Books Update

The refrigerator and the universe:
Very detailed book on the science of thermodynamics, for what I was looking for perhaps a bit too much. But very thorough, approachable and very informative.

A short history of nearly everything:
still reviewing

Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid:
still reviewing

The ten most beautiful experiments:
A must read for science junkies, very insightful and inspiring

Your inner fish : a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body:
A great book about evolution and the whys of how we are put together (some neat points too on how evolution compensates for the growing complexity of organisms and so quirks along the way)

Home cheese making : recipes for 75 homemade cheeses:
If you plan on doing more than trying your hand at some basic mozzarella or cheddar this is the book for you. Detailed recipe after recipe

The bread baker's apprentice : mastering the art of extraordinary bread:
still reviewing

The backyard beekeeper : an absolute beginner's guide to keeping bees in your yard and garden:
A one stop reference for all of your apiary needs - incredibly complete and infromative

Artisan bread in five minutes a day:
still reviewing -- but I've looked up some internet video clips and I have to say, this is the first time I've ever been able to successfully make bread. Really GOOD bread too!

The backyard homestead:
A good general reference but very vague on many points - a helpful starting point to get inspired

World War Z : an oral history of the zombie war:
I did not think I was going to like this (I was concerned that the characters would act like most stupid people in horror movies, "No! don't go down in the basement!"), but I have to say that I was impressed. Aside from the zombies there was very little "fictional" events. All the characters normally acted in character and it was very true to human nature. A good book for those who would like to tackle the extreme of self preparedness.

Neverwhere:
Perhaps not terribly believable but a very good compelling story (my impression was that the author attempted to blend a fantastical world with the real one - and for the most part it worked - there were just a few points where you would just not think it would happen that way).

Earth Abides:
If you have not read it or something like it (see the amazon page for this book and look at the comparable books), then please go check one out. It is a great work on the fragility of the human society.

Tea

I'm looking for a place in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) to procure reasonably priced Green Tea.
Specifically, loose OP (orange pekoe), fair-trade, organic, not pressed or balled (gunpowder) and with no additional flavors. Just plain ol' wrinkly green tea.

A note on tea (thanks to Alton Brown of Good Eats on Food Network) -
Types of tea:
Orange Pekoe - whole leaves
Broken Orange Pekoe - large broken chunks of whole leaves
Fannings - tiny bits
Dust - dust, bad stuff

The problem with tea, the more it is broken down the more surface area is exposed and the quicker the bitter flavors are released. Most bagged tea is dust and fannings. You can't go wrong if you start with whole loose leaf tea.

The only place I've found to get what I like is the Boise Co-Op in Boise Idaho.
The long term plan is to go to onegreeworld.com (in Molalla OR) and buy a Sochi Tea bush (if I remember right, Sochi is some Russian town or something near China - anyhow the point is that the plant is cold weather tolerant).

EDIT

This is the BEST damn green tea:
http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/jade-cloud-aka-green-jade-organic-fair-trade-green-tea.html

Chicken Day April 4th

Old Mill and Feed in Dallas Oregon will be hosting their annual Chick Day this April 4th. http://oldmillfeed.com/index.html

What I have on order:
2 Rhode Island Reds (for eggs)
2 Broilers (should be mature for butchering by the 4th of July)
1 miscellaneous breed of Bantam (miniature chicken)

Pictures coming soon - also I built a coop, pics of that coming soon too.

A very helpful resource for raising chicks / chickens can be found at:

http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/poultry
and
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/

BOOKS!

books that I will be reviewing soon:

The refrigerator and the universe : understanding the laws of energy / Martin Goldstein, Inge F. Goldstein.

A short history of nearly everything / Bill Bryson.

Gödel, Escher, Bach : an eternal golden braid / Douglas R. Hofstadter.

The ten most beautiful experiments / by George Johnson.

Your inner fish : a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body / Neil Shubin.

Home cheese making : recipes for 75 homemade cheeses / Ricki Carroll

The bread baker's apprentice : mastering the art of extraordinary bread / by Peter Reinhart

The backyard beekeeper : an absolute beginner's guide to keeping bees in your yard and garden / Kim Flottum.

Artisan bread in five minutes a day : the discovery that revolutionizes home baking / Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois

The backyard homestead / edited by Carleen Madigan.

World War Z : an oral history of the zombie war / Max Brooks

Neverwhere / Neil Gaiman

Earth Abides

Personal Ice Cube Tray

Will someone please make these? I need a mini ice cube tray for work. It should hold about 6 cubes and have a watertight lid and a textured spot on the lid (so you can write your name on it with a sharpie).
The main reason for this is sanitation. I know people freak out when others use their hands to pick ice from the work ice cube tray (or if an auto ice maker the catch bin). Or someone will use tongs or a cup - but then they'll leave those tongs or cup in the ice bin. How does that help (your finger germs are now on the tongs/cup which is touching the ice)?
Ok, so please, someone make these and I'll buy a few.

