in the whirlwind

The wood is down at the house, split and piled, waiting to stack. At least it's now under cover.

The Rice Paddy has it's stock panel cover to keep it warm into the early fall for a little more growing and maturing. We probably won't eat any rice out of it this year, but we will harvest enough seed to start our One Hundred plants for next year. One hundred plants will fill the rice Paddy and that should give us some eating rice for next falls Harvest Festival dinner.

The mill across the way was doing whatever it is they do to produce the premier bedding shavings. Most of the time we get the rough chips from the de-barker, three inch and longer wood fragments. They are usable, but the shavings I got this weekend are a much more palatable option.

Our hay came in this weekend, also. We have a fair amount left from last year still. Good thing, as we can't get any alfalfa this year. And we weren't sure to get any grass hay either. It's been so wet, there's been no cutting going on until the last two weeks. The square bales are in the barn and we are trying out some dry unwrapped round bale this fall. The round bales are new to us and it took a couple of tries. The first two I got were plastic wrapped and too wet for goats. The hay ferments in the wrapped bale and there is too much risk of lysteriosis. The other thing about round bales is we don't have a barn to store them in. They are too big for me to get into the loft like we do the square bales. So we will station them in the back field and put an Arch over them to feed them through the fall. When real winter comes, we'll be bringing the goats closer to the house.

Today was chicken butchering day. We have been saying we wanted to get to it for at least two weeks now. Sometimes the que is that long.

It's been a busy end of summer, making up for lost time while trying get the usual stuff done.

Of Fish

These are the fish I got from the pet store that the pet store was going to feed to other fish... They are feeder fish, a variety of goldfish called comets. I am not much of a fish guy, but I wanted something swimming in my little pond in the backyard to keep the mosquitoes in check. I probably got a dozen comets for about ten cents each. And I didn't even have to feed them. That was the point, they were supposed to eat their keep worth of mosquitoes. A very low cost amusement for the summer. I got a bunch last summer and they multiplied over the summer and grew. Unfortunately, they did not over winter, my little pond is too shallow to protect them from the cold. Or maybe there wasn't enough oxygen. Or something else. But the fish aren't really the point of this post.

This winter, I decided to overwinter the fish in an aquarium in the house. Our comets are now four times the size when we got them in the spring. Starting with these fish in the spring will make the pond that much more interesting. But, like I said, I am not a fish guy. I needed an aquarium and etcetras necessary to keep the fish over the winter, about four months. I figured a 10 to 20 gallon aquarium and a bubbler at the bare minimum. But going out and spending a $100 to keep a dollars worth of fish seems out of proportion. I mean, I could have left the fish in the pond an hoped for the best. And when the inevitable happened, spend a dollar next year and restocked the pond. Callus, yes, but also frugal.

Instead, I spied around and sure enough, freecycle brought me a used aquarium and a bunch of peripherals. A pump and filter, bubble rock, gravel and lots of other stuff. I did end up spending $12 on fish food though. I guess maintenance ratio of 10 : 1 is better than 100 : 1.

Freecycle is the point of the story. Freecycle is a concept that there are lots of things we all decide we don't need that really aren't ready for the landfill yet. Rather than landfill them, why not give them to someone who wants them. Freecycle is a little less complicated than EBay, you just send a message to Freecycle about what you have to give away and other participants can message you back that they want it and setup a way to make the exchange. The rules are that everything must be exchanged free of charge. This is a way to get rid of useful items cluttering up your garage, not line your pockets.

When I first signed up for Freecycle, I figured I would just get the daily digest (my local free cycle is hosted on Yahoogroups). But I quickly found that if you don't pounce on freecycle items, you are not likely to get much. Checking yesterdays posts is a good way to find some great item that has already been given away. To date, I have gotten food grade barrels, DVDs and aquarium setup. And I have given away that rabbit hutch that sat in my barn for almost ten years. It was a nice hutch, I was sure I find a use for it....


The beauty of Freecycle is it is pre-recycling items. In the recycling programs around the nation, material gets collected and sorted, cleaned, crushed, shredded and reconstituted and then is a suitable raw material to make new things. With Freecycle, items continue to be useful with no processing. No new energy. For some of you, read this as shallower carbon footprint. It's not just about saving money.

So, Google Freecycle and find out what someone has been keeping in their garage for you!