What affect will a White House vegetable Garden have on our country?

I knew for some time that the President and and the first lady were consulting with grassroot groups from around the US about establishing an edible lawn for their kitchen and today it's official. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html

I personally think it's a great idea to plant vegetables on the White House lawn. The impact that is going to send across the country is going to be amazing. This single act may have just very well propelled our generation into a different direction, where citizens strive to maintain healthy lives and march on the path towards self-sustainability. According to the report they will grow 55 different vegetables and fruits except beets because the President hates beets. He should read my blog on trying it twice.

The Back Yard farmer (A great Read!)

Here is a book on the net that has tons of information and was written back in 1914. These guys had it right. http://books.google.com/books?id=tLIaAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=subject:%22poultry%22&lr=lang_en&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPP1,M1

What is the term for Men who Garden?

I know this will raise allot of eyebrows, but if we take a closer look there may be some benefit into defining the term for men who garden. I ask this question because there are allot of men who love the idea of "gardening" but they don't fully engulf themselves into it because there is that astigmatism that "gardening" is for women.

We all know it is not, because most of all our produce comes from farms who are owned and operated by men. But maybe that's it, if you have allot of land and you grow things you are considered a farmer, but if you have small plot with little space you are considered a gardener. I can almost bet that if you ask most people if they associate a man or women with farming, they will probably, overwhelmingly pick the guy with the straw hat and overalls instead of the girl with the sundress and straw basket. But nonetheless, gardening and farming are still one in the same, especially if you are growing vegetables. It doesn't matter if you are doing it commerically or personally, they both require the same basic fundamentals.

The term that comes to my mind and that is unisex is "homesteader." To me it seems that under this "homesteader" umbrella you pretty much do it all and gardening, farming, recycling, preserving and being self-sufficient becomes more of a lifestyle instead of a job or a hobby. So if I had a "Man term" for Gardening it would be called Homesteading, because you just don't stop at gardening. I personally don't mind being called a gardener, but I must admit I do get some weird looks from the guys when I talk about gardening instead of Homesteading.

With some thought and a little more attention to this, maybe some women who want there partners to join them out in the field can label their activities under a different title. I will almost guarantee that the increase of homophobic men who hate anything associated with girls will, without a doubt, get their hands dirty in the garden; If they are considered homesteaders or something else other than gardeners.

My Dwarf Peach and Cherry Trees have arrived

I have always wanted to plant fruit trees and have a mini orchard. My only issue was the fact that, 1 many fruit trees grow way to big and 2 allot of the varieties don't self pollinate and being new at this I don't want to make the mistake of buying two trees that are not compatible. So with a little of research I found some companies that offer dwarf fruit trees and more importantly these companies have a large variety that self pollinate. Maybe self-pollination is not the way to go, I don't know but for now it's going to be easy to for me to grow self-pollinators than trying to position two trees that need each other. Last year the bees were nowhere to be found so I have become quite apprehensive about getting anything that needs bees. But to the contrary, this year is abounding with all types of honey bees in this early spring. Besides my having a severe phobia of bees, I am looking forward to seeing more honey bees in my garden this year.

Best Beer Food Ever!!!!

Our Edamame have sprouted and they have pushed through the soil with such fiercness. They do not grow on a vine and grow low to the ground in a bush. But ironically something seems to be wrong; it seems as though that there have been way to many edamame that have been planted. My wife is the stingiest seed sower ever. Im the one that grows and overcrowds everything. But she is sure that she didn't plant that many. It seems that the edamame have multiplied in our raised bed. I have to do more research on how they grow. But as for now they booming. If the economy can grow as well as these edamame are we all will be great.

Potatoes in a bucket

My seed potatoes have grown so well in the bucket. They have reached to the top of the bucket and now theoretically they should shoot vines out within the bucket to make potatoes. I hope it works, but so far so good. Looking back what I should have done is add soil to the the vines as they grew each step of the way. for some reason Only one vine grew this tall and the others are slowly coming up. I had to bury the other ones so that I can save this one. Hopefully her buddies can catch up and shoot out the top of the bucket. If I can produce potatoes this year I'm going to be ecstatic.

