Japan was not really part of the plan. But I couldn’t be happier that it happened to me. Some backstory for those curious: Kevin Kent [owner of Knifewear]: “man, when I go to Japan I do so much cool shit, and wouldn’t it be rad if we could capture some of that radness on camera” Me: “yeah man, sure would” … Read More
January Can Be Busy, Apparently.
Although the blog’s been quiet, my life has not been. Januaries here suck, for the most part. They’re darned cold. And snowy. And cold. And usually a do-nothing-kinda-month. I’d planned on taking January to get the shamozzle of incorporations and business setups done, and then out of the blue, piles and piles of production work fell atop my calendar. Plop. … Read More
Episode 54 – Grouse
There are photos kicking about of me when I was 3-4 years old, holding grouse. I think there was talk of this hunt the first week my first daughter was born – an excited grandpa eager to get little ones out hunting again. As she grew up, she increasingly wanted to leave with me when I set out moose hunting. … Read More
Episode 53 – Duck
Confession: I packed in waterfowl hunting for a number of years for a few reasons. First reason – the more I learned about appropriate practices around animal slaughter in general, the less it made sense to shoot a hundred+ pellets at any and all of the prime cuts of an animal, have it fall from the sky to bruise on … Read More
Cob Oven Bread
I’m not sure quite what to say about the fact that I’ve had this lovely oven for months now, and today was the first time I actually intentionally baked bread. In my defense, I shall say: pizza, roast and braised meats, pies, loaves, deep frying, and smoked bacon. It’s interesting that a lot of folks think wood oven and think … Read More
Episode 49 – Rge Rd 135
Last year’s Rge Rd 135 farm-to-table epic at Nature’s Green Acres [Episode 19] is still engraved into the minds of everyone that had the pleasure of being involved, making me more than slightly trepdatious at the prospect of trying to duplicate, nevermind top that farm-to-table extravaganza. But as far as I see it, they pulled it off. Maybe I’m biased. It … Read More
Mushrooms For a Salad
My, mushrooms are pretty. It so happens I was chatting with my buddy Travis yesterday about an unexpected advantage of the urban greens growing project – that it pushes us both to get our act together and do stuff far more diligently than we otherwise would. Turns out that applies again today. Ryan at BTV Edmonton asked me to be on morning … Read More
Cob Oven Bacon
Writing about bacon. Again. Just when I thought there wasn’t anything additional to add to the conversation I have with myself here, there was something else to add. A simple conclusion: wood ovens are fantastic smokers. Different than a commercially manufactured smoker that generally involves automation, an element, and some wood chips, it still requires some finagaling in the way … Read More
Episode 41 – Cob Oven
Finally, a proper cob oven graces my back yard. I read Kiko Denzer‘s book years ago and was inspired by his ‘who needs expensive building materials‘ attitude. As you may know, I tend to dig frugal. He’s an advocate of using repurposed materials, and I’ll credit the base of my oven to him – it’s slabs of busted up sidewalk … Read More
Excavating Shaggy Parasol Mycelium
When we bought the property we’re now on I started digging up lawn almost immediately. What once was 99% lawn is now maybe 5-10% lawn. I’ve become pretty adept at destroying lawn. 5 years ago, when I started digging up soil that looked like that in the photo [currently excavating for the big-ass wood oven project] – white, granular, entirely … Read More