Barns of Minnesota

the book

     This book is a brilliant colaboration created by photographer Doug Ohman and author Will Weaver.  It's a fictional biography of a barn in central Minnesota and its family, illustrated by photographs of many actual barns of Minnesota.  It traces the barn's history from before its creation in the 1920's until after its demise in the 1990's.

     It took me only a few hours to read and peruse the 128 pages, which were about half story and half photos.  This also includes the time I spent with tears of sadness and tears of joy in my eyes, and the time I spent looking out my kitchen window at the fictional barn's brother that stands on the homestead I call my home.  It's mine for the moment, but really belongs to all of Minnesota, past and future.

     Whether your interests are in farming, history, art or architecture, a few hours of reading the story, perusing the photos and contemplating the ideas are a valuable investment of your time.

                           "a barn will build a house"  Will Weaver

"brother barn" on the homestead

BARN ROOF COMPLETED

 

The wonderful crew from Dawson Byler Construction

     The new barn roof was completed about noon on Monday, December 3.  I can't thank the guys at Dawson Byler Construction enough for the professional and beautiful job they did.  The next step for me is to begin repairing windows and doors, other inside and outside repairs, and the painting.  For a septuagenarian like me, that's probably going to be spread out over a couple of years.  That's fine with me.  Now that it has a fine new roof, I've got the rest of my life to finish it.  And I'm planning to stick around to enjoy it after that.

The view from the southwest

     But first things first.  I spent the last two days starting to clean up the decades of stuff that has accumulated over the years.  I definitely need a shop area inside the barn to repair those windows and doors.  And a place to dream about the way it's going to be.  I'll be savoring each step of the way.

New Barn Roof is Coming

 The roofers are here, and by next week a new barn roof! 

It started on Wednesday, December 2, with the prep work shown in the 2 pictures below.

     The larger curved section went on one sheet at a time.  It was facinating to watch.

    

     By Friday the entire roof was enclosed.  They'll be back on Monday for the trim work and final completion.   

     Thank you so much to Dawson Byler Construction for the fine work and craftmanship.  They can be rightfully proud of the integral part they played in conserving this historic old barn.  Maybe even prouder of the joy and happiness it brought to this old man, and I'm sure to many others who will enjoy it in future generations.

     Before Christmas I plan to put in more pictures of the completed project, and maybe some ideas for the next steps in this renovation.  If you'd like to see how this project started, click on this link, "fingers in the dirt" that I wrote back in May.  A few changes since then.  Feel free to write in the comments or email me if have any ideas or suggestions

Memories from the Chicken Coop

Swedmark Hardware 1964

     My friends and I were talking about how time flies so fast, and one of them said the REAL problem is that we keep ripping the pages off the calendar.  So I says, if you want to go back 50 years, come on out to the chicken house with me.  There's a calendar hanging on the wall out there that hasn't lost a page in the 20 years I've lived here, and probably for a long time before that.

     After the meeting, I went out to the chicken house and there it was.  hanging on the wall next to a thermometer-humidity gauge of about the same era.

     Now I'm curious.  Obviously the person who owned this farm in the 1960's did some shopping in that hardware store, and might have known the proprietor, Chet Swedmark.  If anybody is aware of any stories of that era, I would appreciate any remarks in the comments section below, or an e-mail.  We are nothing without a history.


FROM THE GARDEN TODAY

Lettuce, Rhubarb, radishes and asparagus today

     Our old asparagus patch is only about 2 square feet.  We pick about this much every other day, which means about once a week we have enough for a meal for Amber and I.  I planted a 20 foot row this spring, so maybe 2 years from now, we'll be able to eat all we want every spring.  We ate this plus the results of the 2 previous pickings for supper tonight.

     The rhubarb is from behind the chicken coop.  Some years I even forget that it's there, but this picking was made into rhubarb sauce and is cooling in the fridge while I'm typing this.  I'll probably have a bowl before I go to bed tonight.

     Our grandson Al ate half of the lettuce, and the rest is in the fridge and will probably be eaten tomorrow.

