Menke Projects

Years ago, we bought a registered performance-tested Black Angus Bull through the Luling Foundation.  https://www.lulingfoundation.org/events/8th-annual-angus-sale That Bull lived for a long time, but eventually we had to take him to the Lockhart Auction.  We kept two of his male offspring, and then narrowed that down to one, which I believe is our current Bull.  He is a really big bull...probably way to big for the cows. Since switching to the Angus bull, we have not had to go out in the middle of the night and pull calves out of the pregnant cows.  (That's why people buy Black Angus cattle.)  Of course, buyers don't get too excited about "little black calves", and we are a "Cow-Calf" operation. Sunday afternoon, we noticed a young cow with two feet sticking out of her rear. I guessing the calf's head got turned backwards, and the calf is stuck.  Monday morning, we couldn't find the cow.  Eventually after Lunch, Donna found her laying in a woo...

ONIONS!  Our raised bed garden stuffed with compost mixed with biochar fines + charcoal pieces that will pass through a 1/4" screen really grows lots of big onions.  After visiting a high-end garden center in West Austin last Winter to purchase onion sets, Donna and I discovered that we had both purchased sets (after all, there were 5 varieties to choose from) and we really overdid ourselves.  We planted 342 onion sets.  By the end of May, we had at least 340 large onions, some weighing as much as a pound. To preserve our harvest, we usually slice and chop the onions and place them in freezer bags, so later, a bag and be opened and a small quantity removed.  This year, we did that, and we also ran a 12 shelf dehydrator several times with a full load.  It smells good, and it sucks electricity...to the tune of 600 watts per hour for as much as 36 hours. Then I remember our time in Germany (1976 - 1980), where Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion & Bacon Pie) was...

I use a pair of these thermos bottles to keep a supply of hot water next to my coffee making apparatus.  (A quart jar and a paper filter.) When using my outdoor charcoal making stove as described in the previous blog, I always boil water for these bottles.  Since the interior flask is stainless steel, a trick is to pour boiling water into the bottle, and then put the slightly cooled water back into the pot and wait for it to reach the boiling point again.  (This pre-heats the stainless steel.)  After filling the bottle, install the cap, and pull a heavy wool sock over the entire bottle to improve the insulation quality.  Sometimes, I wrap both bottles with a piece of wool fabric from an old Pendleton wool shirt ($145 new), and the water stays hot for a long time. The Stanley Thermos was invented in 1913.  The patent on this bottle from 1913 shows the insulation as charcoal:  "If desired, a finely divided substance may be used which will not only ...

Wikipedia definition:  A top-lit updraft gasifier (also known as a TLUD ) is a micro- kiln used to produce charcoal, especially biochar, and heat for cooking. ... A TLUD gasifier takes it further from a rocket stove in more efficient way of smoke-free, highly efficient combustion of the fuel.  My Rocket Stove (not a TLUD) is made of a concrete mixture of sand/crushed glass/perlite/and charcoal fines mixed with Portland Cement.  It works very well for simmering a pot of beans.  (I have since painted it black with latex paint.)  The major drawback, in my opinion, is that it burns the wood to ash, and does not make charcoal. This Blog Post will show the Charcoal Making Stove that has evolved on my patio over the last dozen years.  In the beginning, I constructed very small stoves from bean and coffee cans.  (TinCanium). and even purchased a Stainless Steel Campstove designed by Tom Reed. This was a very good fan assisted stove that I used until ...

This morning, (April 28, 2019) I converted a 55 gallon barrel of dead limbs and tree trimmings into charcoal.  According to my Logbook, it is barrel #330.  This charcoal making process started on June 8, 2012 when Martin Payne who is a member of a Woodgas online forum showed up in my yard with a couple of drums and said we are going to learn to make Charcoal.  Over the past seven years, I have modified the process and actually learned the ART of making charcoal without making any smoke in the process.  Our/my Teacher, Gary Gilmore, works for the Forestry Department in Pennsylvania and besides contributing to the Forum, also made a series of very good YouTube videos on how to make charcoal using a two-barrel TLUD system.  Search YouTube for "gary gilmore charcoal".  Here is a direct link to his charcoal making set-up:  https://youtu.be/2xsHsWP-E9k This was seven years ago, and started me on the journey.  Now I will describe the system I am current...

With Donna's new greenhouse not protected from our cattle, we have decided to enlarge the backyard (Temporary) fencing to include it.  Another fencing project is to protect the area in our old garden where we have been storing round bales used for feeding the cattle in the wintertime.  Last year two of the youngest calves learned how to squeeze through the sloppy barbed wires and get into the hay area.  As they grew, they used the same learned technique to get through other areas of fencing, including the front fence along side of the road. Last Sunday, with Benjamin's help, we attempted to mount the Danuser post hole digger to the back of the Kubota.  We could not get the Post hole drive shaft connected to the PTO on the tractor because the shaft would not extend.  Monday, I spent most of the day trying various heavy handed schemes to get the shaft to move, and finally in late afternoon, with Donna's assistance (and advice) we got the thing mounted to the trac...

Benjamin and Archana drove down from Dallas using Willie's 2013 Model S (125,000 miles on the Odometer).  The car is "For Sale", so this might be the last trip.  Weather forecast was for a rainy day Saturday, so a heavy duty cooking session was on the agenda.  Jalapeno Pepper Poppers, Vegetarian Lasagna, finish off a large pot of Vegetarian Chili, Bake a huge portion of Salmon, Crepes for breakfast, bake a strawberry/blueberry Bread, and prepare Pasta salad, and Kale salad with special dressing with pecans and Craisins. Here is the load of photos we took in the Kitchen, and over at Willie's place helping him place a few week barriers under some solar panels, and the usual beer drinking. Benjamin found a nice clump of Black Bamboo, complete with new Culms, which he dug up and moved to his backyard in Dallas, Texas.  Here are two photos: This is what the concrete blocks look like in the store: Notice the grooves if laying t...