Today's Adventures
Jan. 17th, 2026 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday we went to the Otto Center in Arthur. Normally the third Saturday of each month is their craft show, and that's how it was marked earlier. It turned out to be a small farm and homestead show, with different vendors and a few folks we recognized. So that was interesting.
Instead of the usual kitchen window offering a few items for sale, they had set up an excellent buffet for donations. The main dish was chicken with a flavorful rub. Sides included green beans, fruit salad, and loaded mashed potatoes. Several sheet cakes were available for dessert including oreo, yellow, and I nabbed the last slice of chocolate which had a cream cheese icing topped with a chocolate shell layer. After some debate, we decided that this just edged out Greenup's famous spread, on account of we've never seen Greenup set out a whole-meat main dish. They go for things like ham'n'beans or chicken and dumplings.
Going along the front row, we found Janie's Flour Mill. They offer 25 kinds of grain products including whole grains, flour, and cornmeal. Some are heirloom cultivars, and they also carry ancient grains like einkorn and emmer wheat. I picked up a flyer with recommendations for which recipes each type makes well. These products are available through Family Health Foods, Beachy's Bulk Foods, and some other local stores.
Then we discovered the free lemonade booth. It turns out, they were demonstrating equipment to press food -- in this case lemon halves -- then routing the output into a small-scale, hand-operated bottle machine. Very clever, efficient design. Also it made some of the best lemonade I've ever had. When you use an ordinary juicer, you're grinding the pulp over the horn, which extracts juice and pulp. But you get little or nothing from the peel, unless you separately zest it or add something like powdered lemon from the whole fruit. If you cut the lemon in halves or quarters and then crush it -- which you could also do with something like a cheese press or a large enough mortar and pestle at home -- then you get all the lemony goodness, so the flavor is more complex.
See Frontier Manufacturing for the above equipment. In addition to some standard equipment, they also do custom builds if you need a different size or something designed from scratch. Also the catalog notes replacement parts for some models, so it's clearly designed with owner maintenance and repair in mind, a solid advantage typical of Amish goods that have moving parts. I love seeing things like this, and watching them work, even if it's not something I currently need myself. I might run into someone else who does.
I also picked up a card from Okaw Machine, LLC in Arcola. It's a custom powder coating, general machining, welding job shop.
Okaw Valley Excavating had a livestock watering system set up. It had a tall central pipe for filling. To one side was a metal basin that would both fill and drain from the bottom. You put water in the central pipe and the water naturally levels itself. Pull a handle at the bottom, and everything drains out through the bottom valve and wastewater pipe. Vent that somewhere it'll water plants, like a foraging area or wildflower meadow. Then just close the valve and refill the basins with fresh water.
KR Sales and Rentals had some skid steers and attachments.
Scenic Acres Greenhouse MFG offered aluminum greenhouses. Sadly they're from Kentucky rather than local.
Country Shoe LLC had a booth of all different shoes and boots. They also do repairs.
Graber Building Supply was demonstrating a small manual seed drill. Interesting, but I'm not sure how heavy it was, what it cost, or whether it required a tilled surface. And they were mobbed, so I didn't want to squeeze in and ask questions.
The Arthur Bee Club was there, handing out information and selling small beeswax candles for $2 each. I picked up a morel mushroom and another with a bee on a flower. :D I love beeswax. In warm weather, these folks also sell honey and I grab it whenever I see it.
Just a reminder for spring -- if you find a swarm of honeybees at your place, and you don't want them, call a beekeeper not an exterminator! Search (your town) + beekeeper or beekeeping club, or use a service like Bee Swarmed or Bee Culture to find someone who will gleefully run over to move the free bees to a nice home. A honeybee swarm looks like a big wad of bees (football to dufflebag size) usually clinging to a branch, and sounds a lot like a lawnmower.
My girls currently live in a hollow tree between the savanna and the prairie garden. There have been bee trees in several locations in my yard, of which that one is maximally convenient for everyone. It's one reason I put extra bee plants out there. In summer they fly up to the patio and visit the metal birdbath -- on a hot day they'll drain the whole thing. I need to make them a bee waterer at some point.
In the back was a bookmobile selling lots of books on homestead topics. I didn't see anything I wanted to take home, because I already have a lot of such things. I did spot one about maple products, but it was more history than recipes, so I wished for a recipe book instead.
Arthur Produce Auction had a booth promoting local products. \o/ They do wholesale, and they had recommendations of produce, flowers, etc. for all sizes of farm.
A local dairy had handouts regarding A2 milk, which is supposed to be easier to digest than A1 milk. More science fun. The dairy runs both cows and goats. He mentioned that his goats are currently dry. Well, they should be -- they'll start dropping kids in just another week or two, late January through February is the main season, usually in the worst possible weather. I am not a fan of the modern efforts to make dairy animals give more milk longer, because eventually they have to dry off, and then it's risky and difficult. Heritage breeds rarely have that problem. Anyhow, this is a place that sells to local stores, so we've bought from them before.
Sea-90 Ocean Minerals was giving away bags, which was great because by that time I had an armful of stuff.
