tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15147829377410927442024-02-02T18:45:06.408-05:00Ol' TimeySterling College Farmstead Arts students journal their class experiences, projects and thoughtsBruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00840405581139348988noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-8735687819215256312011-07-03T09:42:00.003-04:002011-07-03T09:47:28.043-04:00Course reflection, by Liz<div><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">At times life may not be all that stressful. Then there are the days when you don’t want to get out of bed. Farmstead arts is one of those classes that you want to get up for because you know that you are going to be learning a new craft, or outlet for stress and creativity. The course is not full of lab reports and reading. You work with your hands and create novelty items, foods and salves (among other specifics). Most of these items are used completely free of any harmful or toxic chemicals, making them environmentally friendly and suiting the conservation ecology degree I am going for.</p><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">Learning how to use different locally harvested fiber sources for baskets and paper was a great way to get in touch with the land and create a sustainable product from a renewable resource. When you feel the muscles ache in your arms from pounding black ash logs and harbor your stress into making each strip of weaving material perfect you turn negative energy into something positive, like a basket.</p><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">Some classes may not be so clear to some people why they are important but by the time you finish you realize that the skills you gained and the lessons learned in taking time to create something you are proud of and focusing on a goal can be very rewarding. Many other students do not yet have a child and have not gone through the few weeks where its sheer paranoia over everything that could potentially harm them. This class gives an introduction into safe products for babies and children.</p><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">The salve that we made in class is great to use on chapped knees of a baby just learning to crawl and walk. The dyes are made from natural sources so the leaching of chemicals into skin isn’t a worry. The process of dehydrating is a lifesaver when you need snacks for on the go. Drying fruit and mixing it in with some cheerios or whatever trail mix you create is a great way to make the food go farther and satisfy the sweet tooth in a healthier way.</p><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; ">There is no doubt that the skills I gained in this class with stick with me throughout my life. There have also been seeds planted for further study and exploration. These sorts of introductory classes get your mind reeling and your eyes are opened to many possibilities of value added products, healthier options and sustainable alternatives.</p><p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><i>--posted on behalf of Liz--</i></p><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-19590706316596063602011-07-02T22:42:00.002-04:002011-07-02T22:45:13.402-04:00Dems some shiny rocks!I had so much fun working with the lapidary equipment! I had been doing the wire wrapping in finished stones, but actually getting to polish the stones was so much fun! I'm going to work on more gravel and wrap it, maybe sell it at the farmers market. Its amazing what a grubby stone can turn into! I also thought it would be really difficult and complicated, but the swap top machine was sooo easy to use! I hope I get the chance to play with it more!Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13019080189798939896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-80101540444127199682011-07-02T22:38:00.002-04:002011-07-02T22:42:32.986-04:00Natural dyesWOAD! I wanted to experiment with the smelly bucket of woad, but I didn't out of consideration for other's sense of smell. Ive always been curious about woad and its use by the Picts, and I want to learn more about it. I knew that woad was used to dye the skin and was used in actual tattoos, but I was unaware that it could be used on fabric. I also was under the impression that the plant used in the dye had become extinct...but the bucket of pigment and urine proved me wrong. I was also interested in indigo, my theme here seems to be blue.....at some point I hope to dye my comforter blue, but I think I need to consult more with Jody and read more before I try anythingEricahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13019080189798939896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-44560195970947740692011-07-01T09:39:00.000-04:002011-07-01T09:39:10.877-04:00Turning gravel to gemsThis was perhaps the activity I had been looking forward to most this class. I got turned on to lapidary arts by Jody when she was experimenting over break, and definitely see myself pursuing this activity in the future, weather for hobby, use or sale. I was able to cut a limestone embedded with layers of quartz to three pieces. one piece i shaped and buffed to make a pendant for a necklace, another i am trying to shape into a stamp. There are so many different applications, both ornamental and practical, my head is teaming with ideas. I also like a lot that you only need one machine to really use all the different shaping and buffing tools, so both cost and clutter are kept low. The really great thing is that the resource itself, the rocks, are both abundant and individually unique, so you can get a very high value out of a free commodity that requires no effort or investment in producing.<br />
<br />
Again with this craft there is a lot of science to consider, and the composition and hardness of the stone will determine how easily it will be manipulated. I was surprised at how easily and quickly the stones were shaved down and reduced in size. You really need to be careful not to overdo the shaping and lose too much mass. I started experimenting with the carving tools and they do take time to adjust to too, but luckily if it doesn't work i can just shave off a piece and start over.<br />
<br />
This was our last farmstead arts class. Through the semester we not only learned how to create specific things, but learned to expand our minds and look at everything around us in a different light. weeds are not longer an annoyance, but potential paper or dyes; orange peels are not only compost, but can be used for essential oils; trees and their bark are baskets, and pebbles are jewels. I am eager to find other things that seem insignificant and can be converted to useful and beautiful objects! Thank you to Jody and to all my class mates for an amazing experience of learning, growing and fun!Bruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00840405581139348988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-21150298509605469952011-06-30T17:07:00.021-04:002011-06-30T21:50:34.479-04:00Lapidary Arts - Cutting and Polishing StonesToday we fashioned some rough pebbles into smooth, beautifully polished stones. The best stones to use are relatively low on the Mohs scale of hardness such as soapstone (2), and serpentine (2.5). If you can scratch the stone with a piece of steel it should be soft enough to work with. You do not want a stone that is too soft though such as talc (1 on the Mohs scale) because it may break apart.<br /><br />To work with stone it will help to have a machine. We used the "Inland Swamp Top All-In-Wonder Lapidary Machine." It is a basic wet saw as would be used to cut tile but the top flips over and different attachments can be added for different purposes. From the middle ages up until the industrial revolution slabbing and polishing wheels were powered by water wheels in rivers. In Vermont, marble, slate, and granite are abundant and have been mined from the hills for hundreds of years. In fact, the first marble quarry in the United States was on Mount Aeolus overlooking East Dorset, Vt. Here is a description by Ronald Robinson of the marble quarries of Vermont in 1890:<br />"In the great pits, yawning wider and deeper every year, men and engines, in sunshine and in storm, delve all the seasons through. When the landscape is bright under the summer sun they may be seen, like ants toiling in their cells, hundreds of feet below the surface. Now and then an ant grows into a burly, grimy man, climbing the giddy stairs; or a small watercarrier, bearing, with careful steps, his heavy bucket to the thirsty workmen..."<br /><br />The uses for polished stone are wide and varied. One could make soapstone chess pieces, obsidian arrow/spear/axe heads, obsidian scalpel edges such as the Incas used for surgery, inlays for belts/staffs/knife handles, mosaics, jewelry, paper weights, decorations, the list goes on. Today we just made some nice polished stones that can be altered further for various purposes. Here is how to do it.<br /><br />After you select your stone, examine it to find what part of it you think will look best. You may want to check for cracks and faults as well to help determine which parts you would like to eliminate. The first step is to shape your stone using the diamond trim saw. Remove the top of the machine and set the blade in. Make sure to secure the arbor nut and note that like a table saw, it is tightened using a left hand thread. The trim saw will essentially achieve "slabbing" on a micro scale. Fill the water reservoir of the machine and connect the drain hose to a waste bucket. Set the drip valve to have 1 or 2 drops every second falling onto the blade. Turn the machine on, wet the stone, and slowly feed the stone into the blade. The blade should begin to cut through the stone and you should notice water and stone dust draining out the tube into the waste bucket. You can continue cutting through the stone at different angles until you achieve your desired slab trim. Depending on your stone, you may start to notice some nice colors and patterns in the interior of the stone. If the saw starts to struggle you may need to push less hard, turn the RPM's up or down, or apply more water to the stone and blade.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4dIP-oYqMAnBf1T90F8Xi_CgVMgB6rFDVajyAYHulHE_8Uvc0xW9ScW6mibNB8eESy0Bhjl_Z93e3RV7sqf3m_4Y_nKBBc94XWdYaBMRSwHB6baAbraM5lW9yKZ8OZQApbCNsmrSj0k/s1600/IMG_1090.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4dIP-oYqMAnBf1T90F8Xi_CgVMgB6rFDVajyAYHulHE_8Uvc0xW9ScW6mibNB8eESy0Bhjl_Z93e3RV7sqf3m_4Y_nKBBc94XWdYaBMRSwHB6baAbraM5lW9yKZ8OZQApbCNsmrSj0k/s320/IMG_1090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624172078539698674" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9YuH9HRiEtMFEhVLYmdF54NQSKzGkkDf8oX8qFGT80n_Cvh_Mbq_3Hg_8_WKC8scSkTpQ5b7vrHe2RussUcZw1NzyEr_3l6AaswFP6i-16KOSx6TK1quw3UoPEv5-YHhf7yShcbn3Q0/s1600/IMG_1095.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9YuH9HRiEtMFEhVLYmdF54NQSKzGkkDf8oX8qFGT80n_Cvh_Mbq_3Hg_8_WKC8scSkTpQ5b7vrHe2RussUcZw1NzyEr_3l6AaswFP6i-16KOSx6TK1quw3UoPEv5-YHhf7yShcbn3Q0/s320/IMG_1095.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624171348649327090" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRKzEh4PkMKX33HAZTD8CBzlLmbskajNvWfMEelLkHq-6f3FGvRk1AkQSQBbD1cbKQrQUZxcl4eV0ET96133kNdePh0LUmFBqMG3rslzl72cwzguY9f-GwMubQ28CVYpujx_dfXaRe7E/s1600/IMG_1096.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrRKzEh4PkMKX33HAZTD8CBzlLmbskajNvWfMEelLkHq-6f3FGvRk1AkQSQBbD1cbKQrQUZxcl4eV0ET96133kNdePh0LUmFBqMG3rslzl72cwzguY9f-GwMubQ28CVYpujx_dfXaRe7E/s320/IMG_1096.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624171733331331330" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxIa19TmnYXFoO_4tiGe3ojotmdfKg2sBhd-GW0TNkEMNe1dceRdufWQkBGQiqg0vVF06wRciVrQ1JD5sb0FN2Evkt9i_XnGD_KFOGBRmiOVZOrsp3wMC0EhfgOiwYJuWMwitRB17Dsk/s1600/IMG_1094.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxIa19TmnYXFoO_4tiGe3ojotmdfKg2sBhd-GW0TNkEMNe1dceRdufWQkBGQiqg0vVF06wRciVrQ1JD5sb0FN2Evkt9i_XnGD_KFOGBRmiOVZOrsp3wMC0EhfgOiwYJuWMwitRB17Dsk/s320/IMG_1094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624172490549277362" /></a><br /><br />Next you will need to take off the top of the machine and remove the trim saw with an Allen key. Attach the edger/grinder/shaper tool. Use this tool to remove or add corners and further refine the shape of your stone. This tool uses the opposite side of the top facing up as a water reservoir and a guard.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlu2Y-LkUQJrROL20rGww_gSJsikyvCj4Lzv6HrOM9ihzdf4GGGuXt3juXq5kmL1kkJxQix0HJaV4AwMtJmZZrhY-5C1WbYe-JdF8xrkqrl-JpFfH1UdbhAoPCWCNT436cgTn2SOeNOc/s1600/IMG_1121.