Category: da rez blog

my website had some technical difficulties. i wrote a blog on wednesday. i hit the publish button. like bob dylan i didnt look back. it wasnt until yesterday that i looked at my site. thats when i noticed the blog hadnt posted. it was kinda like john lennons lost weekend. except it was a lost blog. that got fixed.

our indian corn is dried and put away. we celebrated by cooking some corn soup with buffalo burger ( thats all us old folks get). we cooked some dried corn that we had left from last year.  we ration it out so that it will last us all year. the grand kids were here. they really like corn soup. they wanted more.

the grandkids watched us do the whole process of drying the corn. they tried to help shucking the corn. andrew tried spooning the corn. while the corn was cooling, they ate several ears of corn each. these kids will grow up drying corn.

we roasted another batch of anaheim peppers. i like the taste of green chiles. we use them in cooking. i like my hash browns cooked with them. green chile stew tastes great. we add green chiles to burritos, tacos and fried potatoes. we put away a years supply last year. we are getting there this year.

i planted cantaloupes. i had one hill that produced 7 of them. they were all big. i have been watching one that was turning orange. it was about ready. i went to check it out yesterday. it and another one were gone. damn rabbits. i will blast them this winter. they can fatten up on my garden and i will eat them. its the cycle of life.

i bought 13 chicks off craigslist. 8 are rhode island reds, 4 are barred rocks and i black one i dont know. i assume it is an australorp. they all lay big, brown eggs. the guy advertised them as 3 month old. when i got there he said they were actually two months old. they wont lay for another coupla months. thats okay, the hybrid chickens i have are giving me fresh eggs until then.

while i was buying the chickens i was asked if i wanted to buy a pig. i said you cant get anything into processing plants until next year. that is because of covid. the guy called a place and was told the same thing. i read that on a kansas farms page on facebook. even chicks cost more this year because of covid. people are putting away food. i do that every year.

we got the floor in our bedroom replaced this week. i added that bedroom onto the house years ago. all our kids were living with us then. i built it so we would have more room. water damage rotted out some of the flooring. the whole thing had to be replaced. we got an indian contractor to do the job. he really did a good job.

now we gotta find a contractor to add a wood laminate to cover it. since we will have a new bedroom, we will repaint too. and add new drapes. our grandsons come up on weekends. we will move them to a bigger bedroom. neither one likes to sleep on the top bunk. so we will separate the bunk beds. they need more room for that.

gotta do my chores.

we finished drying our corn. we got it done on monday. we had help. my son joe, my sister jackie and my niece mica came over. two grandsons and two grand daughters were here too. mary and i were glad they helped us. we got in lotsa visiting. i dont think we had a moment of silence during that whole time.

my mother has been gone almost 20years. when i dry corn or squash, pick nenwezhek or wild onions i think of her. she is the one that taught me so many things. i know she gotta feel happy that i still do the things she taught me.

it didnt take long to pick the corn. i seen some rabbit beans that were done. i picked them too. my mattwaoshe beans are still growing. i hope to get some indian beans yet.

after we would fill our bags with corn we would dump them into the cart attached to my riding mower. when we filled it, i drove the load of corn to the shade. we shucked it there. it was close to the firepit we used to blanch the corn.

i used the big stainless stock pot i bought. it is a 100 quart pot. it held lotsa ears of corn at one time. i was happy with the pot. i toyed with the idea of buying another one but this pot is more than adequate to do the job.

we sat in the shade while spooning the corn off. we put the corn kernels into a gallon pitcher. when it was full i would empty it onto screens i made to dry corn with. we fill that pitcher up 7 times. that 7 gallons of corn will dry down to a little over half that. not a bumper crop but i take what i get.

the corn is setting up pretty good. i was concerned that it would turn red. the weather guy predicted it would be cloudy. nothing wrong with corn that gets a red tint. it tastes the same. i appreciate any indian corn that i get.

i am going to pick up some rhode island red chickens today. that farmer still has some  3 month old birds left. they should lay in a month or two. once they start laying i can butcher some of these hybrid chickens. i dont know how many i will get, but at least 10 hens.

i had two of my roaches in that art show held at the casino. it was open to any potawatomi artist. one of my roaches took first in show. i won a $500 visa gift card for that. the other roach took 14th place. i won an ice cream maker for that.  we will try to make some home made ice cream.

