Winter Harvest?

When I announced that I was moving to Montana, the immediate and spontaneous comment by most folks was "Do you know how COLD it gets in Montana?" Uh...yeah. But I have the power of "Hot Flashes" on my side ;)

To be fair, knowing how cold it gets and living "in" how cold it gets are two different things, so I'll let you know next Spring if my imaginings clash with reality. But in pondering the challenges of living in a region with a much longer winter than what I have been used to...the thing that has been in the forefront of my thinking is...the shorter growing season plus distance between population centers plus unstable economy (read no money). It will be a huge adjustment and real bummer to not have access to fresh veggies for months on end.

I searched around and ran across this guy - Eliot Coleman. WHAT? Winter Harvest??! His operation is in Maine and although its a large commercial outfit, he writes about how he and his family have developed methods to have green food coming all year in places like Maine WITHOUT heated greenhouses!

Here's a blurb about the book from his website:

"this new book focuses on growing produce of unparalleled freshness and quality in customized unheated or, in some cases, minimally heated, movable plastic greenhouses.

Coleman offers clear, concise details on greenhouse construction and maintenance, planting schedules, crop management, harvesting practices, and even marketing methods in this complete, meticulous, and illustrated guide. His painstaking research and experimentation with more than 30 different crops will be valuable to small farmers, homesteaders, and experienced home gardeners who seek to expand their production seasons.

A passionate advocate for the revival of small-scale sustainable farming, Coleman provides a practical model for supplying fresh, locally grown produce during the winter season, even in climates where conventional wisdom says it "just can't be done."

Hmmm! Well, I picked up a used copy of the book and...well...I am so NOT a gardener type!! But new situations require new skills. So, I'm thinking about a small "test" greenhouse (very small ;) to see if I can learn how to do this. Part of the "prescription" is to select specific species of plants that are cold hardy...I dunno... I'm treading into uncharted waters...LOL!

Montana Hooch

Well, here ya go! My first ever attempt to make "spirits." Whoo hooo!!

The crabapple tree was so loaded with fruit, I had to find things to do with it. Especially since this particular variety is very edible. But time was running out...the apples were fast passing their "expiration date"...so I scrambled to find things to do with them and ran across this recipe:

Crab Apple Liqueur

4 quarts crabapples, washed,cored and quartered
4 cups sugar
3 cups vodka

Fill 1 (4-quart) mason jar with tight-fitting lid with prepared crabapples.
Add the 4 cups of sugar and three cups of vodka.
Store the jar on its side, turning once every day for 16 days to help the sugar to dissolve.
After 16 days, filter out the fruit bits and bottle.

That's what was in the bottle laying on its side in an earlier post. Today was day 16 and here's the result...

I have to say...it smells like apples and tastes...GREAT! Plus its kinda pretty...don't you think? I put it up to age a bit more...we'll call it "medicinal"....uh huh...sure, sure! ;) It smooth and sweet, not strong at all...a couple of shots and I don't feel nuthin...well, mehbe a lil tinny bit.. i'm doin okay...izt nut reely efeckting mee mush......sheesss, mi hed jush hitted ta keebord...bye...

First Customers!!

Well....its a start and I'm excited.

I was contacted by a gal (Robin) who recently moved to Helena, MT with her horse. She was a customer of a colleague of mine, Sue Mellon, who is in Vermont. Sue told her that I had just moved to MT as well and the connection was made. Thank you, Sue!

Robin is boarding her horse at a friend's farm and the friend, JJ was also interested in the whole natural hoof/horse care thing! So off I went today to see five horses, two of which had previously foundered (and recovered), three that are too fat and heading for trouble. But JJ and Robin both are already aware of the signs and many of the necessary steps to intervene. JJ is planning to put in a paddock paradise system as soon as she can, but in the mean time, she is struggling with two of her "hefty ones" because they won't keep their grazing muzzles on. On that note..in case any of you haven't run across this yet...

Earlier this year, one of my customers in GA (who has had constant trouble with one of her "fatty fat fat" mares not keeping her grazing muzzle on) told me about a new style of muzzle that solved the problem with her horse. When I saw it, it made sense why the style of muzzle we have all been using, might be annoying to some horses. Its called the Breathe Easy Grazing Muzzle and its very similar, but has large openings over the nostrils.

