KW-50 A Cornucopia

weather report: wind

It has been a snowy sort of a week at the barracks. It might be all snowy again by next Monday when we next speak, but between now and then, we have a Great Thaw heading our way.

at least the tree tops get some sunshine.

I thought this week we might have a look at the jars and bags and trays and tins of the stores. So let’s just ring them out. We have:

Tomatoes: there are fewer jars of tomatoes than there should be. This is the only thing which hasn’t gone up from years before. It’s a bit complicated why, well maybe not complicated, but the reasons are involved, let us say. I’ve written a lot more about it in the Year In Review newsletter which will be coming out at the end of this week.

Dried Mushrooms: three big jars. This year, they were mostly hunted from the barracks themselves which were exceptionally fruitful. Most mycologically motivated people around here went without this year - the forest was quite barren. I went out a dozen times, and never came back with more than a handful. Mostly, I come back with ceps though, so that is extra nice.

delicious

Beans. Last year in winter I didn’t run out of beans, but I did have to ration myself towards the end. This year, absolutely not. I grew a whole load more than before, and harvested double.

Jams, apple sauces, quince jellies, syrups. A profusion.

Niceys. Chutneys, dried chillis, treats, pickles. There are enough to keep me from getting bored. Not enough to really delight every plate though: same reasons as the tomatoes.

Onions and garlic: A year’s supply. This is the first time ever I have grown enough onion and garlic for storage. I’m really pleased about this. It’s something like 180 onions and 36 garlics. Or at least, it was when I harvested them. I’ve been chomping through them steadily. That’s the thing about the stores - you spend a couple of months filling them, and immediately starting to empty them again.

Potatoes: way more than last year. I ate a lot of semi stale bread last year. This year, all of those crappy carbs with be replaced with the sainted potato and:

Grains: At harvest (after threshing and winnowing), 27 kilos of wheat and 8 kg of rye. Every Sunday, I spend 10 minutes at the hand-mill, milling the grain for the week. It’s about 500 - 600 grammes, and the breads and biscuits I make from it are a highlight of the next 7 days menu. Bio, organic, hand reared, free range, GM-free home grown bread with food miles you can measure in steps.¹

Fresh veggies: I also have a substantial pile of cabbages in the stores, but they are not photogenic. In the ground, under the snow there are still dozens of spinach and kale plants, almost a complete double row each of both parsnips and carrots. And leeks which, unlike the root veggies, will probably not be improved by the frozen ground. Every week, I go out, kick the snow off them, and grab a few handfuls of each.

Gourds and squashes. I’m still eating pumpkin with almost every meal.

And I am as shocked as you are to hear that this is already calendar week 50. We’ve nearly made it through December. The end of the month is going to get properly cold, and then we have the solstice and the days get longer again. And then the proper winter can start. But if we can make it through December this easily, January cannot be too scary, right?

This was a pile of wood. It is now more like 3/4ers of a pile of wood. It will be half a pile of wood by next week.

I was going to say something about wood and woodworking, but I think this is enough for now, so I shall leave you with a treat - a photo of the wood shop. It is a treat, that is, if you are me, or you have spent any amount of time in my wood shop, or if you like that sort of thing. I have a massive plan for the wood shop next year. Step one is to get organised. Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to sort out some sort of dust extraction xxxxx for the place, and look! new shelves. With boxes and things in them, not on the floor. Progress

This wood shop is not sponsored by Record Power, I wish it was, but it isn’t. There are more tools in here than this shot shows, it is just now that I realise that this image in particular is basically a montage of saws. Saws are quite important in woodworking. Follow me for more pro tips.

And finally:

Thank you for the wonderful and incredibly wholesome comments section in the last few weeks, by the way. I meant to say something last week, but you know… #pigs

The German idiom for “I appreciate it” translates as “I know it is to be treasured”. I like this. Thank you again, all of you for being here. Ich weiss es zu schätzen

Until next week, my dear pirates

much piratety love

Your Pirate Ben

xoxo

PS: here is a thing which has been circulating the internets lately. You may have already seen it, but it is so sweet and so positive, I just wanted you all to see it again! It’s about food, so it is relevant!

1. Quick maff. Food “miles” don’t count if you move everything by foot, but I reckon that the food miles of each loaf of bread I make are, averaged out over the entire lifecycle of the process (obtaining the seed, sowing, growing, harvest, all the rest of it, which are, of course, all done with fossil fuels everywhere outside Amish country) must equal about 2.88 meters.