Independence Day

No, it is not simply the fourth of July.  The upcoming holiday is better refered to as Independance day.  For the next few days leading up to it, I will try to call to memory what this holiday really means.  It is sad, really, that this has to be done, we humans so soon forget.

During the American Revolution, fighting fof independance from a tyranical government in Great Britain, an estimated 6,824 American Patriots sacrificed their lives, during battle, for posterity.  There were also 18,500 deaths in captivity or disease.

What a sacrifice.  Brave people.

Grass Fed Cows Produce Heart Healthy Milk?

If milk does the heart good, it might do the heart better if it comes from dairy cows grazed on grass instead of on feedlots, according to a new study.


Earlier experiments have shown that cows on a diet of fresh grass produce milk with five times as much of an unsaturated fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than do cows fed processed grains. Studies in animals have suggested that CLAs can protect the heart, and help in weight loss. Hannia Campos of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and her colleagues found, in a study of 4,000 people, that people with the highest concentrations of CLAs — the top fifth among all participants — had a 36 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to those with the lowest concentrations.



Those findings held true even once the researchers took into account heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and smoking.



The new findings suggest that CLA offers heart-healthy benefits that could more than offset the harms of saturated fat in milk, Campos said.



“Because pasture grazing leads to higher CLA in milk, and it is the natural feed for cattle, it seems like more emphasis should be given to this type of feeding,” she told Reuters Health by email.



Dairy products in the U.S. come almost exclusively from feedlots, she added. And cow’s milk is the primary source of CLA. (Beef contains a small amount.)



Campos and her colleagues looked to Costa Rica for their study, where pasture grazing of dairy cows is still the norm. They identified nearly 2,000 Costa Ricans who had suffered a non-fatal heart attack, and another 2,000 who had not. Then they measured the amount of CLA in fat tissues to estimate each person’s intake.



Since CLA typically travels with a host of other fats, the researchers went a step further to tease apart its effects from those of its predominantly unhealthful companions, they report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The difference in risk attributed to CLA subsequently rose to 49 percent.



“Whole-fat milk and dairy products have gotten such a bad reputation in recent years due to their saturated fat and cholesterol contents, and now we find that CLA may be incredibly health-promoting,” Michelle McGuire, spokesperson for the journal’s publisher, the American Society for Nutrition, and associate professor at Washington State University, told Reuters Health in an email. “Whole milk is not the villain!”



Each year, approximately 1.5 million Americans will suffer a heart attack. A third will not survive.



The evidence may now be piling up: another paper out of Sweden in the same issue of the journal as the Costa Rican study also hints at heart attack protection through milk fat.



Further, the benefits of CLA may extend beyond the heart to the prevention of cancer and diabetes, suggests McGuire, pointing to results of other animal studies. “Milk is actually the only food ever ‘designed by nature’ to be fed to mammals,” she added. “We need to look to milk as the perfect food and learn everything we can from it.”



SOURCE: here American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online May 12, 2010.

A Quick Update.

We just finished putting up some hay.  This is the first time in 3 years I had a pile of hay in my barn.  This is a good feeling and will provide a jumpstart for winter.  It was hot work, though.  96 degrees and full sunshine.

Now all I need to do is get to work on my fence, now that the grass is cut.  My list of things to do is perpetually growing, then there are the incidentals that always crop up.  Like my car and a myriad of other things. 

Thanks to my nephew and brother-in-law for their help.  And to my father-in-law, you have always been there for us, thank you.

More On Sustainability-Coppicing Trees

Of course, I would use a chainsaw, but, when considering sustainability, hand tools are not without their merit.  Watch this short video.  The host does mention a few species that can be coppiced.  Enjoy.

Sustainable Homesteading-More On Coppicing

In coppicing trees, the cut tree stump is know as the "stool".  The shoots that are harvested are known as rods, poles, or logs, depending on the size at time of harvest.  These shoots are harvested on a rotational cycle.  Want you want are shoots at various stages of growth throughout your woodland.  In other words,  you will want to have stools at different stages so that you can harvest rods, poles and logs at the same time, year after year. 

A rotational cycle typically might be every 7-8 years.  This depends on the type of tree and what the uses of the harvested wood are.  Obviously, the longer you let a coppiced tree grow, the larger the shoots will be.  For commercial use, it may be a 30 year cycle.

Here is a partial list of some tools and things made with coppiced lumber, or, trees:  ship planking, house lumber, pea and bean poles, firewood, charcoal, furniture, baskets, fencing, tool handles and broom sticks.  This is not exhaustive, to be sure.

Sustainability On Small Acreage-Coppicing Trees

I have begun a very interesting study on something I knew nothing about, until recently.  Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law for sharing the idea of this subject as something to write about.