Our friends at Golden Ridge Farms had their maple root beer, so we bought a couple four-packs of that. They also had maple syrup, maple popcorn, and ... a cookbook of maple recipes! :D I grabbed Maple Syrup: 40 Tried and True Recipes.
Cushman Creek Supply focused on vegetables and flowers, with an assortment of soil amendments.
One booth had a display about cow genetics, including a cow pelvis, with attention to breeding cows with balanced traits. It's a lot more sensible than the overbreeding that plagues, well, almost everywhere else. I've always been fascinated by genetics, so it was nice to see someone trotting out actual science.
The system is aAa if you're curious.
Power Plus Equipment LLC had portable generators among other things. We've been thinking about a portable power source, batter or generator, for blackouts. The catalog had a chart of what different appliances need and generators will provide, so that's useful.
One booth was selling aluminum greenhouses and chicken coops. Interesting. And now I find they didn't stamp or sticker the back of the producer catalogs. *headdesk* If you're eventing and you have handouts, make sure your business name and contact info is on every item you hand out.
Most exasperating, GDS Enterprises had their 2-wheel tractors on display, but nobody manning the booth. We've been considering one of those with a snowblower attachment, and wanted to ask questions. >_<
I didn't go overboard collecting all the swag today, since I already have plenty of many common items. I did pick up a few things. Deerfield Supplies LLC provided a lovely mauve pen with copper trim and a rubber grip. Miller Farm Supply offered a charming four-color pen (red, blue, green, and black). Gosh, I haven't had one of these in years. I also picked up a strong green clip with a magnet. They sell seeds, feed, and other farm goods. Organic Valley Cropp Cooperative had boxes of soy crayons (red, yellow, blue, and green) along with coloring books; I took a box of the crayons.
So that was a great event all around. :D
On the way home, we fired a cookbook. Slow Cooker Comfort Food has a lot of recipes with ingredients we don't use, but worse, almost all the recipes use the crockpot as an auxiliary instead of primary appliance. Either you're supposed to put the food in a dish inside the crock, or precook things in a skillet. Just no. I will cut up food to prep it, I don't mind adding it in 2-3 stages for certain recipes, but mostly I want to dump it and ignore it. We got about 1/3 of the way through and only marked one recipe. We will ditch this one at a thrift store or something.
So we started the maple cookbook, and marked the first recipe, Best Basic Buttermilk Pancakes. While straightforward, I wouldn't call it basic as it adds other flavors such as lemon juice, and pretty obviously you could throw in citrus zest ... aaaand now I'm hungry.
It has been a fun and productive day. \o/
Instead of the usual kitchen window offering a few items for sale, they had set up an excellent buffet for donations. The main dish was chicken with a flavorful rub. Sides included green beans, fruit salad, and loaded mashed potatoes. Several sheet cakes were available for dessert including oreo, yellow, and I nabbed the last slice of chocolate which had a cream cheese icing topped with a chocolate shell layer. After some debate, we decided that this just edged out Greenup's famous spread, on account of we've never seen Greenup set out a whole-meat main dish. They go for things like ham'n'beans or chicken and dumplings.
Going along the front row, we found Janie's Flour Mill. They offer 25 kinds of grain products including whole grains, flour, and cornmeal. Some are heirloom cultivars, and they also carry ancient grains like einkorn and emmer wheat. I picked up a flyer with recommendations for which recipes each type makes well. These products are available through Family Health Foods, Beachy's Bulk Foods, and some other local stores.
Then we discovered the free lemonade booth. It turns out, they were demonstrating equipment to press food -- in this case lemon halves -- then routing the output into a small-scale, hand-operated bottle machine. Very clever, efficient design. Also it made some of the best lemonade I've ever had. When you use an ordinary juicer, you're grinding the pulp over the horn, which extracts juice and pulp. But you get little or nothing from the peel, unless you separately zest it or add something like powdered lemon from the whole fruit. If you cut the lemon in halves or quarters and then crush it -- which you could also do with something like a cheese press or a large enough mortar and pestle at home -- then you get all the lemony goodness, so the flavor is more complex.
See Frontier Manufacturing for the above equipment. In addition to some standard equipment, they also do custom builds if you need a different size or something designed from scratch. Also the catalog notes replacement parts for some models, so it's clearly designed with owner maintenance and repair in mind, a solid advantage typical of Amish goods that have moving parts. I love seeing things like this, and watching them work, even if it's not something I currently need myself. I might run into someone else who does.
I also picked up a card from Okaw Machine, LLC in Arcola. It's a custom powder coating, general machining, welding job shop.
Okaw Valley Excavating had a livestock watering system set up. It had a tall central pipe for filling. To one side was a metal basin that would both fill and drain from the bottom. You put water in the central pipe and the water naturally levels itself. Pull a handle at the bottom, and everything drains out through the bottom valve and wastewater pipe. Vent that somewhere it'll water plants, like a foraging area or wildflower meadow. Then just close the valve and refill the basins with fresh water.
KR Sales and Rentals had some skid steers and attachments.
Scenic Acres Greenhouse MFG offered aluminum greenhouses. Sadly they're from Kentucky rather than local.
