Keys Desert Queen Ranch - Joshua Tree Homestead

On the way out of Joshua Tree on our recent camping trip, we stopped to take the Keys Desert Queen Ranch tour. It's a guided tour of a homestead established by Bill Keys in 1910. Bill lived here with his wife Francis. They had 7 children, 4 survived - 2 died very young and one had an accident at the well when he was 12. Bill lived here until his death in 1969 at the age of 90.

They had several wells and a dam to catch rain water which irrigated a small plot of land with fruit trees and a garden.


That's the dam in the background. I love the fences made with stacked logs. In the desert wood doesn't really rot like it does in other places. The dry air essentially mummifies everything protecting it from decay.


Gravity and hand pumps got the water up to the top of this tank which provided the gravity fed water pressure to the house.


They never had electricity and this is the original refrigerator. It's an external cabinet shrouded with water soaked burlap (at least it was soaked when it was in use). I think this piece of burlap has been there since 1969 when the ranch was occupied. They also had a propane refrigerator that came from the nearby Camp Pendleton Marine base which was once owned by General Patton but was essentially free-cycled to the Keys when Patton shipped out to Africa.


This is the best shot of the interior that I got through the screens. It looks pretty much like our house.


Bill and Frances had multiple irons in the fire when it came to making money. One of the main sources of income was this one stamp ore mill. I think I remember the Ranger saying it was a dollar a ton that he charged to process the gold ore. They also ran what was essentially a bed and breakfast with breakfast and diner included. Bill would also help other homesteaders set up their own places. Later he'd scavenge back whatever he had sold them when they ultimately packed it in and headed for more hospitable settings.


One of my favorite parts of the tour was a story about this truck. Apparently all 4 Keys children who survived to adulthood are still alive. The story goes that about six years ago one of them came back (they all have permanent access rights to the land though it has been donated to the NPS) and got this truck running. The tourists at the ranch at the time got the thrill of being driven around the ranch on the bed of the 1929 Mac truck! When word got back to the guy in charge of the park at the time, I guess he had a conniption and went out and permanently disabled the truck by breaking the suspension and pouring sugar in the tank. Sad but totally cool that the guy who grew up with it got it running again. What an amazing place it must have been to grow up.

After visiting Keys Desert Queen Ranch I was very inspired to keep taking our fledgling urban homestead farther toward independence.

Hive Inspection with Kirk

Kirk (the founder of the Backwards Beekeepers) came over this weekend (sporting his awesome Mohawk, I might add) to help me out with the hive. We pretty much just did a hive inspection and made sure that the queen is still in there (new eggs and fresh brood indicate that she is).

The hive was started with 5 deep frames that we just put into the upper of two medium boxes and let hang down into the lower box. At the time we filled the other side of the bottom and top boxes with blank medium frames each but I cant' get to the bottom 5 frames without removing and setting aside all 5 deeps and the box.

So when Kirk came over I was thinking that we would take some of the deep frames and cut them down and tie them into the mediums but we decided that a better way to go would be to just buy a deep box and move the 5 deep frames to that box with 5 more new deep frames, then put the remaining 10 mediums all in the same box above that. That will give us 1 deep and 1 medium box for the brood area although we keep an open brood nest so the queen can really lay wherever she wants - as she sees fit.

The piece of comb above fell off the bottom of one of the deep frames that we took out to examine. The deeps don't go all the way to the bottom of the lower medium so the bees just took it on them selves to use all of the space they could.

It was important to put that brood back in the hive on an new frame because what we found was that the hive is honey bound. That means there is so much honey in there that there is very little room for brood. Some of the lower deeps were even completely full of honey.

Here is the one frame we pulled to replace with the brood comb above tied into a new starter strip frame. As soon as the weather warms up a bit and the bees have a chance to forgive and forget, I'll go back out and pull that box of honey which we moved to the top of the hive. Kirk will probably come back to help me put the new deep box on the bottom once I'm ready and the weather warms up a bit. There are a lot of bees in the hive now and it will be much easier if most of them are in the field when we do the work.

By the way, you can see that brighter box that I added in the last post about the bees has moved down a spot and has settled in with the rest nicely. It just took it a little time to conform to the others.

So all is well with the hive and we will be up to our stingers in honey as soon as the temperature rises a bit. By the way we have a meeting coming up on Feb. 28th - join us!

Previously:

Bee Problems

First Honey Harvest

Honey Harvest

Checking on the Bees

Bee Update - a Learning Experience

Feeding the Bees

The Bees Have Landed

Rain Runoff Redirected

In the midst of one of southern California's heavy weekend storms, Eric did some heroic work digging trenches, building embankments and moats. Our property is on sloped land. As the heavy rains come down, the water builds momentum leaving a wake of erosion.


In Bill Mollison's book on Permaculture, he says the best place to store water is in the ground. He talks about building eddies that slow down rain runoff, allowing the water to soak more deeply into the earth. Eric's been working on this on our property. Eric said the benefit of working in the heavy rain was that he was able to see how the water flows. There was no guessing if one area was higher or lower, the water spoke for itself.