I've Got the Homestead Bug

I was talking to my wife today and we realized without knowing it how much more meaningful our relationship has become since we have started gardening together. She mentioned to me that it's a healthy and cheap way to have fun. Well I don't know so much about cheap but it's definately healthy and it's definately addictive. It's to the point where we text each other about the garden. "Did you water?" "How did the plants look?" "OMG the basil is growing!!" I find myself looking at my yard and trying to figure out how I can plant more vegetables and fruit trees in the small spaceand have them be productive. My wife even mentioned that if we lossed our crop to bugs or something else we would have to get counseling. I must say it's very exciting and the learning process is steady. I also need to calm down on looking in the chicken coop to see if there is another egg. The facts that these chickens are producing eggs every 24hrs is in itself simply amazing. My wife is already attached to them and has said the dinner plate will never be an option. So I guess Ezelle and Ester are here to stay even if they wont be able to produce any eggs in there old age;)

Grape Vine

I planted my first ever grape vine. The plan is to have the vine twine around the makeshift arbor that introduces the garden. This is how I want it to work. But I have a feeling Mr. Grape has a mind of it's own. The new shoots are growing everyday. Lately has been raining everyday and I guess that's good for the grapes but it sucks in the yard. I am waiting for more grapes to arrive so that I can plant them around the twig fence. I am looking forward to making my own wine and jam this year and hopefully I don't go blind;)

Welcome Home Ezelle and Ester

Today I Picked up the two sistas, Ezelle and Ester. They are going to make a great addition to our family. We ironically found these two gals from a couple who also share the ideas as we do with regards to sustainable living in a small environment.

On the way home one of these guys laid a brown egg in my transport box. My wife thought it was so cool. When I got home I got the pen together installed some nest boxes and a place to roost, threw some feed out, added fresh water and watched Ezelle and Ester scratch and forage. They were eating bugs and weeds and clucking at each other. I hope I don't offend anybody by there names but they remind of two black sisters raising a fuss. They are going to be great and I can't wait to make my first omelet.

(Warrior Garden) For Soldiers with PTSD

For sometime I have been thinking about ways Soldiers and other Serviceman and woman can live with and function with PTSD. I personally think instead of planting victory gardens, these soldiers should start a Warrior Garden.

My reasons for this is based on Samurai warriors and how they tended their gardens. Samurais were warriors who lived and bled the art of war. They had to be ruthless, but at the same time they found a sense of peace and balance within their lives by fully saturating themselves into the beauty of flowers and creating a space outside the warrior realm that encapsulated the essence of harmony and peace. Each samurais garden was a reflection of his inner being that represented something beautiful and that enabled him to engage in war with a clear mind and more importantly with a clear conscious.

This leads me to think about the warriors of today. They are asked to do things that many cannot and will not even dream of doing. They are asked to destroy things with there hands and minds for the betterment of our humanity and many of them have suffered with unforgivable regret for the things they have done. How much better would it be for these warriors to grow and tend to delicate plants that produce a bountiful harvest with the same hands that they have used to destroy their enemies.

If I can I would like to devote some more time and attention to helping warriors start their own Warrior Gardens. I wonder if any thought has been given to this to see if this may be a useful tool to helping returning Servicemen and women Combat the battle fatigue and those who are suffering from Post Traumatic stress Disorder.

We found the Monster!!!

Last Night I went out with a flash light and I was shocked to find several of these nasty little bugs chewing my plants. They are some sort of beetle, Im thinking something similar to a japanese flea beetle and they were literally having an orgy, I mean literally they were eating and mating at the same time. I was so upset. But than again I can't blame them, we have a really nice setup that is producing some really nice vegetables. So to these guys it's all you can eat at my house every night. I honestly think that the damage is so bad that we may not even produce any green leaved veggies except the spinach and Swiss chard. These A-holes don't like spinach but everything else was fair game. So now it's war and I we will win. Well hopefully.

We have to try Corn this year

All the research points to the fact that corn is not a cash crop and we understand that. Many say that corn is a waste of time because the yield and amount of space required outweighs the benefits. Yeah we get that too, but nonetheless, it's corn and it has been the main stay of families and cultures for centuries. As part of our plan to maximize what we grow on our small plot of land we want to utilize our land in the most efficient way possible. Will we get somethings wrong, yeah probably. But with anything we have to venture into the unknown so that we can understand both its rewards and punishments

Carrots have started

The carrot tops have sprouted up and it will be interesting to see if they grow proper. I have seen some funky looking carrots. It almost looks like they have been hit with a high dose of radiation. My wife did some research and found out that as the carrot grows you have to continue to pack soil around them as they get taller because that's how the carrot grows its cylinder shape. Soooooo it's our quest to grow cosmetically pleasing carrots. We will get wrong. But it's worth a try.

Plant radish to feel good about yourself

20 days from seed to the plate is all it takes for radish to produce. I guess when everything else is going wrong you can always count on your radishes to make you happy. Call it a false sense of security but not being able to grow radish is likened to burning water. So even if your not a green thumb radish will make you feel like your the jolly green giant.