Country Shoe LLC had a booth of all different shoes and boots. They also do repairs.
Graber Building Supply was demonstrating a small manual seed drill. Interesting, but I'm not sure how heavy it was, what it cost, or whether it required a tilled surface. And they were mobbed, so I didn't want to squeeze in and ask questions.
The Arthur Bee Club was there, handing out information and selling small beeswax candles for $2 each. I picked up a morel mushroom and another with a bee on a flower. :D I love beeswax. In warm weather, these folks also sell honey and I grab it whenever I see it.
Just a reminder for spring -- if you find a swarm of honeybees at your place, and you don't want them, call a beekeeper not an exterminator! Search (your town) + beekeeper or beekeeping club, or use a service like Bee Swarmed or Bee Culture to find someone who will gleefully run over to move the free bees to a nice home. A honeybee swarm looks like a big wad of bees (football to dufflebag size) usually clinging to a branch, and sounds a lot like a lawnmower.
My girls currently live in a hollow tree between the savanna and the prairie garden. There have been bee trees in several locations in my yard, of which that one is maximally convenient for everyone. It's one reason I put extra bee plants out there. In summer they fly up to the patio and visit the metal birdbath -- on a hot day they'll drain the whole thing. I need to make them a bee waterer at some point.
In the back was a bookmobile selling lots of books on homestead topics. I didn't see anything I wanted to take home, because I already have a lot of such things. I did spot one about maple products, but it was more history than recipes, so I wished for a recipe book instead.
Arthur Produce Auction had a booth promoting local products. \o/ They do wholesale, and they had recommendations of produce, flowers, etc. for all sizes of farm.
A local dairy had handouts regarding A2 milk, which is supposed to be easier to digest than A1 milk. More science fun. The dairy runs both cows and goats. He mentioned that his goats are currently dry. Well, they should be -- they'll start dropping kids in just another week or two, late January through February is the main season, usually in the worst possible weather. I am not a fan of the modern efforts to make dairy animals give more milk longer, because eventually they have to dry off, and then it's risky and difficult. Heritage breeds rarely have that problem. Anyhow, this is a place that sells to local stores, so we've bought from them before.
Sea-90 Ocean Minerals was giving away bags, which was great because by that time I had an armful of stuff.
Our friends at Golden Ridge Farms had their maple root beer, so we bought a couple four-packs of that. They also had maple syrup, maple popcorn, and ... a cookbook of maple recipes! :D I grabbed Maple Syrup: 40 Tried and True Recipes.
Cushman Creek Supply focused on vegetables and flowers, with an assortment of soil amendments.
One booth had a display about cow genetics, including a cow pelvis, with attention to breeding cows with balanced traits. It's a lot more sensible than the overbreeding that plagues, well, almost everywhere else. I've always been fascinated by genetics, so it was nice to see someone trotting out actual science.
The system is aAa if you're curious.
Power Plus Equipment LLC had portable generators among other things. We've been thinking about a portable power source, batter or generator, for blackouts. The catalog had a chart of what different appliances need and generators will provide, so that's useful.
One booth was selling aluminum greenhouses and chicken coops. Interesting. And now I find they didn't stamp or sticker the back of the producer catalogs. *headdesk* If you're eventing and you have handouts, make sure your business name and contact info is on every item you hand out.
Most exasperating, GDS Enterprises had their 2-wheel tractors on display, but nobody manning the booth. We've been considering one of those with a snowblower attachment, and wanted to ask questions. >_<
I didn't go overboard collecting all the swag today, since I already have plenty of many common items. I did pick up a few things. Deerfield Supplies LLC provided a lovely mauve pen with copper trim and a rubber grip. Miller Farm Supply offered a charming four-color pen (red, blue, green, and black). Gosh, I haven't had one of these in years. I also picked up a strong green clip with a magnet. They sell seeds, feed, and other farm goods. Organic Valley Cropp Cooperative had boxes of soy crayons (red, yellow, blue, and green) along with coloring books; I took a box of the crayons.
So that was a great event all around. :D
On the way home, we fired a cookbook. Slow Cooker Comfort Food has a lot of recipes with ingredients we don't use, but worse, almost all the recipes use the crockpot as an auxiliary instead of primary appliance. Either you're supposed to put the food in a dish inside the crock, or precook things in a skillet. Just no. I will cut up food to prep it, I don't mind adding it in 2-3 stages for certain recipes, but mostly I want to dump it and ignore it. We got about 1/3 of the way through and only marked one recipe. We will ditch this one at a thrift store or something.
So we started the maple cookbook, and marked the first recipe, Best Basic Buttermilk Pancakes. While straightforward, I wouldn't call it basic as it adds other flavors such as lemon juice, and pretty obviously you could throw in citrus zest ... aaaand now I'm hungry.
It has been a fun and productive day. \o/
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-18 05:30 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2026-01-18 07:23 am (UTC)Also the last homestead fair I saw an ad for had a ticket price of $100. Given the emphasis on frugality among homesteaders, I wonder how much luck they had with that. :/
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-18 06:47 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2026-01-18 07:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-18 08:19 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2026-01-18 09:16 am (UTC)