Morel Hunt

Today I went on my first morel hunt. We only found one but it was delicious. We cooked it in butter. Other than that it was a pretty quite day. Did some work for my neighbor. That was about it. It's gonna be a shot post cause I'm on my phone.

Hunting and Gathering.

I have been bad about posting over the last few days. I have been doing way to much stuff to post consistently. 
Yesterday, I got a little money together to go the the Worthington Farmers Market. I got a bison heart and liver, a cow heart, and 3 dozen eggs for about 54 bucks. I am gonna try to make this last a week. There were no merchants there selling grass fed butter. The people at the information booth told me that this summer they will probably have more people with dary. I am hopeful that one of them will have good butter. Sadly, I didn't have enough money to get any veggies. However, when I was heading home I had the brilliant idea of foraging my greens. 
After the farmers market I went and assisted a practice. Then I came home and had lunch. I cooked four of the new eggs I bought with some pea protein and turmeric mixed in. When I was done I felt amazing. I don't ever want to go back to conventional eggs. I was bouncing off the walls. 
I had a hot tip on some more tires in an area of woods I have never been to so I went on an adventure. I have driven by that section of woods probably a thousand times and never even noticed it was their till my friend told me about it. You take cooper road over the 270 outter belt bridge and take the first right and park in that parking lot. I didn't want to go there during the week cause that lot was full of cars. Then you head across cooper into the woods. Once in the woods there is a huge hill. I would guess a 40 foot vertical change in about 25 feet of horizontal distance. I hiked around for about an hour and found only one tire. I got stabbed with thorns and covered in mud. My feet got wet and I got bloody. At one point I came out on a bike path looking wild eyed and gave some elderly bikers a bit of a shock. I was just about to give up on finding tires when I stumbled across 5 just laying out. Over the next few minutes I found one more and a HUGE tarp. The tarp looked like someone had been living under it but they had long since moved on. It was back in a really thick part of the woods. To get it out I would just grab part and run as fast as I could. It made every tire drag I have ever done worth it. I was worried the whole time I was gonna find a body. I got it to an open area and tried to spread it out. It was too big. I folded it up as best I could and took it to my tires. It took three trips up that ridiculous hill to get this whole load out of the woods. I took my tires to the garden. 
From there I went foraging. I got a bag full of dandolion greens. The whole dandalion is ediable but I am mostly interested in the greens right now. I got another bag full of chives. However, when I made some they were way too tough and fiberous to eat. I think I waited too long into the season for them. 
After that I went to my friends and we spread out this tarp in his back yard and swept it off. Its at least 30 feet across and circular. I think I am gonna try to figure a way to get three for four smaller square tarps out of it. 
All of that together made a tired Theodore. 

Farmers Market Apple, Perfect.

Delicious be-specked egg. 

I just want to drink them like this. 

I told you it was HUGE!

Planting Tires, Slingshots, Baby Bunny and the Heart of a Cow.

Yesterday, was a full day. I started early down in the garden. I scrubbed the tractor tire more and got as much of the alge off as I am going to. I put it in place  and filled it with dirt, only to find out that the flowers that I want to put in it, morning glories, 4 o'clocks and moon flowers are all supposed to be planted in June. I also planted two more beds, one with some more salad greens and one with radish. I think they will be done and ready to come out before the squash is ready to go in. I really like the idea of getting multiple harvests from the same beds before the end of the year.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent some time whittling this!

I got the designs on line. I used my Leathermen for almost everything. The Leathermen has no scissors so I had to used the another pair. It is surprisingly accurate with in about 30 feet. 

After I made the Slingshot, I picked up two old friends from the greyhound station. We returned to the woods for walking and slingshot testing. While there we found this! 

A few years ago I was out walking and I stepped on a baby bunny by accident. I eviscerated it and the experience was horrible. Several of my friends who know about these thing consoled me by telling me that it was abandon and would have died anyway. Then when I posted a picture on facebook about this bunny, those same friends told me I should put it back so its mother can find it. One of these statements can't be true. Regardless I am putting the bunny back. Dangress, my cat, has been eyeing this shoe box all night. Besides if it lives I can shoot it with my sling shot in a few months when its full grown and have rabbit stew. 

My friends and I cooked dinner together. There is truly nothing better than a good meal cooked with good friends. We cooked the beef heart I have been saving since last year. It was delicious. I had tried to make it once before and it went terribly. The trick was removing all the connective tissue and rinsing the blood out completely. Then I just used a simple apple-cider vinegar and olive oil marinade and grilled it. We also had sweet potato fries with it. Delicious. 

