Modern Homestead

Preparations

2011-01-31T10:15:00.000-08:00

So it has been quite a while since my last post my dearies. Winter hit us hard this year and we still have at least two more months of it, no matter what the groundhog says.

It's planning and ordering season now. Today I started the timeline and the list (ooh how I love lists) to prepare for this year's garden. I even managed to post a request for fertilizer (aka horse pucks) on a local forum! Soon, soon. There's a snow/sleet/muck storm slated to hit my area late tonight but-- cross your fingers-- let's hope it's the last until springtime hits.

Upon Discovering an Excess of Tomatoes

2010-08-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Or, how to make very simple standard sauce and marinara from scratch.

This will be a photo-heavy post my dearies. Look at what we found at the farmers' market! I would encourage you to search out the same-- large quantities of very ripe, possibly bruised and unlovely seconds, or "use today" tomatoes. Typically your supplier will be happy to unload them on you for a very good price. The 25-pound box above was only $7! The best for sauce will be the Roma varieties as they are lower in water content and will take less time to cook down to an acceptable consistency. Don't be afraid to throw in some other types if you have them, though-- sauce is the best way to turn a mess of tomatoes into something not only edible but delightful!

A helpful note from my kitchen: It is probably unwise for you to clean your kitchen before starting this project. Make sure you have some clear counterspace to work on, that is all. Move stainable objects out of the way and wear old clothes. Also, if you have dry winter-chapped hands, this is not the job for you! The acid in the tomatoes will be very painful.

On to business. The first thing you need to do is remove the skin. Find the biggest sturdy glass bowl you have and fill it with your tomatoes in batches. Cover them with boiling water and let them sit for a few minutes while you rummage for the biggest heavy-bottom pot(s) you own.

jurry-rigged as you can see

Pour out your tomatoes into a colander and rinse them with cold water. If you have an over-the-sink colander that is what I prefer to use, however one which fits in the bottom of your sink will also serve. While they cool, find a small paring knife. Don't use your sharpest one for this. Maybe the one your mom gave you when you first moved out, you know, when she took pity on you because you were cooking grilled cheese with your clothes iron? Didn't you inherit a box of kitchen odds and ends, with a knife you never use any more since it's so dull? That's the one for you. These guys are slippery little devils. At some point you will slip and jab the end of your knife into your palm no matter how careful you are, and won't you be glad it's the dull one?

I like to think of them as tomato foreskins

If all went well in the boiling-water stage, you will find the skins slip off quite easily with just a touch of the knife. If you find some with stubborn clinging skin, toss them in with the next batch of tomatoes to receive the boiling water treatment. Slice off any gakky-looking bruises but don't be afraid to use the rest for your sauce. You will also want to remove the stiff, woody segments found around the stem end. **Please take special care with this step.** Neither skin fragments nor the rooty fibrous bits are very nice in your finished sauce. And if you're doing all this, aren't you one of those people who does things right? You are? I thought so. Be ye diligent.

If you can, convince any small child you may have running about that this job is SUPER FUN

Some people like to squeeze out the inside juice and seeds at this point, but I do not. As you finish each tomato, toss it into your sauce pot. When you have a solid layer covering the bottom, turn the heat on to medium-low. US foodies, I set my electric stove at level 3 out of a possible 10.

Repeat this process (boiling water, remove skin, toss in sauce pot) for whatever quantity of tomatoes you have. Resist the urge to add water, salt, or anything at all, for the first few hours. Yes, hours. What you are doing is concentrating that good tomato flavor and letting it become punchy and bold. Don't tinker with it yet. Keep the heat on low, lid off, and let the magic happen. Phone a friend. Drink a glass of wine. Throw in your laundry. Finish a book. Grab a long-handled wooden spoon and stir occasionally, but don't mush them. Plan for about twelve to fourteen hours. Some recipes call for adding a can or two of pre-made tomato paste but I beg you, don't do that. Opening cans is not cooking. It will not connect you to the earth. You can do this without the help of Redpack. You can, and you should.

Darlin Hubby and I love a good shot of roasty garlic in our tomato sauce, so here's something to occupy yourself in the meantime.

