Bent Tree Creations

Sheep Shearing

Andrew Schwarz — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:06:20 +0000

We sheared our new sheep yesterday, a bit of a choir, but that’s cause I think Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald weren’t quite comfy in their new homes yet. It took us about 20 minutes to shear Miles, compared to those professional shearers down under who can do one sheep in less than 3 minutes. But we got it done.

Farming

Andrew Schwarz — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:38:12 +0000

Wow, a little break in the blogging… I’m on Granny’s Farm now, in central coastal Washington. I have been here for a little under two months. The amount and wealth of knowledge here is unprecedented. Toady I started building a loam compost pile for creating potting soil for next spring. Basically remove sod for new beds, about 4 inches (10cm) thick and lay out a footprint 5′ x 5′ ; in between layers of sod add manure; continue process until pile 5′ high; cover with plastic or a thick layer of grass clippings; depending on time frame either turn pile or wait 6 months.

The Cave and Basin National Historic Site

Andrew Schwarz — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:29:58 +0000

The Cave and Basin is the site of natural thermal mineral springs, just outside of Banff, around which Canada’s first national park, Banff National Park, was established.

Would be great to go for a dip, but the pool was shut-down in 1996, when it was discovered the Banff Spring Snail was on the verge of extinction. This is the only location in the world were the snail exists. Still tempting to have a soak, but instead enjoyed taking some out of this world pictures.

Powder!

Andrew Schwarz — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:03:03 +0000

Finally the drought has ended in the Rockies.
15 cm of the fresh white stuff fell last night.
Though there were still giant sun-crusted moguls and plenty of bushes underneath at the top of Norquay,
it’s nice to know winters not totally given up yet!

The Day Blogging Began

Andrew Schwarz — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:17:02 +0000

There will be a daily to weekly spot of information here from now on.

USA hockey defeats Canada 5-3 to get a buy into the Oylmpic Quarter finals.

Add 1 cup of water to 1 cup organic wheat flour into a sterilized glass jar; cover with cheese cloth; stir one to two times daily, vigorously, for three days; bubbles should start to appear; for three more days add a couple of tablespoons more flour to feed the yeast (and continue stirring); on day seven you have Sourdough Starter.