i am not setting my corn out this morning until i see if the sun comes out. it is suppose to be 80 degrees today. that will help dry the corn. i will get to it when i get back from buying chickens.  gotta get moving.

today we are gonna dry our indian corn. i dont know how much we will end up with. doesnt matter. at least we did get some. some of the stalks look like they have two or three ears on them. the ears are about 12 inches long. we are lucky we will get some dried corn. i am always thankful for that.

i picked a few ears to see how it was. these are two of them. i got a coupla others with hard kernels. i will save those for seed. i always save the first that is ready for seed. that way i have corn that is ready around now. i dont want corn that matures late.

drying corn  used to be kinda a communal thing. friends and family all got together to do the drying. of course they used to grow greater amounts of corn in the olden days. a few of my family are coming over to help us. me, mary and our sons usually get ours done. my sister is coming at noon and my niece after she gets off work. we should have most of it spooned off today.

i bought a 100 quart cooking pot off the internet. i bought it last year just for blanching our indian corn before we dry it. i had been looking all over for a big pot. i went to garage sales, auctions and flea markets. couldnt find anything that big anywhere. thats why i went on line.

i still have elm wood to heat the pot. i had alot of smaller elms trees in the ditch. they dried out and i had them cut down. we also had a big elm that fell in the yard. i borrowed a chainsaw to cut it up. i will have plenty of wood to keep our fire going.

first thing we do is pick the corn. i usually wear long pants. dont wanna get cut by the corn blades. i have been looking for a bag to carry while picking. they used to have braided bags. no one makes them anymore. i will keep looking for a bag til i find one.

i will get a fire going as we husk the corn. we pile the corn on top of the husks to cool down. then we spoon it off the cob. we will spread it onto screens i made. this allows it to dry from both sides. i bought a row of screen to repair any screens that need replacing.

this week the temps will be 80s all week. it will be partly cloudy most of the week. that means the dried corn will have a red tint to it. it dont matter. it will be dried corn. our supply is getting low.

it will be work but i like doing drying. it reminds me of my mother. she is the one that taught me alot of the things i do now. some times i can imagine her watching over us as we work.

gotta get busy.

i entered two of my roaches into an art show for potawatomi artists. it was held at our casino. i went over there to check out the art. i enjoyed the art of other potawatomis. i know most people on or near the rez. i got in some visiting with most that i seen.

the artist could be present to answer questions about his work but that was optional.  each table had a chair for the artist. i thought what the hell i sat down. i was visiting with people anyway. i hung out for a coupla hours. thats the most time i spent in a casino without gambling. per cap wont go up because of me.

everyone that came to the show was given a ticket. they were to vote for their favorite work of art. they are gonna announce the best in show on monday. dont know why it has to be on monday. i guess cuz we sovereign.

my humming birds are still hitting my feeders. i took a picture of three of them outside  my kitchen window. i have other feeders hanging in trees around the yard. i like watching these birds fly around. i have hummingbird vines on my tool shed and chicken house. they hit those flowers for the pollen.

we ended up with 14 quarts of canned tomatoes. 5 of the pints were stewed tomatoes. i will make hot sauce when i get enough tomatoes to make a years supply.  i will make some salsa too. we have been canning for a few years now. we dont like the idea of paying a dollar for one tomato that has no taste in the winter.

i got my solar powered lights for the chicken house. i am in the process of putting them up. i had to clear some of the hummingbird vine. that stuff takes over. i needed room to put the solar cells up. i gotta drill some holes for the wires to go inside. they will connect to the lights.

i called that farmer who had rhode island reds. he still has some chickens left. they are 3 months old. they should start laying eggs in a coupla months or less. i will butcher some of these ones i have now. they kinda dumb chickens. they dont know how to roost in the chicken house rafters. nor do they use the egg boxes i made. i prefer rhode island reds. with the solar lights i should get eggs all thru the winter.

i trimmed low hanging tree branches in my yard. i had to duck when i mowed. dont have to deal with that anymore. i hooked up the cart to my riding mower. i hauled the branches off to the ditch.  i went ahead and mowed since i already had the mower out. i was just about done and it started to rain again. i was determined to finish before the rain. i almost was but got drenched. that was alright. i know my garden got rain.

got more work to do.

today we are (or more accurately mary is) canning tomatoes. i help by staying the hell out of her way. or i will do something to save her time or effort. we have 40 pounds of tomatoes. dont know how many quarts we will end up with.