Growing potatoes in a bucket

I decided to grow potatoes in a large bucket this year. For awhile the seed potatoes were just sitting there and I started to lose faith in there ability to grow. Until one day a few days ago I saw that there was a vine coming straight up. From what I read about growing potatoes in a bucket is that you have to let the vine grow a little and add dirt so that the leaves just show and let it grow some more and add more dirt and then keep on doing that until the leaves are growing outside the bucket. Apparently when the leaves start to die is when the harvesting of potatoes can begin. We look forward to garlic mash this summer.

My Compost system

Our Compost bin started a little over a year ago. We started by collecting all of the leaves in our back yard and storing them in this makeshift compost bin that I recycled from an old metal shed. The compost on the right is a years worth of dead leaves, cut grass, old and rotten veggies and fruit, coffee grounds and paper products. It is really rich and is loaded with worms. I am using this pile and I am not adding any more to it. It will serve all of my needs for gardening this year and so far so good.
I seperated the pile so that I can take this past fall leaves and start the working pile for our compost needs during the 2010 gardening season. This system seems like its going to work for our needs. We just start one pile on the other side while we use our processed pile. Its a win win situation for every body. The worms love it, the veggies really love it and the real honest reason I started this whole system is because im to lazy to put leaves in a bag and bring them to the front. This way is just way to easy and instead of pulling leaves to the front I have found myself picking up my neighbors leaves and bringing them to the back.

Something is eating my Veggies

My wife and I are trying to grow a garden that is all organic. We have done a real good job with managing our plants. But today I noticed that some little monster has been chewing on my leaves and it's everywhere. It's driving me crazy. This is going to be a problem. My veggies are really taking in alot of nutrients from the compost turned into the rich soil. Everything has been going well and now we have this monster dining on our freshly new sprouts.

I don't want to use chemicals on my garden, I would rather stay away from that stuff. We are doing some reserarch on how to curtail this monster away from our garden without introducing any harmful materials to our little enviroment. But I guess I shouldn't be to upset because if the bugs like them, that means our veggies are good.

I have read that soap water can be used to deter the monster away but im not sure if this is just hokus pokus gypsy magic or if this stuff really works. We will see, but whatever come what may, im prepared to win this battle.

Taka counting down the days

Taka is counting down the days. Everyday she is waiting in anticapation to fly free, well maybe she is not. Maybe she doesn't have a clue about what freedom really means. But one thing is for sure she is really maturing, even though she has that goofey stare she is really filling out and getting much heavier. Pretty soon she will be looking down on the earth from a birds eye view. Hopefully, by some struck of luck I will hope to see her one day again. It will be a moment that I only will be able to understand. Hang in there taka, you will soon be flying high over the horizon.

Always try it Twice

The first time I tried brussel sprouts was more than ten years ago and I vowed that I would never eat them again. They were bitter and mushy and yuck! They represented everything a kid hated in vegetables and it didn't help that they were green. Fast forward to today and I am shocked at myself by how tolerant and forgiving I have been to things that have offended me. I think it started with the snails. I had es cargo somewhere and they were yuck! and a few years later I was sitting at the bar in a nice place to eat and the bartender told me that for an appetizer I should try the es cargo and I said "Nah, I had a bad experience, I tried them once and I will never do it again." He told me that if I didn't like the snails that he would put them on his bill and I wouldn't have to pay for them. I couldn't pass that up. The only thing I would lose would be the refreshing taste of the wiezen, but to no delay I ordered them and I was SHOCKED, they were excellent and from that day forward I vowed to always try something twice and sometimes I have pushed the envelope to three and four times.

And so here I am with the infamous brussel sprout and they taste delicious. That's because I found the secret; which is the GRILL! Just rub these bad boys with a mixture of butter and freshly crushed garlic and set them on the flame and something magical happens to brussel sprouts.

Planted Edamame

Edamame is the perfect beer snack. I first had them at a sushi resteraunt and ever since then I was hooked. We usually by them at the Asian food store in the frozen section. But I can't wait to see how they are going to taste fresh. To prepare them you have to parboil them and throw sea salt over the hulls after they are drained and comence to popping them in your mouth, sucking the thick skin of salt and pushing the soybeans into your mouth; delicious!! Especially with a Cold Beer.