When I saw it I had a "Duh" moment...I can relate because it annoys me to have something over my mouth and nose. It make sense that horses would feel stifled in the same way and that may be part of the reason (or the main reason) why some just don't want to keep the thing on. It may have more to do with that "claustrophobic" feeling than it has to do with a determination to get more grass. Here's a link.

A colleague up here in MT and I connected over lunch and a couple of horses about a week ago. Her name is Pat Beebe...great gal. She got into trimming a few years after I did, but now is an accomplished professional in her own right. She has been putting the word out about me being here and sent me an email tonight about a few folks already who would like an introduction....that is a huge blessing. Thank you, Pat!

Step by step...things seem to be moving right along! Whoo hoo!!!

Adventures of a Doodle dog in Big Sky Country

For those of you who haven't met him, Doodle is a rescue that came with me to Montana. Before Doodle, I never would have deliberately gone to get a Dachshund, but now that I have known one..they are really cool dogs!

However, one "problem" with them is that they have no idea how small they are...having been bred as badger dogs, they have a Git-R-Done spirit that will send them after things that are WAY bigger and that's why he went after that massive cow that I mentioned in an earlier post. I'm thankful the cow had more sense than Doodle Dog has! AS a result, Doodle is not allowed to roam here like he did back in Georgia. He would like to, but I can't seem to convince him that "You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!"...there are things here that will EAT you!

Investigating a creek

Hmmm...pretty good drinkin'!

Holy Smokes! The big outdoors are.....uh...BIG!


Dang! There's a lump in my bed!

Whew! At last, a nice nap after a hard day out in the "wild."

Dogs rule in Montana. Pretty much everyone has a dog in their car or truck and they take them everywhere. You can even take them into most stores. I've seen dogs riding in shopping carts or walking alongside their owner as they shop in WalMart. Back in Georgia, Doodle hardly ever rode anywhere with me...here, he goes everywhere. Everyone I've met, every home I've visited has welcomed him and encouraged me to let him out of the truck...something I hesitated to do on first meeting someone. But to them...its expected that whomever is visiting will have a dog along!

Uh Oh! Domestication?

Well, I have to give kudos to my mother who tried to domesticate me during my formative years and beyond. I resisted, but in spite of it all the teaching and watching did get "in." Its down right handy when you are without an income and have to make every source of food count. I knew how to do all this domestic stuff, just didn't want to do it. ;)

I also realize (again repeating my mantra "Where God guides, God provides") that part of my journey is to reconnect with skills that are rapidly disappearing from our society. Basic, self sufficiency has been replaced by quick, easy, convenience wrapped in an attitude of "I want it NOW." Its something we all need to wake up from because like it or not, believe it or not..we are in for a rough ride in this country and people had better learn to take care of themselves the way our parents and grandparents tried to teach us.

Where I am staying there are fruit trees. Plum, apple, and an edible crab apple tree. I nearly foundered myself on the plums until they were gone, but stared at the apple trees. Hmmmmm....that's a LOT of food that will go to waste! I did have the foresight to bring my large canner with me, so I broke it out, pulled up some information online to refresh my memory and got busy!

This picture shows pickled crab apples in the jars on the left, apple sauce in the jars on the right and that big bottle laying on its side? That's crab apple liqueur in progress. It has to be turned for 16 days, then the crab apples strained out. I've never had crab apple liqueur and this may be total yuk...but hey...I found the recipe, its easy and who knows? Might be great on a cold Montana winter night!

A neighbor has a small garden in her back yard. She offer up this thing...what the heck?? Its HUGE...about the size of a decent sized pumpkin! I knew it was some kind of winter squash, but don't recall every seeing a monster like this in my mom's garden. I finally found a picture of one on line - its a Blue Hubbard Squash. From the forums I visited, people who tried this squash for the first time say these are the best of the winter squashes they have ever eaten...sweeter and nuttier in flavor. We'll see! I'll save the seeds and maybe have some of these whoppers of my own next year. I like to grow things that don't require much of my attention. I just don't love gardening the way many people do. If I can get away with growing things that don't mind being ignored...I'm good to go!

I just pulled down the last of the apples one the tree in the yard, so I'll be doing something with those tomorrow, I think!

