Sorry that there hasn’t been much text lately, but I’ve been so ridiculously busy lately. After this weekend, I will try to take some time to fill you all in on the glorious goodness here. But in the meantime, take a look at these chickens.
Chickens!
Pictures
Here are some pictures of some tadpoles, the pond, and the cabin from a distance, holding its own against wild nature, or something. And in some order…
Happy Easter!
Delays in posting are happening more often if only because I’ve been so busy, which is such a change from last year, when I lazied about and read most of the time (although, to be fair, I still do find time to lazy about and read; currently, I’m reading The Inheritance of Rome by Chris Wickam). Anyways, I’ve planted about 20 oak trees, 50 persimmons, 4 serviceberries, 10 asparagus roots, and a handful of other minor things. I’ve also started pruning the grape vines and I’m trying to start the cuttings, although I’m rather doubtful that it will work. I also finished the screening on the outhouse and put up some peg board in there: organized tools! I also stocked my pond with 125 red ear sunfish, 125 hybird sunfish, 20 channel catfish, and 2 pounds of fathead minnows. In the fall, I’ll be getting about 25 largemouth bass.
Outhouse
Since the last post, I planted another 30 row feet of peas, turnips, and cabbage each, and then I planted some radishes and spinach. 
I also watered those plantings and bought a beehive and bees! YAY! And then I positioned my water system (pictures and explanation to come) and fiddled with the door on the outhouse. But the biggest thing since then is the picture at right. I finished the outhouse, more or less. There’s still a lot of minor things to do, but structurally, it’s done. I finished the roof this morning. I just need to staple up some wire mesh and put in some gutters.
Planting
After finishing up a math paper today and sending it out, I planted about 60 row feet of snap peas, 120 osage orange seeds, 8 hop rhizomes (2 Chinook and 6 Cascade), started four tomato varieties, cabbage, pumpkins, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, and celery in peat pots, and planted 10 Russian comfrey roots.
Return!
This has been my first week back in southern Illinois
and I’ve been busy putting in some improvements. I installed suede curtains and yellow trim with glitter (more pictures soon). I also installed some window sills. And here’s how far I am along on the outhouse. More pictures to come, along with some updates on what’s happened over the past few months.
Rocket Stove
I finished making the rocket stove after finally getting enough ash to fill it with. 
The rocket stove is basically a giant tin that has ash surrounding a duct with an elbow, with the duct coming out in front and at the top. You burn little sticks in the bottom part, and the oxygen is pulled in and the flames are shot up. It ends up being a really efficient burn, because you don’t lose much heat, since that ash acts as an insulator. The two logs on the top are holding up a metal grate so that the pot doesn’t smother the outlet. It’s up on the cinder block so that it can get good airflow. I had a party the other night, and people were pretty interested in how the whole thing works. There were some attempts to put these into use in refuge camps, where women spend roughly half their day looking for wood for cooking. Oh, and that is indeed a Goosebumps tin.
Big Muddy River trip
I canoed down the Big Muddy River two nights ago with my friend Steve. We left at 7:20 pm from Murphysboro and traveled ~35 miles in ~14 hours to the Mississippi. We just slept in shifts in the canoe, with the person awake keeping our little ship to the middle and avoiding rocks and logs. The near-full moon certainly helped out, and it was an incredibly pleasant trip. I wish I had brought the camera, but I imagine there’ll be another time. This trip was really a practice for a practice run for my trip down the Mississippi, which is looking more and more like it’ll be broken up into two segments: headwaters to St. Louis/Murphysboro and then St. Louis/Murphysboro to New Orleans/Gulf of Mexico. The upcoming practice run might end up being a trip from Chicago to St. Louis/Murphysboro, and I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on those plans.
Dreams
I used to have some pretty bad nightmares when I lived in Chicago. Things like sojourns into hell or dreams that made me shake so violently I woke myself up, still shaking. The other night, I had the worst nightmare I’ve had since I’ve been living in the cabin:
The neighborhood kids were riding their four-wheeler neatly between my rows of oak trees, the frames of my glasses snapped on the side as I went outside to tell them to “get off my lawn,” but before I could their mother came up and yelled at the kids and they dispersed. A couple of harmless (i.e., nonpoisonous) snakes showed up and kinda started trying to bite me and their mother (but she wasn’t afraid); I told her we should run up to the cabin (even though it was a mess and I felt a tinge of social embarrassment), which seemed to be mistaken for something suggestive (which was more embarrassing), and that’s it. My dreams are so much more pleasant now, probably because my concerns are so trivial.
Refrigerator
I’ve got a refrigerator now: the Sundanzer 50L 
(1.8 cubic feet); and my quality of life has consequently gone way up. Fresh cold milk is so much better than powdered milk, which has a hint of the metallic and industrial. I’m still only using about 1/3 of the solar power that my panels are generating, as this refrigerator is about the most energy-efficient thing you can get. It uses only 114 Watt-hrs/day @ 32C, and the claim is that it can be powered with a 45 Watt solar panel and an appropriate battery.
Eudaimonia Farm 