My wifes first ever Herb Garden

This urban homesteading thing has gone viral for my wife she has really took to gardening like a fish to water and has personally taken an interest in growing seeds properly and doing everything else that comes along with it, Like ie... Labeling and being organized. Her Herbs are doing very well, but there is one in particular that she is waiting on and that is her shisho plants. I pray to the vegetable gods that her shisho grow this year. Because this will propel her further into growing more food. I give her alot of credit she has learned alot in a very short period of time.

Standin Tall Lookin Good

Winter snap peas are lookin good. They are standing tall and lookin good. These guys are going to be running up some bamboo this year. I didn't have much success last year. My snap peas grew very well but the weather was all over the place and the peas died and came back and the ones that survived the severe cold snap grew really strong vines but never produced any pods. I hope to have success this year. But so far so good.

Mesculine salad lookin good

My Mesculine salad mix is doing rather well. My wife keeps on telling I have to trim, trim, trim. I hate triming, but I will give it a go. The seeds have germinated very strong. I used the lasagna techinique to build our beds and I have noticed that they drain very well. The young shoots are looking very healthy. I look forward to eating my first ever true garden salad;)

The Light bulb turned on again

Some people may look at this and say, "Oh thats a plastic cover case for a doggy bed." Others may say, "That's Junk." Me on the other sees things a little bit differently. I see a potential green house. I told my wife that and she said WTF!! But quickly realized what I was talking about. We just had to come to some sort of term that I keep all my McGavier materials tucked away in the cottage. To easyyyyy.

Rustic Twig fence Complete

The project didn't take long. One day for the Log post to set into concrete and a half of day to intertwine the twigs and branches into the fence. It gives a nice rustic feel to the back yard. The only thing that is missing is a few chickens and a nigerian dwarf goat. I have some grape vines coming in and I will run them on the north and west side of the property. I will also dibble and dabble with some fruit trees and have them run across the fence line. It should be interesting to everything come together. Im just waiting for my first lizard to run back and forth across the fence line. Thats going to make my day.

Recycled trees for a fence

I had several trees cut down yesterday on my property. They were trees that were actually invasive weeds that over grew. I had a squirrely idea to use the cut timber and make a fence. This is going to be tricky because I am trying to achieve the rustic authentic homestead look without looking like a complete redneck.

The cool thing about all of this is that I am recycling. Photos will be posted shortly

I've made a decision

Over the past few days I have noticed all the resident Redtail hawks engaging in thier annual courtship flights. It's pretty amazing seeing these guys together, soaring high and the males with outstretched talons. I made my mind up today because as I was doing some garden work I saw a young male Redtail swoop in to the tree above my property. He didn't have a clue that a potential mate was in the mews below him. He just sat there and sun bathe, while preening himself. Honestly, I felt a sense of sadness because my hunting buddy couldn't join him. At this point it's more about Taka than it is about me. I have been reducing my presence around a little bit more everyday. I am getting her fat so that she has a good start to be able to kill her own food and find a mate. Im trying to stay tough and look at it as though it's just apart of nature taking it's course, but the sentimental spark in me has started a small fire and with each day that passes I am beggining to miss my time with Taka. She is one goofey Hawk, But one hell of a Killer. I will surely miss her and this Sun will be the day I release her back into the wild.

Our Friendship is nearing its end

As spring creeps upon us, I can't help but to think about the relationship Taka and I have shared over the past several months. From Oct 14th of 2008 until now, Taka and I have shared a common purpose in life and that is to pursue game. She had no idea that when she was born and kicked out of her nest that she would eventually have a human counterpart as her hunting partner. I did not know that it would be her that I would trap on that Oct mid morning.

I remember it so vividly. I was so upset because I traveled so far, everyday looking for a hawk. When I saw one perched about on a power line or tree I would throw my trap and sometimes I would trap a hawk and other times I wouldn't. All the hawks I trapped last year were adult. trapping has one major downfall and that is you don't know what you have until it's trapped most of the time and the regulations state that you can only take an immature redtail and that means one with a barred tail.

But back to that morning, I remember it was cold and I decided to go to the gym and work out. For some reason i got really bored and decided to head home. But instead of heading home I decided to look one more time in a spot that I thought I saw an immature bird flying from canopy to canopy trying to evade the resident nesting pair of redtails that controlled the area. upon driving to this area I was disappointed because from a distance I could see the nesting pair of redtails soaring over there hunting grounds. I remember letting out a big sigh and then a sudden gasp, Because I saw what appeared to be the dark outline of a large bird perched on a power line. "Could it be?" I thought. As I drove toward the power line I saw that it indeed was a redtail and immediately I threw my trap out the window as passed by the Redtail; in an instant I could see the powerful bird swoop down in my rear view mirror toward the trap. I stopped my car and jumped out with my blanket and saw that the Redtail was trapped. As I got close I saw that the tail was barred "YES, an IMMATURE!" I said to myself and there it was, thats when Taka and I met. I could only imagine what was going on through her mind. But nonetheless, I taped her up and socked her and drove her home.

