Okanogan 14x24 by a lurker :)

[OlJarhead]

Thanks all!

This trip I tried a new recipe and while I wasn't completely successful I have what I now KNOW will work as 'cabin bread' for those who like sourdough and would like to make bread at their cabins without all the fuss.

It's so simple to make a kid could do it!!! 
Here is the recipe:

6 Cups of Flour
1 Tablespoon of active dry yeast (I used instant and it worked great)
1 Tablespoon of salt
3 cups of room temperature water

What I do is I put all the dry ingredients into a half gallon canning jar and put a lid on it.  Then take it to the cabin and leave it for when you're ready to make bread.  Then, when you want to make bread you simply take out the jar and pour it into a large mixing bowl (bring one along if you don't have one at the cabin) and add the 3 cups of warm water (room temp is fine, a little warmer is better).  Mix it well and then store in the pot covered with plastic wrap and a towel -- best to store in a room temp location that won't get cold and isn't drafty.

Let sit for 8 to 24 hours (the longer the more sour the dough will become).
Here are the written details:

Notice there is no oil or sugar, just flour, yeast, salt and water.
Mix the yeast and salt into the flour
Pour water into flour and stir with a spoon. This will be sloppy, stringy wet dough. It kind of looks like you are making drop biscuits. Cover this with a cloth and let sit on the counter for 8-24 hours. I have used it in as little as 8 hours but it is better to wait.

When the mixture has set for at least 8 hours roll out into a greased cooking bowl or crock. The bread cooks better in a glass or ceramic dish and does not do well in a pan. I dust the mixture with flour lightly so I can roll it into the dish. It is very soft sticky dough and can not be picked up. Once in a baking dish I let it sit for 1 hour before baking. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until golden brown. My uncle recently made this bread and called to tell me we need to make the recipe bigger as it did not make enough or last very long at his house. Butter and enjoy

Here is a picture of the dough more then doubled in the pot.  It had a very nice odor not unlike that of bear!  So you could smell the yeast pretty much.  The flavor was also very good and very sour. 

The only issue I had with this attempt was that I did not have any appropriate baking surface or dish and my oven seemed to be baking WAY too cool.  Set to 375 degrees it baked more like 250!  I suspect it was the cold propane tank or something.  Maybe the modified sign inverter?  Who knows.  Next time I'm going to try a couple different ways (like the Dutch oven or smaller loaves on higher temps)...but here is a shot of one baked at home (and not divided)....


This loaf was baked in a stone baking pan that was wide enough to allow for a low and long loaf of bread...the bread was gone in hours!

[OlJarhead]

Speaking of cooking, how many make Dutch Oven Chicken?  We cooked these up for a meal (actually more then a meal) and they are always excellent!  (though they take a lot longer in sub-freezing weather).


We add about an inch of water and spice them up nicely.  Then bake with a couple dozen coals under the oven and a dozen or more on top.  Bake about 45 minutes in normal weather or up to 1 hour or longer in freezing weather.

They will pull apart when done!


In this picture we're using my newest cast iron pot to cook Speckled Hound Squash which we'll mash with potatoes (we love it that way) and have with the chicken.

Each trip we try to make at least one great meal like this   Though we make what my son calls 'epic' breakfasts pretty much daily and often bring things like Venison Stroganoff (when we have it) that my wife makes ahead of time and we just have to warm up to eat. 

Speaking of breakfast, I also have a great 'cabin cakes' recipe I can share.  It's a home made 'instant' pancake recipe that blows all store bought stuff out of the water!  It's simply better in every way.  I guarantee it

[Woodswalker]

Eric,
Thanks for sharing your trip pics, esp the mulies.  Your bread and chicken look delicious.  Am saving the bread recipe to try next trip over to my cabin in the spring.

I added a porch to my cabin last summer, and shot a nice 4 x 4 whitetail from it in the fall.  Had 25 lbs of summer sauage made.

Steve

     

[OlJarhead]

Very nice! 

Those pics make you look like a neighbor to me! 

[roadtripray]

Those beautiful snowy landscape pictures almost make me wish I lived where there is snow fall.  Almost.  Not quite, but almost .

[OlJarhead]

LOL RT -- truth is it's quite nice.  It's a dry cold in these parts which makes even 0 degrees more bearable then one might imagine....and the wood stove keeps everyone quite cozy once they are tired of the snow and cold!

