Words of the Wise Acres

A remote Icelandic homestead...

noreply@blogger.com (Erich) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:48:00 +0000

I wonder if they ever had sheep? You can see the bigger picture here.

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Michael Pollan's New Book

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:22:00 +0000

Michael Pollan is one of my favourite food activists...his new book Food Rules: An Eater's Manual has just been published. I came across this interview this morning, check it out. How can we fix our eating habits?Author Michael Pollan on eating ‘real food’ in moderation View related photos var hasRelatedPhotos = 'false';if (hasRelatedPhotos=='true'){var vRPL = document.getElementById("viewRelatedPhotosLink");if (vRPL!=undefined) vRPL.style.display = "";var vLRPG =...

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Another Great Blog to Share

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:31:00 +0000

I love finding new blogs, chronicling people doing such interesting things! Thought I would share this one with you all... Throwback at Trapper Creek Just look at the tags of her posts... agriculture Australian Shepherds beef cattle Belly Acres (rant) canning cattle chickens Collaborative writing compost composted animal manure early days early farm life easily amused family cow farm dogs farm life food preservation frugal farming frugality frugal living grazing greenhouse haying...

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Lambs, pigs, turkeys, chickens and calves...oh my!?

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:32:00 +0000

The spring-like weather and our first 4-H meeting, has got us going on our plans for Spring 2010. My little ram Hvitkarr, has been doing his best to get the girls bred but since it is January and he is still working on at least one of my ewes, I'm not sure if he has been successful. We shall see. Speaking of lambs...today we were over at my friend Sara's visiting Millie (our Dexter cow who she is boarding for us) and we got to see a little orphan lamb she just got. How cute...

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Welcome Mildred...Millie for short

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:35:00 +0000

This is Millie, our Dexter cow and her little bull calf (unnamed as he is destined for the freezer). We have been thinking about getting a cow for a while now and have been researching what would be the best breed for our little homestead. I came across this article in Mother Earth News and it peeked my interest in the Dexter breed. Here are a couple of points from the article... Pound for pound, no bovine can match the diversity of Dexter cattle, one of the smallest cattle breeds. Standing...

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We had to do it...

noreply@blogger.com (Erich) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:51:00 +0000

We'd romanticized the peacefulness of washing dishes by hand, but after over a year of it, and with me recently traveling a lot more than before, we decided to install the dishwasher. Here's the kitchen area we found we had to use - it's closest to the sink. We decided to sacrifice some cupboards and move the stove over a few inches. We will deal with the uppers later. The countertop was extended by cutting that right peice into two and gluing one to the left side. The counter is...

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Brrrrr..winter has arrived!

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:14:00 +0000

Winter has definitely arrived, with temperatures dipping way below zero (-15C this morning) just lately. But it is hard to complain when you wake up to skies like these... Winter is the most beautiful season around here. It is a shame that most of our visitors choose to come in the warmer months. So..I thought I would take some photos while doing my chores this morning...after I get wrapped up I head out to the beautiful new hayshed, which you will notice is keeping everything (wood, hay,...

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Budgetwise SheepkeepingTips

noreply@blogger.com (Erich) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:55:00 +0000

I was trying to find instructions on how to make a sheep feeder out of an old tire, and I found this great page: http://www.sheepmagazine.com/issues/29/29-4/14_flock_secrets.html

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Joel Salatin and Raw Milk

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:38:00 +0000

I have gushed about Joel Salatin before. He is certainly someone I greatly admire...keep reading and maybe you will see why... I drink raw milk (sold illegally on the underground market) From Joel Salatin’s foreword to The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights by David Gumpert. I drink raw milk, sold illegally on the underground black market. I grew up on raw milk from our own Guernsey cows that our family hand-milked twice a day. We made yogurt, ice cream,...

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Enjoy a Free-Range Halloween

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:59:00 +0000

I love this woman! I have enjoyed many of her posts at her blog Free Range Kids. Check out this latest post from The Huffington Post. As Goes Halloween As Goes Childhood Forget all the guys in Bernie Madoff masks and tutus. If you want to see something really scary on Halloween, come to my apartment around 9 p.m.I'm letting my kids eat unwrapped candy. They can eat any homemade goodies they get, too, and that unholy of unholies: candy where the wrapper is slightly torn. And on the very off...

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The Difference a Day Makes

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:03:00 +0000

This is what it looked like out my window yesterday... and this is what it looks like now... It has been snowing continuously all day and doesn't show signs of stopping any time soon. This is the second snow of the season...the first was last Sunday but it had came and went in one day. Sure wish I had got my snow tires on!

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There is a reason it is called "Froot" Loops

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Don't Let Kellogg's Buy Scientists: Froot Loops Aren't a Healthy Breakfast The nation's largest food manufacturers, including Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods, ConAgra and PepsiCo, want you to believe that Froot Loops and other unhealthy foods are "Smart Choices." And they have somehow convinced representatives from the Baylor College of Medicine to back them up. The new "Smart Choices" program--an industry-backed marketing ploy--puts a green check mark on products that are...

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Garlic...it's a beautiful thing

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:51:00 +0000

The other day a friend stopped by and gave me this little bundle of homegrown goodness... just look at the size of these cloves... Wow...the taste is just extraordinary. So much better than the imported stuff we've been getting lately from the grocery store. My hands actually still smelled like garlic hours later, even after having them in a sink full of soapy dish water!