     The radishes, except for the 2 or 3 I ate as a snack, are also waiting in the fridge.  There are still plenty of radishes and lettuce in the garden, but for now they're better off in the garden than in the fridge.  We'll keep cutting the asparagus every other day til it stops, and probably get another cutting of rhubarb.  I'm still waiting for the peas, potatoes, carrots, and barn contractors, but patience is a virtue and there is a time for every season under heaven.

Sommer Kommer

     When I walked out to the garden this morning, the old tin can on the fence told me we got 3/4 inch of rain last night.  Added to the 2 inches we got the previous two nights, I believe the dry spell is over.

Hillbilly rain gauge.  That pile of sticks in my garden is the pea trellis.

    Spring was cold and dry until late May, when it became hot and dry.  I planted the early crops like potatoes, radishes, lettuce, peas, carrots and onions in late April.  of course the asparagus and chives are perennial and the garlic was planted last fall.  My inside plants didn't do so well, so I bought broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and tomato plants which I put in the garden in late May.  The last days of May we had a hard frost, and I lost all the tomato plants.  Then it got hot and dry again, so I bought more tomato, pepper, squash and watermelon plants and put them in on June 5th and 6th.  The rains came that night, and continued for 3 nights until this morning.  This homestead is surely blessed.

Lots of tasty worms and bugs out here!

     I think I'm done planting now.  Especially being the barn project will probably destroy most of the garden along with the barn.  The rebuilt barn is more important than one year's vegetable crop, and  I still get the joy of growing it.  By the way, I still don't have a definite offer from a contractor yet, so if you're a barn demolition or deconstruction contractor, please call or e-mail me.  Or if you know of one, give him my e-mail or phone #.  Refer them to my previous blog post "still got my fingers in the dirt" which describes the project in more detail.

     Besides clearing out the barn and the area around the barn, preparing for the tear down contractor, I still visit the chickens every day.  When the weather got hot about 2 weeks ago, I opened up their summer pasture for them.  It's more shaded than the winter-spring pasture, and  the worms and bugs are more plentiful, which our four hens sure appreciate.

    Well, we'll probably have asparagus for our vegetable to night, and lettuce and radishes are ready for a salad.  it looks good for red potatoes and peas about the 4th of July, cabbage and broccoli shortly after that.  Hope to report more progress on both the garden and the barn by about that time.  Remember that doing for others brings the most happiness.

Still Got My Fingers in the Dirt

     Well, I haven't done any blog posts here for the last 4 years, but I've still been gardening on the same old homestead.  I still have four hens who give us 2 or 3 eggs a day, four on a good day.  Enough for the family.  The garden is getting a good start.  We had asparagus from the garden and eggs for dinner today.  But the real reason I'm writing is the barn pictured in the blog header and below.

An old friend, soon a memory

     The original barn was built sometime between 1910 and 1940.  It has served well for almost 100 years, maybe a little more.  24 stanchions for dairy cows, 3 horse stalls and a hay mow big enough to handle them all.  Think of the barn dances they could have had before the first summer hay crop came in!  The barn now needs re-roofing, significant repairs and painting.  As I began to check on costs, I found them excessive. And I don't need a hay mow.
     New idea: (1) Tear the old barn down and put up a new building on the old foundation.  OR (2) Tear the haymow off the first floor and put a new roof over the old first floor.  OR (3).  Tear the old barn down and put just a roof over the old foundation.  As the concrete floor is 4 feet below the top of the poured concrete side walls, I would still have a peak height of over 9 feet even with a 4/12 pitch.  That's still a very useable building.

Options 1 and 2 Top drawing, Option 3 Bottom drawing

     I'm still in the process of looking for contractors.for demolition or deconstruction and for building  after the demo is complete.  If you are an interested contractor who works in Northern Minnesota, or have an idea about this project, feel free to contact me by email or phone or write a comment in the comments section below.

     I'm going to try to keep this blog active again at least once or twice a month.  Hope to have some garden and chicken pictures and a progress report on the barn in the next issue.  Keep your tools clean and your hands in the dirt.