Another storm swept over L.A. Wednesday afternoon. The storm offered the opportunity to take pictures of the fruits of Eric's labor.


The water that was seeping into our "Little House" is now diverted to the black sage.

The smells of the rain have been delicious.

Ramshackle Improvements: Laundry

Our solar drying options have improved from hanging on the fence to a longer line.

I think we could use at least one more line.  Still, I'm surprised how much this raises our quality of life.  We bought our cord from the local hardware store by the laundry supplies.  It cost under ten dollars.

Our Great American Campout

A small campfire was made. Small yet big enough to roast mini-marshmallows. The youngest fell asleep before getting in the tent last night. He awoke this morning delighted to find himself surrounded by canvas. If the weather remains mild, I suspect we will continue with more tent nights. I'd love to move my bedroom out there and make the tent the summer home I've always dreamed of.

Visited the Eco-Home

Back in April our friends at Homegrown Evolution posted a suggestion to visit the Eco-Home in Los Feliz. We took their advice this past weekend and had a great time.

Julia Russell the founder of the Eco-Home Network guided us through the tour of her home (with help from Judy Rachel) which is outfitted with solar power, solar water heating, a gray water system, organic garden in back and many energy saving upgrades.


Julia has been car free for 20 years.


This is the solar clothes dryer.


The garden is beautiful.


Julia shows off a handful of completed compost.

We joined the network at the end of the tour and look forward to attending meetings so we can see what some of the other folks have done with their homes and get advice about the projects we plan to undertake.

If you are interested in taking the tour here's the schedule.

Outdoor Bathing Season Is Officially Open

One of the great delights where we live is an outdoor bath. With the temperature breaking ninety degrees on Sunday, it was a perfect day to clean out the tubs and let the young guys soak. At first, we only pulled out one tub thinking we'd rotate the kids through. But the youngest would have none of it.


So both tubs were cleaned out, add warm water and a kid, and you've got a pretty good thing going on. Our oldest son opted to stay in the tub until he could see the stars come out. A good thing indeed.

Previously:
Graywater Ramshackle Style

Permaculture Video from 1989

I stumbled upon this great video on Ramshackle reader jengod's blog a couple of days ago. It features the father of the permaculture movement Bill Mollison discussing how he came up with the system and the basic concepts involved. It is definitely dated (I love the computer design dramatizations) and the permaculture rap is funny/embarasing but once you start I bet you'll have a hard time not watching the whole thing. Lot's of good information and food for thought.

It's a little long for todays short format appetite so here are some highlights incase you have a particular interest:

9:20 Origin of the term permaculture
10:10 Balcony scale permaculture
28:50 Chickens (including an awesome chicken animation @ 29:35)
33:40 Bees
37:18 Permaculture rap (if you like this check out the big bang animation at
6:05)

Via Jengod blog

Backwards Beekeepers Meeting this Sunday

This Sunday, Feb. 8. the Backwards Beekeepers will meet at members Amy and Russel's house (that's a picture of their bees). We will learn to make starter strips which help bees draw their comb onto the frames. We don't buy starter comb because it's the wrong size and is contaminated with chemicals. You can read all about that on beehuman.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to join in the fun, just click here to join the Backwards Beekeepers. Then RSVP in the messages section to get directions etc.

Christmas Tree Reuse

Each day on my way to work I pass evidence of the slow migration of Christmas trees on their way to the dump. Will these even be used as ADC (alternative daily cover) if they aren't in the green bin? I am tempted to pick some of them up myself and run them through our chipper. We can always use more mulch.

At our house I use most of the dried branches from our tree as kindling for fires, and mulch the rest. Pine needles are good for mulch because they break down slowly. They take longer than most material to compost but if you are not in a rush composting will work too.


We don't have very many fires through the winter but I do enjoy the smell of pine when we do. I prefer to stack our split wood with kindling interspersed through the pile. This way, when I go to make a fire I have the right ingredients for a one match fire at hand in the same place ranging from small to medium to large. The dried needles practically ignite like gunpowder. They catch the small sticks which light the larger sticks, then branches then split wood and - voila! the fire is burning.

This year due to a lack of time/planning we got our tree from a local lot. That probably means that it came from Oregon nearly 1,000 miles away by truck. When I was a kid we used to get our tree from a cut your own lot. Locally grown trees are definitely the way to go - I don't know why I didn't make that observation earlier. Next year for sure.

BTW - I love what the folks at Our Yellow House did.

Backwards Beekeepers Meeting Jan. 2009

I attended the first Backward Beekeepers meeting of 2009 yesterday and am really excited about it. I am in total agreement with the no chemical, all natural approach to beekeeping taught by the resident expert Kirk Anderson. Kirk's straight forward approach and infectious enthusiasm leaves you thinking that it would be impossible not to keep bees and likewise impossible to do it any other way than "backwards" I can't wait to get our first hive of feral bees going as soon as possible.

