25/8/2020 0 Comments Singer 127 - winding the bobbinThe following was published in my old blog, Trampled by Geese 2011 Hidden underneath a shiny silver face plate is a shuttle and bobbin. These magical treasures are what makes the sewing machine stitch lock in place. Two threads, one on top, one beneath, working together to make sewing happen. What could be more wonderful than that? Click "read more" on the right to ...
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4/8/2020 1 Comment It's Laundry Day!Now that the grass has turned a disgusting shade of brown and summer has arrived with a vengeance, we're entering the next stage of water conservation on the farm. No water on the garden unless it is reclaimed water. Most of the year, I've been using reclaimed water from washing wool or dying. However, at this time of year, it's no longer sustainable to be using water in crafting every week. We need to reserve water for human and livestock needs first. Although I am expecting to get an indigo vat going this year as it doesn't require as much water as regular dyeing. Usually, I let the garden die, but this year, I'm feeling food insecure, so I want to get some winter crops planted to see us through the cold months. For this, I'll need to find water. What necessary household activities can I reclaim water from? That's where this vintage washing machine comes in! Click "read more" on the right to ... A quick series of images to show the process of transforming a cotton boll into a puni ready to spin. first published on my old blog Trampled by Geese in 2015
Leave a comment if you want me to make a video or more in-depth tutorial on working with cotton. We have two little greenhouses; old cracked glass things just tall enough to have to stoop and a footprint of 8 foot by 10. They are cute as buttons and really, for the amount of hot stuff we eat, it should be enough. Some years I plant my seedlings in the soil, and they grow like stink. Other years, like this year, I do everything right - I amend the soil with various manner, let the chickens in over winter to eat all the bugs, do all the thing - and everything fails. This year's peppers were planted with care after the last risk of frost, on a cloudy day. The next day the sun came out and scorched the poor little seedlings. The day after, it was nearly frost. But that's the way our weather goes - hot during the day, cold during the night. And these tropical plants (mostly hot peppers) don't seem to thrive in these conditions. Some years it works, but this year, it's been a dismal failure! Click "read more" on the right to ...
23/6/2020 0 Comments Some thoughts on weavers - and why we can sometimes seem cold to the uninitiated
16/6/2020 5 Comments How to wash wool!
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13/6/2020 Crowing Hen Farm COVID-19 Safety Plan
In every handful of soil, sleeps thousands of enemies; The seeds of weeds that, given the slightest moment of inattention, will gleefully smother all your hard work. But what if there was a way to turn your enemies superpower against them? A weed is just a plant that is growing unrequested. And the thing about weeds is that they are just so good at growing. They outgrow and smother just about any domestic plant. The weeds have the advantage, they have been growing and reproducing in this garden for generations. Through natural selection, the weeds have adapted to thrive in these conditions — clever little fellas. As the weeds grow and reproduce, they create a seed bank in the soil. This is like a savings account of weed seeds that they can draw upon for future generations. Some seeds will stay dormant for over 100 years, waiting for their moment. No matter how many weeds we kill this year, there are always more seeds in the savings account. We can fight this seed bank with chickens, chemicals, fire, heat, cold, all sorts of things - but weeds are tricky and have evolved over the years to survive all of these torments. Let's face it, weeds are smarter than us and always will be. It's time to start playing the weeds' game - And Win! Click "read more" on the right to ...
2/6/2020 0 Comments How to ship a carded batt?I want to know the best way to ship carded wool batts so that the fibres stay lofty and easy to draft. So I did some experiments. A batt is the result of preparing the fibre on a drum carder. It can be a giant drum carder like they have in a fibre mill, or a tiny one like mine. Not that I mind tiny. To me, it's just the right amount for what I'm doing now and I'm hoping my carding adventures will earn my way towards a bigger, better, bolder machine. Click "read more" on the right to ...
26/5/2020 0 Comments reviving my etsy shopTo be brutally honest, I never paid much attention to my Etsy shop. It's there if people buy stuff, that's cool. I might go through a phase once or twice a year where I take more photos and list stuff, but over the last 13 years, the number of hours I've put into improving my shop is pitiful. Until this year, most of my sales have been wholesale, but with the uncertainty ahead and being stuck at home on the farm, I finally had the time and the need to increase my Etsy sales. Click "read more" on the right to ...
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CategoriesAll Airwell Angora Animal Fibre Boring Community Cotton Dryland Farming Dye Etsy Shop Experiments Fibre Prep Finance Flax Indigo Linen Local Cloth Mediterranean Climate Natural Dye Permaculture Plant Fibre Silk Tutorial Urban Fibre Wildcrafting Archives
July 2020
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Created by Tracy Wandling of One Wing Freelance Graphic Design
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