In the beginning I thought her training was going slow. But she surprised me, because from the time I trapped her which was on Oct 14th, I was free flying her approx 10 days later. She took to training like it was something she was born to do. From before I ever knew the term Falconry and what it meant I always had a fascination with using wild animals as tools rather than using them as pets. The relationship between a man and his hawk, is much different than that of his dog. This relationship is strictly business, because my hawk only lives for one thing and thats to kill and when she does it well, she lives for the spectacular chase and challenge of killing multiple heads of game while afield.

So as the days get near I can't help but to think about the unique bond of primitive comparisons that I have shared with my feathered friend. As with everything in life there are different roads that we must all take to get to our final destination. Taka will soon be soaring over mountainous canopies in search of her first mate. I hope she doesn't try to eat him. But whatever may come she will contribute something stronger back to the gene pool that will only be unique to her blood line and although I am saddened by the thought of releasing her back into the wild, I feel a great sense of responsibility and joy by giving nature back one of her children in a more healthy and mentally acute state than when I received her.

Making Good Use of our Sunroom

Our Sunroom has been more of a Mud room than a sunroom. But recently, my wife has had a spark in planting veggies and decided that our sunroom would make the perfect green room, which I think is awesome, because now that means we can grow veggies all year round and at the minimum start them right. She wants to put a shelving system in there that I will build that can work with the natural sunlight that we recieve from the south view.

So far my wife has started potatoes, herbs, such as the thyme and oregano that has started in the seed trays and my surprise garden aka (to-lazy-to-label-anything-tray-so-I-don't-know-what-is-what-garden) Surprise! I can say that this incident single handedly pushed my wife over the cliff and jumpstarted her interest into having a more structred and organized garden. Leave it up to me I will have a garden with some of this and some of that. Leave it up to my wife and we will at least know what we are eating. What can I say Im pretty busy these days but nonetheless, its great to have a partner that shares your goals and wants to see the success of this years harvest as much as I want to.

Tankless Water Heaters (Great Investment!!)

Until I met my wife I had no clue about what a tankless water heater is and what it can do. Apparently, in Japan and the rest of the world tankless water heaters are the norm. During the remodeling of our home my wife insisted that we will replace our tank with a tankless, so I did tons of research and came up with a few companies that had a great track record, however there was one company that seemed to work for what we wanted and that was Steibel. Its a German company and they make a top notch product.

How does it work? The tankless unlike the tank only uses electricity when you turn the hot water on, so you are billed for what you use. Unlike the regular tank which is on 24hrs a day. Also the other added benefit is the fact that you never, let me repeat this, YOU NEVER run out of HOT water. Yes Unlimited HOT water!!!! Occasionally when I am home from a long week or month of training I like to take a Princess Shower and there is nothing better than standing in a shower that has constant hot water that will never end. If I wanted to I can stay in the shower for a week and my hot water will never run out, but looking like a prune has no benefits either.

The savings!!!! Are incredible. And this is as real as it gets. Prior to purchasing our Tankless last July we were paying Approx $220 a month for the months of may and june. During the spring months we were paying approx $130 to $160. When our first bill came in the Hottest month of Aug our bill was $145. We couldn't believe it. But when Sept bill came in the middle of Oct we were shocked because it read $45. I thought there must have been a mistake, but during Oct, Nov, and Dec we saw bills that ranged from $50 to $87. I can explain the low utility cost by saying that my wife and I really try to conserve energy. We changed all of our light bulbs to energy efficient ones. It really helps that our old home was remodeled and had new insulation installed throughout the whole house. We bought all brand new energy effiecient appliances and decided that having a front load washer and dryer would be our best bet. Along with that we keep to a strict set of rules by not allowing our thermostat to go below 78 in the summer and above 68 in the winter. My wife should be renamed the sweat-suit-nazi because thats the norm around here. Our normal temp hovers around 63 degrees during the winter and I swear she has a secret camera watching the thermostat pad to see if I change the temp. But nonetheless, we have saw some serious savings. The highest bill we have had this winter has been $130 and thats because I demanded we have HEAT when its like friggin 19 degrees outside. But all in all it has been a great investment and I recommend that everyone get one.