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlu2Y-LkUQJrROL20rGww_gSJsikyvCj4Lzv6HrOM9ihzdf4GGGuXt3juXq5kmL1kkJxQix0HJaV4AwMtJmZZrhY-5C1WbYe-JdF8xrkqrl-JpFfH1UdbhAoPCWCNT436cgTn2SOeNOc/s320/IMG_1121.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624173560747245490" /></a><br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uBKiROyxdYY?hl=en&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Next remove the edger/grinder/shaper and attach the 6" "master lap" which is a white plastic disc. Set the lap horizontally and allow it to touch the plastic below it and then lift it up just a scoce and secure with the Allen key. This lap will give stability to your polishing laps. Begin with a 325 grit lap (coarse grain) and attach it to your master lap. Next setup your dop station. It is an electrical heating element that had a reservoir for wax and shlack. Melt some wax in the reservoir and heat your stone on the edge. Use a small dowel and dip it in the wax. Place the wax tip on a side of the stone that you are not going to polish and press the wax down with your fingers to secure the dowel to the stone. The dowel will be your handle to keep your hands safe while polishing. Hold the dowel, wet your stone and apply it to the spinning lap at different angles. Turn the stone around to grind away divots and other imperfections. Repeat this process using 600, 1200 and finally 14,000 grain lap. Note that the finer the grain the faster the RPM's should be. During the last lap which is the polishing phase, the stone should be dry. You will begin to see a nice sheen develop on the stone that can make it appear almost precious. If you want to polish the side that the dop is attached to, freeze the dop stone and wax and the wax should break off very easily. Apply the dop to the already polished side and finish the job. The result might just surprise you with its brilliance.<br /><br />The dop station with wax and rocks heating<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4RVDJWy0cIbxgwlym1kPEPHaw7gCbkE4Kp4YvooXBXpTe6UUIowUVrYobrLc7CaS_HnCn5KfBgKsZue6C-BFOFEHMLvCZpRVCPG3ttYQvjucwlP-fUHTYVw1M1EenMEICRNSG8nPW-g/s1600/IMG_1122.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4RVDJWy0cIbxgwlym1kPEPHaw7gCbkE4Kp4YvooXBXpTe6UUIowUVrYobrLc7CaS_HnCn5KfBgKsZue6C-BFOFEHMLvCZpRVCPG3ttYQvjucwlP-fUHTYVw1M1EenMEICRNSG8nPW-g/s320/IMG_1122.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624178517816561266" /></a><br /><br />Dop applied to stone<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeZnGSUM4t4sAJmjStBB146b9G5v88OzbX2N2mh-ifGRHDgTtCp5fQhL1pcOATeS9wDnbWYSNaD-Qm8byeOMGUL5T5Wsdh4fRmfz5548fGzkU-HjtzG_7WESI9PWdoquaWwxfUWfKQ2w/s1600/IMG_1126.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeZnGSUM4t4sAJmjStBB146b9G5v88OzbX2N2mh-ifGRHDgTtCp5fQhL1pcOATeS9wDnbWYSNaD-Qm8byeOMGUL5T5Wsdh4fRmfz5548fGzkU-HjtzG_7WESI9PWdoquaWwxfUWfKQ2w/s320/IMG_1126.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624178890946365602" /></a><br /><br />Using the dop stick to polish a stone<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-OwUS-ce04x4KWmAM8nDO-vLVLVSIU-OsPc7lg-m5FLFq1ZdOVKjKvjkYYU5JZPQNkMQip72vyaFPOj8oKHT2tVGb2nWmGm_TM_rtSJHO2tJ1Jt5V87z0TEsbE8NGZNMtKS894IeLeo/s1600/IMG_1127.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-OwUS-ce04x4KWmAM8nDO-vLVLVSIU-OsPc7lg-m5FLFq1ZdOVKjKvjkYYU5JZPQNkMQip72vyaFPOj8oKHT2tVGb2nWmGm_TM_rtSJHO2tJ1Jt5V87z0TEsbE8NGZNMtKS894IeLeo/s320/IMG_1127.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624179399894286434" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_MieKlG9JpfPDNwRusbwJwoHj1F54kBLoFFPSsXDQ2VlQMf6xk1F9ctZ4Kbrq__KYTn8bOOEcxdcyQ-Jy02saJ4UO5KuG8WhmNN9vpZrpr6DqNvM_90C2axrhsPFaweSC1uWuhoiQRo/s1600/IMG_1130.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_MieKlG9JpfPDNwRusbwJwoHj1F54kBLoFFPSsXDQ2VlQMf6xk1F9ctZ4Kbrq__KYTn8bOOEcxdcyQ-Jy02saJ4UO5KuG8WhmNN9vpZrpr6DqNvM_90C2axrhsPFaweSC1uWuhoiQRo/s320/IMG_1130.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624179945243750914" /></a><br /><br />Some finished stones shining with brilliance!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh614vrZeU2ycfZq9hI7vMLEJRPCV0Hg8Vtth8V-s6xKRHrr3271g9w_DKG7PKAHxe-ERCusutmwxeZu18c-XPvSl958AnJjpP0qy1vYOwHeP_ILX8jA3Nq7X2YK9WnvsT2qn6epKsQkko/s1600/IMG_1132.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh614vrZeU2ycfZq9hI7vMLEJRPCV0Hg8Vtth8V-s6xKRHrr3271g9w_DKG7PKAHxe-ERCusutmwxeZu18c-XPvSl958AnJjpP0qy1vYOwHeP_ILX8jA3Nq7X2YK9WnvsT2qn6epKsQkko/s320/IMG_1132.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624180550952682498" /></a>Matt A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16844593840538791507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-82203293695525327452011-06-30T16:56:00.004-04:002011-06-30T17:06:51.040-04:00More on DyesToday Jacob and I removed our T-shirts from the plant dye after 3 days of soaking. We used Genista tinctoria, known as Dyer's Greenwood and also called Woadwaxen. It boils to a beautiful yellow color that really takes well to a T-shirt. Mine was originally an off-white color with a green pattern painted on it. It looks a lot better now with the contrast between the green and yellow. I am going to have to dye more shirts using Dyer's Greenwood and other plants. T-shirt is too boring? No problem, boil some plants and add some color! I might have to try a natural tie-dye shirt. That would be really fun.<br /><br />Here's the shirt with a sprig of Dyer's Greenwood on it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfJe8k3lASf7l2CiOTd4r1JWGqQMx0nzM-uUjMWEA7Q6LpjRHkQr_WN0StYPy2fHYJENewN9kRSAvKrI4W7GK54m10lwUQTPir5rQzuv1oqt9eBkqxXUtVnAzfoPprkkhgGm8vFhUlyo/s1600/IMG_1133.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfJe8k3lASf7l2CiOTd4r1JWGqQMx0nzM-uUjMWEA7Q6LpjRHkQr_WN0StYPy2fHYJENewN9kRSAvKrI4W7GK54m10lwUQTPir5rQzuv1oqt9eBkqxXUtVnAzfoPprkkhgGm8vFhUlyo/s320/IMG_1133.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624121779330964370" /></a>Matt A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16844593840538791507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-44177370050847990542011-06-29T21:39:00.002-04:002011-06-29T22:07:02.550-04:00Dying Vegetable FibersAs part of the fiber dying class this week I took in upon myself to some of the blindingly white shirts I seem to own.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Dying vegetable fibers is more involved then animal fibers. This is because they are not made from proteins, which take on color easily. Instead, plant fibers are made of lignin or the cell wall. For this reason it is usually advisable to use a mordant to prepare the fiber for the dye.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>A mordant is decried by Jenny Dean in the book <i>Wild Color</i> as "a substance that has an affinity with both the materials to be dyed and the natural plant dyestuff. Acting as a bond between the two, a mordant helps the dye become permanently fixed to the fiber." </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>After putting the shirts in a pot of water and heating it we used a per-mordant to raise the Ph. This helps the plant fibers maintain there strength. We used a solution of oak galls, 4oz per one pound of fiber and let the shirts soak over night (more then 8h is ideal). Then, we used the mordant alum, Aluminum Sulfate, again letting the shirt soak (8h+). While this is not something you want to swallow its less toxic then many other mordants. The alum solution was done proportionally 4tsp of alum to every 4oz of fiber and 1 1/2tsp of washing soda to every 4oz of fiber.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Tonight I add the shirts to the dye. I'll let them step over night and then we'll see how they turn out in class. Exciting! </div>Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18048409693609502595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-21128185435764321942011-06-28T20:18:00.008-04:002011-06-28T22:12:17.041-04:00Natural Dyes!<!--[if !mso]> <style> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1030"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->As we continue to talk about ways to sustain ourselves with what we can find in the environments around us, we learn how to add color into our lives! We got a taste of the process of creating natural dyes during Monday’s class. <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The dye plants:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">-madder root</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-black walnut</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">-indigo (I do not believe that the indigo we used was sourced locally. Although it can grow in greenhouses in our climate)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-marigold</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">-turmeric (Nope, turmeric does not grow around here. But we thought we’d experiment with a common kitchen spice just for fun.)</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">These are only a few of the MANY possibilities. Some other options up here in Vermont include: rhubarb, berries (and their leaves), carrot tops, lichen, onion skins, and the list goes on.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kKxOrzk7n-p4SIiWcWZEsnqVeqcRdXDZkUSx2nWPMNMnB3jeqdHZM34Q2LUdZ9jBBg7CrRzIbaKpdolGCYTJyyO3dcq-1OpMiJSVVzWYy83QOy9227t3lsH6q22QgSkKeTY4cc__NsU/s1600/IMG_1052.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kKxOrzk7n-p4SIiWcWZEsnqVeqcRdXDZkUSx2nWPMNMnB3jeqdHZM34Q2LUdZ9jBBg7CrRzIbaKpdolGCYTJyyO3dcq-1OpMiJSVVzWYy83QOy9227t3lsH6q22QgSkKeTY4cc__NsU/s320/IMG_1052.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623455729752661970" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Here Ethan breaks apart the black walnut. The outer shell is used </span><span style="font-size:85%;">for dying. The inner nut is quite tasty. We indulged.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGikJshA0Br7bDHsqM20AS-CBmCAxceyAlT8LAAT-lO3iUFFfwUTWD3MuG-O0ywc_GzGOYRkkoQyAU9AZCSKZ0P483tYLy1SZcXCUKwA4R7BeW_EWrsPtXOZtECpZ9iQg-QgZ2BqbNPM/s1600/IMG_1058.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGikJshA0Br7bDHsqM20AS-CBmCAxceyAlT8LAAT-lO3iUFFfwUTWD3MuG-O0ywc_GzGOYRkkoQyAU9AZCSKZ0P483tYLy1SZcXCUKwA4R7BeW_EWrsPtXOZtECpZ9iQg-QgZ2BqbNPM/s320/IMG_1058.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623456252501180642" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Dyes boiling</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Most of the dyes we made went towards dying eggs. We also experimented with a bit of cotton and wool fibers. Jacob and Matt will be dying cotton shirts and Erica will be dying a cotton comforter. With this process, the cotton needs to be prepped for a couple days, first using a tannin bath and then an alum bath. They will let us know how it goes! Animal fibers only require an alum bath, not the additional tannin bath required by plant fibers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">For the egg dyes, all we have to do is boil the dye plant in water until the color of the water becomes vibrant, add vinegar, and boil the eggs into the dye. We drew on some of the eggs with our leftover salve from our previous class as a resist. The eggs did not take on color where we put the salve. We noticed that adding washing soda to the madder root made the color much more vibrant and beautiful. I will never buy easter egg dye in a box again!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARanZMBIUjavebNb0QqE5hiAJsAcdPNjZZVOmyOsI0J-ttLjM4u3iW5Ky6IK4kLfx9aGhXXTqUU35_wCIFqqiwlsyWZzMFFp0TPtmTxroV63sY9Y3c7iBw86Od651faPXTOi6bZbrZ0g/s1600/IMG_1073.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARanZMBIUjavebNb0QqE5hiAJsAcdPNjZZVOmyOsI0J-ttLjM4u3iW5Ky6IK4kLfx9aGhXXTqUU35_wCIFqqiwlsyWZzMFFp0TPtmTxroV63sY9Y3c7iBw86Od651faPXTOi6bZbrZ0g/s320/IMG_1073.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623456833955862210" border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Eggs dyed with blac</span><span style="font-size:85%;">k walnut (brown eggs), madder root (pink eggs), and turme</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ric (yellow eggs).</span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjailnL-8tp1WKywti2mR3Vn1NLTxYaSeVmc_xcZ_5YR_Zte45oinTT75LEs-Ek77nxKVUylzs89_U1q-1D1nP9cH8Qrp8WF9afe9__gtfLFNggnLjnWLGsBqU1D1yuAPQVb1_hlJeIihM/s1600/IMG_1063.