Washing raw wool #2

Time for the "cream" colored wool to go through soaking in detergent and rinsing:

The raw wool, gross but not nearly as bad as the gray one.

First sink full of wash water, again not as bad as before.

After first wash, it is... white!

Clean raw wool. Again there is a slightly greasy feel to it still, but less than the gray wool. It does still have little specks of black dirt here and there.

Washing raw wool

At one of the local yarn stores that Sherry and I stopped at after Fenzi Camp, we found raw wool for sale. It was only $1 per oz, so I grabbed a big bag of 10 ounces to experiment with washing and carding. Half was dark brown with lighter edges, and half was cream.

I decided to tackle the dark brown wool first. Per the instructions the store had given me, I filled the sink with hot water and a small amount of detergent, covered the sink to keep the heat in, and left it until the water was lukewarm.

This was the resulting water:

And this was the resulting... gray wool??

Soak it in plain hot water to rinse. This was the water:

And this was the wool:

Second round. Wash water:

Wool:

Rinsed, then third round of wash water:

And final rinse water, almost clear:

Final wool:

The brown tips are still there, but it's mostly gray. Wow. It still has a slightly greasy feel when I rub it between my fingers, and unfortunately that's what's going to happen when I spin it. The directions stated that washing soda would get rid of grease, though you have to be careful as it will damage the fiber if left in contact for too long. I don't have any on hand but I'll pick it up and do another soak/rinse eventually.

I'm curious to see how the "cream" colored wool will turn out.

First solar dehydrator test

I wanted a solar dehydrator so that I could put fresh fruit into storage without using electricity or gas. Some months back I was able to make a trade with a dog training client - he bought the supplies and put it together for me in exchange for training lessons. I waited until a harvest of fresh organic fruit was on sale at the grocery store to test it out. Finally, peaches arrived!

And the dehydrator worked TOO well. Due to a busy schedule, I left them inside for about 36 hours, on a day that reached a high of nearly 100 degrees.

Surprisingly, the blackness is mostly cosmetic - they still taste like peaches, just a little less so than the non-burned slices.

Besides figuring out the optimal temperature and length of time for various types of fruit, there's one more thing I need to do. If you look closely at the first picture, you'll see that the lid does not sit flush with the frames that hold the screens. It used to, but the wood has warped a bit during its time in storage. I purchased silicone sealant to close off a couple of spots where the wire came away from its frame, and foam weather stripping to seal the gaps between the frames and lid. That will keep bugs away from my precious fruit!

Sausage making class

I attended a sausage-making class from the Institute of Urban Homesteading. It was run by Seth Peterson, who is easy-going and charismatic. It was a hands-on class - we picked fresh herbs from his luscious garden, chopped and mixed them with spices, mixed that into ground beef, worked the meat with our hands until it was very "tacky," fried it, and then ate it. Those were delicious sausage patties/hamburgers without casing. Then we put together a hand-cranked grinder and used it to fill pork casings and fried up the resulting sausage. That was fun but I see myself skipping that step and just making hamburger in the future. Mmmmm.

Now THAT is a stove.

A small yet abundant area of the garden.

Apple tree guild!

So delicious.

Dehydrating fruit

I've been experimenting with dehydrating apples and peaches in the oven.

I'm still working out the timing - not so dehydrated that they turn into crisps, but enough to prevent mold for a few months at least.

Unfortunately the resulting fruit is so yummy that none of it has lasted more than a week so far.

Urban Farm Tours in Hayward

The Institute of Urban Homesteading branched out the popular Urban Farm Tours to Hayward this fall. This was my first time attending a tour. I wanted to see how different people made use of small spaces (though some of the properties were multiple acres), and how the techniques I'd read about really looked when put into practice. Here are pictures of some of the things I wanted to remember for my future homestead:

Homemade greenhouse - wooden frame and plastic walls, plus a real glass door.

Tiny greenhouse made by stretching clear plastic over an existing frame. On the left, a raised bed delineated by extra cinder blocks.

This raised bed took advantage of old bricks.

And this one simply used stones.

Vegetables planted straight into rotting hay (had been left out in rain).

Tarp/plastic making a planter out of a shopping cart. Makes it easy to harvest tubers, and keeps highly invasive plants contained.

Using a shade cloth to grow leafy greens that can't tolerate full California sun.

C-shaped bed maximizes planting area while keeping everything within easy reach (like a keyhole bed).

Another c-shaped bed.

Failed experiment at using old rain gutters as strawberry beds. Cool idea for vertical gardening, but the high surface area allows the soil to dry out too quickly in a dry climate.

Successful trellising of tromboncino squash. These things were HUGE.

There's nothing to show scale here, but these bamboo shoots were at least 10 feet tall. Bamboo tends to be highly invasive, but it does create a great visual barrier, shade, and construction material.

This passionflower vine was growing onto a rope extending across the yard, and starting to make a living curtain. Great visual.

Fences don't have to be expensive, if you use scrap materials.

Sheer height is what's needed for keeping deer out.

A pop of color makes everything look great.

Gates can also be made from bamboo or scrap materials.

Reused outdoor sink.

Composting: top bin for depositing fresh stuff, middle bin for the hot pile in process, and bottom bin for finished black gold.

How cute is this?!

By later afternoon it was chilly and we were surprised by a drizzle. This fire felt SO nice. Even though the Trivalley is in triple digits in the summer, I get cold easily, and an outdoor fire pit would be a nice play to sit by during winters on my future homestead.

Rabbit jerky and fur

I made some rabbit jerky by dehydrating in the oven overnight. I didn't flavor it since I wanted to first test the technique, so it's pretty bland. I ate a bit but mostly I'll use this batch for dog treats.

On the plus side, it's a good way to use up the belly flaps of the rabbit, which some people love but I think are too tough.

Meanwhile, I have 4 skins that have finished drying and are ready for whenever I'll have time to work with them.