[MountainDon]

I've been seriously thinking that I need to insulate the porch and maybe even put a small wood stove (like the Dickson 8000 btu stoves for boats) in it to keep the batteries warmer when we're there.  After all, if a battery loses 50% when it's down to 32 degrees then my 880ah bank which is probably undersized to begin with, is even less useful when it's 32 degrees!  As in, only worth 440 AH.

I'm not sure how much difference it will make unless there is heat supplied to keep the temp up between periods of use. I find a very slow swing in battery temp because of the mass. All that acid, lead and the cases have to be warmed, not just the air surrounding them. You know how long it takes to warm the cabin and contents. The money might be better spent on more batteries.     

[OlJarhead]

Not really about my cabin build but kinda:  I pruned my first apple tree today.

You see I planted this crab about 5 years ago and about 2 years ago our dog ate the bottom branches before I realized what was going on and fenced in the tree.  So I had to wait for the tree to recover (or so I thought) and pruned it this year for the first time.

I'm a total newb here but think I got an ok start to fixing this little crab so it will produce better and grow into a nicer tree.  Meanwhile I'm learning as much as I can for next winter when I'll prune the 5 apples I planted at the cabin.

Speaking of which, I'm dying to get my next order going!  Is it an addiction?  The nursery sent their catalogue and after perusing it I'm thinking of ordering at least 1 or 2 more apples as well as two crabs, two cherries, a couple pears and perhaps some plumbs and apricots.  I'm also thinking of trying some peaches because even though we're a bit cold we're technically still zone 5 so I ought to be able to make them work -- and Peachland BC is NORTH of us (meaning we're further south so a little warmer)....

My goal is to have a nice assortment of fruit trees at the cabin and some day when the grandkids come out to visit in the fall they'll have their pick!  (pun intended).

[JavaMan]

Speaking of which, I'm dying to get my next order going!  Is it an addiction?  The nursery sent their catalogue and after perusing it I'm thinking of ordering at least 1 or 2 more apples as well as two crabs, two cherries, a couple pears and perhaps some plumbs and apricots.  I'm also thinking of trying some peaches because even though we're a bit cold we're technically still zone 5 so I ought to be able to make them work

And a partridge in the pear tree .... 

Sounds like a good plan, actually.  Just don't expect many cherries from the trees for a few years. (the same probably goes for all the trees, actually) ... but you'll get some good stuff once they get to production age.

[OlJarhead]

No worries there   I started with a crab about 5 years ago here (Spring of '08 actually) and this will be the 4rd year of production.   However the first year we only got a dozen apples then maybe a couple dozen before the dog ate 6 of 10 branches and last year we actually got something like 40 but again, there weren't a lot of branches and it did a lot of recovering I think.

Now that I've pruned it a little (and I may do a little more) it hopefully will start to grow a little better and produce a decent, yet small, crop this year.

With all of that in mind who knows what those at the cabin will do.  The crab produced a handful the second summer but I think that's early so I'm not expecting any apples this coming summer at the cabin but figure the following I ought to see some...cherries etc I expect to take 2 to 3 summers to produce but with the higher altitude who knows....

One advantage we do have, however, is A LOT of sun in the summer so who knows? They may really like it.

[rugger8]

OlJarhead

I wanted to congratulate you on a beautiful cabin and a great thread!

I am new hear and it took me about 3 weeks to read through all 63 pages, so all I have to say is well done!

Separately, and I could go back and find it, but when you were using the chainsaw mill, what chainsaw do you have and what was the mill?

Thanks,

Jeff

[OlJarhead]

Hi Jeff, thanks

The saw is the Huskvarna 455 Rancher with 20" bar.  It's a little small for that kind of work but DOES do the job, albeit slowly.  The mill is the small Alaskan from Bailey's.

Honestly, if a guy has lots of time it's not a bad way to mill lumber but I much prefer to use the Woodmizer!!!

[rugger8]

I agree your mill is beautiful.  In the near term I won't be doing massive amounts of milling.  It will be more or less, one off trees that I could mill down into usable wood for furniture etc.  I have a crappy Homelite 16" chainsaw from HomeDepot, which is not good for much of anything, so want to buy a good saw that has the ability to in the future do mill work as well.  I am looking at the Husky 455 and 460 Rancher, but then am also looking at the 576 XP autotune, which has a bigger engine and can do a bar up to 28".  I figure this will be the chainsaw I use for the next 20+ years as I am not a logger or everyday user.  What are your thoughts?