Grab as many heads of garlic as you think you'd like and peel off the excess paper. Lop off the tops and drizzle them with the best olive oil you have. Wrap each one separately in foil or use a handy ceramic roaster (a bowl with a plate inverted on top works too). Roast at 350 degrees for at least 40 minutes to an hour. Here's what it should look like when it's done, and when it's cool enough to handle, it should squeeze out easily:

Set this aside and check on your tomatoes. I think this is hour seven or eight. Now, now is the time where you add your spices, salt, bay leaves, and olive oil. You'll need oregano, rosemary, and plenty of black pepper but don't be afraid to add in other spices which you love as well. If you want basil wait until it's off the heat to add it. Don't ask me for specific quantities because it really depends on how much tomato base you started with! Again, use the best olive oil you can find.

Well aged parmesan cheese is a fantastic addition as well. Use the finest grating setting. Larger chunks or shreds will not dissolve but will rather stick to your spoon, congeal together, and form a band of mutineers within your sauce. Keep them small and keep them under control.

At about hour 12 I removed the bay leaves, added the roasty garlic and parmesan and adjusted the seasonings. One pot got hit with the immersion blender for a smooth sauce, the kind to lap over a soft homemade pizza crust and topped with fresh mozzarella, or to doctor with booze and cream "alla vodka" and serve over penne with shrimp. The other had any leftover whole tomatoes broken up but was left chunky, solid and bossy enough to stand up to hot italian sausages and linguini.

Now at this point you home-canners out there will know what to do. I wound up with about two and a half gallons of beautiful sauce. We packed ours in the freezer since inexperienced home canning sounds a little like a death wish to me. Enjoy!

Productive!

2010-08-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Don't get too excited-- I slept in till 10:30 so it's not all work and no play here at modern homestead HQ! I suppose sleeping isn't exactly "play" but for this old lady lazing about in bed till late morning is a fantastic thrill. Am I right or am I right? Who else is sleep-deprived?

So the garden has really gone to hell. I pulled several tomatoes, cukes, and more hot peppers than I could ever use, and will head back out for some basil in a moment. The rest, weeds! Now why can't the bunnies graze on weeds?

Darlin Hubby and I made a fantastic find yesterday at the farmers' market: an enormous box of tomatoes for $7! Considering how labor-intensive homegrown ones are-- prohibitively so, apparently!-- and how cheap the box of vine-ripe, sun-shined rubies was, I decided to just humble myself a bit and buy it. I want to make homemade marinara sauce this year and our stock just wouldn't be sufficient. As I type this the Darlin Hubby is monopolizing the kitchen space. This is why two foodies getting married may be a dangerous idea kids. Think knives.

Ah he's out. More pictures to come.

Swelter & Storm

2010-07-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

a bunny lives behind these grape vines

It has been exceptionably hot. We brushed at least high 90's every day the last week, and usually closer to the 100's. This is the temperature at which you smell asphalt. We've had tornado warnings and watches (I never remember which is which) three days out of seven. This is puzzling, since our area has never been a tornado hot spot. Only a month ago we had several touch down to the south-east causing major damage along an expressway. I mean your-two-arms-round trees crashing through highway dividers.

this is a perfectly vertical tree otherwise

I dashed to the house this afternoon after seeing a lightning strike on the close side of a mountain I could walk to. Oh but the lovely thunderstorms and stinging bullet rain have been divine. Here for your listening enjoyment is a bit of the storm that tore through town tonight:

Overrun and Demotivated

2010-07-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well it doesn't take long, does it? It's been several weeks since the fickle winds of motivation called me to do anything close to "work" in the gardens. The last major effort consisted of dragging around several yard tools, going back inside for water (it was over 90 degrees and humid), going back inside to fix lunch for the wee grumpus, going back inside to poke around on the internet, going back inside to start that laundry, going back inside to... and then a large, emphatic MEH sealed the deal.

Currently things are in such a state I'm almost fearful to wade through the weeds, since last year around this time I was bitten by something unseen which left a horrifying 4-inch welt on my leg for three weeks. Yikes. What fell beasts have we spawned this year? Well lets see.

Tomatoes, oh my lovelies, tomatoes. Brandywine:

Black Cherries, fabulously tasty, sprouting of their own accord:

Oh and the first cucumbers of the season! I don't remember if I told you, but we planted them over the ancient oak stump and they are thrilled to be there! I read somewhere that cucumbers need large amounts of organic matter in the soil, what better spot? I don't think they root deeply so the stump shouldn't bother them. We cut the first slices for dinner tonight and maybe it's my imagination, but they taste ever-so-slightly oaky, nutty, and altogether delightful.

