Archive | December, 2012

Thorough Explanation of GMOs and Glyphosate

In this interview with Dr. Mercola, Dr. Don Huber gives a thorough presentation on the problems associated with GMO crops and the use of glyphosate, commonly known as Round UP.  He discusses that it was originally patented as a chelator, and due to these properties, micro-nutrients are not being bound in plants – meaning that those plants become deficient in those micro-nutrients.  According to Huber, this can disrupt enzyme functions which in turn can disrupt endocrine systems.  The interview is 57 minutes long, but it is definitely worth watching every minute of it.

Dr. Huber is a staff professor at Purdue University.  He is an agricultural scientist and expert in microbial ecology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4swW9OFmf8&feature=player_embedded

 

New Winter Projects and Yarn Review

Sometimes at Meduseld, we do use yarn that was not made by our own flock.  This morning I finished putting together two sweaters I had been working on since a few weeks before Christmas.   In this case, I used a Lion Brand Yarn called Amazing because I was intrigued by the color palettes that the line had.  The larger sweater was knitted in the color Glacier and the smaller was done in Wildflower.

The recommended knitting needle size was US 9, but both were knitted up in US 7 in order to get a smoother look.  The smaller sweater was finished around the neck with crochet, and I used an F hook instead of the suggested J.   I used four skeins for the small sweater and 5 skeins for the large, although I bought extra.  The extra was used to match colors when a skein would run out, so now there is leftover yarn, but it helped prevent abrupt color stops and starts.

This was a very nice yarn to work with.  The yarn is composed of 53% wool and 47% acrylic and does not have an artificial feel.  Fortunately, it is machine wash cool, and dry flat, which makes it easy maintenance, especially for children’s clothes.  There were few down sides.  One was that this yarn does not unravel easily; there is just enough fuzz that it catches and prevents undoing your work.  I only had to do this once, on the crochet edging, but it did prevent me from unwinding as far back as needed.  The other downside is matching all the colors in a way that makes the garment look uniform when finished, especially when making the seams at the end.  My great knitter friend has been knitting most of her sweaters lately with the top down method on circular needles so that she has fewer seams, and I think this yarn would benefit from this method, as it would likely show off the spectacular color patterns to their best advantage. 

 

Winter Projects – Aran Crochet Sweater

 

April 25, 2013 Update:  The patterns for making the cables in the sweater are now provided in this post!

Here is another of those winter chores that never bore!

This is an aran crocheted sweater made with 100 percent Romney wool in worsted weight.  This sweater was made in “extra large,” and used approximately 2000 yards of worsted wool.  This wool and and others in different weights from fingerling to bulky, are available in our store.

Formerly, people said that aran sweaters could not be crocheted, that the intricate patterns created and admired on the fair green isle of Ireland could only be done with knitting needles.  Recently, however, several books have come out showing that this technique can be replicated easily with the crochet hook and the results are lovely.  The additional bonus is that while crochet does use more yarn than knitting, the resulting “fabric” is denser and more insulating.

At Meduseld, the Romney sheep fleeces have a very high sheen, which creates the glossy look to the yarn that you see in the photos.  When we bought our first sheep, finding ones with top-of-the-line fleeces was important, and we have continued to breed that quality in our Romney line. 

 

 

 

 

Hoop-house Gardening

As promised, we are starting with the first post about winter farm activities, and it is one of our personal favorites. 

We began hoop house, or tunnel gardening after I bought Eliot Coleman’s book, The Four Season Harvest, as a Christmas present for my spouse.  We started our first hoop house that January, a small structure, only 12×16 feet, made of PVC pipe and some boards.  By March we were enjoying salad, radishes, and cilantro.  That winter may have been a warmer winter than most, but we were sincerely impressed with our first attempt.

Inside first hoophouse.  First year.  This also gives a good look at the PVC bracing for do-it-yourselfers who want to make one for yourselves.

Inside first hoophouse. First year. This also gives a good look at the PVC bracing for do-it-yourselfers who want to make one for yourselves.

That little structure is now gone and has been replaced by two sturdier versions made of bent fencing and a wood “foundation.”  Both are set directly on the ground and we plant directly in the soil.  We have one layer of agricultural plastic on one and two layers on the other.  Each layer is supposed to give us approximately one more agricultural growth zone, but we find that the extra layer actually reduces the amount of sunlight, so you don’t actually get two full zones.  Meduseld is in a 6b agricultural zone, and we are not getting to 8b with the extra layer.  We find that the plants in the one layer house seem to do better, and when the weather warms, we will reduce the other to one layer as well.

We have been working on amending the soil gradually and I wish we had focused on this more during construction phase.  We have still had to contend with insects and less than ideal growth at times, and we think this is due to the fact that we did not follow all Mr. Coleman’s advice about soil amendments, especially copious amounts of compost.  Over the years, we have gotten better at composting, and hopefully this will pay off.

None-the-less we have enjoyed chard, lettuce, fresh herbs, brassicas, every year since but one.  That year was exceptionally cold and there was not enough sunlight to warm the soil during the day.   We could have resorted to heating the tunnels, but that seems contrary to what we are trying to achieve – namely growing produce without consuming non-renewable energy.

Hoop houses are wonderful for rotating “crops” and for extending growing seasons.  There is also no waste.  Anything that does not do well,  becomes overgrown, or gets insects, becomes chicken feed.  We see this as a win/win situation even if we can’t put something on our table – we’re certain the chickens are glad for fresh greens in the middle of the winter, or as the case today, right after a snow storm.

Mr. Coleman’s book had excellent charts with plants that can be grown during the winter months and that are tolerant to cold temperatures.  We strongly recommend this book and it is available in the Meduseld Amazon store.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas wishes from Meduseld!

There is the impression that farm life slows during the winter months.  Not true!  We are going to share the activities of the cold months with you and provide links and information so that you can do these as well.  Of if you prefer, you can just follow along, as we work here at Meduseld.

We have been asked – why Meduseld?  Meduseld is the anglicized version of the anglo-saxon word maeduselde, which means mead hall.  Since we raise bees and are interested in Beowulf and medieval hsitory, we thougth the name is appropriate.  We choose to use the simplified version; its much easier to provide as a web address:)

The next posts will cover hoop or tunnel house gardening, maple syrup making, spinning and dyeing wool, and livestock care.

 logo_meduseld150B