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjailnL-8tp1WKywti2mR3Vn1NLTxYaSeVmc_xcZ_5YR_Zte45oinTT75LEs-Ek77nxKVUylzs89_U1q-1D1nP9cH8Qrp8WF9afe9__gtfLFNggnLjnWLGsBqU1D1yuAPQVb1_hlJeIihM/s320/IMG_1063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623457412129194786" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ethan is very excit</span><span style="font-size:85%;">ed to</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> see the change in color after the addition of washing soda to the madder root! </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">In order to create dyes that are more permanent, it is necessary to soak the fibers in a mordant beforehand. Some dyes, called substantive dyes, do not any additions in order to adhere to whatever is being dyed. Mordants can be made out of several things, including: copper, aluminum, iron, rhubarb leaves, and oak galls. We added oak gall powder to our dyes that we used for dying cotton fibers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlNvTgRi1alvKzCELwJ5_YEA5XJ4fZRnT7bdfJhJnjT-EH9Gq2vuZolz8YiGQr-TiTDf0O9ceVykXIKmNVgds2xz-dWVk_ZvtaiB-8u4tobusGWP64ZmnDQ9BIatCrbksLBZfdwK7bAI/s1600/IMG_1057.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlNvTgRi1alvKzCELwJ5_YEA5XJ4fZRnT7bdfJhJnjT-EH9Gq2vuZolz8YiGQr-TiTDf0O9ceVykXIKmNVgds2xz-dWVk_ZvtaiB-8u4tobusGWP64ZmnDQ9BIatCrbksLBZfdwK7bAI/s320/IMG_1057.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623458090853929122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:85%;">These are chemical mordants, iron and copper.</span> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For the fiber dyes, we experimented with indigo and the black walnut. The indigo was made ready with the addition of washing soda and thiourea dioxide to convert it from blue indigo to white indigo. This makes it soluble. The cotton fiber did not dye as well as we had hoped, possibly because of a lack of the thiourea dioxide. The wool did not give us a great result either. The black walnut-dyed cotton, however, came out beautifully with a very rich brown color. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Although this was a very brief taste of natural dying possibilities, we have the basic knowledge to do some further learning on our own. I recommend taking a look at the book that we referenced in class for some good ideas! <u>Wild Color</u> by Jenny Dean. </p>Hannahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03746456023431206369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-65729590997826705232011-06-27T13:03:00.000-04:002011-06-27T13:04:12.770-04:00Beeswax as Bike Chain Lubricant?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">After learning that wax is a common alternative to oil as a chain lubricant for bicycle chains, I was interested to find out if beeswax could do the trick. It appears that your average wax for bicycle chains contains 80% paraffin wax and 20% beeswax. The beeswax helps the paraffin to cling to the chain. It is a nice addition, but not always a part of the chain wax recipe. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The advantage to using wax on a chain is that it does not collect the dirt and debris that oil-based lubricants do. In order to wax your chain, you first detach the chain from the bicycle. You dip the chain in a pot of melted wax, let it dry, and put it back on your bike. A simple, yet definitely more labor-intensive process that squirting the oil directly on your bike. Depending on the source I read, I learned that this treatment can last from a mere 30 mile ride to 400-500 miles. The one pitfall to using wax is that it is not suited for rainy riding. Wax may not be the best chain lubricant, it seems, for us here in Vermont. Also, the majority of sources suggest that reapplication is required more frequently than with oil. The idea of a forever-clean chain is very enticing, and I might experiment with it anyway! </p>Hannahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03746456023431206369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-108087057895211452011-06-27T01:10:00.004-04:002011-06-27T01:30:23.535-04:00More on WaxThe bee's wax class convinced me that I am going to have to get bees at my future farm. Not only are they excellent pollinators that provide delicious honey but they also have a third commodity, wax! I was amazed to hear the plethora of Ol' Timey uses mentioned in that turn of the century book. Waterproofing, furniture finish, lip balm, salve, candles, strengthening and preserving sewing thread, sealing cheese, closing letters, creating molds, and making all manner of art are just a few of the uses mentioned in the book. It seems like the possibilities are endless for what bee's wax could replace in order to become less reliant on industry.<br /><br />Bee's wax products also seem like a viable niche market to get into. If the products were high quality, unique, hand made items, they could probably do well at a farmer's market, craft fair, or specialty stores in both urban and rural areas. Some appealing packaging could help sales as well. The design would have to be something that invokes an Ol' Timey feel without looking obsolete. Selling salve, lip balm and candles alongside some raw honey could really show that you know your bees.<br /><br />Bee's wax products could also help to value-add other farm products. Using bee's wax to seal cheese for example, as a finish on a homemade knife, or as a label on canned goods even. Again the possibilities are endless which is what makes bees so appealing. I have a new found respect for bees and all that they do. If only there was a way to harvest wax without running the risk of being stung that doesn't involve being covered head to toe. Actually, I wonder if ear wax would work for anything...Matt A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16844593840538791507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-43706176626984040022011-06-26T19:14:00.004-04:002011-06-26T19:25:04.577-04:00Beeswax Salve ....I found the most interesting part of this process to be the one part that we have nothing to do with. Of course I am talking about the manufacture of wax by honey bees! Believe it or not these beautiful little insects have 8 wax glands on their abdomen where they produce scales of wax. Yes scales! When they are first made they are almost translucent, which is a far cry from the end product or yellow to brown. The bee synthesizes chemicals from her food (pollen and nectar) to produce this magical substance in an alchemical manner that I doubt I will ever fully comprehend. She then takes the scales and one by one chews them up in her mandibles creating a paste like white substance. She then uses this to build geometrically perfect combs in which to rear brood, store pollen and make honey. The highest grade wax is the wax used to cap full honey cells. This is the newest wax and is pure white. Obtaining this wax is actually a bi-product of the honey harvesting process. The harvester will use an uncapping knife to remove the white wax capping from the comb before placing it in an extractor. The wax is then washed any number of times to remove the residual honey and contaminants (bee parts, pollen, propolis). Once washed and no longer sticky (all beeswax is a little sticky, there's no way around it) the wax is melted down to further purify it. And debris in the wax can easily be filtered out. This is the highest quality wax and is very expensive. The wax used in class is mid grade wax, most likely made from comb as well as cappings. Wax darkens with age and use, the darker the wax, the older more used it is. This wax was golden brown in color and very fragrant as most beeswax is. It had few visible impurities and worked very well for our purpose. I was glad to be using one of my favorite natural substances in crafting something useful and highly marketable!Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13019080189798939896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-9928126988676467652011-06-23T22:23:00.000-04:002011-06-23T22:23:11.645-04:00Beeswax SalveOur topic for today was beeswax and its many many possible uses. Beeswax is secreted by honey bees to build the honeycomb cells in their hives in which they raise their young and store pollen. In its pure form the wax is white, but incorporation of polen and propolis gradually turn it yellow or even brownish. Because of this the caps of the honeycomb contain the purest wax. Beeswax has been used for a thousands of years by various cultures for waterproofing, lubricating, sealing, molding, varnishing, candles and many many more things. We scanned through some sixty different uses in class and the handbook had over a hundred!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Nh2tmnooJJuy9g1g0FNYIaVOM8Kzgybh1eVmAXfdFepO_cEu7lytHmBqaaPgC53V-1fCPENV0W9EF5BG6DC7gFTkFSTY5tjCMNwycyVBsPCxsWnPFlzY-FaZTgD6BgADEXdL6TNKsUF/s1600/IMG_0929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Nh2tmnooJJuy9g1g0FNYIaVOM8Kzgybh1eVmAXfdFepO_cEu7lytHmBqaaPgC53V-1fCPENV0W9EF5BG6DC7gFTkFSTY5tjCMNwycyVBsPCxsWnPFlzY-FaZTgD6BgADEXdL6TNKsUF/s320/IMG_0929.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We chose to make a beeswax salve, which can be used comparably to Vaseline ointment for skin irritation, dryness or bruising. The recipe called for olive oil at a ratio of 3:1 to the beeswax. Some of the oil we used was infused with calendula and had been sitting infused for about a year. Calendula (pot marigold) has numerous healing properties and will enhance the salve. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVZD2vRslJZsaQcod21hYmkT01Qr4y_eVFlPMsP4y1_Vz-b4upuuoDIrpJ3CF4-nQuPwbLhwuNpgpR5s3IQsbWmFnra8Qme3kHtWKd-aeAcaZS64K-FGRTbE-Cwg2e7oJDm6HMtCIwWBq/s1600/IMG_0928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVZD2vRslJZsaQcod21hYmkT01Qr4y_eVFlPMsP4y1_Vz-b4upuuoDIrpJ3CF4-nQuPwbLhwuNpgpR5s3IQsbWmFnra8Qme3kHtWKd-aeAcaZS64K-FGRTbE-Cwg2e7oJDm6HMtCIwWBq/s320/IMG_0928.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We chopped the wax into 1" size pieces, which was not at all easy, and placed it in a double boiler to melt. Once the wax was melted, we slightly heated the oil so the wax wouldn't congeal when we combined the two. We poured the warm oil into the wax and mixed with a stick. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfe4PG6FaFi77ZM2v2Cl3OWhr_h0Y-coMvnf6ve05tiRSosVYJ70bgXeasUyLM5bOokROEuocnZAl6ywzzGstDvACZZ-2zzARpKQqqzLkbswV-t04BSG20r7BNw_qV3aTRpSMgwaFtx-z/s1600/IMG_0931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfe4PG6FaFi77ZM2v2Cl3OWhr_h0Y-coMvnf6ve05tiRSosVYJ70bgXeasUyLM5bOokROEuocnZAl6ywzzGstDvACZZ-2zzARpKQqqzLkbswV-t04BSG20r7BNw_qV3aTRpSMgwaFtx-z/s320/IMG_0931.JPG" width="320" /> </a><span style="color: black;">We then scooped the liquid salve into small jars and added a few drops of the essential oils we made last week. Since we didn't have much oil we also used some of the hydrosol, which needed to be mixed vigorously because it is water based. The wax congealed rapidly once in the jars and was immediately ready for use. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One thing to note is that melted beeswax is nearly impossible to remove from the equipment you use, so if you intend to experiment with it, designate one vessel and a few tool for it because they will never be able to hold anything else.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOzRMlHdWzY-ugCWdPgfjbC1ooZF4SLV-nIoMLvtSJ7sv9hobIBOm1yZcLze0tAt8PxLQsiYziT0nNMXkQmzTV4yZmny-ajxByQ6FT5K3UTbWFtyqBWczIv-PDNUG8EvF6e5-b26upbmS/s1600/IMG_0930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOzRMlHdWzY-ugCWdPgfjbC1ooZF4SLV-nIoMLvtSJ7sv9hobIBOm1yZcLze0tAt8PxLQsiYziT0nNMXkQmzTV4yZmny-ajxByQ6FT5K3UTbWFtyqBWczIv-PDNUG8EvF6e5-b26upbmS/s320/IMG_0930.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEodOYqwZlbqDNp6eCpBAHk17T485ER8h7kY7aZS-NfVzGj4wvQlDIjZyDaSDn04Or8hawAES0jh6sAypE34PikAz16V4H2IaF23y_eikt4OWrsi85OfG7JfRO7XRtQBvlO46XL4PypcQZ/s1600/IMG_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEodOYqwZlbqDNp6eCpBAHk17T485ER8h7kY7aZS-NfVzGj4wvQlDIjZyDaSDn04Or8hawAES0jh6sAypE34PikAz16V4H2IaF23y_eikt4OWrsi85OfG7JfRO7XRtQBvlO46XL4PypcQZ/s320/IMG_0932.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtVsow4tsZ0VDKLI8rwfUwnrwODQhkjRKWjZNF0h5Sxfp3KQ9TLhQ_kfv1nKISJQfNBvPAtXUBbXlIlefT1BgfpK0YIJ_4HQLdsiuxrQMi761zMpK7d70wLZMMrlYuioPAWZg4G1tjkhs/s1600/IMG_0933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtVsow4tsZ0VDKLI8rwfUwnrwODQhkjRKWjZNF0h5Sxfp3KQ9TLhQ_kfv1nKISJQfNBvPAtXUBbXlIlefT1BgfpK0YIJ_4HQLdsiuxrQMi761zMpK7d70wLZMMrlYuioPAWZg4G1tjkhs/s320/IMG_0933.