Eggs Are Us

Farm Fresh Eggs  $3/dozen

free delivery to Bemidji and Northern Township

call 444-2642

     For the last four or five years we've had a flock of between 6 and 15 hens supplying us with free range eggs for the family and some of our friends.  Now that we have 36 hens, it's time to start merchandising.  So I put a rock on my hand truck so it would stand upright next to my mailbox, painted a sign on an old waste basket and placed it over the hand truck.

     Now, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon between 1PM and 6PM, I wheel this sign out next to my mailbox, and am ready for business.

     So if you want to make an omelet with free range farm fresh eggs, give us a call at 444-2642 for delivery, or stop in on a week-end afternoon.  We're located 6 miles north of Bemidji on Irvine Avenue, and 1 1/4 mile  west of Northern Townhall at 2411 Townhall Road NW.  Come on over!  The chickens like company, and so do I.

Y'all Come!

Red Tomato Day, August 6.

     Early August was hot and dry, with some days up to 90 and 92 degrees F.  Starting last Sunday the weather has cooled down to highs in the 60's and low 70's, and the rains have returned.  Makes a person feel 10 years younger.  Didn't hurt any to see that my semi-annual medical check-up gave me a reasonably good report.  At least all the numbers on the chart were in the right places.


Tomatoes

First red tomato, August 6

    We got our first red tomato on August 6, but also evidence of tomato wilt.  I went through the whole tomato patch, trimming the wilt from the plants that looked otherwise healthy, and pulling and discarding a number of plants that appeared to have gone too far.  It seems to have worked, as for the last two weeks we've been able to harvest another dozen or so healthy tomatoes from the Early Girl plants that remain.  The heritage tomatoes are still green, but at least they're not showing signs of wilt at this time.  Hoping for a good canning season to start soon.

Cabbage and other early crops

Cabbages have been plentiful

      The cabbages have been coming in for some time now, forming nice, tight, worm-free heads that make the best cole slaw and cooked cabbage you can imagine.  I've been remembering to spray them with my garlic powder, cayenne pepper and dish soap concoction after each rain.  If you want to try it, I used about a tablespoon of each ingredient in a gallon of water.  Add the dish soap last or it will be difficult to mix.

     The other cold weather crops like carrots, broccoli, potatoes, onions, beets and salads have been plentiful and tasty.  The peas were done by mid July, when the green beans started coming in.  We ate all the peas, but were able to freeze 10 quarts of green beans.

Coming soon



Watermelon ready soon

     I'm looking forward to a few watermelons soon, followed by pumpkins and winter squash.  We've used some of our young carrots in the cole slaw, but most will stay in the ground until it's time to come in for winter storage.

     Like many other worthwhile endeavors, gardening and homesteading are not exact sciences.  Enjoy the successes and learn from the failures.  Better health and better eating to all.



Is Halloween coming early this year?

New Red Potatoes, Our Story

About 2 pounds of new red potatoes dug on the 4th of July.

They were planted on April 10th under this low tunnel, a week and a half

before our last significant snowfall on April 21st.

On warm days in April I removed the cover, and replaced  it for the cold nights.

As of June 14th.  The first 3 rows are the red potatoes,

the 2 rows behind are Kennebecs planted on May 4th.

As of June 28th, red potatoes on the right, Kennebec potatoes  on the left.

July 4th, after digging up 3 hills of red potatoes. 

I'll let most  of the rest get bigger, but I needed a taste  of new potatoes.

 

     The homespun hydroponic salads experiment is going well, and I hope to have a more complete report on that project soon, along with the pea harvest in about a week or two.  In the meantime, a part of our kitchen garden is on the porch next to the kitchen, if one needs a leaf or two of lettuce, kale or arugula to put on that chicken salad sandwich.

 

 Eat well and love more; so shall you live long and prosper.

End of June Homestead Overview

Sadie watches over the homestead

     Our 1/2 Chou, 1/2 Shepherd, Sadie, has a lot of responsibilities for a 7 month old pup.  Going from puppyhood to adulthood is not an easy task.  She makes a lot of mistakes, but she's still learning.  And we love her all the same.

     As it's only a week since the last detailed update, this one is just a pictorial overview to remind me at some future date what things looked like at this stage.  Previous posts have more detail.

