So, we have about a foot of snow on the ground here at Innisfree, which means it’s time to use the PTO snowblower I hooked up to the tractor Friday to clear the driveways and a path to the barn and hay-yard. That would be, it would be time to use it if it worked.

Somehow, the shroud around the fan that propels the snow into the chute got bent, meaning that the fan jammed against the shroud and the whole assembly ground to a halt.

How do you fix something like that? With a bigger hammer.

Really, using a combination of a come-along and chain to bend the offending part combined with hitting the shroud repeatedly with a sledgehammer NASCAR-style,  I managed to bend the shroud back into some semblance of round so that everything could once again turn freely.

If you’re thinking about farming yourself, make sure you keep a large selection of hammers, sledgehammers, mallets, and crowbars on-hand. I promise you’ll need them.

DLH

PS: As an aside, with the amount of hay forking, sledgehammering, and other arm using activities I’ve been doing lately, I should look like a potbellied Popeye by the spring. Farming is a great workout.

Read more at my Farming weblog...

Where would you go to get something if it was not available from the local big box store? What would you do if the things you rely on mega-retailers to provide for you were not available or were too expensive to ship from thousands of miles away. How will you feed and clothe yourself if the mall or the shopping center is closed?

In this era of ever increasing demand for oil, gargantuan deficit spending, and economic turbulence around the world, the possibility of rampant inflation, shortages, or simple unavailability are very real. The simple and immediate way to prepare yourself from such risks is to begin establishing local networks for the things you need as quickly as possible.

A local network is one where a good or a service comes completely from local sources, at least as much as possible. Such a network uses local raw materials, local labor, and sells the good or service with a primary focus on local customers. While such networks are hard to find in our globalized economy, they do still exist and, more importantly, they spring into existence very quickly when there is a demand.

The first place to look for such networks is at your local farmers’ market. In addition to selling locally produced food, many markets also sell other locally produced goods and services. Beyond the farmers’ market, good places to look for local networks include the downtown business areas of small towns. Another way to establish such networks is to seek out people who you know buy locally and find out where they are buying.

If you are an individual or a business who is a local producer, I want to hear from you. I want to start building local networks by connecting local producers with local consumers through profiles and dedicated websites and publications for that purpose. If you are interested in getting your name out that way, contact me.

DLH

Can someone please explain this to me because I don’t understand how it works: How does more than $5 trillion in deficit spending in four years and more than $1 trillion in new taxes, whoever they might be against, help stimulate the economy and create jobs for the more than 7 million Americans currently unemployed?

How does a budget for fiscal year 2011 that does not balance even when all spending except Medicare and Social Security are removed reflect a government in tune with national priorities? How does increasing the national debt in by 150 percent in for years make us into a better nation?

While we’re at it, I want someone to tell me again how $5 trillion in one year compares to $1 trillion in eight. How does the Bush spending on Afghanistan and Iraq compare to more than $4 trillion in spending on social programs no one in Washington or anywhere else has any idea how to pay for?

Now, what are you going to do about it? I can guarantee come September or, more likely December or January, our Congress will send a version of the 2011 budget that looks a lot like the one in play now to the President to sign. If you vote for a single one of the people who vote for it, you get what you deserve.

If you’re mad, what are you doing? If you’re not doing, why?

Get to work, people, they’re taking your country away.

DLH

I am looking for local individuals and businesses in the Dayton, Ohio area that are interested in being profiled by my on Worldview and eventually included on a website focused on providing information on opportunities for people to purchase goods and services locally. I have no limits on what I am looking for, and I will profile any local product, service, or ability whether you offer it as part of a business or as an individual.

If you are interested in this opportunity please contact me.

DLH

Returning to Innisfree allows me to indulge in something I have wanted to pursue for a long time: experimenting with growing things that most other people don’t grow for the purpose of seeing what happens.

A couple of years ago, I thought of this idea for a “beer garden” wherein I grow all of the components necessary to make my own beer (feel free to borrow and implement yourself). At the time, living on  a postage stamp of land in Dayton, I didn’t have the opportunity, but now that I am in a position to do so.

To that end, I just purchased hops, barley, and wheat seeds that will arrive in a few weeks and get planted as soon as I can get the area I am going to use ready. It should be an interesting and fun experience over the next few months with, if everything goes right, some tasty results at the end.

What I want to pass on to everyone else is not to be afraid to try things like this. Don’t over-analyze what will grow or not grow. If you want to try something, try it. If it works, great, if not, then you know.

Also, if you are looking for organically grown hops rhizomes, I purchased mine from the Thyme Garden Herb Company out of Oregon. I purchased my heritage grain seed from Bountiful Gardens out of Missouri, one of the only heritage seed providers on the internet that sells in the United States.

Stay tuned for updates as this project develops.

DLH

Read more at my Farming weblog...