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoonYh8CkQ5N-klvKbowwswtk0s4kai-OYwkxk_buk_R8lgx08gxQYHWp9_OT9-kX4kRl_6xndHmuLqf3OAw5AJy1-tkGXhNu4OapXxWrWIyIWLMeMX1EVfYcxShVxSGdQdCHy367t3gi/s1600/IMG_0935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoonYh8CkQ5N-klvKbowwswtk0s4kai-OYwkxk_buk_R8lgx08gxQYHWp9_OT9-kX4kRl_6xndHmuLqf3OAw5AJy1-tkGXhNu4OapXxWrWIyIWLMeMX1EVfYcxShVxSGdQdCHy367t3gi/s320/IMG_0935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWS54g-jAx1mMuuB7UmBcvIR2nexgBwJzptPDLqz3qTiJE2hcmzvnLWjg7Jeb2YCraybzQRXNDbu-Du57d9QdUaI34UFc66GpD9x99HZusJ600OJ-zQXaNwia6vUm0uUyjR-Rn917qhIV/s1600/IMG_0936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWS54g-jAx1mMuuB7UmBcvIR2nexgBwJzptPDLqz3qTiJE2hcmzvnLWjg7Jeb2YCraybzQRXNDbu-Du57d9QdUaI34UFc66GpD9x99HZusJ600OJ-zQXaNwia6vUm0uUyjR-Rn917qhIV/s320/IMG_0936.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4H-yUEsvVJVL4bv_DiCgqLiD-LnI5oDU853-BMjTfCLYeguhIQMh09TagHoBxWBNfeE6jw_oxHAaRaPWL3u6NYVTNexk4nUVo3U8V4hEeUX2pr8scZiIsh8mCy0acUX5XUiLBe7QsmTP4/s1600/IMG_0937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4H-yUEsvVJVL4bv_DiCgqLiD-LnI5oDU853-BMjTfCLYeguhIQMh09TagHoBxWBNfeE6jw_oxHAaRaPWL3u6NYVTNexk4nUVo3U8V4hEeUX2pr8scZiIsh8mCy0acUX5XUiLBe7QsmTP4/s320/IMG_0937.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF85PUlDnnScobYpecbq2mBKSxyeiRpsIG-F7845ZaBEadwvrn8UneOSpK9NFFf8pQ6KEtnb9Cnc8axenroQOD0CAzLq2JvCUVRi9bf436SQE02hARrTp936gBmkGn1vAVrauvjOzfJGz/s1600/IMG_0938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF85PUlDnnScobYpecbq2mBKSxyeiRpsIG-F7845ZaBEadwvrn8UneOSpK9NFFf8pQ6KEtnb9Cnc8axenroQOD0CAzLq2JvCUVRi9bf436SQE02hARrTp936gBmkGn1vAVrauvjOzfJGz/s320/IMG_0938.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeQFOVoZBQvePNh-OHXoK1xpyecYnrIO4LaaWF5o2cwL08Xn2viY0b7qUjzBJ-NM8PLRzVl1OCFL8Q9uIPzBIQRnAzIZDx9sePhvqrkiVmvU0zmMpdjF6-bR2jj-VA56j_kbxdf6gR-oe/s1600/IMG_0940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeQFOVoZBQvePNh-OHXoK1xpyecYnrIO4LaaWF5o2cwL08Xn2viY0b7qUjzBJ-NM8PLRzVl1OCFL8Q9uIPzBIQRnAzIZDx9sePhvqrkiVmvU0zmMpdjF6-bR2jj-VA56j_kbxdf6gR-oe/s320/IMG_0940.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJS9Gs4N9_jij-iEygaqRVK40bYtuo77r31KGBHF7wcPP-gdA6cJNIoBW6uZ4Fmj6RWtjIui7xmYqRhG0CATh5bktD9Vkg6A_S6MSn4yij-8evn0eiLwqOa0lR3kzdsu_7heOQcrX79FsN/s1600/IMG_0942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJS9Gs4N9_jij-iEygaqRVK40bYtuo77r31KGBHF7wcPP-gdA6cJNIoBW6uZ4Fmj6RWtjIui7xmYqRhG0CATh5bktD9Vkg6A_S6MSn4yij-8evn0eiLwqOa0lR3kzdsu_7heOQcrX79FsN/s320/IMG_0942.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFVL0FFN_te7VP_WD0ZM8AV8yzq_c-IABkJfdCumiAADdGPONcS-_fr91FY1BO_TduqO04mDxdhaYbfPLSiWF5ae6hd241p_elwg7NPPWSAMoiGD1lyljF72nYXVvmcHqvEeYcR7WcYuV/s1600/IMG_0943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFVL0FFN_te7VP_WD0ZM8AV8yzq_c-IABkJfdCumiAADdGPONcS-_fr91FY1BO_TduqO04mDxdhaYbfPLSiWF5ae6hd241p_elwg7NPPWSAMoiGD1lyljF72nYXVvmcHqvEeYcR7WcYuV/s320/IMG_0943.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Bruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00840405581139348988noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-36500655131298381192011-06-22T19:59:00.003-04:002011-06-23T07:34:03.583-04:00Making Paper Out of Plant StalksToday we made paper in Farmstead Arts. We used burdock, buttercup, bishop's weed, and milkweed stalks as the fibers for the paper. We also used some old office paper shreddings to recycle as new paper. The process is pretty simple. To prepare the pulp you defoliate the stalks of the plant you're using, chop the stalks into 1" pieces, boil them for 10 minutes or so to loosen the fibers, and then put them in a blender with some water to pulverise the material down to a goupy pulp.<br /><br />Here is some of the burdock being prepared<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwGP101uqcE9wLVKlme-1CXEy7AcEBRScn7MrfUt5r_DKhWb7scT4PFQDvjW8XRF_r7TCoBnXzGySkRNAYg53x-JLwP-nnNvQCHTxEeP1QKdKWZOKWMrbCYRzP9lnJmkMlGUQ7tOpiB37/s1600/IMG_0857.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwGP101uqcE9wLVKlme-1CXEy7AcEBRScn7MrfUt5r_DKhWb7scT4PFQDvjW8XRF_r7TCoBnXzGySkRNAYg53x-JLwP-nnNvQCHTxEeP1QKdKWZOKWMrbCYRzP9lnJmkMlGUQ7tOpiB37/s320/IMG_0857.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620878330056518802" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJxwQORxGFjxhINLXDe1UBQ64RUkC10r4gJifR3xZqiAkIfSZ0MZT_afDjsuMrjqJKJPFGU_8I7Gazj9LIv_1tsLGBRnIL2pmApcs6rfBrtNJAeWjB2X7Pdn3wN5RwSoj7gSa7F0ukPti/s1600/IMG_0859.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJxwQORxGFjxhINLXDe1UBQ64RUkC10r4gJifR3xZqiAkIfSZ0MZT_afDjsuMrjqJKJPFGU_8I7Gazj9LIv_1tsLGBRnIL2pmApcs6rfBrtNJAeWjB2X7Pdn3wN5RwSoj7gSa7F0ukPti/s320/IMG_0859.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620878603854547730" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_J79KiDejb-frc5NEiHMEZvCfsQt-jdlrPNanZyNe2OhDqJE2KJ6xnrSeV2n9yN8cyfZj9R4uw_xfcfWM4utLptsyxQR1obYLTvADrrnq-G7uULpVF5AIfhuzAz3Cd4-8696i2dUGtcmF/s1600/IMG_0877.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_J79KiDejb-frc5NEiHMEZvCfsQt-jdlrPNanZyNe2OhDqJE2KJ6xnrSeV2n9yN8cyfZj9R4uw_xfcfWM4utLptsyxQR1obYLTvADrrnq-G7uULpVF5AIfhuzAz3Cd4-8696i2dUGtcmF/s320/IMG_0877.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620878884110370578" /></a><br /><br />After you get your stalks or office paper down to a pulp you pour it into a tray full of water. Next you will need two picture frames that are the same size, some screen, and a staple gun. Tightly staple the screen over the back of one of the frames (this will be your "deckle") and leave the other one how it is (this will be your mould). Place the open frame on top of the screened one so they marry up and leave a raised square edge around the screen. Dip the deckle in the tray and draw it out while keeping it flat so that the screen is evenly covered in pulp. Remove the mould frame, shake the excess water off the deckle and flip the deckle over onto a piece of felt. If your sheet of paper does not come off easy you can blow on the back of the screen a bit to loosen it up. Next put another piece of felt on top of the paper. Put the paper felt sandwich between two short planks and stand on top of it while shifting your weight to compress the paper and squeeze out excess water. Remove the top layer of felt and let the paper air dry in the sun. That's it! Paper!<br /><br />Here is the process using office paper shreddings<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8xoPzelSdh75XBTEBdFshAot9o9gpZmX-TI221eBqDft10J0NOqU55nM2H8Quy_NxiDaGexPMppaEogxmNQ2Fz5KB_lgkPVtbasE7Qgb9ibe3eU9lWgDYj-B39jFpVwA30Z4w-sAYv8M/s1600/IMG_0866.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8xoPzelSdh75XBTEBdFshAot9o9gpZmX-TI221eBqDft10J0NOqU55nM2H8Quy_NxiDaGexPMppaEogxmNQ2Fz5KB_lgkPVtbasE7Qgb9ibe3eU9lWgDYj-B39jFpVwA30Z4w-sAYv8M/s320/IMG_0866.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620881698448506546" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypIT8FRntOtxBohC0cWboR5wGl1YCHxTf5zrQaIyMLSDckhHP-eR8agyku427mGs2ukzBa4kBcfcAEVr6Qzwz0w9EXtIAuzq_e-71UFPTYl6R84AKJoTMyTz_RYEiuqqXlEMDy-qMst3y/s1600/IMG_0867.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypIT8FRntOtxBohC0cWboR5wGl1YCHxTf5zrQaIyMLSDckhHP-eR8agyku427mGs2ukzBa4kBcfcAEVr6Qzwz0w9EXtIAuzq_e-71UFPTYl6R84AKJoTMyTz_RYEiuqqXlEMDy-qMst3y/s320/IMG_0867.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620882118145839682" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV206W8Tj9Bm273K3CsdBVJp_HbT_XThh6tNSqq21kaxHBWN1wsOEYLeKEREYlP9kGd60y6LVHdtrDOZANbQgLWWJZ6wH74xqiGJpJOmyvsm4yOey82ljg6xqebwWG0tYIs3Zow4gOiMTa/s1600/IMG_0868.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV206W8Tj9Bm273K3CsdBVJp_HbT_XThh6tNSqq21kaxHBWN1wsOEYLeKEREYlP9kGd60y6LVHdtrDOZANbQgLWWJZ6wH74xqiGJpJOmyvsm4yOey82ljg6xqebwWG0tYIs3Zow4gOiMTa/s320/IMG_0868.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620882463347323634" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_2oE1ftjJ5bubw22xaCuVCQQ9bi6_mdYAvdc2gknl1bwO9Z_Xz45UurQnv-ZPTr4u6lgEzboDioIKn2JK5kaOLS2EkTfV0wiep4OK6tT-sHuaizOfajvTe01Aje7ECBF_IiWkoyhji7-/s1600/IMG_0869.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_2oE1ftjJ5bubw22xaCuVCQQ9bi6_mdYAvdc2gknl1bwO9Z_Xz45UurQnv-ZPTr4u6lgEzboDioIKn2JK5kaOLS2EkTfV0wiep4OK6tT-sHuaizOfajvTe01Aje7ECBF_IiWkoyhji7-/s320/IMG_0869.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620882759863576274" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_81DAbbwnd3eiKE6fIJXiiZ-YBCqjtWlheh9lJ8TO54w1iLjgufBO2K-9VMps7WJu70Y78VkjGbooGiGmHSDINLm6b7yGD2KByv435a2bKOq3mTG2E36IMyPXii34J2nCX5N0QVbeGty/s1600/IMG_0870.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_81DAbbwnd3eiKE6fIJXiiZ-YBCqjtWlheh9lJ8TO54w1iLjgufBO2K-9VMps7WJu70Y78VkjGbooGiGmHSDINLm6b7yGD2KByv435a2bKOq3mTG2E36IMyPXii34J2nCX5N0QVbeGty/s320/IMG_0870.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620883055393837122" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDals7V1pwVefsdaWua0aJGgDogV5MVQ2SCpfP51_OoKmbTVEsjUpklcfS9S8qH08J5qnkOs_UCvS7UFU2_x6m1WFxDfvwYmDBUhyYRdHwz2Q9WyBddpu3PFS7TZkSKrtUz-5lZCy3jtW/s1600/IMG_0886.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDals7V1pwVefsdaWua0aJGgDogV5MVQ2SCpfP51_OoKmbTVEsjUpklcfS9S8qH08J5qnkOs_UCvS7UFU2_x6m1WFxDfvwYmDBUhyYRdHwz2Q9WyBddpu3PFS7TZkSKrtUz-5lZCy3jtW/s320/IMG_0886.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620883703855255794" /></a><br /><br />Here is some of the burdock paper. The uneven edge is called a "deckle edge," an indicator that the paper was handmade.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo1MaMCZcOI9jdbIbgL32uupb4LoynmxBmjPLceQckiKFvDoFpqsbyMkaD6Dhz4Ez97-UkGEqBcNrDF99cRNuNhKd7TC06hzJQ31vpbcd0SeGB3Q6CkrMtld3js0BxxNkIInofT837tgt/s1600/IMG_0887.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAo1MaMCZcOI9jdbIbgL32uupb4LoynmxBmjPLceQckiKFvDoFpqsbyMkaD6Dhz4Ez97-UkGEqBcNrDF99cRNuNhKd7TC06hzJQ31vpbcd0SeGB3Q6CkrMtld3js0BxxNkIInofT837tgt/s320/IMG_0887.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620884250107664210" /></a><br /><br />You can also add texture and designs by laying down objects before the compressing stage. This piece had a few leaves that left behind impressions.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28xzHzNqL_twMq8zNFqfSoa4Yf-2nMQUfpxECuEjF30jBDtTzkzJkHOle0aeWu4N5Vk9VXiq0KBFXY9ojxkpU54IxgLvrtiHBgpcLUHjTDBMcyvx9CX0ZX9F7i1zu4GfhSFARE2Fl1_KW/s1600/IMG_0890.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28xzHzNqL_twMq8zNFqfSoa4Yf-2nMQUfpxECuEjF30jBDtTzkzJkHOle0aeWu4N5Vk9VXiq0KBFXY9ojxkpU54IxgLvrtiHBgpcLUHjTDBMcyvx9CX0ZX9F7i1zu4GfhSFARE2Fl1_KW/s320/IMG_0890.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620885147441814786" /></a><br /><br />This one is a mix of burdock and paper shreddings.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHj8DcbvLZBE8QSl9iSHAXajLeLfTeYOGqDo64b0bdPAiPQ2_KHk10hioCxhyphenhypheng9u6IzbVL3KIMebqb6DX9LOd4_g8GJuUEmGoKS6y4l42bjNtWiT_9ChO0T6j9cHPVHQobdb59-FgIBhm-/s1600/IMG_0896.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHj8DcbvLZBE8QSl9iSHAXajLeLfTeYOGqDo64b0bdPAiPQ2_KHk10hioCxhyphenhypheng9u6IzbVL3KIMebqb6DX9LOd4_g8GJuUEmGoKS6y4l42bjNtWiT_9ChO0T6j9cHPVHQobdb59-FgIBhm-/s320/IMG_0896.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620885582525716178" /></a><br /><br />Here's Matt with some of the paper we made<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZ_95CcOvQCeIk4bVvYw7CTqHVOG-nMDFcDfVQJHWga1rpFUGtMDpffYV8Z3RLVNEEZT24J4DKebo673lxDItKQ-Sabw6-eaxfThlZW44WCj0aXvSgGdRMbb3x8GLpquE1WrLZAFXHK9O/s1600/IMG_0898.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZ_95CcOvQCeIk4bVvYw7CTqHVOG-nMDFcDfVQJHWga1rpFUGtMDpffYV8Z3RLVNEEZT24J4DKebo673lxDItKQ-Sabw6-eaxfThlZW44WCj0aXvSgGdRMbb3x8GLpquE1WrLZAFXHK9O/s320/IMG_0898.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620885945501593234" /></a>Matt A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16844593840538791507noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-85247676743256379062011-06-18T11:17:00.005-04:002011-06-18T12:10:07.976-04:00Distilling Essential Oils<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpI8LpvXzPLE02SttrnqxBIaohXLPBZSqA5P6G30_TXblFGU3wJXGHwx5FsalAWwdTTVI6_my37HNiFNZ14HVlTgLtSk-OOM4gj-Z_dSETYeOA2lT3uiVKll-p2DsM1Vc2V0PM6ETiIsG/s1600/IMG_0829.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpI8LpvXzPLE02SttrnqxBIaohXLPBZSqA5P6G30_TXblFGU3wJXGHwx5FsalAWwdTTVI6_my37HNiFNZ14HVlTgLtSk-OOM4gj-Z_dSETYeOA2lT3uiVKll-p2DsM1Vc2V0PM6ETiIsG/s320/IMG_0829.