And one more thing. By taking out your tank and replacing it with a tankless we opened up some closet space that we would never had.

Soup in 09

Soup is going to be a major source of our food this year. The benefits are many. First there is the fact that we can make soup and store it in the freezer. Coupled with that we can also use veggies that would other wise be thrown out and make up some interesting recipes. I can't tell you what this soup is called on the left, but it was amazingly delicious. My wife replaced the spinach with Komatsuna, added some chick peas, corn, tomatoes, sausage and some other things and Bam! A little cheese and toasted rolls with butter, made a great dinner.

Komatsuna Lookin Good

Last year I planted my Komatsuna in the wrong part of the season. They wilted due to the heat and really never regained thier strength. Coupled with the fact that my wife hasn't been all that interested in the garden last year, things did take a turn for the worst. Nevertheless, I have pushed on and once again I planted my Komatsuna this past Dec; Suprisingly enough, they have not only took hold in the bed, they have produced new edible leaves after every snipping. The funny thing about all of this is the fact that until today my wife was kind of turned off by these things, until I asked her what do they use Komatsuna with in Japan. Being that is her native land, The word Komatsuna struck a nerve with her and she immeditely became interested in the garden. Now the light bulb is on in my head and I have finally found a way to get her interested in maintaining this garden with me this year. Komatsuna is a spinach type plant that grows very fast throughout the year and can be used in salads, stir frys and pickling. I picked a good bounty this afternoon and she is already using it for soup. AWESOME!!!!!!

The Godzilla of Crepe Desserts!!

So part of my wife and I new years resolution is to make sure we eat all the food we have in our home before we go and buy new stuff. We noticed that last year we were really wasting alot of food that would go bad or we just end up losing interest in it. Nevertheless, one day my wife and I were sitting around watching our geek channels which is standard protocol for a friday night and we started getting hungry for something sweet to eat. I was thinking hot crepes with apples and homemade whipped cream; on the other hand my wife was thinking the same thing but she delivered something that I was totally not expecting and she came up with this thing I dont even know what they call it. She told me some french name, but what surprised me was the simplicity of it all from common ingredients tjhat we had laying around; which were eggs and flour to make the crepes, she also made some custard, fresh whipped cream, and bananas that had one more day at best before they were thrown out and wahhhhlaaaaa!!!! Deliciously Refreshing if there is such a thing and if it is, this would be it. It goes great with coffee and taste extraordinarly wonderful the next morning

My 2009 Micro-Garden

So here it is, nothing fancy just 8 3x6 raised boxes. The beds are on a north and south axis; this area receives great sunlight throughout the day. I will use this small plot as my test site to learn from over the next couple of years with rotating crops, growing veggies verticals, and planting crop species that work well with one another. My compost is looking great and all my seeds are in. I have a schedule for every crop species on excel that can be planted in it's particular planting month. So between puking my guts out carrying my ranger buddy up cardiac hill and carrying logs through trails with a small team, I will get back to some me time and tend to my garden in much the same way a samurai warrior paid special attention to his flowers.

I guess with all the hooblah that is going on in the world having a warrior garden can do wonders with helping me control stress and maintain a more balanced.

What a Month!!!!

January has turned out to be one of the most intense months for me with regards to training and having a gut check. Training is bitter/sweet and it is what you make of it and since I really want to be there, it is more sweet than bitter. Nevertheless, it doesn't underscore the matter of how tough it is. Nonetheless, the season is changing and the weather is warming up here in the south, In fact today reached a high around 75 degrees; AWESOME for Jan.

So the band keeps playing on and the train has left the station. I am on it somewhere. Just trying to make my way to the front...............................

Closing out 2008 in Under 30mins.....

So me and the wife are sitting down having a good time reflecting on all of the great things that happened to us in 2008. Looking forward we realize that our life has literally changed overnight with so much economic trouble and the world being in a state that has so much uncertainty.

But with everything that is going on, we have each other, our two cats and our dog cheeba who found us as she poked her bitten and torn up head into our front door. I came home from another combat tour and I will always remember my brothers who were not fortunate to make it back. My wife who for some reason has still stuck with me is the best thing that has ever happened to me. My wife and so many other women and men have to endure so much when their mates serve over seas and when we return so much has changed. I have changed. Im not the same guy I use to be. I just hope that I don't end up as some denim wearin, multiple war patch veteran walking around with a baseball cap and a gazillion pins telling stories of the good old days. When and if I am fortuante enough to retire as a war vet, I want to live a simple life and embrace the things that so many of us take for granted.

