Trees rupture in the cold, I hear them popping at night, some close some far, different intervals, staccato, a sonic moonscape. Sometimes the sounds come from very far away, the forest is deep. Tree sap is filled with sugars to keep it from freezing but sometimes its just too cold. This will not kill the trees, usually.
Our walk-in coolers need heaters this time of year. Feels strange setting up a heater in a giant refridgerator but there you have it, that’s what we do. I once worked at an orchard beneath a huge icey mountain in Colorado. Every night in the fall, before the peaches were fully ripe, it got so cold that we lit great big bonfires up and down the rows of trees. The fires burned all night, the lengths we go to for our food.
When you live in a yurt everyone wonders if you are ok. “But its going to be cold, will you be ok?” I don’t dog anyone for asking this, its a fair question. The answer is always the same. “Yes, we are as snug as bugs.” People in Siberia live in yurts too.
I like metal music in the wintertime, maybe because most of the good stuff comes from Scandinavia where there is little light and lots of ice. I also like classical music in the wintertime, especially when I am moving snow on the tractor. In my head I am conducting quite the symphony, elegantly swooping bucketfuls of snow, cascading snow into a crescendo, a mountain. I bet from the outside I look less like a symphony conductor and more like a madman with very little tractor experience.
They call it a cord of wood because it was once measured with a large rope (or cord) that would loop around it, somehow proving it was 128 cubic feet. A cord of wood is four feet deep, four feet high, and eight feet long. According to 2021 prices a cord cost about $300, which is a tick up from last years average. We burn anywhere from four to six cords a winter just heating our small yurt. At the big farm house they go through about three because they enjoy the modern convenience of insulated walls.
You are getting frozen tomatoes this week, a blast from the past. We like to take them and thaw them in a pan on low with a lid and some tap water. When they begin to pop crank up the heat and add garlic, onion, peppers, whatever you like, quick little pan sauce. Chiles too, but those are nice on their own blackened in a pan a bit. That keeps the cold away, even in a yurt.
Peace,
Stowe
This week you shall dine upon turnips, carrots, kale, greens, frozen tomatoes and chiles, beets, garlic, onions, and potatoes.
Our walk-in coolers need heaters this time of year. Feels strange setting up a heater in a giant refridgerator but there you have it, that’s what we do. I once worked at an orchard beneath a huge icey mountain in Colorado. Every night in the fall, before the peaches were fully ripe, it got so cold that we lit great big bonfires up and down the rows of trees. The fires burned all night, the lengths we go to for our food.
When you live in a yurt everyone wonders if you are ok. “But its going to be cold, will you be ok?” I don’t dog anyone for asking this, its a fair question. The answer is always the same. “Yes, we are as snug as bugs.” People in Siberia live in yurts too.
I like metal music in the wintertime, maybe because most of the good stuff comes from Scandinavia where there is little light and lots of ice. I also like classical music in the wintertime, especially when I am moving snow on the tractor. In my head I am conducting quite the symphony, elegantly swooping bucketfuls of snow, cascading snow into a crescendo, a mountain. I bet from the outside I look less like a symphony conductor and more like a madman with very little tractor experience.
They call it a cord of wood because it was once measured with a large rope (or cord) that would loop around it, somehow proving it was 128 cubic feet. A cord of wood is four feet deep, four feet high, and eight feet long. According to 2021 prices a cord cost about $300, which is a tick up from last years average. We burn anywhere from four to six cords a winter just heating our small yurt. At the big farm house they go through about three because they enjoy the modern convenience of insulated walls.
You are getting frozen tomatoes this week, a blast from the past. We like to take them and thaw them in a pan on low with a lid and some tap water. When they begin to pop crank up the heat and add garlic, onion, peppers, whatever you like, quick little pan sauce. Chiles too, but those are nice on their own blackened in a pan a bit. That keeps the cold away, even in a yurt.
Peace,
Stowe
This week you shall dine upon turnips, carrots, kale, greens, frozen tomatoes and chiles, beets, garlic, onions, and potatoes.