*sigh*, there would be so much more to tell you about if I could just get off my ass. I can't blame it on the cold weather any more so I don't know how to explain it. My lettuces are all gone to seed, my pretty Sugar Pod peas all sunburned and brown on the vines. The zucchini, even the damned zucchini which always gives far too much, has been ravished by bunnies and I just can't be bothered. I am a terrible plant mama. Does anyone have a suggestion to help me get my motivation back?

One last shot, my lovely little lambs ears. I cannot have real lambs so I must content myself with ~~molesting~~ caressing their fuzzy leaves.

Perfect Day for Planting

2010-06-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

At last, a weekend full of nothing! I want to do a swan-dive into the dirt. Oh earthworms, it's been too long.

It's muggy and humid, and the ground is still damp from several days of thunderstorms. It's to cool off later in the day, showers likely (but no wind). I have tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants to set! The garden has been busy without me for the last few weeks and I have lots of things to tell you about... but for now, I must must must get down to business. Hopefully I'll have another post for you this evening.

Wildlife

2010-04-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Apparently the accusations are true-- Darlin Hubby and I are some kind of modern Dolittles. One of our neighbors found a chick on the ground, still mostly in the shell. The only nests he could find were not accessible so we decided to keep him warm and fed, and let him have a fighting chance. Check out who's pooping on me now:

The egg was slightly speckled and blue so it could either be a robin or a starling. I'm guessing starlings, since we know for sure there's a colony nearby. They've been clearing the yard of grubs. Apparently the starlings are very smart, can learn to talk and make very good-- if mischievous-- pets! I'm not sure about robins, have any of you kept a robin?

Most of the online information we found said the greatest dangers (besides being eaten) were cold and dehydration. Hubby repurposed one of my shoeboxes and filled it with warm dry packing material and we kept a very warm lamp over him. We modified a straw to give him the special mix of soaked bread that was recommended, and fed him any time he made the effort to gape at us for food. Then off to bed for the evening with a warm lamp, securely away from the kitties.

Update: Apparently he made it through the night ok with a warming lamp, however he was lethargic and definitely not as perky this morning. He took some food from the caring hands of Darlin Husband and then gave it up. Sorry little guy, we did all we could! At least he was warm and cared for to the end.

What's Up (In the garden)

2010-04-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ohmigoodness, I can't believe it's been nearly three weeks since I last posted! So much has happened. We had several helpers over the past few weekends come by to weed, organize, turn over soil, and generally be the most helpful, awesome people in the world.

To the right, take a look at the lovely forellenschluss lettuce. The word means "speckled like a trout." Isn't she purty? The radishes are up, as well as the shallots, onions, and turnips. The first garden trade of the season occurred with a lady at work, my leftover shallot starts for a pack of her red onion sprouts. Good trade for both of us!

After several weeks of temps in the mid-seventies to high eighties (and thunderstorms to go along with them), we've returned to drizzle and proper cold spring weather. I think we barely brushed high sixties for the last two weeks, and the nights have been chilly enough to warrant two of our thick comforters. Just a week ago there was a solid pack of frost over my car. I know this shouldn't surprise me since the last frost date is sometime between the end of April and mid-May. But still, after being spoiled on sunshine for weeks, I was sad to feel the cold wind again.

In other news, some creature has ransacked the flower boxes near the trellis. I planted morning glories and nasturniums (nasturtiums?), both of which will climb. Would climb. Well they won't climb anywhere if the nibbling varmint digs out the seeds and eats them! Grr. Waiting to see if anything at all sprouts. I am so annoyed I might not re-plant.

Pretty little doves began their waddling, head-bobbing courtship on our patio:

And here's the current state of things, as of yesterday afternoon. We finally got the straw down before the weeds could gain a stronghold. You'll note the snow shovel in the background, however, rest assured, we do have a proper garden shovel again. The large wooden frame in the back is a custom-built cucumber support:

Found Items

Nesting site of the mourning doves, above the grape vines
Rogue parsley

Volunteer potatoes (??!!! I thought I dug them all!!), both kinds (German butterball and French Fingerling- and no, I didn't have the heart to pull them out)
The source of That. Awful. Smell.

