It's definitely a Monday. Things aren't going badly. But, everyone's energy is low and there have been distractions to getting the work rolling today.
This is when it's good to set your own pace; take a moment to re-group.
We were all a bit disappointed with the $150 payout for our trailer full of cedar that represented several hours of work and half a day just getting it delivered and unloaded. We need to re-think how we are going to approach this.
The cedar isn't easy to reach. There isn't a lot of older stuff in the area we are working right now. There isn't much money in selling it. But, it needs to be removed and we hate the idea of just burning it all. Everywhere we look folks (forestry and conservation folks) are saying, "there ought to be a market" for this. They are great about pointing out the many uses for and the benefits of Eastern Red Cedar... but, alas, the markets just aren't there. They haven't been developed or the distance is too great. And while there are some great ideas out there for production/utilization, we don't have a few $million sitting around to start such a venture ourselves. The semi-local sawmills are begging for trees, yet the pay is paltry. My economics class taught something about supply and demand, but I must have gotten it wrong because even though there seems to be high demand and low supply (as far as folks willing to actually log the cedar out), the prices remain low.
So, this Monday we are researching, thinking and re-grouping. Me, I'm working on the antiques and getting them all listed on our Etsy site between "google" searches for outlets for our wood products. Eric, he's at the doctor getting treatment for his back pain. This is our strategy for coping with the stress a Monday brings, just change pace and re-focus, don't let it control you.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Hillbilly Junk = Hipster Treasures
If you've ever driven through rural America, you've noticed junk heaps near homes. Decades of rusted metal and stuff piled about in various areas. We have our requisite piles here at Barren Creek Farm.
Over the years, every barn or shed no longer in use for agriculture production has been filled with junk... or treasure. Depends on how you look at things.
A city friend visiting from Dallas once asked me why it was that she saw this everywhere on her drive to our home. I simply asked her, "what do you do with your lawnmower when it dies?" She thought a moment and replied, "I just set it out by the trash at the curb and it disappears." With a smile, I replied, "well, I don't have a magical curb to make things disappear from my life." And that's mostly the truth of it.
It's complicated by the fact that, in the past, repair parts could prove difficult to locate, took a long time to receive (ordering and shipping) and were costly. So keeping a broken item around to rob parts from was a common approach to overcoming the inconvenience of rural life. The internet, overnight shipping, and rural trash pick up have eliminated most of the reasoning behind the piles.
Decades of saving things which may someday prove to have a purpose led to an accumulation of deteriorating junk and rats' nests. Finally, my brother was willing to dig in to the piles and face the nasty work of cleaning and sorting through the junk and treasure left in the barns and sheds on the farm. I can't emphasize how difficult this work has been. It's a dirty job. But, it was ridiculous to have multiple dry shelter buildings falling further into disrepair, the items in them decaying and piled to a point that you couldn't find anything if you needed.
For his first task, he cleaned out and sorted through the old dairy barn. Which developed my task, to clean, research and list the items we have salvaged from the debris for sale... so we can have some cash to continue our mission to save the family farm and develop a sustainable enterprise.
I have learned a lot about the items we have found. Who knew granny's old hand juicer would be of value to someone today? Or that barn full of decaying, gray wood is really full of highly prized, authentically aged "barn wood" and that antique jar just might complete someone's collection. Well, I did. It just took me well over a decade to convince those around me... who are still scratching their heads at the idea of selling some of this stuff and look bemused at the Pinterest pictures I show them. So far we've kept a good deal of it from the scrap yard. I keep telling them Hillbilly Junk is a Hipster's Treasure. But, really, you don't have to be a hipster to love these old items. Frankly, it can be hard to part with them once we've cleaned them and done a bit of research on their history and value.
For me, it's fun to clean the items and do the research to learn more about their history and value. I hope they will end up in the home of someone who genuinely appreciates them and can give them new purpose. Speaking of which, Granny had a lot of quart sized mason jars. Our families aren't as big and we won't use them for canning... at least not all of them. We have plenty left to sell!