Scandinavian Festival

The Scandinavian Festival in Junction City (www.scandinavianfestival.com) was a bit of a let-down. I had much higher expectation than a bunch of food and trinket vendors, half of which had nothing to do with Scandinavia (Italian food and miscellaneous toys).
My hope was to have something very kid friendly and "full-bodied". It appears to be a financial constraint that hampers the organizers (I'm sure they would do more if the resources were there).
The dancers were very talented and what food that was authentic was well made - but the general feel was that it was a good place for retirees to hang out and putter about.
My money-no-object festival would have:

vendors hawking their wares from themed booths (lets be honest viking era stuff is far more entertaining than modern Scandinavia [McDonald's anyone???]). I want a guy wandering around selling trollkors and Mjolnir amulets (trollkors are iron troll-crosses to protect you from the trolls and Mjolnir was Thor's hammer).
And to that effect I want several folks wandering around in troll masks (perferably slightly dorky or cartoony so as not to scare the kids).
Next, they seriously needs a whole section of vendors selling Jul themed stuff (Chirstmas). Where are the Gladelig Jul signs? Don't these guys know how important Christmas in Scandinavia is??? Denmark has Jul eve and two full days of Jul recognized as official holidays! Two full days man! So there should be a whole "Christmas in Scandinavia section. Import nisse trinkets (elves), kravlenisse cutouts, and where are the julboks (straw goats)??? This tradition type of stuff would fly off the shelves!
That brings up something else - the language! Menus should be in English (of course) but also their themed language. That is what gives it authenticity. If I can walk away knowing a little more that when I got there, that is priceless!
And where is the UFF DA! and hygge!?! That is serious culture!
They also need to have sample vendors - vendors who sell tiny samples of the more bold cuisine of scandinavia like lutefisk, brown cheese, fermented shark, sheep's head etc. etc. That would really be tasting Scandinavia.
Oh and smorgasbrod anyone? A nice deli stand could whip this up easy! Just break out the rye bread and cold meats.
Back to Jul - I want pebbernodder and all those other good Jul cookies! Tradition states that you should have several types of cookies to offer your guests so that no one leaves without eating at least a little something (otherwise the good luck/hygge may leave with them - thus the pebbernodder, a cookie so small that anyone can eat at least one).
Recipes - vendors and booths and such should be giving out recipes for free - we want to share the culture. Speaking of - why was no one selling Æbleskiver (aebleskiver if you want to google it) pans? My wife bought one for me years ago at a camping store. If they had one then THE Scandinavian Festival should have them! Goodness!
One more thing - there should be a live play of Beowulf or something put on by the local high school. They could charge admission (I'd happily pay a few bucks per person) for an hour summary of Beowulf for my kids to watch. If you had 30 teenagers total (actors and stagehands) and they put on two shows a day and had a hundred people in the audience average for each show, for the four days of the fest...
That would get the kids about $10 bucks each per show. Get your economics class in on setting this up, fine tune your profit margin, sell wood replica's of Beowulf's sword Hrunting, etc etc. My son loves stories where he can pick out good guys and bad guys, a high school rendition of Beowulf would be perfect for this.

Anyhow - that would be a great start - maybe throw in some more decorations and such. The 50th fest is in 2010 so I'll try to put my money where my mouth is and see what happens - and to anyone who wants to use any of these ideas to make the fest better, "please do!"

end rant :)

What is in the Garden?

What I'm growing this year:

(Disclaimer: Just bought a house in Independence in May and the back yard was totally barren and stripped of all topsoil so progress is slow. Hopefully with a few years of composting and me accepting how this yard wants to work I'll get better results)

Annuals;
Peas -
A good crop so far, trellised well on PVC and jute. I'm trying to save some seeds for next year so we'll see how that goes.
Corn -
So far so good. Corn is wind pollinated so you are best off with square or rectangle patches.
Tomatoes -
Early Girl, Roma, and some Roma hybrid. The Early Girls are doing well and I just picked the first fruit, though they are on the smaller side. The Roma are stocky but very productive, it should be in the 90's the rest of the week so we'll see how they do (the hot sunny days ripen them). The Roma hybrids are very susceptible to blossom end rot - oh well.
Pumpkins -
A variety of seeds that were mixed together - so far 4 or 5 baseball sized pumpkins on the vine. I think there would be more if it were not for the evil Satan's Ladybug (Cucumber Beetle).
Watermelon -
Sad, sad little watermelon plants. They have not grown more than a few inches since sprouting. All around bad luck. Old seeds, too much shade from the pumpkins etc has left them in the lurch.
Yellow Zucchini -
Onions -
Garlic -

Perennials;
Salal -
Oregon Grape -
Marionberry -
Raspberry -
Native Blackberry -
Blueberries -
Nectarine -
Cherry -
Apple -

Native Strawberry -
Mint -
Oregano -
Thyme -
Rosemary -
Hyssop -

Various evergreens for Yule trees
A few shade and ornamental plants (Maples, etc)