i  made some pico de gallo. next i want to make some more hot sauce. i am running low. i put hot sauce on most things. my habanero peppers are still small. they havent changed color. they will turn orange, then i can make hot sauce. i will add some of my jalapenos to the hot sauce. i will also use my onions.

i know i gotta take every thing i see on face book with a grain of salt. i seen where people are warning others not to plant these unmarked seeds if they get them in the mail. i had to laugh. most people dont garden at all. it is very unlikely anyone will plant any of those seeds.

we have been getting lotsa rain. maybe not as much as topeekie. they have flooding down there. it is nice to see our cricks running. some years there was no water but a few pockets.

i tried mowing my yard yesterday but the grass clumped together. that aint good on the mower. i will wait til it dries out some. it isnt that tall yet. i try to keep up with it. my mower needed work done on it twice this year. it is working fine now.

this rain should make my ears of corn fill out. it is getting closer to being ready. i will be drying corn real soon. i havent remade any of my drying screens yet. the weight of the corn tears the screen loose from the staples.  i dont think i will need very many screens this year.

i got my primary ballot ready to mail. it is kinda a rip off. i gotta pay $1.20 in postage. most of the places where candidates names shoulda been were empty. they were like township clerk or township treasurer.  in other races some one ran unopposed. i had the option of writing in any ones name. basically my vote can only help decide two races.

my vermicomposting system is still going. i feed the worms every few days. i see the worms around the corner where i put the food. i add shredded paper or card board. i also add coffee grounds or ground up egg shells. the egg shells is the needed grit they use for digesting.

when this corona virus was just starting, some one asked me if i was ready to practice social distancing. i replied i have been doing that for 20 years. i added you never know who is mad at you, your family or your dog. it doesnt even have be any thing you did. some people act mean to others because they cant handle their own lives.

i have done more spring cleaning. i finished redoing the storage room in the garage. i added a  big work bench in it.  i need more work space in the garage. i am moving things out of the way. it takes time to get every thing stored.

gotta wait for things to dry out to do more work.

i was kicking back when i heard a plane fly real low over the house. no, no i dont smoke it no mo.  i had to go see. it was a crop dusting plane. it was spraying the corn field south of us. it kept circling over our house.  i dont understand why they spraying, that corn is about ready. maybe to stop dem indians from getting corn for pugnah.

last year another spray plane was working this area. i read complaints on  facebook about why is it on the rez, some one oughta report it, etc.  i wondered where have these people  been. spray planes have been dusting crops in this area for the past twenty or thirty years. it was usually a yellow plane that did the spraying.

i dont know if the comet neowise is still visible or not. i wanted to take a picture of it. we went out to look for it several times. it was cloudy a few nights we were out. one night it was clear. we scanned the sky near the big dipper. we looked to the side of where it was suppose to be, instead of directly at it. we thought we seen the glow of it. or maybe we just wanted to see it. but i believe we seen it. no picture though.

my chickens are still alive. no varmints have been after them. i havent caught anything in the traps for the past two weeks. i nailed corrugated sheets of metal over the fiberglass panels that let light in. the fiber glass got brittle and the raccoons learned it was easier to break. crafty little critters.

the chicken house is dark inside now. i lost the light i had. i ordered some solar powered lights off the internet. i have been wanting to do that. sometimes chickens wont lay as much in the winter. extending the light in a day spurs them to lay eggs when daylight hours are shorter. i want fresh eggs in the winter too.

this morning, i entered a coupla my roaches into an art show. it will be at our casino this friday. i dont expect to win any prizes or to sell any roaches. i just like to display my art work. i take pride in my work. i have been doing these for over 40 years now.

i tried to pop a kernel of my indian corn with my thumb. thats how i know when it is ready. i didnt feel it pop. the ears arent fully developed yet. they are getting bigger. i think i may get enough corn to dry. i will be happy with what ever i get. i like my indian corn so much that i am willing to put all that work into growing it. it is worth it to me.

i was asked about my garden. i said i was lucky. it would be more accurate to say i am lucky i learned from my failures. one year i got a hundred crooked neck squash. another year i didnt get any. thats the way it goes. i roll with it. i have enjoyed a number vegetables this year. i know there will be years when i dont get any.

i will go watch my grand son play baseball tonight. that is if it dont get rained out.