Over the years, every barn or shed no longer in use for agriculture production has been filled with junk... or treasure. Depends on how you look at things.
A city friend visiting from Dallas once asked me why it was that she saw this everywhere on her drive to our home. I simply asked her, "what do you do with your lawnmower when it dies?" She thought a moment and replied, "I just set it out by the trash at the curb and it disappears." With a smile, I replied, "well, I don't have a magical curb to make things disappear from my life." And that's mostly the truth of it.
It's complicated by the fact that, in the past, repair parts could prove difficult to locate, took a long time to receive (ordering and shipping) and were costly. So keeping a broken item around to rob parts from was a common approach to overcoming the inconvenience of rural life. The internet, overnight shipping, and rural trash pick up have eliminated most of the reasoning behind the piles.
Decades of saving things which may someday prove to have a purpose led to an accumulation of deteriorating junk and rats' nests. Finally, my brother was willing to dig in to the piles and face the nasty work of cleaning and sorting through the junk and treasure left in the barns and sheds on the farm. I can't emphasize how difficult this work has been. It's a dirty job. But, it was ridiculous to have multiple dry shelter buildings falling further into disrepair, the items in them decaying and piled to a point that you couldn't find anything if you needed.
For his first task, he cleaned out and sorted through the old dairy barn. Which developed my task, to clean, research and list the items we have salvaged from the debris for sale... so we can have some cash to continue our mission to save the family farm and develop a sustainable enterprise.I have learned a lot about the items we have found. Who knew granny's old hand juicer would be of value to someone today? Or that barn full of decaying, gray wood is really full of highly prized, authentically aged "barn wood" and that antique jar just might complete someone's collection. Well, I did. It just took me well over a decade to convince those around me... who are still scratching their heads at the idea of selling some of this stuff and look bemused at the Pinterest pictures I show them. So far we've kept a good deal of it from the scrap yard. I keep telling them Hillbilly Junk is a Hipster's Treasure. But, really, you don't have to be a hipster to love these old items. Frankly, it can be hard to part with them once we've cleaned them and done a bit of research on their history and value.
For me, it's fun to clean the items and do the research to learn more about their history and value. I hope they will end up in the home of someone who genuinely appreciates them and can give them new purpose. Speaking of which, Granny had a lot of quart sized mason jars. Our families aren't as big and we won't use them for canning... at least not all of them. We have plenty left to sell!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Thinning the Forest - Part One
Step One - Eastern Red Cedar Removal
Here in the Arkansas Ozarks we have an abundance of Eastern Red Cedar. Seriously, it grows like weeds.
All forests need to be thinned on a regular cycle to maintain the health of the forest. It's important to maintain a balance of old growth and young trees. Cedar grows so prevalently on our hills that it can more aggressively be thinned. Since it has been a few decades since this chore has been addressed on the farm, there are several older growth large cedars as well as a bazillion tiny baby cedars.
We aren't quite sure what to do with all of the little ones that need to be removed and thinned (we will, of course, leave some) from the fields and forest edges. It is a shame to waste a product that has a viable use (cedar oil, cedar mulch, cedar chips, cedar pellets) but alas we don't have a means of making use of this waste wood at this time. We may stockpile some of it until we can afford to chip it and go from there, but we've yet to find a viable market for our eastern red cedar woody biomass waste or the logs smaller than 4 inches in diameter. It won't take long for us to have a small mountain of debris, we don't want to burn. 
The logs that have a 6" or bigger cant (square log that can be cut from the heart) within the proper length are being sold to a mill about 35 miles from Barren Creek Farm. While they don't bring us a lot of cash, it is better than wasting the wood and it really does need to be logged. Still, it seems there should be a better market for the wood, especially when mills complain they don't have enough wood to saw. While the payout is disappointing, it is a relief to see progress made toward reclaiming the farm.We have a lot of eastern red cedar to log off the land, hopefully we'll come up with a solution for the wood waste that is economically feasible and environmentally sound. Feel free to chime in with your solutions, especially if you know of any buyers willing to pay a good price for the logs!
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