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619585885225523746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:enableopentypekerning/> <w:dontflipmirrorindents/> <w:overridetablestylehps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin val="0"> <m:rmargin val="0"> <m:defjc val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent val="1440"> <m:intlim val="subSup"> <m:narylim val="undOvr"> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" defunhidewhenused="true" defsemihidden="true" defqformat="false" defpriority="99" latentstylecount="267"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Normal"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="heading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="35" qformat="true" name="caption"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="10" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" name="Default Paragraph Font"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="11" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtitle"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="22" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Strong"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="20" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="59" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Table Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Placeholder Text"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="No Spacing"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Revision"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="34" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="List Paragraph"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="29" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="30" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">This week in farmstead arts we distilled essential oils from both peppermint and orange peels. The process first involv<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXkZIqlo34KKhYjft6wbcXG2_LVLiSXWU7QolknZM6GPa8tcyGaPK1Ku1sFEJUFO8IRGzv_Q5RztGjsW_bQxvswI1YspgRHcsB1s4zx1l1CDKF6zuYDgw26KZEqyRuto27KSx5LVJPmmT/s1600/IMG_0832.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 338px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXkZIqlo34KKhYjft6wbcXG2_LVLiSXWU7QolknZM6GPa8tcyGaPK1Ku1sFEJUFO8IRGzv_Q5RztGjsW_bQxvswI1YspgRHcsB1s4zx1l1CDKF6zuYDgw26KZEqyRuto27KSx5LVJPmmT/s320/IMG_0832.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619585894854999826" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlqpfP9aRPHSjMqNdhYhePN_UEPWkU4ejqiPRHcxsCLvij0IDAiMdLKOpsjyujzRRRoR96KZy1fQkfi2JbNVDrBxiXciHNerrq7yhQZhmfSrZ3EDnjW-Dx9iAWeQwSIIjPp-MY-tmYhmD/s1600/IMG_0840.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlqpfP9aRPHSjMqNdhYhePN_UEPWkU4ejqiPRHcxsCLvij0IDAiMdLKOpsjyujzRRRoR96KZy1fQkfi2JbNVDrBxiXciHNerrq7yhQZhmfSrZ3EDnjW-Dx9iAWeQwSIIjPp-MY-tmYhmD/s320/IMG_0840.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619585901371378738" border="0" /></a>ed acquiring the materials, so a group of us went out and harvested some mint, and another group acquired some orange peels from the kitchen. We then pulled the mint leaves off the stems and cut up some of the stems, as well as cutting the orange peels into roughly 1 inch pieces, so that they would fit into the distillation vats. We then filled up each of the 2 bottom vats 2/3 of the w<img src="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Desktop/Distilling/IMG_0828.JPG" alt="" />ay up with water, and after some fiddling with the stills, we got them plugged in and working.<img src="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Desktop/Distilling/IMG_0828.JPG" alt="" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <img src="file:///C:/Users/Owner/Desktop/Distilling/IMG_0828.JPG" alt="" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s a pretty cool process, this distilling business. The bottom, water filled tank sits on a burner <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEFIpBnXejT1x-DE74IZvO-3_9Lv2sGBkT3VJPhE0k9p39VY9gA_hkMAjZG5lOVNaPaj7JV7_0XdcKwIXsT8S6EztFpmRU_mqReD6PP0JAiyu9FPaReEpmXMN9z0_E3S-zHppKba4HoSB/s1600/IMG_0843.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEFIpBnXejT1x-DE74IZvO-3_9Lv2sGBkT3VJPhE0k9p39VY9gA_hkMAjZG5lOVNaPaj7JV7_0XdcKwIXsT8S6EztFpmRU_mqReD6PP0JAiyu9FPaReEpmXMN9z0_E3S-zHppKba4HoSB/s320/IMG_0843.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619585912133906050" border="0" /></a>and is brought to a boil. The rising steam then ascends through the biomass, in this case mint and orange peel, held in the tank above it, carrying the many substances, including the essential oils, upwards into a smaller tube, where it begins to collect in the form of condensation, which slowly begins to collect in the still head. Event<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMs43uDhmLR2O7tRcDCxREik8NNxwrgLCgn7_NczTvULUSRpBWFt4xqAqUCMgCCOs4SDAVQ2Ld0LgzvjNKXZpEJrGTxEnKudb-H-dvfjBOLJfEgcCtrtZsNKYhCi2oiFTDPssR1QdpNaw/s1600/IMG_0849.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMs43uDhmLR2O7tRcDCxREik8NNxwrgLCgn7_NczTvULUSRpBWFt4xqAqUCMgCCOs4SDAVQ2Ld0LgzvjNKXZpEJrGTxEnKudb-H-dvfjBOLJfEgcCtrtZsNKYhCi2oiFTDPssR1QdpNaw/s320/IMG_0849.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619592016428981874" border="0" /></a>ually it begins to drip down the condenser, where cool water kept in the tube outside the condensing chamber causes rapid condensation. This then runs down the condenser into the receiver, where a layer of oil forms on top of the water, which is gradually forced out by the increasing amount of oil. The bulk of oil will come off in the first 10 to 30 minutes, but the entire process usually takes between 1 and 3 hours. We also noticed that the water that collected condensation was very potent smelling, especially with the mint. This is hydrosol, which apparently has other uses, such as in soaps, lotions, cleansers, and all kinds of other nifty things! Hydrosol is heavily fragrant water, and I discovered how potent it really is when I took a drink of the mint hydrosol…. It’ll definitely get you out of bed in the morning.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There are many uses for essential oils, such as in aromatherapy, medicinal uses, and in salves and creams. The cleaning product H2Orange that is used to clean the floors here is essential oil based, which is a green alternative to all the harsh chemicals usually used in commercial cleaning products. Distilling the oils from the orange peel was also a good way to find alternative uses for what would have otherwise gone straight to the compost pile.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">While we were in the stage Jody dubbed as the “hurry up and wait” step, we all sat around in the lab and discussed capitalism and how its roots are in the downfall of the Roman Empire.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall, the distillation process was really cool, and a nice cont<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQqgzVNhMZtOqfkb1t8KaddXbSTpLunhOX2qdcakS2kbJnHaxkrCnOIBqQ5xM19Mckjpg9nBFSRpg4wpe8QEWe02ciFHGaS3-F86o_bQcVRIT1lK68AzHh0xCa0w2tcKIgaz3VgmP48Wi/s1600/IMG_0834.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQqgzVNhMZtOqfkb1t8KaddXbSTpLunhOX2qdcakS2kbJnHaxkrCnOIBqQ5xM19Mckjpg9nBFSRpg4wpe8QEWe02ciFHGaS3-F86o_bQcVRIT1lK68AzHh0xCa0w2tcKIgaz3VgmP48Wi/s320/IMG_0834.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619585897661988482" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrj448uGW1Z5MZeV3u_eJruG_txLUfBAMRnioLOkEgRnlG6my8_1RrDYk1njQBR_tK8Qfyu2Jvp_DLNow38Iie0cz4PS_66SrW1ykH92Ag0Nl9T8EdfF3px4Cee8I6fb4eeMP38WBJobQ/s1600/IMG_0854.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrj448uGW1Z5MZeV3u_eJruG_txLUfBAMRnioLOkEgRnlG6my8_1RrDYk1njQBR_tK8Qfyu2Jvp_DLNow38Iie0cz4PS_66SrW1ykH92Ag0Nl9T8EdfF3px4Cee8I6fb4eeMP38WBJobQ/s320/IMG_0854.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619592019885560402" border="0" /></a>rast to all the more rustic things we’ve been doing in class. I think it would be cool to do some more distillation, especially with things like comfrey that contains huge amounts of oil. Looking forward to a lot of time in the lab using (and hopefully not breaking) the still.</p>Ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457374001213402211noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-78493395380671463662011-06-14T13:53:00.011-04:002011-06-20T12:17:35.856-04:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dehydrating</b></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vG9lQACjITvXrYSdt2VdcPd8eVlpevTNEuClllLjd-2N-RUQAu5CPn6i4AKnOREc8CTB1pQcMfHf4HSJd_mGEkgfZdl_AvpMiHAxGuMDSw68gRSC-_bpymdl_VFGBO_QxabSU3wpvho/s320/ready+to+dry.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618137787070638658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></b></p><div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-weight: normal; "><br /></span></b></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This week we experimented with the wonderful process of dehydrating. Removing the water from fruits, vegetables, herbs or meat serves several purposes: preservation of surplus produce, reducing weight (for trail food), and concentrating flavor. It’s a wonderful way to add value to goods with minimal effort.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">We used three electric powered dehydrators to dry; apples, tomatoes, mint and chive flowers as well as lamb. Sterling does own a solar powered dehydrator, but as it was in dirty pieces and it was very cloudy (not exactly good for solar power) that day, we went with the electric ones. Although we have two different types of dryer they worked in essentially the same way. Drying trays are stack on top of each other, a fan moves heated air around the goods to remove the moisture.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Preparation<o:p></o:p></b></p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneIn9VyG0p-zYcmnwdt-POHm50BnAUFYchBb_YduO8toUffyi2k2kYM3hyyJ_PuZbPy_BBrViiFT9dRUOOhjBnvI-6UKQhhjfYRNRT7JulCgH5QJ18CH8yiyMJEEJ0lfw5XfZO5iTY5I/s320/apple+bucket.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618135700523052402" /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">APPLES</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Apples are a great candidate for dehydrating. There are so many apples here in Vermont</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> during the fall and not all of them store over the winter. The result is very tasty. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>We tried to cut the apples into evenly thick strips. This helps insure that the different pieces will dry out at about the same time, though a little variation in moisture isn’t the end of the world. Apple, as you may know, will oxidize and turn brown soon after cutting. While this won’t really affect the taste it does make them a lot less appetizing. To avoid this we mixed about ¼ cup of honey in enough warm water to cover the apple slices. The honey water coats the apples and prevents discoloration.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">ROMA TOMATOES </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>We chose to dry Romas because, as paste tomatoes, there will be less water to remove; also they will likely have more favor after drying then your average slicer. As with the apples it is important to slice the tomatoes uniformly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">COTTAGE CHEESE</p> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQURlKRsPG_1ZtjK5QBzEswUQe-DskBoFelUdJ_zXkfAJ-a4hLbuupaUJjTBxZWlS3COCy_SBoWZOlXGr4OcXXHo2r6uc1oIOqhFR3ulbyaz_-4eCSSJEbqi6Yt0kkSTjelNwpTUXzOZs/s320/Bru+cheese.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618136104550960466" /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span>As a disclaimer let me say that I haven’t yet tried the cottage cheese. However, I’m told, by Jody, that the outcome is quite tasty.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This was a simple one to do. We spread the cheese on a solid tray and sprinkled pepper on top.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">MINTS AND CHIVE FLOWER </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Dried herbs are useful for cooking and making tea. We used to two types of mints, peppermint and spearmint. I also found a large cluster of chives growing near the spearmint so we decided to pick and dry the newly opened flowers with have a strong delicious taste.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Preparing the mint was very simple, we remove the leaves from the stalks and laid them flat on a couple of the drying racks. We did the same for the chives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">JERKY</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>As a long time vegetarian I wasn't involved in making the jerky. I will, however, try to give as faithful account of the process as I can. The first step was removing the fat from the meat. Matt told us that without doing so the jerky could become rancid. Next a marinade was made for the jerky. Here is the recipe they used.