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Herd share

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:36:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of Sally Anne Thompson/Animal Photography Exciting news today...we found out about someone starting a herd share program with weekly deliveries to Williams Lake!! We have been thinking about getting some sort of milk animal (goat or cow?) for some time but everyone we know who has had a cow, is really discouraging us. Mainly, because it is a lot of work and you must, must, must milk a cow at least once a day, if you keep the calf with her during the day, and it must, must,...

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101 Uses for the Power Auger

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Last week-end we rented a power auger...that big yellow machine in the picture. We need to build a hay/woodshed with as many found/scrap materials as possible as we have no budget for this project! So the upright posts are beetle-kill timber that the hydro people have been cutting down to clear the hydro right of ways, and average about 18 feet long. Grandmaman did the 'skinning' of the bottoms of the posts. Erich dug the holes in no time, using the handy power auger, and it took all three...

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Quesnel Lake

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:05:00 +0000

This week-end we packed up the tent trailer and headed over to Quesnel Lake, to camp out with some friends at their cabin. It is about a 45 minute drive, down some very windy gravel roads but man is it ever worth the drive! Such a beautiful spot and almost completely untouched. Quesnel Lake is the deepest fjord formed lake on earth and the largest lake in the Cariboo. According to the Horsefly Realty site: At junction of the North and East Arms Quesnel Lake is approximately 4...

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Building a treehouse

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:11:00 +0000

We've been talking about building a treehouse with the kids since we moved here. A few week-ends ago we decided to get going on it. We found a spot where we had two nice big spruce trees and an aspen in front...to make a triangle. It has a pretty nice view too! G.'s friend from next door came over to help out. They hauled lots of lumber, cut off branches and hammered in lots of nails. Knut was happy to be able to climb up there on the pile of logs. This gives you an idea of where it is,...

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Meet Hvitkarr

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Here he is...Hvitkarr...our little ram lamb ding-dong :) He is fitting in quite nicely. The girls gave him a bit of a run for his money, butting him about a bit but he seems to be standing his ground and even eating with them...sort of. This week-end Grandmaman, who is visiting from Montreal, filled in for Erich and I and we drove to Creston in the Kootenays...an 11-hour drive each way. It was lovely to meet Colleen over at Flannelberry Farm, as we have been conversing online for...

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Harvest

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:01:00 +0000

This is my second season of gardening and I have to say I am hooked. Last year, I started a little late in the season so had to use seedlings from the nursery. This year I had a lot of fun, thumbing through the seed catalogues. I ordered from West Coast Seeds and Salt Spring Seeds. I talked about what I ordered in this post. So I've been harvesting salad, arugula and spinach for some time but things are really exploding just lately. This was my harvest today... How awesome is that??? My...

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Two Festivals and a Wedding

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:32:00 +0000

What a glorious summer it has been! We kicked off our summer holidays around here with Arts on the Fly at the beginning of July. What a blast and in our very own town! The Horsefly school grounds were transformed, with a beautiful outdoor stage, an artisan market, the Inspiration Station for children and over at the Community Hall, a wonderful fibre arts show. I think the highlight of my family's weekend, was a last-minute request to host some artists for the week-end. Linda McRae and her...

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10th Annual Town-Wide Garage Sale

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Today was Garage Sale day in Horsefly. Here's how it works...if you would like to be part of the town-wide garage sale, you must register your home with the organizer. Then she makes up a map and lists all the participating houses on the map. Maps are available for purchase at local shops for $2 with proceeds going to the Christmas Hamper Program. Then rain or shine...everyone drives around, hunting for bargains. Here are the treasures we found... Yes, that is a Vita-Mix which I got for a...

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While the sun shines...

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:22:00 +0000

It's time to make hay in the Cariboo! As you drive through the countryside, rolled bales of beautiful, fresh cut hay fill the fields. Hay sheds that have slowly been emptied over the winter are once again being filled up. It's a tricky business, making hay. Weather conditions must be just right...some unexpected rain can spoil the whole lot. So the other day when Uncle David called to say he had some square bales ready for us and we could come and pick them up, we didn't waste time and...

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Silly sheep

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Last night when Erich was feeding the sheep, one of the hay bales came apart on it's way out of the barn, spilling all over the alleyway, so he left the sheep gate open so they could graze. We usually leave the door to the chicken coop open as well, so they can come and go. Well...this is where I found Brownie this morning... What a completely silly sheep...this is what she was doing in there... Doesn't she know that sheep aren't supposed to eat grain?

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Catching up

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:37:00 +0000

It's been a busy few weeks around here. Today I am supposed to be catching up on housework (inside) and laundry, so of course here I am blogging :) In the midst of preparing for Arts on the Fly (which I will post about as soon as I get some pictures) and chicken processing, a few other things have happened which I thought I would catch you all up on. Last week we got 5 ready-to-lay hens from our local feed store. They are a little shell shocked after being introduced to my old girls, who...

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From pasture to plate

jlmeyrick@gmail.com (Joanne) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:38:00 +0000

**Warning vegan-inappropriate content follows... This week-end we butchered our 142 meat birds. They were 9 1/2 weeks old. It is just bizarre that they can go from this... in such a short time to this... **Photo courtesy of Herman Saksono We didn't take any pictures, which many of you will likely be grateful for :) But if you want to see some more detail, you can check out this blog. It was an amazing experience for a number of reasons. First, we really, really know where our food is...

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