Winter Projects

It's roughly the half-way point of the cold winter season, which means it is time to get cracking on some projects I've been meaning to accomplish.  It's now or never, as once the warm weather hits, I'll be back in the garden and ramping up for a summer season of pulling chickens about the fields.

To that end, I've been doing a bit of reading about growing something rather exotic for this climate zone: figs.  Ever since I read that it's possible to grow them in pots, successfully, in northern climates, I can't stop thinking that I must attempt this.  I have a vision of bushy trees, fragrant with ripening fresh figs, in a row standing in the sunshine at the front of the house.  I blame it all on this book:

There is nothing quite like a perfectly ripe fig...which you can't find readily this far north.  No, the last time I had one of those was during a visit to St. Louis in summertime, visiting a farmers market in the park near the zoo.  Oh, that was a good fig...

Anyway, I am researching area suppliers for fig trees and need to sort through my plant pot collection for the best options for my future grove of fig trees.

All I'll need is a cabana (complete with cabana boy) and a pile of white sand to call a beach, and it could be a little Mediterranean oasis in the heart of Wisconsin.

I also have plans to render some lard from the frozen pork fat that has been waiting in my freezer for (oh dear) a whole year.  To psyche myself up, I've been perusing the tutorials on Youtube.  Here's one of the better ones:

Hmm, I really should go pull it out of the freezer.  That would be a start, anyway.  Oh, and I need to get some cheesecloth...details, details.

I'm in the midst of organizing the kitchen a little, after a failed attempt to knock down a decrepit spice cabinet.  After peeling off the top layer, it appears that it may, in fact, be crucial in holding up the old chimney.  So, rather than having a ton of brick and cinderblock come crashing down through the center of my little cottage, the cabinet will apparently be staying.  Now I need to figure out how to make it less than an eyesore.  I'm thinking paint. 

Lots of paint.

After all that, there is always shelling the dry beans from last summer.  I am embarrassed to say they are still hanging in the car hut, wondering when they'll be shelled and put to good use.  It's a good thing that beans, being seeds, will last for quite a while hung to dry.

There's never a dull moment around here, is there?  If you find yourself feeling bored, feel free to drop in.  I could use an extra hand shelling all those waiting beans.