I think I will do this in stages as I see there is a bit of information to sift through.  But the gist of the method of coppicing trees is this:  Cutting down trees species that will re-grow from the roots at the stump.  In other words, the roots of the tree put up new shoots to form new trees from either the roots or the stump itself.

There are several benefits to coppicing trees and given the subject matter I think it important to cover a few of them.  I would also like to include a list of trees that will re-grow this way.

This method of wood harvest is most effective if there is a forest or, at least, many of these tree species available in your woodland.  This is because, even though re-growth is very rapid, it takes years to get harvestable wood, depending on what you want it for.  However, in the days long ago, coppiced trees were harvested mostly for firewood.  The trees were kept in the juvenile stage and made it much easier to harvest with the ax or hand saw.  The trick, it seems, is to have these trees coppiced at different stages around your property for a continual, renewable resource, year after year.  (At the right, you can barely see the new shoots from the stumps of cut trees.)

Next time, I will go into more detail and talk more on how this is a truly sustainable, homesteading practice.  I look forward to learning more about this as I know of a couple of species that can be coppiced around here.

Confederate History Ebook Download

I have published an ebook for all you home schoolers and history buffs to enjoy.  It is a fascinating compilation of multi media that will enrich your history studies and satisfy your desire for knowledge.  What I have done is compile factual history on the War between the States in the form of written records from the people that lived it, fought it and died for it, all from the forgotten point of view of the South.

You will find "The Diary of a Confederate Girl" that will cause you to better understand the lives of civilians during the war.

There is, also, a book called "Recollections and Letters of Robert E. Lee", written by his son, Captain Robert Lee.

How about the book, which is fascinating, from the perspective of a private in the Confederate army called, "Company Aytch", written by the private himself.

Old favorites like "The Red Badge Of Courage", and, "With Lee In Virginia" by G.A. Henty.

There are books about "Stonewall" Jackson, famous battles and even a book that I didn't know existed, written by President Jefferson Davis, which will cause you to re-think what you've learned about the causes of the war.

There are 19 titles, in all, for you to add to you history collection in Adobe format.

That's not all, (I sound like an info-mercial) there are also three audio books that you can listen to on Windows Media Player.  Three "You Are There" audio dramas from the 1940's for you to listen to about the battles of Bull Run (First Manassas), Gettysburg, and Lee and Grant At Appomattox.  Plus, 23 really cool pictures to view.

If you would like to view a sample of this collection and purchase it, you can visit my store at lulu.com

I am going to leave this up for a while, for new posts, simply scroll down.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sustainability On Small Acreage-Wood Heat

In our last discussion, I gave some pointers on wood heat.  In the interest of continuing that discussion, I would like to offer a few thoughts.

Wood heat is incredible economical.  Even if you wish to purchase your year's supply of firewood, it is often, if not always, cheaper than conventional methods (i.e. gas, electric, propane etc).  A rick of wood, in our area, can be had for around $45.  A rick consists of a stack of wood measured 4' high, 8' long and 14" wide.  Four of these together make a cord.  So, if you bought a cord of wood at $45 per rick, that is $180.  Depending on how much you might need, you can see the difference you might spend in conventional heat.

"But we are wasting trees!  Don't cut down the trees!  We need them!"  True, we need them.  They help make oxygen, among other things.  However, trees are very sustainable, in that, they can be re-planted and they will grow back.  I am willing to guarantee that more trees are damaged or felled or broken by God's hand (storms, lightning, etc) than you will need in a life time.  In 12 years, I can count on one hand how many healthy, living trees I have cut down.  I am able to supply our yearly needs in the form of dead falls and broken limbs.  On that note, you will need to consider how much of your land is wooded.  I have read, somewhere, that you can sustain a healthy 10 acre wooded parcel and all your firewood needs for a lifetime.

Removing dead trees that are still standing and clearing the fallen ones helps maintain a healthy forest by clearing the clutter and allowing new trees and under brush to thrive.  You can also learn what to look for in stressed trees or unhealthy trees and remove them.  This will promote the growth and vitality of the healthy trees in the area.  This is called selective harvest.  I have an advantage in this, in that, I go to church with a U.S. forestry man who is very knowledgeable, read this for more on that.

Recent research is also suggesting that the lack of rain in many areas in our country is due to the lack of wood burning.  It is through the burning of wood that small particles of ash get spilled into the air.  This gives something for the droplets of moisture to cling to, forming clouds and, eventually, rain.  In the last one hundred years, or so, we have gone away from traditional wood heat and cooking to the use of fossil fuels.  I won't get into that debate, right now, but I would argue that wood heat is more sustainable than the use of fossil fuels.  I don't, personally, believe that we will run out of fossil fuels.  I think that they are very renewable.  I do, however, think that wood is better for the over all picture, the cycle of things.

So, look around.  What do you have in the way of forest to supply your firewood?