work and I could not honestly answer the question, though it was a few weeks before we donated the Kia.

Namaste,
The Quinces

I guess we are carborexic, but we are proud to be!

2008-10-24T10:14:00.004-05:00

The author of a blog I read daily recently was part of a NYT article that depicted people concerned about carbon and their carbon footprints as having a mental disorder called "carborexia". If you are interested in reading the article it is here

Recently she wrote a rebuttal to the times that is very powerful. Why is it that the world sees reducing consumption, eating better, and reducing your impact on the Earth in any way other than installing CFLs as militant or evil?

Newest ventures

2008-10-20T13:58:00.002-05:00

We at the Quince homestead are taking place in a few challenges this Fall and Winter.
1. The Freeze yer buns off challenge - Basically reduce your heat and increase your clothing
2. Pioneer week - A week of living like a pioneer. We do this mostly anyway, but I am sure my bike was not around for the pioneers, but oh well, she is my steed.
Won't you join us?

Another one!

2008-10-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

Well another cyclist is down, but fortunately not worse. I know this rider from several cycling groups. He is a big inspiration for me as a commuter. He had 298 days commuting to and from work before Fridays accident.

Please watch out there, as it seems like they are out to get us.

Has ABC been bought by big oil?

2008-10-09T11:05:00.002-05:00

They are refusing to air this ad. If this bothers you, sign this petition

Low 42F

No frost this morning

2008-10-03T10:33:00.002-05:00

We put out the frost blankets, covered the maters and no frost :)
Low - 41F

First frost?

2008-10-02T10:58:00.002-05:00

Low - 41F Looking at possible frost tonight, so we will covering the plants
High - 68F

Bike memorial

2008-10-01T15:34:00.006-05:00

Temps:
Low - 43F
High - 57F

On Saturday, there is a memorial bike ride to bring awareness to the 4 people that have been killed by drivers in the last 2 weeks. The boys and I will be doing the metro area ride, but going up to Blaine.
From:

10/04/2008 - 10:30am

To:

3:00pm

Location:

Meet on the traffic island at Summit and Snelling Avenues in St.Paul

Description:

Minneapolis / St.Paul-October 2008 - This Saturday, the bicycle community will come together to honor the memory of cyclists who have been killed in recent accidents on Twin Cities streets. A memorial ride will visit the sites of three of the most recent crashes, where "Ghost Bikes" have been placed as a memorial to the victims. For more info on Ghost Bikes please visit: http://www.ghostbikempls.org

Family, friends and cyclists are invited to participate in this group ride. Organizers are asking that participating cyclists please wear a black shirt with orange ribbon around their arm or handlebars. Ribbon will be provided for those who need it.

What: Memorial Ride to Honor Fallen Bicyclists

13.6 miles for Twin Cities route (http://www.bikemap.net/route/89109)

14.3 miles extra for Blaine route (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2304032)

Where: Meet on the traffic island at Summit and Snelling Avenues in St.Paul

When: This Saturday, October 4th, 2008. Meet at 10:30 am; depart 11:00 am

Contact: ghostbikempls@gmail.com or 612-276-1008

The ride will begin at Summit and Snelling Avenues near the ghost bike memorial for Virginia Heuer Bower. It will then head west down Lake Street to Excelsior and West 32nd Street, the ghost bike memorial for Jimmy Nisser. The ride will then head back up Excelsior/Lake, then northeast on Hennepin to the ghost bike memorial for Nik Morton.

There is an unrelated “group photo” event at 3pm at Gold Medal Park (the red square on the bikemap) and participants are welcome to continue on to be part of the "Unite Bike" group photograph: http://www.unitebike.com/

In the afternoon, another ride will head to Blaine in order to place a Ghost Bike at Central and Cloverleaf, where cyclist Dale Aanenson was killed.

Riders are expected to be orderly and respectful of traffic. If you are riding recklessly, you will be asked to leave.

More discussion on the memorial ride can be found on the community message board Minneapolis Bike Love:http://www.mplsbikelove.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=120680#p120680

Information about the victims of these tragedies can be found here:

Dale Phillip Aanenson - http://www.legacy.com/StarTribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=117902776

Virginia M. Heuer - http://www.legacy.com/StarTribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=118137017

Nik Morton - http://www.legacy.com/startribune/obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=118097033

Jimmy Nisser - http://www.legacy.com/StarTribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=117453438

More information:

http://www.ghostbikempls.org

My political leaning

2008-09-30T14:15:00.003-05:00

From a cool site I was able to get an idea of my political leanings. Here is where I ended up in picture form. My compatriots are Nelson Mandela, Ghandi and The Dalai Lama :)

Change to posting

2008-09-30T10:35:00.001-05:00

Now that the colder weather is starting to be more frequent, I am going to start tracking the high and lows for the temps everyday on the blog.
Today:
Low - 43F - Boys and I rode to school, a tad chilly and will take a bit to get used to.
High - 57F
Some light sprinkles and windy.

Great bike commuting video from a newbie commuter

2008-09-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

Bike Commute