After dinner we went for a walk and found three more tires that are now sitting in my back yard. 

Oh and my watering can is growing something!

City Water!

Today, The water was on!

I did a jig!

Then it started raining.

I got my big tractor tire scrubbed some. However, its gonna need a lot of work to get all the algae off. That said my tire clock is on its way. Tomorrow it should be sunny though still rather cold and unpleasant. However, I have two old friends coming into town so I want to get my garden presentable before they arrive. 

First World Problems.

Today, finally, fed up with this malarkey, I took buckets and brought water from the creek. There is a creek about 100 meters from my garden. I had two five gallon buckets. I had to take three trips to get enough water. My shoulders burned and my back still aches. The radishes I planted needed wanter badly. 

Rant time. I spoke to the city two weeks ago about the water. Then, they told me last monday the 15th would be on. The water wasn't on. I called three times the the day after Tuesday the 16th. Each time the person I talked to said they would call the service department right away. Then on Thursday I was out doing silly heat training. I had hoped the water would be on then, would have helped with the heat stroke I got the day after.  When I was out doing that I stopped at the Service department. The guy there told me that they were not even the right people to talk to. But he did give me a number of someone else to talk to. I called that number the next day. The person there told me early this week the water would be on. Today Tuesday the 23rd it was still not on. I called again. The exact same woman I talked to last week told me not until the beginning of May. At this point I lost it. "I wouldn't mind if you all had just told me May One from the start. But no! You all have been telling me just a few days for two weeks. I have put seeds in the ground. I have already lost a good deal of money by putting things in the ground and not being able to water it." I think this got to her. She went to her supervisor (city workers). A few hours later I got a call from him. I explained the whole situation again. He told me they will be down there doing it first thing tomorrow. Its supposed to rain tomorrow morning. So you will forgive me if I am not convinced. Luckily I got his direct line when he called me. If its not on tomorrow I can call directly. And post the number. And tell all my friends to call. 

On the bright side, I met one of the long timers of the gardens. A guy who has been down at those gardens for more than 20 years. He told me that he was down there gardening before the gardens were even there. They used to be on the other side of the wooded area where they now are. I vaguely remember them being over there. I used to live on a near by street. My father and I would walk down there. This guy was down there before there were spigot down there. He told me that he was the one who petitioned for them to install the water spigot. Before that Everyone was hauling water up like I was today. Kinda puts it all in perspective. 

469 Pageviews and finishing my fence!

Wow. The pageviews on this blog just matched the pageviews on my other blog. Please Don't go look for my other blog cause it will bump up its pageviews and this cycle will never end. I want to thank everyone who is reading this. You rule and I am sorry for my spelling and grammar.
Today, I did some solid work in my garden. I used the mulch/compost in the back of the community garden area to cover the bottom of the fence. I only had a 35 gallon plastic tub to carry the dirt. I had to load it up and carry it on my shoulder about 150 meters. It took 10 trips.
The water still isn't on but they said early this week, so soon. When the water is on I want to wash off my big tractor tire and plant in it. I have moon flowers, morning glories, and a third flower that is supposed to bloom in the afternoon that I can't remember. I am also gonna put a sundial in the middle of the tire and a clock face around the sides. I am so stoked!

Squirrel Vs Dog

Yesterday, when I was down at the garden I noticed the fence was coming up around the bottom.  I noticed this cause my friend asked me to walk their dog when they were out of town. I took the dog down to the garden and she slipped out under the fence. If a 45 lbs dog can get under it a rabbit will have no problem. 
Today, I took my friends dog back and as I pulled up the the garden there was a squirrel inside my fence. The dog spent 10 minutes chasing the squirrel back in forth. The dog couldn't get in and the squirrel didn't have time to get out before the dog would get to where it was. I know I am probably going to hell for letting it go on that long. Finally I had to put the dog back in the car and let the squirrel escape. 
I had the idea to use the wire from old political signs to tie the fence down. The wire cutters I have were in no way up to the challenge. Leathermen are jacks of all trades masters of none. I got some bolt cutters that make you feel like a real man when you use them. They made short work of it. I bent the wire into V shapes and stabbed them through the fence into the ground. The fence was tacked down quickly after that. 
I want to go back tomorrow and use the mulch/compost in at the end of the space down there and bury the fence that is tacked down. But for the moment I have a bunch of homework to do.