Archive for February, 2010
February 14, 2010 – Technical Troubles
The blog/web host are undergoing fairly severe technical problems – working on it, but it might be a few days before things get back to normal – in the meantime access is intermittent.
February 13, 2010 – In the Bleak Midwinter
In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.
(Click lyrics to hear melody)
www.hymnswithoutwords.com Permission granted by Richard MS Irwin
This is, of course, the first line to the Christmas Carol In the Bleak Midwinter by English poet Christina Rossetti, set to music by Holst.
Somehow, it seems like the right time for this carol.
We are in the depths of the bleak midwinter.
No line on the horizon and no end to the winter in sight.
February 12, 2010 – Claire Interviews for World Food Prize Internship
This week we ventured to Des Moines for Claire to go through the final cut for a World Food Prize all expenses paid summer internship at a location somewhere in the world.
The interviews were at the Botanical Center in Des Moines for people living in the Midwest – the others will be interviewing via Skype. For this final round of selection, about half of the interviewees will be selected. Claire has her fingers crossed and hopes she’s looked favorably upon!
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #153″
February 11, 2010 – Thingamajig Thursday #195
Here’s this week’s thingamajig Thursday. What’s Martin holding?
Also check out the last thingamajig answer.
As always, put your guess in a comment below.
Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.
February 10, 2010 – You Thought Congress Was For Sale Before?
With the recent U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 decision treating corporations the same as individuals and asserting that federal laws cannot limit corporate speech (donations of money = free speech), get ready for an even greater influence of corporations over Congress. Imagine how your congressperson will vote if Corporation X comes to them and says, vote this way and we’ll give you 5 million dollars; vote the other way and we’ll give it to your opponent in the next election.
But if we really are going to equate corporations as individuals, that brings up some questions the court will need to decide in the future.
Will a corporation have to exist for 18 years before it can “vote.” Sorry Google and Yahoo, you can’t contribute yet.
What if two corporations merge that both have either both male or both female CEOs? Will propositions outlawing gay marriage forbid the marriage (merger) of those two individuals?
Will corporations have to show up for jury duty?
Will corporations have to register for the Selective Service and serve our country in times of war?
February 9, 2010 – More Snow
Another week, another snow day. The latest round dropped about 9 inches on us. The piles are getting deeper and higher around the farm.
Here’s a look west through a crack in a wall of snow kept open for access to the water hydrant.
Here’s a look east – the side entry door in the machine shed is pretty much closed for the winter now! All I can say is that I’m loving the tractor this time of year.
February 8, 2010 – Home DNA
Even though Linda started out her career as a gene jockey in the early days of biotech, I still never imagined I’d hear this conversation at home between my wife and eight-year old son.
Linda: “Martin, it’s time to get jammies on.”
Martin: “Can I just finish this base pair?”
Martin’s home DNA kit shows just how ubiquitous the technology has become. Much like the comment many teenagers may have had during the Super Bowl half-time show, “Why are those old guys playing the song from CSI?”
February 7, 2010 – Winter Driving
It’s amazing that mechanical devices work as well as they do in weather like this.
Today it was snowing and about 28 degrees, so most of the snow was melting on the highways as though driving in the rain – only difference being when the spray hits the sides of the car, or anything else, it freezes on contact.
What do you call the bunch of ice that forms behind the wheels of cars in winter? Where I come from they are known as “clunkers.”
February 6, 2010 – Clothes Humi-dryer
Here’s a great new invention that combines a dryer with a humidifier! I found this adjustable drying rack at Costco for eight bucks off, so brought it home. It holds a load of laundry and placed in front of the pellet stove, dries the clothes in 2-4 hours, so it works especially great to do a load before going to sleep and having warm, dry clothes in the am.
As an added benefit, when the pellet stove is on, the regular furnace with built-in humidifier doesn’t run that much, so the house is in need of moisture in these dry winter months.
one year ago…”Prizm Hood Latch Failure”
February 5, 2010 – New Tiller!
We’ve been thinking and starting to prepare for a while about a new way of growing our crops. We want to get rid of the monolithic blocks and instead garden in four foot wide beds separated by grass/sod strips. The mental and physical energy to manage 4 foot wide steps seems easier in terms of planting and crop rotation, weeding and harvesting. I’ve been looking for a 48 inch PTO tiller for a year or so and finally got lucky today and saw one on Craiglist that was listed minutes before I saw it and was the first one in to get it.
So here it, is ready for spring.
one year ago…”First Lambs Arrive”
February 4, 2010 – Thingamajig Thursday #194
Here’s this week’s thingamajig Thursday.
Also check out the last thingamajig answer.
As always, put your guess in a comment below.
Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.
one year ago…”Weather Station”
February 3, 2010 – What/Who is an “Activist”
I’ve noticed over the past few months, that the word “activist” has become a new pejorative buzzword. I’ve been trying to figure out the rhetorical appeal of the word. I’ve figured out the typically an “activist” is someone out of step within the current system. There are environmental activists, organic activists, alternative energy activists who seemingly have a common agenda to somehow destroy life as we know it. I couldn’t figure out why these activists are so dangerous to the status quo. For example, even though organic farms are less than 1% of Iowa farmland, non-activists have spent lots of money on TV and radio ads subtly and not-subtly casting aspersions on organic and sustainable farmers. It didn’t make any sense to me why they would devote so many resources to defending the status quo. Then I ran across this paragraph by Maine farmer Eliot Coleman (few conventional Iowa farmers would consider anybody in Maine a “real” farmer) and was struck by the statement from Jefferson.