The events of the day included watching a movie of the removal of 2 feral bee hives from BB member Steve's fence. The bees still reside with Steve and his family only now they are contained in hive boxes so that the excess honey can be harvested.

Our host Leonardo had a similar story. He originally contacted Kirk for the chemical free bee removal service but ended up keeping the bees and joining the club. (BTW - check out the flickr pictures to see Leonardo's square foot garden and his awesome view.)

I will be off to the Los Angeles Honey Company for our bee smoker and other supplies as soon as I have a spare moment.

Previously:
The Swarm
Retrieving the Honeycomb
Bee Saviour

Razor Blade Sharpener

Traditional shaving just got even better. I have already reduced the amount of disposable material and daily cost in my shaving routine by going with a tradition safety razor with a single double edge blade. Now, thanks to this little device, I can sharpen my blades and reuse them. It is a pull cord double edge blade sharpener.

You just clip your used blade onto the pegs, close the lid and pull the cord a few times. The cord spins the pegs in little orbits which passes both sides of the blade over the interlocking sharpening element which has the right angle to sharpen the blade back to good as new condition.

I used it for the first time this morning and the blade felt brand new. It is simple and effective. I also love that the sharpener itself has access screws so you can get inside and clean or replace the parts.


Thanks for the gift Phoenix!

Previously:
Shaving in Style with the Merkur Safety Razor
Father's Day Gift Idea: Traditional Double Edge Razor

Time to Make Candles Again

Actually the candle making is over due as you can see by the picture. This isn't a big thing that we do but it cuts down our trash, saves a little money, delays a trip to the store for more candles and is kind of fun and satisfying. We might save ourselves the cost of one box of candles ($14 at Surfas) every year or so. One of the nice things for me about this blog is that I can tell exactly when the last time I made candles was. They are much less pink this time.


The wax is cooling in this picture. The only thing left is to do is to trim the wicks.

It's Like Butter Baby

No, it is butter, baby. Julia made this butter from Claravale Farms organic cream because the Organic Pastures butter we normally buy was unavailable due to a recall.

The cream was put into the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment and mixed for 10 or 15 min until small yellow cottage cheese like curds began to form eventually condensing into whole, raw butter. The remainder is butter milk - great for pancakes!

Yum.

Sunday Reading Recommendations

Stewart Cairns for The New York Times

In today's New York Times, Joanne Kaufman writes about what some people are doing to reduce their energy use and consumption. Her article is Completely Unplugged, Fully Green.

We at Camp Ramshackle are far from perfect, but we enjoy putting one foot in front of the other as we move forward in leading a more simple life. Kaufman interviews a family in Knox, NY, where the four boys all sleep together to pool heat (pictured above). For the past week, we've been doing the same thing here...not that it gets so cold...and not that we've planned it...the kids have taken the lead on this one.

Wooden Hooks Made from Our Olive Trees

A while back, Julia ordered some honey from Live Wire Farm in Vermont, and wrote about aspiring to make hooks like theirs from our own olive trees.

These are our prototypes - 2 singles and a double.

These first attempts turned out well enough to change the way I look at our trees. "If I trim that branch I could get 3 good hooks." Dangerous.

Homegrown Evolution's Solar Dehydrator

This is next on my list of projects right after building a worm box. Very cool.


Link to Homegrown Evolution's Solar Dehydrator

Candle Making - Depression Era Style

Here at Camp Ramshackle we love our candle light dinners. One thing that always frustrates me, though, is the 10-20% of unused wax left at the end of each candle. Last December we found a solution through a Christmas white elephant gift exchange.


I was the lucky recipient of a double boiler chocolate making kit which I initially mistook for a fondue set. I never did make my own chocolate treats but I did go to Michael's craft supply and I bought some wick string. Now we put the remnant wax from each candle in the melting pot, when it gets full I melt it and make candles with the wick and a few of the sturdier votive holders we have on hand.



The little aluminum wick holders at the bottom of the candle can be reused by prying open the hole that holds onto the wick. You then slide the new wick through the hole to the right length and trim it. There isn't any need to crimp the aluminum holder - you can simply double the wick about 1/8th of an inch, pinch it, then pull it through snug against the bottom of the holder.

The most important thing to pay attention to is keeping the wick as vertical as possible and centered in the holder. If your wick leans too much it may go out early. If it gets too close to the glass side wall, it can crack the glass or burn the holder. If the wick won't stand on it's own, I fold it over something lain across the top of the holder.


After the wax is poured out, you can save any good wick holders you may need and recycle the rest.

Our candles come out a "dusky rose" color (ok, "vomit" for those of the "half empty" perspective) due to a scented red candle that came into our house last winter. The scent has diminished to a pleasant level now and the tint just keeps getting better as it fades.

I have gotten this down to about 20 min start to finish with a large part of that time devoted to waiting for the wax to melt. Recession? Depression? I say bring it on! Soon I'll be writing about my ball of saved string.