It’s 6am on a Monday morning and I am lying in bed listening to the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4. I’ve made myself a coffee, and am very aware of the change of the seasons.
Last winter was particularly long and cold and not very pleasant all round. I think this time around it’s going to have some very special moments. I’m expecting some properly dark and cold days, but I am also certain that it will be, on the whole, white and pleasant and all done before the end of March. I can’t tell you exactly why I think this, not until maybe May, so make a note in your diary to pull me up on it by then.
Talking of the shipping forecast, I told you that I got a weather station for my 50th, didn’t I? It’s very awesome, and really of some data collecting worth, it’s definitely not a toy. But the extra piece of hardware that you need to actually “collect” data, not just admire it on the console screen comes as a 200-buck extra. So no matter, I have started a new twitter account where at some time within a few minutes of 11am, I manually transcribe the current state of weather affairs. It’s not very interesting, who doesn’t love raw data? You can follow it here if you need more Barracks in your life!
We had the first frost this week. Just a light dusting over the exposed greenery in the vegetable garden. Of which there is still a lot - there is still uncountable spinach, swiss chard, and carrots out there in the garden. I swear, I am trying to get them in as fast as I can!
I’ve been working on a blog post about how much space you need in order to be self sufficient. A friend was telling me about a friend who swears blind you can do it on 100m2. This is not true, but it very much depends on your definitions. Anyway, I was thinking about portions of fruit and vegetables this week. One portion is 80g. If you were to take this as a measure of something, then for 6 months of supplies, that works out as 72 kilogrammes of fruits and vegetables in the stores for your five a day. Which doesn’t sound like all that much.
Anyway, this week I ate my last apple. I have eaten at least one apple a day for months and months now. Three of the trees became productive this year. Next year, they will be giving some large multiple of what they produced this year - maybe four or five times - and they will no doubt be joined by a couple more trees. We will go from an apple a day to basket loads in a single year. I hope.
My people, the potagers are now productive, the fields are nearly there, and the orchard is approaching maturity. We are coming dangerously close to happy days. It is possible that next year, we will have surpassed “necessary” and I can put some serious time into “nice”.
This week I have but one real motivation at the barracks, and it is all about wood.
The wood store needs a new roof. It’s getting very leaky now. Maybe this is my cue to ask you to consider taking out that paid subscription for this newsletter? I know that the quality is very up-and-downish and I know you all know the spiel about “the price of one cup of coffee a month”, so I won’t bother with the hard sell. I try not to mention it too often, but if you would like to support the thing that I am trying to do here, then why not now? :)
So the job list, then
There are three piles of random lumps and clumps of wood. I want to tidy them all up
One of them is the pile of tree rinds (not bark, the outermost strip of wood that you take off to square a tree up when it’s at the saw mill). It’s a total mess, and a total waste of wood. All that can be used for construction will be stacked more nicely, all the rest will be firewooded.
All meter-long lumps of wood will be cut to 30ish cm chunks
Lots of bark stripping from logs
A LOT of chopping. Should I get into wood-chopping tiktok? If you don’t know this, have a look. It is very amusing indeed!
Start bringing winter wood inside. It’s time to start kicking that fire into action.
And so, wishing you all a lovely winter, and now, more than ever, please be nice to each other! I know you are!
Until next time, much pirate love me hearties
Your
Pirate Ben
xoxo
(please like, share and comment! your interactions bring much cheer to the grey old barracks!)
Lovely to read of the changing seasons. The snuggle into Autumn is my favourite time of year. It is a very warm spring here in NZ and I’m hurrying my brassicas along so I can eat them and make room for my tomatoes. Got any old corrugated iron for your wood shed roof? It seems to multiply in old properties down under… Good luck Ben!
Goodness don’t start a woodchopping TikTok. Unless you have a white vest and braces and change your surname to a marvel character. I believe Thor is taken but green giant (Hulk) could work. In which case fill your boots. But do watch out for the lusty ladies of TikTok, I hear they are quite terrifying.