Don't worry folks, I'm still me...I'm sure this "domestic" spurt will pass! ;)

"Little House on the Prairie" Wedding

On Saturday, Oct 9th I attended the wedding of a couple of my friends up here - Megan and Michael. I wanted to blog about it because it was so nice to see a low key, low budget "Little House On The Prairie" wedding that was every bit as nice, every bit as special (maybe more so) than weddings many have today costing tens of thousands (or more).

The location was a small forest service one-room cabin where the bride and her family spent a summer as forest service volunteers some years ago, before she and her brother were grown and gone. This cabin is out in the middle of nowhere at the very end of a forest service road.

Here's the view from this cabin...

Yeah...I could spend a summer here! ;)

The bride, Megan is show here with her daughters (this is a second marriage for both bride and groom) ...Megan made these dresses.

Bride and groom - Megan and Michael


The Wedding feast

Very simple. Bread, sandwich meat and cheese to make your own sandwich. Sliced local apples and sliced carrots grown by the brides mother. Bottled water and a small dish of nuts and butter mints all on a picnic table. That's all. About 20 people were there and it was great.

The reception was a few miles away at a place called "Roy's Barn." Its a huge very old barn where they often have weddings.

Inside the barn on the bottom floor they have the tie stalls intact with harness still hanging outside them, wagons and sleighs in some of them and many cool antiques all around.

The reception feast was pot luck provided by all the guests on tables down the barn aisle. The barn floor is the original rough hewn logs and most of the barn is original ;I believe they said it was built in 1909.

Upstairs in what would be the hay loft were tables and a band. I didn't get a good picture of that. All in all the whole wedding cost them around $2000 and everyone had a great time.

Oh one thing they did that was very nice, instead of a guest book they had a basket of cloth pieces and note paper. You were to write your sentiment on the paper and pin it to the cloth piece of your choice. Later the comments and signatures will be embroidered on the cloth pieces and then all made into a quilt.

That's my report on a wedding, Little House On The Prairie style...LOL! Bottom line is it was simple, real, easy going and just perfect, IMO.

Fall Possibilities

Fall has arrived in Montana, but oddly its been warmer here most days than back in Georgia! Weird! There are many Aspens here, which turn beautiful shades of yellow, not much in the way of red and orange fall foliage. What's interesting here is the wind versus the leaves. The wind can be pretty strong, especially when is sweeps through the valley. I've noticed with some humor, that the leaves will turn (a few at a time as is normal anywhere), then a strong wind blows through, rips them off and everything is green again. Its as if nature cannot make up her mind...LOL!

Because of that, I haven't been able to get any decent fall pictures, but one of my friends here took this one and sent it to me... a beautiful shot of the Bridger Mtn range.

On another note, here is a picture of my friends' domestic horses taken a couple of days ago. Poor, poor horses, no barn, no stalls, no manicured lush pasture, no water troughs...being forced to walk into a river over a very rocky shore. OMG!! They have to live like wild horses...LOL!!!

As far as horse work goes, its slow going. However, I have connected with a fellow trimmer about two hours from here. We've "known" each other via online communities since she first got into barefoot trimming a number of years ago. We are going to get together and talk horse and whatever else. She has already been very helpful with insights to the horse culture here. It's not that different from down there...all types of mindsets although the percentage of hard core "cowboys" is higher here! I also have had contact from a woman who would like me to come teach her how to care for her own horses...that is how it begins ;) In the meantime, I continue to meet folks (some awesome folks) and hand out my business card. All the while I hang onto my mantra, "Where God guides, God provides." So, I know it will all work out.

OH! One more thing...one of my friends here is a master jeweler who makes some amazing items. He actually used to live in GA not far from me for many years. He did all the usual jewelry stuff, had a very successful business and also did custom artful pieces - he is quite gifted. But after years and years of that, he is burned out on it...BUT willing to teach me. How cool is that?
You might be interested to see some of the stuff he has done since being up here:

Montana Crucibles

You should look up "opalwood"...it is actual wood, trees that went through whatever happens after a volcanic eruption then over time turns the wood into stone. Its more than just petrified wood, it actually turns into a type of opal! Its just amazing stuff! I've seen the raw pieces...and the opal in the core of the better ones...who'd a thunk??! LOL! Anyway, the stones in those pieces at his site, are cabochons made from this "wood."

More soon! Take care and love to all!