 

i went to the farmers market in topeekie yesterday. this indian gets off the rez now and then. i needed more veggies for my juicing. i got in some walking and i checked out what other people are selling. most of those farmers grow a lot more than i do. i only grow food to store for us to eat during the coming year. i dont sell any of my produce.

i noticed a stand that had anaheim peppers. the dude was selling them for 4 bucks a box or two for $7. i wanted some so we could have green chiles to cook with right now. mine arent ready yet. i bought $14 worth of anaheims. if i was gonna buy any i wanted enough to make our labors worth while.

it was hot outside but i got a fire going in our fire ring. i have lotsa elm branches i had cut up. they came from a tree in our yard that fell over. the wind got it.  it took us awhile to get a good bed of coals.  we roasted the peppers over a fire in spite of the heat.  we were in the shade but it was still hot. this morning we added fresh green chiles to our hash browns for breakfast.

we will fix more green chiles when mine are done. i picked two big ones this morning. more are forming. i keep watering my grow beds. mary took out some pork from the freezer for some green chile stew. we will use my new potatoes and our roasted green chiles for that. it will go into the crock pot and simmer all day. that will be our supper.

i also wanted some cantaloupes and water melons. mine are still growing. i have one hill that has 7 cantaloupes a little smaller than a volleyball growing out of it. there were many stands at the farmers market that had melons. i bought two cantaloupes and one watermelon. i gotta eat them while they are in season.

i haven’t grown garlic. i bought two garlic bulbs. i will separate the cloves and plant them in my grow beds this fall. they will be ready to pick next year. i add garlic to many things that i cook. i use it when i cook turtle or shrimp. it takes away the gamey taste.

i had been putting my chickens in a cage at night. i still had traps set though. i havent caught anything in about two weeks.  maybe i got the critters that killed my chickens. or some other critter did. i thought it is worth a gamble to see if our problem was solved. last night we left the chickens out. they were all here this morning. i may call that one farmer who had hundreds of rhode island reds. i would buy some of them for next year.

i still get a kick out of political ads. both parties accuse the the other of being crooks. i think both parties are crooks. politicians created the problems we have. it has gotten to the point where we have to choose the lesser of two evils.

what will this week bring?

still getting more vegetables from my grow beds. i watered them during the heat we had. i also added straw as mulch to keep the moisture in. my plants have survived. there will be more heat though. but at least the plants are healthy.

my anaheims are getting big enough to pick and roast. then i will have green chiles. my bell peppers are getting there too. my jalapenos and habaneros are forming. i will add some epsom salts around the base of the plants. that will give them a boost in producing more peppers.

i have been picking kale for awhile now. i use it in my juicing. we made kale chips too. i picked some leeks. i have more growing. i use peppers, onions and leeks in cooking. leeks really make turtle taste good.

the grand daughters have been coming over. they have fun hanging out at misho and grandmas. they come out to watch me feed the chickens. they like to watch the chickens. kinikwe makes sounds like the chickens. cracks me up.

we are still walking. we have logged 6 miles so far this week. we should get an 8 mile week in. we havent for a coupla weeks. the heat stopped us. we keep walking though. we are on pace to have two 30 mile months in a row. now and then people stop to talk to us. we get some visiting in and still maintain social distancing.

this country had a million new cases of covid in two weeks. wonder how it would be if our “leaders” had acted months ago. they spent more time sending in goon troops to police peaceful demonstrators. they even tear gassed a bunch of moms that acted as a shield for the protesters. the government’s stance is we wont help you in a pandemic but protest and we all over you and that goes for yer mom too.

our governor signed a decree to open schools later in september. but this is kansas. no one wants to obey a democrat governor. some want to open school sooner. some believe that children cant catch covid. hmmm. its like lets send out the children first. if that works,  then we can go out. kids going to school will really get the economy going. if schools dont open we will cut funding. yeah that will teach them.

speaking of kansas. i get a kick out of the political ads. this is a red state. in most ads,  the one running proclaims they are pro trump, pro nra, pro life and for the wall. and they bad mouth “liberals”. i will be glad when the election is over. tired of hearing some of this stuff.

my indian corn is getting closer to being picked. it looks good. the stalks have two or three ears. i hope to get a good crop this year. i am getting low on my dried corn supply. i enjoy a bowl of corn soup so much that i will put in the work to get one.

gotta do some chores.

you cant dry your corn until it is done. the rains we had is making it grow. the rain came at the right time. last year we dealt with 100 degree heat around this time. cant control the weather so we have to accept what it gives us.