As a matter of general blog housekeeping, I do realize the audio file in the previous post is unreliable at best. I'm working on some new hosting at Ipernity with the help of the oh-so-savvy Darlin Husband. When it's fixed I'll let you know and I may even post the bloopers reel-- for a limited time only. :)

Peepers!

2010-03-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

Peepers were the soundtrack to every summer night when I was growing up. After the heat of the day, a dark, cool dampness would fall and we could finally open all the windows to draw in a sweet-locust and honeysuckle scented breeze. The air would carry the chatter of thousands of tiny tree frogs and the swarming thrum of cicadas.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in an area where traffic noise was completely foreign. It wasn't until I moved out on my own I became accustomed to an entirely different species of sounds: night train, box trucks, the gas station next door. Even the refrigerator hummed differently. The first night I spent in my new apartment all alone I was jolted awake a dozen times by sounds so foreign they rattled like marbles in a can in my unconscious. Years ago there was a road I'd turn down after a late night at work-- it took me three miles out of the way, but it was carved out along a shaggy creek and I'd roll down the windows in the car and enjoy ten minutes of summer childhood again, listening to the tree frogs.

I miss the sounds of the peepers, the smell of storm-washed air, and the complete absence of traffic. Maybe you'll enjoy these sounds for their familiarity, or maybe you'll find them wonderful and exotic. Let me know, what sounds do you remember?

Beautiful Days

2010-03-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

Next time I'll have a proper daylight photo for you.

It was a busy weekend here at Modern Homestead HQ. We had guest after delightful guest on our doorstep. One person brought black cherry bourbon for us to try (highly recommended!), another bought a car from us, ate a grilled cheese, then cleaned our entire porch. It was the most entertaining car sale I've ever experienced.

Somehow we managed to hit up the garden store for essentials. You'll be pleased to know, Modern Homestead is NO LONGER the only shovel-free farm on the block! That, along with about 30 seed packs, a rosemary shrub, azaleas, ranunculus, herbs, soil additive, and massive ceramic pots on 75% discount, all followed us home. OH I can't wait for a nice weekend to plant it all. I want an absolute riot of colorful flowers this year.

We have a light drizzle falling right now, but before it started I managed to plant the azaleas, ranunculus, and several gladiolus bulbs. We hacked back the thorn bushes and the damn ivy, tidied the flax, and hauled sunflower stalk waste and several loads of dry leaves to the dry compost area. We now have one garden-box built by darlin husband completely dedicated to our kitchen herbs: thyme (becoming invasive!), basil, chives, parsley, oregano, and cilantro. Oh yes, also nearby is the sage I'm afraid to transplant to the box. It really doesn't belong where it is but I hate to move it and risk killing it.

Sprouts: myriad lettuces, radishes, turnips, sweet peas. Innumerable sunflower sprouts (thanks, finches!). Notable absentee, the cauliflower. I suppose it takes more than hope to have cauliflower in the garden. Stubborn hangers-on through the winter, kale and parsley. I suppose if we were really dependent upon what we could grow to make it through a hard North East winter, we'd do alright between those two, since they're supposed to be so good for you.

Found Items:
marbles
purple-printed pottery shards
red feather
the majority part of a car headlamp (??)
another 3-inch rusty nail-- soon I'll have a picture of these delights
piece of the roof (??)
pennies
duct tape
large juicy disgusting grubs
that bucket I forgot about
stepping stones, lost once Gordon mulched over them
to-go coffee cup, wedged into my trellis, thanks roofers

Spotted this weekend, one mockingbird and lots of finches. What looks to be columbine. The grape vines are still looking sad and dead but I'm not ready to give up on them yet. Our trellis is finally back in shape too. We're sketching out some plans to improve the privacy of our porch area. The to-do list is getting so long and I can't believe it's the end of March already! Volunteer farmhands are welcome to apply!

Success!

2010-03-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

Wee sprouts, all over the place! Everyone said, Oh, that's too early! when I mentioned what I had in the ground already. Not for this patch of earth, it isn't! Everything can handle a bit of frost. The forellenschluss will struggle and look scrappy for a few weeks yet, but once the perfect weather arrives it will take off like crazy and much faster than if I had waited. The plants know when it's time.