Some of the 8 chicks hatched on May 1

2 of the 20 chicks hatched on May 12

Bob and some of the 19 hens in the Old Chicken's Home

 

Central Garden, Hydroponic Lettuce in Greenhouse in back

Pea blossoms in East Garden

South Garden Tomato Patch, Squash in front

West Garden getting ready for next year's Tomato Patch

 

Midsommer Roses

     Life is a little like hunting or fishing.  Oft times the chase is more important than the catch.  In your pursuit of happiness, may you bag your limit.

Midsommer 2015 and Father's Day

Midsommer wild roses

2 of Amber's 6 hanging baskets

     The wild roses in front of the house bloomed, and Amber got 6 hanging flower baskets hung.  The lettuces, radishes and rhubarb have been plentiful, and the asparagus and spinach have been adequate.  The hens have been laying, and the baby chicks are growing.  Did I mention the quiche?  It's fantastic! 

     On top of all that, ALL my children have contacted me with best wishes for Father's Day!  Midsommer and Father's Day can't get much better than that!

 

Vegetable garden as of June 22 with hints of rewards to come

New potatoes by the 4th of July

     The first 3 rows are red potatoes which will start coming in the 4th of July, while the second 2 rows are Kennebec for winter keepers.

Peas on the left, bush beans top right, 2nd planting spinach bottom right.

     The peas will start coming in about the 4th of July, with the beans coming later in July.  The second planting of spinach is ready for salads within the week.  Our carrots and beets should be starting about mid-July.  I do have to get the supports up for the peas in the next few days.

Salads in the hydro-garden

     We'll be eating lettuce from the hydro-garden in the next day or two.

Garlic in front, onion sets in back.  Cabbage to the right needs weeding.

     Onions in a couple of weeks, garlic in the fall.  I'm hoping for cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in August some time, but they are coming kind of slow.

2 buttercup squash in front, tomatoes and peppers in the back.

     With a little luck we'll have tomatoes and peppers starting in mid-August and squash, pumpkins and watermelons in September and October.

The Pea Trellis is up!

     On Tuesday I got my tree branches and twine together and set up this year's pea trellis.  I always wonder what it will look like when I'm done.  By the 4th of July some of the pea vines will reach the top rung, and it will be a work of art.

     Next update is coming about the fourth of July.  In the meantime, eat your quiche with spinach, your egg salad sandwiches with lettuce and radishes, and finish up the last of that rhubarb sauce in the fridge.  Creamed peas and new red potatoes are coming soon!

Early June 2015

"Big Red" Heritage Tomatoes

 

"If I was to choose the life I lead,  I'd be Johnnie Tomato Seed,
'Cause I know what this country needs, is home-grown tomatoes in every yard you see."
                                                                     Guy Clark

     The 10 day forecast on June 1 showed no prediction of frost, so I transplanted most of the tender crops into the garden.  Besides the heritage tomatoes, about 25 Big Red and Abraham Lincoln, that I had started in the house, I bought 8 Early Girl Tomato plants.  As the squash, pumpkins and cucumbers I started didn't do well, I also bought some of those, along with some cauliflower, that I've never grown before.

     I also made the third planting of radishes and the second planting of carrots during the first week in June.  I'd like to get enough carrots to get us through the winter this year.

Jack gives me the Raspberries

     My strawberry patch had never been very productive, so I plowed it under this spring.  However, when my friend Jack told me he had plenty of extra raspberry plants if I wanted some, I went over with a dozen fresh eggs and  bunch of radishes and came home with raspberry plants.  I put 13 plants into the ground a couple of days ago, and it looks like most of them are going to make it.

     This last week, during the last quarter of the moon, I've gotten most of the weeding done.  It's beginning to look like a garden.  We've had ample rainfall so far this year which has resulted in a good harvest of lettuce, radishes and rhubarb, and enough asparagus to delight my taste buds.

Hydroponics Still an Experiment

 

     There's been no harvest from the hydroponic experiment as of yet, but I'm looking forward to good things.  what you see in the picture is a tub filled with a weak manure tea made from our poultry manure, oxygenated by a fish tank bubbler.  The plants are in pots with lots of holes in the bottom so that the roots can go down into the water to get their nutrients.  In two or three weeks the story will be told.

