May through December Highlights - Part 1

Since my last post in May, I have been busy, too busy to blog, so here are some highlights worth posting:

1. Expanded the Garden to roughly 200 feet x 35 feet. This allows me to grow more vine plants (cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, gourd). The expansion more than doubled the size of the garden. Good thing I have a tractor/tiller otherwise I couldn't do it by hand.

The 2010 garden included the following: corn, beans, peppers, tomatoes, onions, peas, radishes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, pumpkins, gourds, squash, zucchini.

We had a particularly dry and harsh summer, so the watering and weeding was intense, and the bugs were fierce but I managed to salvage a fairly decent crop. The Mrs. has many posts on the garden/produce exploits here: http://houseofbrungardt.blogspot.com/

Burn Baby Burn

I was going to post about the spring pasture burning but the Mrs. beat me to the punch. Check it out here at the other HOB blog.

Thanks to my brother Aloysius (Latin for "Lover of Fire") for spearheading the project (I was a bit leary doing it myself).

I have to add another picture of the famous "black" rabbit. Al propped Mr. Rabbit up on sticks for theatrical effect. "Kids look - Uncle Al killed Peter Cottontail!"

Silence is Broken (or Blog Posting Revival)

Since my last post I have been too busy to blog - or too tired I should say. The usual chaos of end of year work deadlines, Advent activities, travel, Christmas and ensuing chaos, sick kids, pregnant wife...

For posterity sake, here is a highlight of my accomplishments to date (worth noting):

1.Completed the conversion of the Guest Room to the Girl's Room. Even dabbled in Stenciling. It's harder than it looks!
2. Welcomed a new baby...Anthony Joseph. He shares the name of my father with his 2 brothers. God blessed us with a safe delivery and healthy Baby and Mommy. He was baptized 4 days later - now that's Old School.
3. Met the Easter Bunny...only 2 were brave enough to get close to him.


4. Got my tomatoes and peppers planted and potted. All the kids joined in. My "babies" number about 130. Way too many as usual.

5. Added 3 - 4' x 8' raised beds to the Orchard/Garden. They contain rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, and herbs.6. Tilled the garden and planted snow peas, spinach, radishes, onions. Harvested our first load of radishes on Mommy's birthday - April 23. Pictures will be posted at a later date.

7. Did some flower planting for the Mrs and perty'd up the Grotto with transplanted Irises.

8. Ok I am tired let's end this.

Building a Nativity Crib

For years I have wanted an outdoor Nativity Crib to display in the yard at Christmastime. Not just any crib set, but one of Church quality.

Otherwise known as a Nativity Creche or Nativity Stable, they are the perfect thing to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas. (Janet calls it a stable, but growing up in Victoria, KS we always called it a crib, probably because in Germany they are referred to as Krippe).

After finding some nice nativity statuary after endless online surfing, we received shipment of the Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus figures. I quickly began sketching and taking measurements for the crib. My building criteria was 1) not cheap looking 2) big enough for future statues 3) portable and easy to assemble 4) sturdy.

For the material I bought 8 foot long pine lumber: 20 qty 2x4's and 30 qty 1x6's which cost about 200 bucks. Total weight of the purchased lumber was about 400 lbs. I spent an additional 100 bucks on hardware (including 4 large caster wheels) and stain and other miscellaneous stuff. So I spent 300 bucks for materials, which is much much cheaper than buying one. Here is a picture of the lumber.

First I started with the base. Here is a picture showing the bottom with the caster wheels getting attached. I believe they are rated at about 350 lbs each. Better to overkill on the wheels. For durability I used screws throughout instead of nails.

Next I built the back of the crib. I wanted a steep pitch on the roof - they look so much better that way.
Since I wanted the crib to assemble quickly and easily, that meant as few pieces as possible. The back attaches to the bottom base with 2 bolts and wing nuts (i.e. no tools required for assembly), and I built the sides permanently attached to the back but used door hinges so they could be folded in for easy storage.
The roof is in 2 pieces and attaches to the back and sides with a total of 6 bolts and wingnuts. The crib was built as four pieces that, when assembled, becomes very sturdy so as to withstand the brutal Kansas wind (and many little climbing kids)!
Here is the completed Crib after sanding. Ready for the finish!

I chose the darkest stain I could find, called Dark Walnut. Here is a picture after the stain was applied.
Add the statues and hay and it is ready for the roll out. I hooked it up to the lawn mower and pulled it to the front yard.
The kids got to ride with Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus:
It took a total of 4 (cold) evenings to complete, but the results were worth every minute of it.