</p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GZeX1Vl_N0CPyhe1KgVc94AzrwtI4TSM4WzSdG4In-ZY9fsGmK0bnUIeoQyHiwZEt0YAmdc0IRlFtwARQks5EQQFO0_g6cHAvv_87JMarefu6bgSpT8ydohRMr_NaZj5Lr6dXmniJ9s/s320/meat+bucket.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618136553215470114" /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">2/3 cup <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Soy sauce</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">2/3 cup <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Worcestershire sauce</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">1 Table spoon <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Honey</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">1 Table spoon <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Red pepper<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">2 tsp <span style="mso-tab-count:2"> </span>Onion powder</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">2 tsp<span style="mso-tab-count:2"> </span>Black Pepper</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">¼ tsp<span style="mso-tab-count:2"> </span>Liquid smoke</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">1.5 to 2 LB<span> Lamb shoulder roast and tenderloin </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0fn33g-xahcEAr9Q4q-6hKlaAu8mmlSphkhUixJm-HHBcwPnTwjGOJP_Aer78yTuPz9gG4xMey459YcA4A-VX6-jRIxkMJGm4hu8II4bN7p64hYIyOJKkbxaTJ_LSc8MIdN-CNZ23q0/s320/MattEthan+cut+meat.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618137075662574594" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">While this was being mixed, Ethan and Matt went to the kitchen to cut the meat into strips.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">When they returned the meat was added to the marinade and left for 6 hours.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Drying</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">We using the three dehydrators we carefully place the goods to be dried one on top of the other. In the first dehydrator we stacked from bottomed to top: three trays of mint, then two trays of the apple slices. In the next; one tray of chive flowers, tomatoes slices and the cottage cheese. The third contained the meat. The staking order is important. Flavor could be transferred so to the levels above. It is also best to stack the dehydrator so that the driest items are on the bottom. This means that they will dry first some they can be removed and other items will be closer to the heat source. Also, moisture won’t be transferred this way.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Now that we’d done the leg work it was time to turn on the dryers. It was 3:45pm. The herbs are dehydrated at a much lower temperature then the fruits above them, 95 degrees. So we started them at this on this setting turning them up as the herbs finished.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The first to be completely dry was the spearmint. The edges a appeared crispy and the mint was a little brittle if handed after cooling, perfect. It was done at about 6:00pm. The peppermint took much longer, finishing at around 8:00pm. The chive took the longest of the herbs they were done a little before 9:00pm.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I turned up the temperature after removing the mints to 125. The fruits remained in for another five hours and were turn off at 12:00 with the cottage cheese. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The Jerky was put in at 12:00pm and dried until 6:00am. </p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgc9Hn4fWX2GYnJWpls86khH4euGYUnAHnHy1uYYytajBsN_MJukLtnrr3GAHYGPTBY7B6QNBSDpIzZTlpGVOxl0u1e8MkOGItbDz2tAgS5MhBYaPfg2S6hjMMc1e10poZtVSqHPTI9w/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgc9Hn4fWX2GYnJWpls86khH4euGYUnAHnHy1uYYytajBsN_MJukLtnrr3GAHYGPTBY7B6QNBSDpIzZTlpGVOxl0u1e8MkOGItbDz2tAgS5MhBYaPfg2S6hjMMc1e10poZtVSqHPTI9w/s320/IMG_0782.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618138716305971362" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">The apples are my favorite, but the mints should make good tea to. I also enjoyed the tomatoes, they would have been better with something though. I didn't taste the Jerky or the cottage cheese. I was a little put off by the crackly texture. However, many more of my classmates did enjoy it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">One parting not, because we didn't move the dried good from the rather moist room we dried them in the re-hydrated a little. While, this didn't effect the taste so soon after drying they're self life will be much shorter. Be sure to store any dry goods in a dry place.</p>Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18048409693609502595noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-69102953297233077322011-06-09T20:12:00.009-04:002011-06-09T21:06:32.065-04:00Poplar Bark Baskets!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLTbo8jGR2H3ANlntXoStlrHoGkC6_i1LIl6-ykCfUCQ7tpfpNKog_W1_fnB5GVQjkLjwvD9pgHandPZLuC2O9hEXzD0IwB2smfj-Q9Gwm3Z1LQcEToa4mrkuJQ4YuCwGG8HE4nuVKj8/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLTbo8jGR2H3ANlntXoStlrHoGkC6_i1LIl6-ykCfUCQ7tpfpNKog_W1_fnB5GVQjkLjwvD9pgHandPZLuC2O9hEXzD0IwB2smfj-Q9Gwm3Z1LQcEToa4mrkuJQ4YuCwGG8HE4nuVKj8/s320/018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616378966241125042" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qdLUmYSkqL63D2wZMmX2_EEqegNUUY7vh_6JW4sYf_fhtgq9qzl1oYd58nGPCyDgFKjRO_OfVv1AstU5P7O9dTVbvfblZKtCutesZNubA4xoUX7xpSafx9sjC5yN3u04BfqNlqjbYQA/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 228px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qdLUmYSkqL63D2wZMmX2_EEqegNUUY7vh_6JW4sYf_fhtgq9qzl1oYd58nGPCyDgFKjRO_OfVv1AstU5P7O9dTVbvfblZKtCutesZNubA4xoUX7xpSafx9sjC5yN3u04BfqNlqjbYQA/s320/004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616390752974865586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We spent the first half of class today working on our black ash baskets. We were all in different stages of the process. I spent class working through </span><span style="font-family:arial;">th</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e frustrations, but eventual joy, in weaving. Some students went on to put the rims on their baskets. Liz finished hers. Check it </span><span style="font-family:arial;">out! Pictured as well is Bru finishing up the rim on her beautiful basket.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />During the second half of class we learned to make baskets out of Poplar bark. Poplar is also known as Quaking Aspen and Popal. This project proved to be nice and easy compared to the tedious work of making the black ash baskets. Here are the steps we </span><span style="font-family:arial;">followed:<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">1) Using a safety knife, we made </span><span style="font-family:arial;">slits down a nice, smooth section of the tree. The longe</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRm-gUSsG0jyZRchV2ApBlRpE7acarPxDz_u0R1XeGV33CUatryhZQDU6Yugk1oyQkIyP_0m8LZPUkd0k9ekTaiuSZVBAS9c1ZYBh-uVvgRHDgcd9N0fon1Vq93D5_YcsGiZ823mLwW8k/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRm-gUSsG0jyZRchV2ApBlRpE7acarPxDz_u0R1XeGV33CUatryhZQDU6Yugk1oyQkIyP_0m8LZPUkd0k9ekTaiuSZVBAS9c1ZYBh-uVvgRHDgcd9N0fon1Vq93D5_YcsGiZ823mLwW8k/s320/006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616382809906434866" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">r the piece, the wider the basket, the wider the tree, the taller the basket.<br /><br />2) Next, we peeled the bark off of the tree. It is amazing how easily the bark slides off. Jodi tol</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d us that the wet, inner part of the Poplar makes for good sunscreen.<br /><br />3) Now we can form o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ur baskets. With a knife, we cut an eye-shaped line running about half-way through the bark in the middle</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> of the bark piece. This</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> allows us for a bottom to the basket when we fold up the two sides.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35mSPoEoIf-Jh-ZD_VoYrDRuSBOyHbaJp3n-TLHtkel0M12ZnIgawtWSu6coZFYVlYqZDIt3YxSSpH9Z5MT8eQta7UrfedxWstfoZEehiWLiLcsgs7GsKy5dEbWeIlKaIekPRiN7y9JA/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35mSPoEoIf-Jh-ZD_VoYrDRuSBOyHbaJp3n-TLHtkel0M12ZnIgawtWSu6coZFYVlYqZDIt3YxSSpH9Z5MT8eQta7UrfedxWstfoZEehiWLiLcsgs7GsKy5dEbWeIlKaIekPRiN7y9JA/s320/009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616384503314068898" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mmHcwQ-6JfB25VcgVIGiRjhU7tdZTWh1Jl3oKQ1kFWNnzBz0wJ_RzPON8pg9H185zaLqP-tinE2R2WFLAentf4ju2eom0Qu6oTx3nwBz4kUeSEmZVKDaVYz7kU9cCCrSnX85TpT1XuY/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mmHcwQ-6JfB25VcgVIGiRjhU7tdZTWh1Jl3oKQ1kFWNnzBz0wJ_RzPON8pg9H185zaLqP-tinE2R2WFLAentf4ju2eom0Qu6oTx3nwBz4kUeSEmZVKDaVYz7kU9cCCrSnX85TpT1XuY/s320/013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616389021817026386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />4) We then stitched together the two sides to close up the baskets. We used nylon string and a baseball stitch.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />5) Using a slice of leftover bark, we stitched on rims for the baskets. The inner-side of the bark is on the outside for this piece.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />And that's all! There are many opportunities to be creative with these baskets and each one is very different because all trees are different. These baskets will dry out and harden. I love how much these baskets look like the material that we were using. We completely transformed the look of the bark that we used for the black ask baskets. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">These, however, remind us moreso of the trees we used to make them with. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CXbIHIWmW4m6T_6fC2gl-hyCwEB9cs4jwPaCpTVYTmrH53BpQW2vbc8uIn2apzJcFlzLhFJBX1Xh_UI1JlcDW8sEnIAr6AYqxWDTLlpqYROjJzgB6hO6DXExv4lEX6D6LX_wUHpnzB4/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CXbIHIWmW4m6T_6fC2gl-hyCwEB9cs4jwPaCpTVYTmrH53BpQW2vbc8uIn2apzJcFlzLhFJBX1Xh_UI1JlcDW8sEnIAr6AYqxWDTLlpqYROjJzgB6hO6DXExv4lEX6D6LX_wUHpnzB4/s320/021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616386916887253634" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYpmAl_U-id7DMOcxpkQornHrmkNcKjvx1VGar_4ky4cVMqpMCV5nlHoMdpIthsQ2xaCRufzdoOavW5bsr0ZBF7Q-UXXzs6YbycHj3tsqFYnXUTA1BzicFmiqcIx7Z0-ezj6c4lWfF8E/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYpmAl_U-id7DMOcxpkQornHrmkNcKjvx1VGar_4ky4cVMqpMCV5nlHoMdpIthsQ2xaCRufzdoOavW5bsr0ZBF7Q-UXXzs6YbycHj3tsqFYnXUTA1BzicFmiqcIx7Z0-ezj6c4lWfF8E/s320/014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616386903033446834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span>Hannahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03746456023431206369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-67816090626356506692011-06-06T14:34:00.013-04:002011-06-18T13:47:35.627-04:00Black Ash Baskets, Part 2!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhG2xGVVcYbK5AqCkEaisaZT6gz0acDEL9lZ5vYpSdsdb7iOEVMyYVVWVrM9ycCUYMIWkK6Ijq_egSGLQ4cqfPrLaL5MnLPpawnwYU1Dx0i1ElZiOJG_26jql3hntfA_tcS8SK_r57AGLm/s1600/021.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYX4txjTw5vLy6bIp2bFCa6czjpwRJ-dazmO60mCKPaliLcl1oJyWu5PM5Jd82SUUKZGP7GlOvlwpESSLujMSP44KUVRA6lwTIeJRNLHOIj3rBZxJJOzZbAATrX6sNg05tnulGL7QY2sq/s1600/016.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYX4txjTw5vLy6bIp2bFCa6czjpwRJ-dazmO60mCKPaliLcl1oJyWu5PM5Jd82SUUKZGP7GlOvlwpESSLujMSP44KUVRA6lwTIeJRNLHOIj3rBZxJJOzZbAATrX6sNg05tnulGL7QY2sq/s320/016.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615184952808901522" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The art of black ash basketry dates back to the Native Americans and their utilitarian baskets. Black ash baskets were used for many different things including corn washing, food gathering, fishing, and household containers. As time went on, the basket became more then an art born of necessity, and became a true art form. Before long, ornamental baskets were being created along side the more useful models. Ash baskets are very durable and are often passed down through generations, darkening with age as if gathering memories within the weave.