Moving into this New Year is just one step closer to my dream and hopefully by this time next year I will be talking about how we acheived our goals and have moved further along in progressing to become more self-sufficient. I hope to speak to more people who think like me and convince those who haven't given a thought about what I think, something to think about.

I remember a famous quote that went something like this and this will close out my last statement for 2008:

"We love what we Know, We know only what we understand and We Understand what We have only been taught."

Smoked Pork Butt MMMMMM

Im from up north and honestly BBQ only means one thing to me and that is RIBS and SAUCE; nothing else. However, since I have moved down south I have warmed up to the idea Pulled Pork Sandwiches. But you have to be careful with what you call pulled pork and what you call BBQ. These people down here take this stuff serious and it is almost an act of war to disgrace the pig.

So for some time now I have tinkered with the idea of smoking my own Pork and I have had some success with all different recipes and bad results with others. All in All I have come up with my own idea of what I like in a pulled Pork sandwich and I will share that here.

1st- We have to start with a Pork Butt, I have tried everything other than pork butts and have had success but in all honesty the Butt is where it's at. I can't give you any scientific reasons I just know it responds so much better to smoking than other forms of meat.

2nd- You have to create a rub for the crust that will form over your meat. Now here is where many Smoked BBQ Nuts go crazy, you will hear all kind of crazy rubs and gypsy magic on how to create the perfect rub. I was suckered into all of this stuff too. But Im here to tell you that all of that is BS. Im going to give you 3 ingredients that you should use for your Rub to create your crust and they are: Salt, Pepper and brown sugar. Thats it, thats the Magic trick and here is why-

The Purpose of the Rub is to help incapsulate the pork with a hard crust. It is not to add flavor. If done right the crust will form and hold in all the moisture until the tempurature of the pork reaches the magical 170 degrees F. So what I like to do is break some fresh black pepper all over the Butt and rub it into the meat, then I apply a moderate amount of Sea Salt ( Im not big into salt only for taste so I don't use alot just even across the entire butt) and then I apply Liberal amounts of Brown sugar all over the butt and this is where something happens. The Salt pulls the moisture from the meat and the brown sugar soaks it up and forms a sort of syrupy mollases that sticks to the meat. I never let my rubs stay over night, I just pull the Butt out of the freezer the previous day and let it sit until room temperature and then apply the rub.

3rd- The most important thing is the fire. You have to get your fire right. The success to smoking butts is so dependant on the temperature that there is no wiggle room to mess this up. In order to get the fire going I use a coals to maintain the heat. Some purist will balk at the idea but again im not trying to win Americas favorite Butt Competition. The coals keep the temp constant and will help burn wet wood with out jepordizing the integrity of the Temp; Which brings us to Temp. What Temp?? This area will cause so much debate that I have literally lost my mind about smoking a proper pork butt. You will hear everything in the world about what temp to smoke your meat. Im going to cut through the chase and tell you to do what your comfortable at but always keep in mind that the very nature of smoking meat is suppose to be done slow and doesn't mean 10 friggin hours!!! My smoking methods keep me around the 3-4 hr time frame and that's because I get my fire going first to where it's really really hot and 3/4 of the coals both wood and the few charcoal peices are white washed and then I close the lid and maintain the heat to 300 and no higher than 350 degrees F. Before I add the meat I add wet wood to get the smoker really smoking and throw in some dry wood to keep it burning and don't forget to use old peices of burnt wood used in the fire place these are perfect to maintain the heat in the smoker.

4th- I place the meat into the center of the smoker and close the lid and remember the BBQ Pit Masters Mantra "If your lookin, you ain't Cookin." I let that set in there and every hr or so I raise the lid to see the development of the crust formation. You know things are on its way when the meat starts to turn red and skin starts to caramalyze. The most important thing is to keep that fire going, smoke and temp at 300 -350 and and it should be done around 3-4 hrs. Never poke the meat until the dark crust starts to form over the meat and then to see where you are at stick your thermomater in the meat and when it gets to 170 degrees you are done.

5th- Take your meat and wrap it in foil for approx 30 mins to let the heat continue to cook the tendons and when that is done you are left with the most moist piece of Smoked BBQ Pork Butt ever and I mean Juicy and succulent. At this time you should be able to pull your pork apart with a fork "LITERALLY" and work in the hard crust with the juicy tender meat, apply that to your bread or bun of choice with your favorite BBQ sauce, steak fries and KFC Cole slaw ( Im sorry there is no better Cole Slaw than KFC Period so I don't even try.) Bon appetit!

The Back Yard Farm........

