How to Grill in Sault Ste. Marie

[CWS4322]

A lot of folks are doing that now. Sure saves on electricity or gas for the home. And if you live near a wooded area, it makes sense to have a wood/charcoal BBQ grill.

My new slow cooker is the top of the woodstove in the winter...at least for soups, stews, and chili. We have tons of wood in the bush, so rather than use electricity to cook these things, I use the heat from the woodstove...and that's what we use to heat the hot water in the winter (goes through a holding/boiler tank and then into the hot water tank), as well as evaporate the maple sap. The hot water tank hasn't been turned on since December. It cuts the electric bill by about $80 between the months of December and April. I want an outdoor woodburning oven...maybe this summer...

 

[Addie]

My new slow cooker is the top of the woodstove in the winter...at least for soups, stews, and chili. We have tons of wood in the bush, so rather than use electricity to cook these things, I use the heat from the woodstove...and that's what we use to heat the hot water in the winter (goes through a holding/boiler tank and then into the hot water tank), as well as evaporate the maple sap. The hot water tank hasn't been turned on since December. It cuts the electric bill by about $80 between the months of December and April. I want an outdoor woodburning oven...maybe this summer...

We had one in the summer kitchen for canning. Starting in May, on hot days it got used for all our meals. Strawberries were the first food product to come in from my mother's garden. I think the first day of picking we ate more than got turned into jam. But you soon get sick of eating one thing all day. My mother had a small garden with veggies and flowers not to far from the kitchen door. We had a soapstone sink and did dishes in two pans. One for washing and one for rinsing. Then the water went to the garden. I think it was the soap and food scraps from the dishes, but that garden flourished. It was my mother's pride and joy. I loved living on that farm.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

This site is like that game you play where you form a circle of twenty or so people, and one person says something to the person next to them. That same something is supposed to be faithfully told to the person next to them, and so on until it travels full circle. When it gets back to the author of the phrase, or sentence, the originator tells everyone the original phrase and all are suprised at how it changed as it traveled.

But Addie; I would have not understood the joy of living on that farm in my youth. I was far too busy creating adrenaline rushes with my freinds. We were a lively bunch. But now, I truly wish I lived in such a place, with a great garden, and an outdoor stove with which to can and preserve foods, make syrup, etc. I try to grow a garden every year, with mixed results. I really need to start a red-worm bin to make use of kitchen scraps and left over foods, so as to add the nutrient rich worm casings to my garden. But alas, my DW doesn't trust the concept, thinking the worm box would be smelly. I have assured her that all of the research I've done says otherwise. and using graywater for the garden used to be a regular thing to do. The phosphates in the soaps did wonderful things for the gardens. But soaps are often phosphate free now, so as to reduce the amount of phosphates flowing into ocean estuaries, and reduce algae blooms that can rob the water of oxygen and disrupt that natural food chain. Even inland, those same phosphates can damage streams and rivers, when the farmland or gardens are too close to waterways, and where run-off can occur.

Oh this world is a complex place. I guess I should be happy picking cowslips, berries, wild peas, leaks, cat-tails, and other foods that grow naturally in our forest lands and fields. Oh, wait. You have to have a permit for that in Michigan, even to pick wild mushrooms or blueberries from your own land, unless, of course the plants are not wild.

I sometimes wish I could go back about 500 years. but i'd want my compound bow and some trusty carbon fiber arrows with me, and maybe a really good folding knife. Oh, and a good dirt bike wouldn't hurt either.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

There is something magical about living on a farm. It was the happiest time of my life. I hated leaving there. The lessons learned there have stayed with me for the rest of my life. And like my mother, I have passed them on down to my children. Whether they realize it or not. You don't need a license in this state to go 'picking.' But you can't sell what you pick. We have blueberry bushes growing along side of the road. They are wild and BIG! So much flavor. I wish I could go picking now.