<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </span>In Monday's class, we began to process our ash splints and prepare them for weaving. We needed 1 thick splint for our uprights, and 2 thinner ones for our weavers. The uprights would be the basic form and skeleton of the basket, which we would weave the weavers around. To get the weavers, we cut a slice in the splint about 2 inches from the top, halfway through the splint across the grain. Once a tab is created, it is bent back to create a separation between the two halves. Using the splitter (a nifty contraption made of 3 pieces of wood that has a pinch at the top) the splint is fed up through a hole in the side and through the pinched slats at the top. Using even pressure on each side the splint is split over the top of the splitter, down its entire length. Some of us had trouble with one side thinning and breaking off, however with some help from Stuart Soboleski, and Irene Ames we discovered that when one side becomes thicker, to pull it more severely to even it out. It was so exciting to see the smooth satiny finish of the inside of the splints! After splitting, the outside of the splint is shaved smooth with a knife to remove the fibrous tissue of the cambium.<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwZ3vA2kZ5CkM07BWdV3n5YuCNY1l3f5AUqgWXi0vUfwWa3zlWm2Dmj9dNx4Rz64AWSCfIo4JG84CUPQQA6QOOYkZU5oEWXC_wXvAwkUG7IcXsYd4n2V-FiClDZ4WRI5CBfYwTSpEmeG3/s200/010.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615186777725857890" /><div>The splits are then soaked before cutting.</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbN2pkio2MYkP_jSVZ-Tf1wBu0HjH-aZeAUJNY5Zn9N5KxNRa7NYWZYNQRsLqlEZT9Fo0wY2Tc9BKdp8LZSWj7_kxvU4JX61cmm8ZM9fqx62Ot9p6c28EBM8TUhwrfGXNnp5CqZd9bieH/s200/012.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615186304387199538" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>We then used a specialized cutting tool to cut the splints to the widths desired for uprights. </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYuAOIQdat-7AHkIlXnMhpDkhkcpfdfImfEFFBfKR6jR0fZap3H9bNRRaFkB6NhYTaAocBlNgrJkp17rYnwzysAHQEuQ1RYxAzN5b44EkA6cYnL45Lf7jZAeObWrmF26iGYEsHY-6pw08/s200/013.JPG" style="text-align: center;float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615187772962481410" /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The strips were then cut into 9-10 inch lengths for weaving. </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5w6JQVDKRdj55b1e77mRjWALr1SeNOO6HnTiqJuGNJsazbgEpJWgQRRMt9g9t8lYSTqn_oxrldb1IwJeUlQiRVmkX-q3W8_lBfNaKdR8UzOeZg31hK-jSMmVo6X3TsCYzz85wWfHABd-/s200/014.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615188586424068514" /><div>Next we began the weaving together of the uprights on 5x5 blocks for the shape of our baskets. we found that the thicker the uprights, the harder the weaving!</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69VLSYA6gdxW47m_gKRbEnpwbej04P4bMS3tFmoXuHSFhZWr3p7WtM6NcgVRNvoOo6eu4eh7nU-v8_OVEY3YZn0IFqdoR57yaQ8Tz2uQzm4OiRBLsjOnM7Hpli2KvhFpXAncTA6FOYla-/s200/029.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615240547882015746" /><div>Once the bottom was done, we braced the sides up against the side of the mold, tacked them down and set them in the sun to dry. </div><div>Next we soaked the weavers while we took the uprights off the mold. Next we began to weave, which was a little frustrating with the thicker uprights. </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuQa9sahMHqhDSGqe2a85seq1D0J6K-qOB8FJpNqwSRAjoaMevH97gtqYF2ihObGfGE6OYX1SmKsg-7JY58XBRCWUdqtsd0oCNqUqaTrk_Pcb2OzRKdybZ_XY4m1CK0VbbkNx5_Zctb5A/s200/027.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615240543298362290" /><div>The trick was to weave the ends under each other and the up</div><div>rights to hide them. next class we finish weaving, and do our rims! cant wait!</div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytrBuZvi93LH_RZZuXoj7XN73vWN-ZhGLXeR_1eyrQdk9j8yt2977P2sET9uiXXxNa-xEy7ahATIFXXlmkuEmByBP9luNAm-ZHp0bED9al5L8ugYcMw3oHXccv1xO9Jo8X2nG5U0Uq3SO/s200/030.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615241850774844018" /><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div></div></div>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13019080189798939896noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-87555586338110538912011-06-03T16:58:00.026-04:002011-06-16T13:21:38.897-04:00Harvesting Black Ash Splints for Basket MakingIf you're looking to make a durable, appealing, functional basket, look no further than the black ash tree. The Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra), also called the basket tree, is the northern-most native ash. It is found in the wet soils of cold swamps and peat bogs where drainage is poor, and at the boundaries of coniferous and hardwood forests. Because of its habitat it is rare to encounter a black ash that reaches over 1 foot in diameter. The top of the tree will often appear to be "half-sick" with a sort of halloweenish silhouette. The strong thick branches of the tree are found in a crown at the top with an absence of small twigs. The leaflets are bunched in groups of 7-11 and are opposite each other and attach directly (no leaf stalk) to a central 12-16" lead-stem. Individual leaves are broad and lance-shaped with finely serrated edges. <br /><br />Example of Black Ash Leaves <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YgGY02P5u436i5qYjYMNBwwuy_cfTiBCLoxyP3OvstcILQSHGftr7XWrNjZwi1ctY6lrYNQV_4cZYxwIb8z1DjEmUGkQs5Vf4XR5RaH4nOYT2eMV3bEVUwZGk7NuNUGGbi3KTx78z8M/s1600/blackash.jpg"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614103235397403042 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YgGY02P5u436i5qYjYMNBwwuy_cfTiBCLoxyP3OvstcILQSHGftr7XWrNjZwi1ctY6lrYNQV_4cZYxwIb8z1DjEmUGkQs5Vf4XR5RaH4nOYT2eMV3bEVUwZGk7NuNUGGbi3KTx78z8M/s320/blackash.jpg"></A> <br /><br />The bark is distinctive and resembles that of an elm. It is gray in color, corky in nature, and fissures into soft scaly parts. When selecting a tree look for the straightest one you can find that provides a log at least 8 or 10" thick and 10-12 feet long. Stuart Soboleski, Sterling's farm manager, cut us a nice black ash prior to our class and brought along his friend and mentor, master basket maker Irene Ames to teach us the splint harvesting technique. We carried two 6' sized log sections from the cedar swamp to our work space. You'll want to harvest the splints soon after cutting the tree as you will need the wood to be moist and pliable. If the tree dries out between cutting and working it you can soak it in a body of water or a trough. Note the bark coloring and pattern. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidih-3ocxzd1MytcOio2ULu92s6iHJC24aPT3nWa_4wWcv6VX60ZC4QZlSpsqJX7TQDRngUt_X5Ro4ytXZvvfuvag6akpjs3opIjKE1XWj40ecDoQZAZa1jjCGRaR0QoFfwQ9z0ah9PlE/s1600/IMG_0578.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614105261199398658 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidih-3ocxzd1MytcOio2ULu92s6iHJC24aPT3nWa_4wWcv6VX60ZC4QZlSpsqJX7TQDRngUt_X5Ro4ytXZvvfuvag6akpjs3opIjKE1XWj40ecDoQZAZa1jjCGRaR0QoFfwQ9z0ah9PlE/s320/IMG_0578.JPG"></A> <br /><br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1NThnjAX5lQl3ng9_mz-w7zZ8YGMTpI2PSsbaIgW7tJNXvB7hxq9dAsD7rvpAEcr1xraaqbHUsM8W0CszTvbWXf6ijhyphenhyphenI-sOJlAxfQGoujPS_8k3HlLXcdA_Y4F1wmLLjkzW7lbcGBE/s1600/IMG_0579.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614105721406772722 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1NThnjAX5lQl3ng9_mz-w7zZ8YGMTpI2PSsbaIgW7tJNXvB7hxq9dAsD7rvpAEcr1xraaqbHUsM8W0CszTvbWXf6ijhyphenhyphenI-sOJlAxfQGoujPS_8k3HlLXcdA_Y4F1wmLLjkzW7lbcGBE/s320/IMG_0579.JPG"></A> <br /><br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCY3VE_lCsfxP1PgHnAOfY4L6D7SzpEZmBZkAQnZBpJIt2-6hRgzwLdSELIjZqJhUAGJai6UogHdqUYSbw5oc6_7W20P8P2-si0LuJNA5fNI81Q0BsQUWYG8lZWFstxkjhhmqh_ieovk/s1600/IMG_0580.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614106187051321570 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCY3VE_lCsfxP1PgHnAOfY4L6D7SzpEZmBZkAQnZBpJIt2-6hRgzwLdSELIjZqJhUAGJai6UogHdqUYSbw5oc6_7W20P8P2-si0LuJNA5fNI81Q0BsQUWYG8lZWFstxkjhhmqh_ieovk/s320/IMG_0580.JPG"></A> <br /><br />The next step is to remove the bark from the tree. Use a knife or fingers to break away a piece of the spongy outer bark. As long as it is still wet you should be able to work your hands underneath the bark and peel it off in one piece or nearly so. If not, use a draw knife to remove the bark. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKiHm3wODNeAuUYYb0k6l7GCd7uuzygzBQnhZfcjniUOWi4UXAnLK9eAkB1tmabHIueoqShHiORRexf_x7r4mK-XEjxpb-Q0YYdjuxTnmQuw62O4tUYxFBhs0nZZsK0BS-ZrIQP5jVGU/s1600/IMG_0581.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614108099679609810 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKiHm3wODNeAuUYYb0k6l7GCd7uuzygzBQnhZfcjniUOWi4UXAnLK9eAkB1tmabHIueoqShHiORRexf_x7r4mK-XEjxpb-Q0YYdjuxTnmQuw62O4tUYxFBhs0nZZsK0BS-ZrIQP5jVGU/s320/IMG_0581.JPG"></A> <br /><br />After removing the bark, prop one or both ends of the tree up on a notched log to keep it off the ground and prevent it from rolling around. Use an iron or wooden mallet or 2-3 pound short handled sledge hammer to pound the log down its length. This will crush the connecting fibers between growth rings allowing the splints to peel off in strips to use as weaving material and uprights for your basket. Propping the log up ensures that the log absorbs most of the impact, not the ground. You will need to hit the log with significant force but do not hit so hard that you fissure the wood. Allow the weight of the mallet to do most of the work. For ease in peeling off the splints make sure you overlap your blows several times, perhaps as many as 16 times per square inch for the top layer. The hits will send shock waves through the entire log helping to loosen some lower layers as well. Native Americans coated the log with mud to show where their pounding stopped as well as to prevent the log from drying out. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoxTsi8Br9GQxgCtA8VG7GXEgB5fxpIPZmxOH4GCvyfsYpOf5WN6KQmBZTCpguLFHJ6L31LTdrRAmy1a69VY6YIGDPxknH16e9MNRfeUDiQyvLrfSyXB-ARApThkApAKnDjhgKdRnlt8/s1600/IMG_0582.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614110020473702434 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoxTsi8Br9GQxgCtA8VG7GXEgB5fxpIPZmxOH4GCvyfsYpOf5WN6KQmBZTCpguLFHJ6L31LTdrRAmy1a69VY6YIGDPxknH16e9MNRfeUDiQyvLrfSyXB-ARApThkApAKnDjhgKdRnlt8/s320/IMG_0582.JPG"></A> <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DDQ29cdal18?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DDQ29cdal18?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />After you thoroughly pound down the length of the log a few times covering a width of about 6", make two cuts a few inches apart at one end of the log into the growth ring of the surface layer. Work the knife blade underneath the ring from the end to pry a piece up and start your splint. You should then be able to take a knife and work it underneath the growth ring, prying and cutting if necessary with one hand while pulling and wiggling with the other, and a splint of wood should come free in one long strip. If the splint starts to stick to the layer underneath it continue to pound the area with your mallet then try peeling off the splint and pounding again until it comes free. The outer most layers are new growth rings and will still be somewhat spongy and stuck together so they will likely not be of much use. Working through these first couple layers is key to getting down to the strong supple inner layers. Once you begin to see rings of a uniform darker brown you have hit pay dirt. Remove these layers in approximately 2" wide strips and set aside for further refinement. As you get down to the heartwood you will probably start to notice more knots that will break up the length of the splints. There will still be workable material between these knots but eventually as you get closer to the center you will come to a point where it is no longer worth the trouble. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_fWhyphenhyphenRYVtHtCzidHKdQrjtrXn2vC-CPb_dpHNEjvnpchX1R0HnrSlHFygabn1dIUXmOsYWClJhhLW3XKVHw17sHNxEa9Avu3trWCIyQmmgcLQcUK0MMOAUWGdl4LH5urPkEjBWLgzTM/s1600/IMG_0585.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614112952928061922 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_fWhyphenhyphenRYVtHtCzidHKdQrjtrXn2vC-CPb_dpHNEjvnpchX1R0HnrSlHFygabn1dIUXmOsYWClJhhLW3XKVHw17sHNxEa9Avu3trWCIyQmmgcLQcUK0MMOAUWGdl4LH5urPkEjBWLgzTM/s320/IMG_0585.JPG"></A> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4IUObESQcQH2JAmsGdyxGG0PR2jBJRPDgnkB-77Q4bvudrADScX5YA2YceGvUy9HkIacb-UIdConkKR7xP82GHQ4USJz-RwRp6dZ08dQ5JONgdT8jAZ6liteZ2PrYf8YUzzorIDlooo/s1600/IMG_0587.