This will be a jam-packed weekend so I'll be lucky to get only an hour or two in the garden. Oh, but this coming Friday is payday and I'm planning on a trip to the garden center. I need to pick up a pair of shears, a shovel, and about a thousand more seed packs.

Getting There!

2010-03-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but sneak in a little posting here. The weather has been in the mid-fifties for the last three days and we'll hit the upper 60's today. Over the weekend mid-70's!

I've been watching eagerly for signs of life in the garden. So far nothing, but I bet by Sunday we have tidy little green rows. Here is the one thing that is growing happily, the crocus all around the house. It can't be too long now, can it?

The Soaking Rains Are Here

2010-03-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

On the way home from an errand last night we watched two warring weather systems strike blows at each other in the sky. Soft rolled-dough clouds clipped upside by choppy serrated-edge clouds, and then early this morning the rain started. Perfect for sprouting! I still need to get the spinach in the ground. It would love this weather.

Last year we grew two varieties of potatoes which were wonderful, but as you're not supposed to grow potatoes in the same patch from one year to the next, and space is limited, they're out this year. They monopolized a lot of space and made it difficult to maneuver around where potential potatoes lurked underneath the soil. They also harbored nasty biting things which would prey upon my summer bare legs when I'd decide we absolutely needed fresh herbs. this. moment. Never did figure out what bit me but it left a palm-sized welt on my calf for a month. If I were a fox in the wild I may have been tempted to gnaw it off to spare my life.

There I am, rambling. But that's what you're here for, isn't it?

Conclusion, this year, no potatoes. This year the name in lights is tomatoes. It's definitely all about the tomatoes. Luscious warm sun-drunk tomatoes. Last year we had four varieties, err, that is, we planted four, and a fifth came up unbidden and heavy with thousands of tiny fruit. Copia, weary head heavy, striped and amazingly delicious. Coworkers would lunge for them, proclaiming, "Mine!!" when I'd share extras at the office. Black cherries turning into 8-foot-tall earthbound swamp monsters. Always too many and pulling themselves over. Mama Leone, sadly most of which dropped to the ground and split during a huge wind/pounding rain gale. We did manage one batch of homemade sauce though with the remainder. And a new variety to me, the oddball known as Reverend Morrow's Long Keeper. Alas, we did them no justice and let them sit on the counters, but they did last an amazingly long time. Tossed the last one mid-January. The volunteer was a Burpee Hybrid, Super Sweet 100. We probably haven't heard the last of them yet.

This year. Copia, definitely in. Mama Leone (plus garlic, basil, and oregano to sweep her off her feet) and I'll be damned if any of yo' Italian mamas make a better marinara than I do. Who else is invited to this party? I might plant a Black Cherry again but only one. I'll skip the Long Keepers because we all know I won't do anything productive with them.

Cucumbers, yes, they did so well and made great pickles. Apparently unnatural obsession with garlic runs in my family-- my grandfather received a jar of our homemade pickles and his wife nearly disowned him. He said, "oooh, I love garlic! I'm a hunky," (that's a Hungarian), "the wife might not love me afterwards though," and giggled, holding up the jar for inspection. On our next visit this wife forbade us from offering him any more of our devil pickles. "Robert, you stink!"

White Radish, a special request from a friend who enjoyed them in India and can find no good source for them here in the states. What he wants is the leaves though. His wife sends me dishes of homemade Saag Paneer so I will happily supply them with radish leaves till they come out their ears!

Hot peppers, planted all around the perimeter, some for us to eat, but mostly to keep out the Nibbling Varmints. Hahaa, get a bite of that Kung Pao pepper fleabag! I'd like to do green onions again but they always get attacked by little white worms. I need a jar of Diatomaceous Earth which apparently drives the buggars off and is non-chemical, non-poison.

I'm off to dream sweet greenly dreams. Here is a blurry under
exposed photo for your trouble, making it to the end of this post:

Always So Busy

2010-03-11T15:44:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I

did the official post-winter sprucing up in the garden. We had wire frames, bamboo poles, trash from the roofers (grrrrrr!), and tomato cages of various increments tossed about and there was no room to plant the first of the cold spring crops. A good soaking rain should be here today or tomorrow. Temps have been in the low 50's all week.