New Red Potatoes by the 4th of July

 

     The planting is about done for the year, but I still plan to put in some more warm weather salad crops like Swiss chard and kale this next week.  We should have peas and new red potatoes by the first week in July, with green beans to follow soon after. 

     May we all be blessed with good food in our stomachs and healthy soil under our fingernails.

May is for Planting

Big Red Tomatoes in the ground

     0.2 of an inch of rain in the old soup can on the fence this morning changed my transplanting plans for today.  I have tomatoes and herbs in the greenhouse that will have to wait until the ground dries a little more before they can move to the garden. I did however get my 16 Big Red Heritage tomatoes in yesterday before the rain.  And I remembered to put the cardboard collars around them to stop the cutworm.

May Planting

3 rows of red potatoes in front, 2 rows of Kennebec behind that

     The picture to the left shows the 3 rows of red potatoes planted under the low tunnel on April 10th.  Behind that is the 2 rows of Kennebec planted on May 4th.  We should have new red potatoes for the 4th of July, and Kennebecs for the winter.  
     May is the beginning of the main planting season here in Northern Minnesota.   The first week I put in more hardy root crops; Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, and garlic.  My fall planting of garlic must have frozen out, cause it wasn't there this spring.  In the last ten days of the month, I transplanted the broccoli and cabbage to the garden, along with seeding the corn, beans and squash in the 3 sisters garden.  I also started some more spinach.  The squash, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers and peppers I started in the house didn't make it, so I'll probably still buy some more plants to set out.  With the beginning of June and the 10 day forecast predicting lows in the 50's F, it's time to take a chance on the more tender plants.



The New West Garden

     In the middle of May, I spread black plastic over that wonderful llama poop in the new West Garden.  That should kill off most of the weed seeds.  The 2016 tomato season should be marvelous!

 

 

Hydroponics

     The hydroponic experiment with salad crops is just that.  An experiment.  I won't bore you with details until I find out if any part of it is successful.  The only thing I'll mention at this time is that, like most of my projects, it is very low budget.  Under $20 for an aquarium pump and some tubing.




One month old

Poultry Report

     The month old baby chicks  are all doing well under Miss Wohlters' care.  Before I knew Miss Wohlters would do such a fine job, I committed to buying 20 chicks from the Co-op.  They are 3 weeks old today, and also doing well.  Without a Mama Hen to care for them, they are still under a heat lamp, so I couldn't get any good pictures.  Our other 20 hens are still putting out 12 to 16 eggs a day, and seem quite content with our spring weather.

The Harvest

     Other than our eggs, harvest has been slight so far.  We have had one meal of asparagus, salad from the thinning of the lettuce, spinach and arugula under the cold frame, one bunch of radishes from under the low tunnel, and a delicious rhubarb sauce from the patch behind the chicken coop.  The best harvest, as always, comes from the joy of interacting with the plants and animals here in God's playground.

Farewell my Friend

Good-bye to the Guineas

     The bad news came in a letter from the Zoning Commission that stated they had received a complaint from one of our neighbors about the guineas.  Farm animals are permitted in this zone, but only if kept in a fenced area.  As we got them initially to help control the ant and woodticks in our area, fencing them in would defeat that purpose.  So we gathered up our guineas and gave them to our friend who lives where guineas can roam free.  The only ones celebrating here are the woodticks, the ants and the neighbors who made the complaint.  I hope the three of them are very happy together.

 

A Short Work Break and then....

     I took a short break to go out and gather eggs and feed the chickens.  It was still too wet to transplant, but I cut some more rhubarb.  Amber has developed a recipe for rhubarb sauce that gives me a preview of the deserts they must serve in heaven!

 

Rhubarb is manna from heaven!

In the Next Week or so

     Still to come in the next week or so is a lot more transplanting of the tender crops, and another planting of carrots for the long winter ahead.  By the end of June, or the beginning of July I hope to report our first harvest of peas and new red potatoes among other things.  Enjoy the season and happy gardening to all.