deer were eating my corn stalks early on. i didnt get as many corn stalks are usual. the ones i do have are healthy. it looks like i am getting two or three ears of corn on each stalk. some stalks are short and not producing but overall the corn looks good.

it is still too early to tell but it looks like i might get a good crop this year. i better get to fixing my screens i use to dry the corn on. last fall i bought a whole roll of screen at a good price. probably half the cost of buying individual rolls of screen.

i planted sunflowers in my rows of corn. they are companion crops. this is the first year i have tried planting them together. dont know if it works but my corn sure looks good. it is tall too. i will use the sun flowers as bird feed. i might even try salting some and baking it. we like sunflower seeds.

my watermelons are doing good. i have the round crimson sweet. this rain has made them grow. my cantaloupes took a while to grow but now they have fruit on the vines. my mexican kickapoo squash is vining out all over. no squash or flowers yet. they are growing good though.

i will get a second picking of sema. this rain has made it grow too. i had been watering it during the early heat we had. i kept it alive. there were times that it was wilting. it would rejuvenate after the trees shaded it and i watered it. glad i put that work into it. i should have enough to last us for awhile.

i got a friend request on facebook. it was from a guy i made a roach for back in the 90s. the 1990s, not the 1890s. he is interested in another roach. that was nice to hear that he still had the one i made. he passed it on to his son. i will make him one that others will wish they had.

i am still putting my chickens in a cage at night. no critters have returned to my chicken house. i still have traps set. i wont give up on trying to catch whatever comes around. if these chickens survive i will buy more chicks for next year. i will feed them all winter and have plenty of eggs next year.

there are these big bugs that fly around our yard light. (i bet some old timers remember when there were only a few yard lights on the whole rez. you turned those ones on with a switch.) these bugs land in my rain barrels. there are lotsa them. i scoop them up and toss them to my chickens. i toss grass in there too. chickens that forage for insects and grass have better eggs.

got chores to do. that is what keeps this old guy going.

i woke up to the sound of thunder rolling thru. i like that sound. when i use to be bumming around the country in my younger days the sound of thunder always reminded me of home. i thought of the times they made us put sema down when we heard thunder.

my ears of corn have been forming. this rain will give them a good growth spurt. it is getting close to picking time. i will dry my corn. it wont be a bumper crop but i will take what i get.

the grand kids wanted ‘smores yesterday. i had to make a fire in our fire ring. i am getting my $40 worth out of that fire ring. we waited til late afternoon when the shade covered the area. it was hot out but it felt good in the shade. it only took 35 years for the shade to cover our yard.

i mowed yesterday. i wanted that done before the expected rains. i didnt want the grass to get too tall. that aint too good on the mower. again the shade came in handy. i would get to cool off while mowing under the 30 or 40 trees i planted over the years.

there is a shortage of coins. our casino is offering $10 in free play if you cash in your coins. i slacked off gambling drastically so i had mary take my coins over. she played the 10 bucks. my coins totaled $184. the cashier said that was the most turned in so far. i save all my change, i usually cash them in before taking a trip.

i am getting a kick out of the political ads on tv. the politicians dont run on their own merit. they have to cut the other candidate down. now i see where our tribal politicians get that. i remember old people saying everything the world has, we have. no doubt.

i notice some places are announcing that face masks are now required. walmarks comes to mind. thats very proactive. wonder why this wasnt done earlier. say like 3 or 4 months ago. some people get all strung out over wearing a mask. they feel their freedom is taken away. wow what a tough life they can tell their grand children about.

i have been eating lotsa in season produce. i grew some and i bought some at farmers markets. its rare i buy produce from grocery stores. unless its off season. so far i am filling up on cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, new potatoes, radishes, onions, kale, strawberries, black berries, blue berries, sweet corn and peaches. gotta eat all i can cuz this winter they wont taste as good as they do now. nor will they be as cheap.

i ordered a new tent. thanks covid check. some of the poles on my old tent broke in a wind storm. i called and emailed the company that sells replacement poles. no answer. i did order the same tent so now i will have replacement poles if needed.

the tent will hold 7 people. not that many camp with us. i like to have an air mattress and my lawn chairs in the tent. i also like room to be able to change my clothes. cant wait until i can camp out. i will set the tent up in the back yard. i will camp out with the grand kids.

did my chores this morning.