This being the third year, as I mentioned, the soil has become familiar. Every year the stones I uncover become smaller and fewer, the found oddments (4 inch rusty nails?!) less frequent. This year it was almost like the earth wanted to be turned over. The weeds, front of the line in March, gave up their hold easily. Even the last bit of snow surrendered after a short bout of concentrated hacking.

Found Items

Patch of "wintered over" carrots- Parisienne

Cigarette butts, not so nice

1 tiny roofing nail

1 4-inch rusty nail (every year there's a few)

Pottery shards

Aquarium stones

Tent pegs used to keep the tomato cages upright- useless, pulled right out

1 sad beet

1 poor eviscerated turnip (my doing, damn short shovel)

bunches of soggy green onion

Glossy red kidney beans wrapped in brown paper skins, ready to sprout

I turned over

about

half the area,

oh yes, did you notice

I was using an ill-advised tool for the job? The Darlin Husband PWNED our real shovel last September in the most recent addition to our green empire we call the Annex. Which is a whole other story.

This year I had to use a short-bus version of the shovel, a stubby little cranker similar to the second from the right. What can I say, when the motivation strikes and the weather is good, you can't let the moment go by for lack of proper tools. The time to plant is The Time To Plant and you mustn't mess with this holy order.

That being said, if any of you is feeling particularly merciful, isn't this like the Cadillac of all shovels? Just sayin. Garden tools and horse poop do things for me that normal people will never experience.

I dug up one 2 feet X 7 feet section near the fence, the sunniest spot and also wherein we mix some sand to keep things well-drained. There I planted greens, radishes, a few hopeful cauliflower (I refuse to spray poisons so the bugs usually get more of them than we do), and along the fence some Oregon Sugar Pod sweet peas. We don't have too many bunnies so I think it will be the best use of the space right next to the fence. Over on the grape vines side of the garden where the soil is good and deep, I planted turnips and an afterthought, forellenschluss lettuce.

I don't eat radishes very much but I find they make good bartering items with other gardeners. Obviously I don't have enough room to grow everything I want to eat. (When they discover a tree which sprouts smoked salmon and oysters, please call me though.) Once I bagged up a bunch of radishes, green onions, and some lettuce which were all about to go to seed and gave it to our neighbor lady-- minutes later she came over with a dinner plate full of homemade tiramisu. I still count that as the best garden trade I ever had, and this is why I still grow radishes. You never know what they'll turn into.

Inaugural Post!

2010-03-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

We are entering our third growing season here at Modern Homestead headquarters. I should tell you a little bit about our plot so you'll have an idea of how very, very small a space we're addressing. Small but much-loved.

The first year we moved into our rental house, there was a south-facing corner with a large ugly juniper shrub and a mat of unkempt ivy and weeds. It was always shady and damp back there and the house's white siding grew streaks of mildew. One day our groundskeeper, we'll call him Gordon, decided to pull the shrub and so we inherited a large, ugly hole in the ground with mats of ivy and weeds. It was too late in the growing season for most tender vegetables so tentatively we asked if we could possibly pull out the ivy and maybe plant something pretty? Some flowers?

Not only did Gordon agree, he asked us to take our new garden's boundaries even further than we intended! "The more you dig up and plant, the less grass I have to mow." Suddenly, from no plot whatsoever, we had a 20 X 20 patch of earth that had been untouched by chemical fertilizer, pesticides, or genetically-modified frankencorn for the last 60 years. That's about as "organic" as one can get nowadays.

During several backbreaking sessions we uncovered bad news. Below the ivy was an ancient oak stump. The previous property owner covered its scattered entrails with every rock he found on the property, ever. Then planted ivy to cover the mess. But underneath it all! Rich black soil. We had to keep going. The excavation of rocks took two weeks and can only be likened to labor on a chain gang.

Three truckloads of rock later, we had soft, springy earth. We enriched it with a steamy pile of horse shit one happy May afternoon. I say happy although it was surely tinged with a large dose of "oh hell, it's clouding over and will rain shortly and we still have 2/3s ton of shit sitting in the parking lot!" This was just the start of our urban homesteading adventure. More tales of triumph and heartbreak are in store.

Fixed!

2010-03-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

Finally got the audio file fixed, thanks everyone who mentioned it. For your momentary amusement, here is the bloopers reel. Don't listen at work or, ah, if cursing offends you.