Crown of Thorns Journal- Wood Cook Stove Challange

[CrownofThorns]

Hello! My name is Laura, I live in the frozen desert of central Alaska and LOVE it! I've been married to my wonderful husband for 4 years now. No children, we're still waiting and praying for a quiverfull. I am blessed to be able to stay at home and be a keeper at home, and this also provides me with the opportunity to do a lot of learning and research, which I LOVE to do.

We have 4 acres I think only a couple hundred miles below the arctic circle with plans to finish our tiny moveable cabin (7.5'x15' with a loft) this spring and live in that for up to a year while we build our larger, but still small cabin. No running water and no electricity for a while, but hopefully soon! We also hope to start a Baptist church in the blossoming community not far from our property.

We have access to 12-14 acres that surround our 4, and we back up to state land so we have plenty of browsing ground for our 4 Nigerian Dwarf goats, the couple of reindeer we hope to buy perhaps this fall, and all the other critters we would like to eventually add.

I'm SUPER excited about being as self sufficient as possible, and I can't wait to be out on our property.

A few of my interests and activities:
Eating WAPF style, knitting, antiques, everything goat, studying herbs, studying the Bible, baking, keeping house.

I am a self proclaimed whole foodist, which means I try to provide all our nutritional needs, and those of my animals through whole foods and herbs Wood

 

[Wannabefree]

Aren't you cold up there?!?!

 

[CrownofThorns]

Our current two projects are really frustrating me. The first is to figure out how having comfortable lounging type seating, in an area that can only fit a regular sized kitchen chair?

In our current apartment our living room is storage, and it's just a tiny little apartment so our table is the computer desk and the chair the bed, and computer chair. I HATE having our lounging area as a bed. We have literally ripped to shreds and majorly stained two bedspreads in three years. I could have used a LOT more if I had run out and bought a new one each time the current one start looking unsightly.

My husband builds furniture so my only dilemma is designing something. And maybe only one since my antique rocker is really comfy and I love it. But then because I'm totally not normal Alaskan homesteader and I like things to look nice and matching, how do I accomplish that! :/

Any ideas anyone?

My second frustrating project is barley greens. We are starting to experiment feeding our goats with barley grass. It's in the very beginning stages. I thought that we could just get started with sprouting and growing the greens just around the house while we disign our sprouting system, but that is not working at ALL. The barely is taking much longer to sprout and be 6 inches high. It should take 6-7 days for the grass to get 6 inches high. Here we are on day 6 and I am just barely beginning to see green tips. JUST barely.

Obviously this is not going to work until we have a system already set up and ready to run. Ugh. I SO wanted to do it now.

I'm one of those types. I don't want to wait a couple weeks for my husband and brother to design, buy the parts for, and build a sprouting system. I want to be feeding my goats barley grass yesterday!

 

[CrownofThorns]

Aren't you cold up there?!?!

When I go outside.

 

[Wannabefree]

Are you sprouting in soil? If so, try sprouting by just rinsing the first day, and wetting them the next few days. They should sprout faster that way and grow faster as well. That is how I do my sprouts for my chooks and goats. No need for soil really. Hydroponic is quicker

 

[CrownofThorns]

That is what we're doing, hydroponically, and it's not working out to well. I think they might grow faster when they are getting rinsed more then three times a day. Also since I have only 3 big containers to spread them out on, I have to keep them in small buckets several inches thick for the first 3-4 days. I think that also inhibits the growth.

 

[Wannabefree]

Have you tried some kind of fertilizing agent to do the initial soak, like maybe some manure tea or something? I would think it might help. Otherwise I do not know. Oh, well you could warm them in a cold frame or by the wood stove or something too. Maybe they aren't warm enough

 

[CrownofThorns]

I haven't thought of adding nutrition to the first soak....

They are currently in a sunny window near the fireplace or on top of my fridge so they are nice and warm.

I also think a good reason why who we're trying to model it after had much faster growth then we are is because he was doing everything in a barn/greenhouse and the plants thrive on lots of carbon dioxide I think it is that the cows produce?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Wannabefree]

I hope it works for you Otherwise, I'd say lentils sprout REALLY REALLY fast!!! Mine sprouted within 24 hours when I did those. Nothing I have seen sprouts as quickly as lentils, so it may be an option to do barley AND lentils in between

 

[framing fowl]

Welcome! Sounds like you have a lot going on. Looking forward to reading more.