"Any patch of ground will grow something well worth while if you will give it half a chance. There probably is not a back yard in any city that would refuse to return a wonderful profit if it were planted to the right kind of crops. What an excellent thing it would be for the community if all the land which now lies idle were to be planted to useful and beautiful things!"

The BackYard Farmer, By J. Willard Bolte
Copy Right 1914

Another Squirrel in the Bag!!

Taka did very well today. I should also add she does well everytime I bring her out even though she doesn't get a kill on each outing. I can say this because her intensity level to hunt is always high. I have hunted her day after day this week and each time she seems to be getting just a little smarter. It's almost like she knows what works and what doesn't.

Before she would barrell through branches and slam into the earth and end up with nothing. But as each day goes by she is picking her strikes very carefully; just watching and waiting as the squirrel scurries from tree limb to limb. Before she would follow on and get lost in the array of vines and tree limbs as the squirrel attracts her to the top of the canopy taking away her advantage of a dynamic strike. Now taka sits back and flies parrallel to the squirrel and waits for an opening.

Today was a great hunt from the same wiley ol buck squirrels that have outwitted and barked at her with a sense of arrogance. But today there was just silence in the trees as she fatally placed her kill talon behind the neck of the large squirrel. I sense that the squirrels have to figure out something new quick because for now Taka has a new kill stratedgy and it will prove to be lethal.

Raising Rabbits at the Homestead??

I have been doing alot of research on the steps to self-sufficientism. One subject that has peeked my interest is the raising of rabbits for meat. I think this is a great idea. For one most urban dwelling enviroments will not allow chickens and I would think to raise chiskens for meat would be a bit tough if you want to do it right.

Rabbits on the other hand are very prolific. The Doe has a 30 day gestation period and the young can be slaugthered in approx 10-12 weeks from birth. New zealands have on average 8-10 young and the females (If not slaugthered) can be bred at 6 months.


For someone striving to be selfsuffecient this seems like the perfect plan to supplement a diet from store bought meat.


I comfronted the misses about the idea of using rabbits to supplement our meat diet and at first she was a bit sqeamish, but she came around and compromised by saying "As long as I don't have to see them die." Well Thats fine with me I am in the business of doing dirty work that most people can't bring themselves to do.


From what I gather you can't compromise fresh water with rabbits. They need it religously. And they need to be fed everyday. These are things my wife will love to do. I will have to keep track of the does and when they breed and how often.


Next year my challenge will be to eat everything I have grown, raised or killed. I can't get away from milk. If I had a goat I would be set. But if it ain't rabbit or chicken I slaughtered it will be deer, wild boar, or squirrel I killed during hunting season. This will be my new years resolution to live off my plot. I will definately give it an honorable try

DInner Buddies

Soooooo, who says the best side dish for macoroni and cheese isn't a Kimber 45.cal with a laser grip. This is a great hand gun. The laser sights have been zeroed into 25 yards. This hand gun had great balance and I really like the placement of the safety. Im not a glock type of guy, I know many who swear by them but they are not for me. Im looking at this kimber or an HK maybe I my just get my wife the Kimber and I may just get the HK. But nonetheless, this is a fine weapon and goes great with Mac and cheese:)

Now this M14-with bipod, scope , and rail system is friggen awesome. Notice the home made sweet potatoe pie on the stove. I made that myself and it's a great compliment to the M14. Here my buddy is showing off his digs. The M14 is in my opinion the greatest long gun for tactical and personal protection purposes. The 7.62 round is so lethal and versatile nothing else can compare.

I know there are alot of people out there who are sqeamish about guns. But they need to wake up. Any time, we all can find ourselves in a "Katrina" situation where there is no civil government and the bad people will be left to have fun with no consequence. Not on my watch, not in my neighborhood and not on my front porch.

Georgia Pecans mmmmmm!!!

I walked outside today and it was beautiful spring weather. Yes, spring weather; wet and warm, somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 degrees and awesome. I went to the garden today and I noticed that the greens are doing great and the snap peas are climbing well and then I noticed a dark shell and in it was a tan nut. I was puzzled a bit about the type of nut or seed that was in it and as I peeled the shell back I noticed that it was a pecan.

But then I noticed that many of the nuts that have fallen have already been eaten. There were literally hundreds of pecans that were chewed up and eaten all over the yard. The only culprit would be my dog cheeba!!! No wonder her coat is so beautiful. She beat us to the bounty.

So I hurried up and went out this evening to pick as many pecans I could find. I found a few and my wife I find that these pecans are amazing. I am fortunate to have 4 huge pecan trees overhanging in my backyard.