BTW, I am ex-Army, so glad to see you served on the good side as well!

Jeff

[OlJarhead]

I like the idea of the 576 XP autotune if you plan on doing a little milling but not a lot.  Most guys would say to get a 90cc or bigger saw but my experience with the 455 which is 54cc I beleive, is that it can be done, with patience, with a smaller saw.

If I had to do it over I'd go with the 576 rather then the 455.

Don't get me wrong, the 455 is great little saw and I use it a LOT but I would love to have a 576 and may yet get one for those bigger trees that I sometimes run into.

[OlJarhead]

Yup I was a Marine serving in the Army.

But honestly I enjoyed my time in both services and have many friends from the Army that I served with.  Good bunch of guys!

[OlJarhead]

First look at the new Portable Mill

OK the mill isn't new as I've used it to mill LOTS of interior paneling for our cabin and to mill dimensional pine for various projects but the trailer it's now being mounted to is new!


21 feet long!  I will be able to mill logs that are 18 feet 6 inches long (just barely).

[JavaMan]

Sweet!

[JavaMan]

Ok, I hope you don't mind, but I'm posting these here in your thread, because I thought you might want to see what those 110' trees looked like once they were on the ground.

We figured they were between 55 and 65 years old.







I have more, but this is a good sampling.  It broke my heart to see him load them on the truck and haul them off. They would have made some really nice lumber, I thought!

[OlJarhead]

I hope they paid you for them!!!!!!  Those are NICE logs!

[JavaMan]

Well, to drop both trees was $350.  Altho I coulda kept them for $450... but Beautiful was concerned that it would take me until sometime after I retire (in 15 years) to get the yard cleaned up and the logs broken into firewood or milled.

The last estimate I had over 3 years ago was over $1000 (and take the trees.)

Gotta love it when the price is right.

He did leave me a couple of long-ish sections and a few 16" rounds for making firewood

[OlJarhead]

Almost two months and no cabin trips!!!  Yikes!

I'm hoping to get another trip going soon but I've been busy with work and losing weight   Down 21 1/2 pounds now

The mill trailer is coming along and I should have pics of it soon.

[OlJarhead]

Finally!   We're planning a trip up to the cabin to burn slash, check over the place, see if the fields can be plowed and bring back the propane tanks to get them fitted and filled (we have two big tanks that we haven't made use of yet as we were just using the small tent trailer tanks -- but we sold the trailer so it's time to use the big tanks now

Can't wait to get up there!  Also planning an order of trees and maybe berry bushes for the cabin.  Thinking two cherries, two pears and a plum as well as blue berries and raspberries -- those I'm thinking of planting on the south side of the orchard about 10-15 feet away from the trees along the fence.  Will have to protect them from deer probably but that shouldn't be too hard.  Will also have to irrigate them but that's doable.

We also plan on fixing the water system this spring   May not put in a new cistern but will run 2" pipe from the cistern to the cabin site (1 1/2" spur to go past future cabin sites and to the frost free we have now, then continue the 2" pipe to near the cabin where it will split into a 1 1/2" pipe for the orchard irrigation and a 1" pipe to the cabin).

If we can get the irrigation sorted this year I'll be pretty happy.  Though it worked well enough to keep the apples alive last year I need it to work well enough to add 5 more trees - maybe 6 - and some berry bushes.

[rick91351]

If you are going to do blue berries test your soil for ph

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1560-e.pdf

Not hard to test for but until you get your soil right it very well can be a waste of time and $$$. 

Study the Saint Lawrence Nursery Catalog pointers very closely.  It will save you a ton of head and heart ache. 

Raspberries should work well up your way as well.  Ours went real well last year.    

I would not mess with black berries.  We tried them and the cold is a real problem.  Shy away from peaches unless you just have to try them. 

Try the Bali Cherries from S/L great little critters.  The Adirondack Gold Apricots work well but are very small yet worth a try for jams and drying!

Rick

[OlJarhead]

Pines like slightly acid soil so I'm hoping mine is close to what the Blue Berries like -- but I'll try to remember to check.

[OlJarhead]

Cabin trip!!!!

It's a short one, but I can't wait to check the place out!  See ya soon!