Later I purchased a spotlight for 20 bucks to light it up at night. It is a real eye catcher. We will enjoy this new addition to the family for many years to come!

The Grotto - Introduction

We thought it would be fitting to memorialize our little miscarried baby Mary Joseph by erecting a Grotto over her grave. And hey, no Catholic home is complete without a Grotto in honor of Our Blessed Mother! We started in May and finished it in October. I commissioned my brother Al to do the stonework as he has done quite a few in the last 10 years and has become quite a pro at it.

Below are 3 postings documenting the building of the Grotto.

The Grotto - Part I (Foundation and Material)

The first thing to do when building a grotto is to make sure you have a good foundation. Since the ground expands and contracts quite a bit, it is imperative to lay a foundation to keep the grotto from cracking. I dug a semi-circular trench a foot deep and 6 inches wide and filled it with concrete. The next step was to gather the stone. Fortunately there was some in the front yard that the previous owners had used for edging around a flower bed. There was also native limestone laying around that had been dug out of the ground as well. So the cost for the grotto was minimal - only some bags of ready mix concrete.

Measure and mark...

Pour the concrete....

Gather the stone...

The Grotto - Part II (Laying the Stone)

Enlisting the services of my brother Aloysius (Latin for "One Who Builds Grottos While Drinking Beer"), the stone is ready to be laid. Al usually brought his family over on Sunday afternoons to do his magic. This was in June and July.

Al with his son Seth. Let's get started!

The first course.

With daughters Faith and Isabella looking on.

Need a beer?

Looking good.

Almost done.

Kid tested!

The Grotto - Part III (Landscaping)

Finally the Grotto is ready to be cleaned and landscaped. Al used muriatic acid and a wire brush to clean the stone of any concrete residue. This really made quite a difference and brought it to life. For the landscaping I used the remaining limestone for edging and had some left over gravel to cover the grotto floor. I transplanted 3 rose bushes and planted them behind the grotto so hopefully the vines and flowers will eventually cover the grotto. This was completed in October.

The little cross is Mary Joseph's grave marker. I think she is probably looking down at her family and smiling. The project lasted 6 months and we all had fun doing it. I'll have to wait until spring to plant more flowers!

Jalapenos

With the ridiculous amount of jalapenos we have been getting in the garden, I thought it would be wise to Can them lest they go to waste!


Here is my assistant Catherine helping pick the peppers...




Next, they need washed, and stabbed several times with a knife...




Get the pickling juice going. There are an infinite number of recipes you can use.




I picked some carrots and onions to throw in for color. Note the yellow Sweet Banana peppers. The kids love them and they have no heat.




This amount of peppers happen to fill up 7 canning jars. Pack the jars as tight as you can before adding the liquid.



For the canning process, I used the turkey fryer to boil water. It worked great.


Drop the canning jars in for 10 minutes to kill the bacteria, germs, enzymes, etc.

Let them cool down before putting them in the pantry.

Here is the recipe I used:

Pickled Jalapeños

Adapted from Michael Symon's Live to Cook by Michael Symon and Michael Ruhlman

Like Michael says in his book, you can use a brine for everything from roast chicken to green beans to curing your own homemade pastrami. Now that's something that would make my grandmother proud.

1 pound (450g) fresh jalapeno peppers, washed (see Note)

2 1/2 cups (625ml) water

2 1/2 cups (625ml) vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar)

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons coarse salt, such as kosher

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1. Stab each pepper three times with a sharp paring knife and place them in a large glass preserving jar.

2. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the other ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.

3. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes, then pour the brine over the peppers. Place the lid on the jar and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate for at least a week before using, if possible. (You can use them sooner, but Michael says they're worth the wait.)

Serve whole, with Mexican dishes, or remove the seeds then chop and use to season any recipe that is improved by a little bit of sweet heat.

Storage: I've kept pickles like this for up to six months, under refrigeration, without any problems. If you wish to preserve them longer, you can use these canning instructions and guidelines.

Note: You can use another chile pepper in place of the jalapeños.

This whole process took Janet and I about 2 hours to complete!

Tractor!

We went to Hays, KS to test drive this old beauty. A 1957 IH 330. They don't make tractors like this anymore - built to last a hundred years. I see this tractor tilling, blading, and mowing at the Haus of Brungardt for years to come.