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4IUObESQcQH2JAmsGdyxGG0PR2jBJRPDgnkB-77Q4bvudrADScX5YA2YceGvUy9HkIacb-UIdConkKR7xP82GHQ4USJz-RwRp6dZ08dQ5JONgdT8jAZ6liteZ2PrYf8YUzzorIDlooo/s320/IMG_0587.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614424506330295090" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2Vs6md8mtbgF_kjiiW2gSg6Y9JfvUspuk9ruk0jzRMAv-BaHugyJgAw4tmBRt_fFVesldh-so8l97SyceC1WR-KxSoB0ja5wsCcYCVG6P_DygWOP5XzMxLeO0wuzhOCguXmkzQWzH7Y/s1600/IMG_0586.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2Vs6md8mtbgF_kjiiW2gSg6Y9JfvUspuk9ruk0jzRMAv-BaHugyJgAw4tmBRt_fFVesldh-so8l97SyceC1WR-KxSoB0ja5wsCcYCVG6P_DygWOP5XzMxLeO0wuzhOCguXmkzQWzH7Y/s320/IMG_0586.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614425120350864418" /></a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Ii_4_l6ZoA?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Ii_4_l6ZoA?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />After you harvest several workable splints that are the length of the tree you can begin to shave off some of the cambium that may be stuck to the splint by using a knife and a leather patch. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiKSLwWzmiho4wJOMJzRo7mWehzl6oL9G0CYkOrTBKdvoveg4mRnxnNXlJ5J6i2LQH6Re4fe2DcR0pka1eZ8yFAVK6kdrm0lHVU1Jr0fJgiy5FyhkGT_TdWWT_vvvUQzPQ_irWcjdFz8/s1600/IMG_0589.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614114896800510594 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiKSLwWzmiho4wJOMJzRo7mWehzl6oL9G0CYkOrTBKdvoveg4mRnxnNXlJ5J6i2LQH6Re4fe2DcR0pka1eZ8yFAVK6kdrm0lHVU1Jr0fJgiy5FyhkGT_TdWWT_vvvUQzPQ_irWcjdFz8/s320/IMG_0589.JPG"></A> <br /><br />After cleaning your splints you may want to split some of them into thinner thicknesses (1 to 2mm maybe) depending on your plans for weaving. Some thicker splints can be saved for uprights and handles but thinner pieces are ideal for weaving and will remain extremely strong. Using a knife, cut halfway through the end of your splint about an inch from the top. You should be able to fold over a tab so that you now have two sides at the tip of the splint in a V shape. Next you will need the splitting device seen below. It is simple and cheap to make on your own or you can do the next step by hand. Feed the V end of the splint through the hole in the side of one of the splitting device legs. Bring it up through the mouth of the device and compress the two legs with your knees. Keep the tips of the legs even and pull each side of the splint away from the middle with slow, consistent force. You should see the splint begin to split into two thinner splints. If one side begins to get thinner than the other add more pressure with your knee to the thin side to raise the thin side leg above the other leg and even out the splint. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqOgmd0pWzsj0rsauvYryPPm3LLHL3ky448JmspKF75N64DVGR1jxh3kPUOwn5_ZuPYd1mNGybLTuz-K5U_uR5URZo7sNklE-dVwPCDvHxPv3jhhtQf__p5zchC3jUgxAZOrRH5fm-Hc/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614416924079219970 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqOgmd0pWzsj0rsauvYryPPm3LLHL3ky448JmspKF75N64DVGR1jxh3kPUOwn5_ZuPYd1mNGybLTuz-K5U_uR5URZo7sNklE-dVwPCDvHxPv3jhhtQf__p5zchC3jUgxAZOrRH5fm-Hc/s320/IMG_0588.JPG"></A> <br /><br />Once you have your splint at the desired thickness you can change the width by using a straight edge to rip the wood by drawing a blade down the length of the splint. Depending on your basket, about a 1/2" to 1/4" width may be ideal for weavers, and a 1" to 3/4" width for uprights. Below are two examples of unfinished splints in varying thickness and width. The splints are rolled for storage and should be soaked prior to weaving or reworking to make them more supple. <br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNf4W7bV2-FSHT9VG7pzFdSiqPy9fTEOaSdg_YfqlSJt-nwQtv5Zy7D8LD_t0wKORfxuwtGJjiU_NLAyzA4ywLcQIr6Im0DEcHW_IkEbiC_mLB4BlTZ35Th79umgSD_5dcP62mQG9GYY/s1600/IMG_0604.JPG"><IMG style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614127235170027634 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNf4W7bV2-FSHT9VG7pzFdSiqPy9fTEOaSdg_YfqlSJt-nwQtv5Zy7D8LD_t0wKORfxuwtGJjiU_NLAyzA4ywLcQIr6Im0DEcHW_IkEbiC_mLB4BlTZ35Th79umgSD_5dcP62mQG9GYY/s320/IMG_0604.JPG"></A> <br /><br />Thank you to Stuart Soboleski for helping with this project and thank you to Irene Ames for dedicating your time, knowledge, and skill to teaching us this craft. For more information on Black/Brown Ash Basketry visit Irene's website at http://www.imabasket.com/. Stay tuned for next week when we cover the weaving and finishing technique for creating beautiful, long lasting baskets.<br /><br /><br />Identification/Preparation/Historical Info from: <br /><br />McGuire, John E. Old New England Splint Baskets and how to make them. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd: Westchester, PA 1985.Matt A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16844593840538791507noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-72321058659153637782011-06-01T14:09:00.002-04:002011-06-01T14:13:29.622-04:00Erica's Ol' Timey ketchup recipe<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><u><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">Tomato Ketchup<o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Baskerville Old Face', serif; ">5 quarts home grown plum tomato juice</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">1 ½ pints white vinegar<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">1 Tbsps. black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">1 ½ Tbsps. cinnamon<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">½ Tbsps. dry mustard<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">2 ½ Tbsps. salt<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">1 2/3 c brown sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">Combine all ingredients and cook over <u>fire</u> until thick<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom: .0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">Reduce volume by about half<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Baskerville Old Face""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif"">Pour into jars to 1/8” of top and seal<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif""><o:p> Family recipe dating back to early 1700s</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Baskerville Old Face","serif""><o:p>Ive been making this with my folks since infancy, and it's super important to do this out side over a fire, it just wont taste right if done indoors. We also always used our own tomatoes, my Papa would save the seeds that came out of the Squeezo we used, and plant them the following year. The very last jar was accidentally thrown away in the recent clean out of the Jefferson fridge, so as soon as I can, I hope to raise my own tomatoes and make more ketchup!</o:p></span></p>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13019080189798939896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1514782937741092744.post-75830917530509323872011-05-31T08:51:00.001-04:002011-06-17T09:49:11.344-04:00Welcome and Rhubarb Chutney!Welcome one and all to the Sterling College Farmstead Arts Ol' Timey Blog!<br />
We are hoping to share our experiences and challenges with the World Wide Web as we explore the art of adding value to raw materials. We will be canning, basket weaving, paper making, distilling oils and much more!<br />
comments, recommendations and shared experiences are welcome!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzdOpWRnfv_zLQJoMD0nhjHhUIGA-nheM5RZy4PSKENiL-VwtymDLmNnSfUt8UCruTeGh530NKD0q9cyWBw5X9smKJfTz7Lke9GvLI-ORpktZVc-P6XbHXMwOq3coziMpCGIqga3dU_Zu/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzdOpWRnfv_zLQJoMD0nhjHhUIGA-nheM5RZy4PSKENiL-VwtymDLmNnSfUt8UCruTeGh530NKD0q9cyWBw5X9smKJfTz7Lke9GvLI-ORpktZVc-P6XbHXMwOq3coziMpCGIqga3dU_Zu/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7x-WKVf5PdH8OaDQ_h0QT5VdmmeBxoL9c-ntycY3g7A-LFlxUrLvGdiHfVuaOUxg-Xioqd8y1IGUnjKpvj_D4nx2iz48D8JXesHB7NkhWIWe5ebdD4A0oj-gquVXgx4b6IV8l8Ijb6uu6/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7x-WKVf5PdH8OaDQ_h0QT5VdmmeBxoL9c-ntycY3g7A-LFlxUrLvGdiHfVuaOUxg-Xioqd8y1IGUnjKpvj_D4nx2iz48D8JXesHB7NkhWIWe5ebdD4A0oj-gquVXgx4b6IV8l8Ijb6uu6/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Rhubarb Chutney<br />
In our first class we learned the art of canning, and produced and canned a fair amount of Rhubarb Chutney. The advantage of a chutney is that the recipe itself is very acidic and therefore will keep for long on its own, so pressure canning is not necessary. After cooking the chutney we placed it in sterilized mason jars with the lids only just on, placed the jars in water and brought to a boil for ten minutes. When the jars are extracted the steam is let out and they make a little 'pop' and seal up! The chutney came out great and we are all looking forward to testing our own family recipes and canning on our own! (leftovers were placed in the student snack area for all who desire)<br />
<br />
Here is the recipe and some pictures of the process:<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 4 lb rhubarb<br />
• 2 lb red onions<br />
• 3 cups sugar<br />
• 1 cup molasses <br />
• 2 cups cider vinegar<br />
• 2 tbs cinnamon<br />
• 1/2 tbsp cloves<br />
• 2 tbsp salt<br />
• 1 tbsp ginger<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0NtKMySDdLOd7rhwhzXkJ6Ktdm7-_Aiw2y_n-OWcmCW0I6Xd3UPgaHR7VMnrqgGncUIAz5IWk8m7WFqHAvImzXXg9I0h2QK5wgMAf4Fe6wcJmsNIlPuDGWEGGTBIS2Ug6xIKbsbP1Xk7/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0NtKMySDdLOd7rhwhzXkJ6Ktdm7-_Aiw2y_n-OWcmCW0I6Xd3UPgaHR7VMnrqgGncUIAz5IWk8m7WFqHAvImzXXg9I0h2QK5wgMAf4Fe6wcJmsNIlPuDGWEGGTBIS2Ug6xIKbsbP1Xk7/s320/019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKvw63bsxibRZXCubJSy3DKDtXD4rDTbWowzSmTiePhfS7qIQqkeWTXEW7SujA6hMiy7Yo4Dgg5a2AXX2X7KUAqpyFYB9iGYhWXFqj0lkmAEzb62d7LZyzKVwj3dr5xAJfUKVyN_stXwS/s1600/023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKvw63bsxibRZXCubJSy3DKDtXD4rDTbWowzSmTiePhfS7qIQqkeWTXEW7SujA6hMiy7Yo4Dgg5a2AXX2X7KUAqpyFYB9iGYhWXFqj0lkmAEzb62d7LZyzKVwj3dr5xAJfUKVyN_stXwS/s320/023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Method:<br />
• chop rhubarb <br />
• mince onion<br />
• add cinnamon, sugar, vinegar, salt & ginger<br />
• stir and boil till thick. Pack in mason jars.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ajB3MolqDeaPHPDnpuAzxKB-_VsA8LL9ZEeZsfvIfDgtwQshao7XTBUh6sfpkKYQpusfhvNMkB9JzopRVuYEZOEmYfsALNxODamLZSiUOz7n5nevcwU39eoomkaAzdGNtOg02aCxGNCj/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ajB3MolqDeaPHPDnpuAzxKB-_VsA8LL9ZEeZsfvIfDgtwQshao7XTBUh6sfpkKYQpusfhvNMkB9JzopRVuYEZOEmYfsALNxODamLZSiUOz7n5nevcwU39eoomkaAzdGNtOg02aCxGNCj/s320/031.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sT-K-t9vnbMnSVPzPpTA4Su8IEfiAEgGw_U2baISPTpmRMf7pYaHuHFK6iTdJxL_GbGsWYfgyobtJQc6itta3JanumxDbi-wde7T6POdwTrICXN2XBO-k1fS2QVNvMCYakfIXbmZa26o/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sT-K-t9vnbMnSVPzPpTA4Su8IEfiAEgGw_U2baISPTpmRMf7pYaHuHFK6iTdJxL_GbGsWYfgyobtJQc6itta3JanumxDbi-wde7T6POdwTrICXN2XBO-k1fS2QVNvMCYakfIXbmZa26o/s320/025.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIM-nh_ou93dTDWtfiymhyB30HWy8aoV6gfMOyZqn0VoOwLTenBJRbo5LNeU4eWJwVLfU9LI0FkUCxpNASWMFDo4aFopvBBO1u_29iHi9_NhZLPuDhyphenhyphentRnSyxZhFEevhakiAxl9-EHkVF/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIM-nh_ou93dTDWtfiymhyB30HWy8aoV6gfMOyZqn0VoOwLTenBJRbo5LNeU4eWJwVLfU9LI0FkUCxpNASWMFDo4aFopvBBO1u_29iHi9_NhZLPuDhyphenhyphentRnSyxZhFEevhakiAxl9-EHkVF/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLN_YI0UksXSHySb9_fyydMX-HBo4WJHeU778O2ANrV2svrh0fZ0Yi4SFhyphenhyphenCDwRrv04uFQgQVsV9JcttDVTsI-nfLtTWonid0xfxMy1KS5hvZ-ojwvyfCS11G0GUlXFipa_jNG8Sm5482c/s1600/030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLN_YI0UksXSHySb9_fyydMX-HBo4WJHeU778O2ANrV2svrh0fZ0Yi4SFhyphenhyphenCDwRrv04uFQgQVsV9JcttDVTsI-nfLtTWonid0xfxMy1KS5hvZ-ojwvyfCS11G0GUlXFipa_jNG8Sm5482c/s320/030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3GXkzs4Dw2S8MJ5m0E6OL1BDGSm-nuWRWoflI32l5__FCtfUKWJGw5Jx6_VWXW1xyqtNNRXQbKqOylv3rwHh4h4tZNm4MA0cupP7-QbCXxisoUYfM7k3iXR6zMM_NN5HVzVhzRdDCC7F/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3GXkzs4Dw2S8MJ5m0E6OL1BDGSm-nuWRWoflI32l5__FCtfUKWJGw5Jx6_VWXW1xyqtNNRXQbKqOylv3rwHh4h4tZNm4MA0cupP7-QbCXxisoUYfM7k3iXR6zMM_NN5HVzVhzRdDCC7F/s320/028.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Bruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00840405581139348988noreply@blogger.com3