But there is one other connection between the word “radical” and small farms that I need to mention. The small organic farm greatly discomforts the corporate/industrial mind because the small organic farm is one of the most relentlessly subversive forces on the planet. Over centuries both the communist and the capitalist systems have tried to destroy small farms because small farmers are a threat to the consolidation of absolute power. Thomas Jefferson said he didn’t think we could have democracy unless at least 20% of the population was self-supporting on small farms so they were independent enough to be able to tell an oppressive government to stuff it. It is very difficult to control people who can create products without purchasing inputs from the system, who can market their products directly thus avoiding the involvement of mercenary middlemen, who can butcher animals and preserve foods without reliance on industrial conglomerates, and who can’t be bullied because they can feed their own faces.
On Monday, I gave a presentation about our household’s efforts to reduce energy use and increase dependence on renewable sources. I was followed by a member of a biodiesel co-op, and finally by someone from Alliant Energy. This person applauded the energy conservation efforts, but not-so-subtly, again mentioned the word “Activists” advocating renewable energy when it is perfectly clear to him that alternative energy systems will never replace coal plants and are essentially a waste of money. I guess if you have a hammer (an electric utility) then your job is to generate and sell electricity at the lowest possible cost. If someone comes along with a socket set, you don’t really think the socket set will work for driving nails. For if everyone used a socket with an attachment to twist in screws instead of a hammer to nail things in, your hammers wouldn’t be as valuable.
But this got me thinking about larger questions and confluences in food, energy, and farming. I think it boils down to a difference in values. If an urban Sierra Club chapter fights to save a wetland from “development” or a lake from being polluted by farm chemicals, they are labeled “Activists.” If a group of guys with guns like Ducks Unlimited or Pheasants Forever purchase wetlands/native areas they are not labeled “Activists.” Is the answer as simple as arming Sierra Club members? Is saving something for someone else besides yourself all it takes to be labeled an activist?
I think that small farmers, renewable energy proponents, and anyone else engaged in a pursuit that is counter to the prevailing system need to consider a different tack. Our economic system is supposed to serve us – after all, we invented it. Instead, most of us are slaves to the system, not being served by the system. The reason is simple. The practice of or current economic system does not meet basic human needs. Self-sufficiency, taking care of your family and neighbors is one of the historical human needs. So when I’m told I’ve made a terrible economic decision in installing a renewable energy system, or not farming like my neighbors, I think about this. Economics and profit are the motivating factor for every major corporation. Humans, are not like that, however. We don’t make decisions based on solely economic reasons (and if we do, we end up being unhappy and unfulfilled).
What’s the financial return on having children? What’s the financial return on taking care of aging parents? What’s the return on buying a $10,000 fishing boat and gear? What’s the return on a BMW S series? What’s the financial return on farming to conserve soil if you are only alive for 80 years and the soil has 100 years of abusive farming practices left before the other half is gone? There’s something larger than economic return going on here. For too long, organic, sustainable, and energy “activists” have been using the traps of the current economic system to justify their actions. My suggestion – stop explaining the economic returns of your sustainable methods in financial terms. Talk about how “It’s just the right thing to do.” You’ll be assaulted with terms like “niche” “hobby,” or perhaps if you are really on the edge “crackpot.” Talk about how it’s the right thing to do. It feeds my spirit. It connects me to generations in the future. Talk about the satisfaction of pulling a crop or kilowatt out of your place like hunters talk about their exploits outfoxing wild animals.
Our story is much more interesting than a corporate anything. Commodity agriculture doesn’t have a story. Who wants to visit a modern hog farm? Who wants to work in a modern meatpacking plant? Heck, who wants to visit a corn/soybean farm except maybe for a couple weeks in the spring or fall? Contrast that to the small farmer who has a diversity of crops and animals, an ever-evolving network of plants and animals, with a fast two-step throughout the season. Tell your story – it’s much deeper and more connected to the human spirit than any slick corporate ad. We need you, we’ve fallen below Jefferson’s 20% threshold.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #152″
February 2, 2010 – What Does a Half a Beef Look Like?
Ever wonder what a half a beef looks like before it goes into the freezer?
Here is one – we had it processed with an emphasis on the things we eat most often – hamburger and steak. The basket on the right is full of steaks. The next one is roasts, the next one over is ribs/soup bones, and of course, the last two hamburger. Here’s the breakdown from this half.
71 lbs steaks
54 lbs roasts/ribs/soup bones
148 lbs burger
The total cost for this ends up being about $3.30/lb – that’s everything from hamburger that probably average $2 lb at the store to rib eye and t-bones at $7-9/lb. Best of all, this beeve was visible on a local pasture on our way to town. It was grass-raised and finished with some corn, so it wasn’t wallowing in a feedlot in it’s own doo-doo during its lifetime.
February 1, 2010 – Morning Light
The subtle colors of morning on the snow mean it is a sunny day.
In the summertime it’s harder to get up with the sun, that’s not a problem this time of year. But tomorrow marks the midday-point between the first day of winter and first day of spring.
