Despite the drought conditions, the blackberry crop has been pretty good this year. I have been taking advantage of my laid-off time by doing some stuff I normally don't have time to. Like going out in the mornings or evenings and picking blackberries and cooking a little more etc. These are a chore to get to but worth it to me. I spent a couple of days picking the thorns out of the back of my hand after gathering these. The bowl is one of a set I made in college. One of the few pieces I have from that time. I am actually firing some pottery I made some time ago to take to a upscale farmer's market in Birmingham this Saturday. I've got to do something to get more income coming in and I usually do pretty good at this place.On house news, the drywall is finished and ready to prime and start painting. I am kind of torn between 2 options on the paint. I could try to make the paint. I have found several recipes for natural milk paint etc. I already have most of the ingredients (whiting, mineral colorants)because a lot of them are used in making glazes for pottery and the paints are considered the healthiest. However, some don't work real well over drywall and in the very humid areas like here in the South. My other option is a commercial painting contractor that I know well. They give their leftover paint away to certain individuals because otherwise they have to pay to have it disposed of. You only have certain colors to choose from as it is just what they happen to have at the moment but I imagine that, due to the size of the company, that could be a pretty good selection and I'm sure that I could find at least some of the paint I wanted. Latex paint is considered to be somewhat unhealthy as it releases certain chemicals (VOCs) but even non-"green" paint has gotten somewhat better about that. Using the paint would keep it out of a landfill also. After it dries (in a house) I think it becomes basically inert and is probably a worse thing for it to be disposed of, even in a proper way. So... free, potentially slightly unhealthy paint that is easy and quick to apply or very healthy, very inexpensive paint that could be a real pain in the butt to make (and color) and time consuming to apply.
I will be wrecking the forms soon at the pump house and we can start to move that equipment down there and hopefully, have running water soon.
4 comments:
Hubby has been trying to gather enough berries for a cobbler but so far we find mostly unripe ones. They are awfully sweet though. (I don't eat them because I hate those dang tiny seeds!)
I wish we could go see your stuff at the market but we have to go to a family reunion. Will you be there again later on?
The spring from across the road and up the hill (that usually runs down our ditch) has dried up! You are lucky to still have yours. The creek still runs, but it's terribly shallow now. Out of that last practically-promised 1 inch, we only got 1/4 inch.
I've never heard of someone making their own paint (until I read your blog) but now I think that if anyone could do it, it would be you. You rock!
Blackberries are still a week or two away in our part of the country, and that late frost we had may have knocked back the plants this year. As a boy in Kentucky we used to have berry cobblers it seemed like all summer. The taste of so many good foods instantly take me back there.
Yum! I have been picking and eating them too, straight off the bushes!
Hey Karen! I will not be back at Pepper Place; just sort of a one time try. Yeah, we are really lucky it seems with our spring. it just keeps on flowing so far.
Hey Pablo! Milk paint recipes are actually quite easy to find but I don't know if I'm going to try it.
Hey MM! Yeah, right off the bushes is about the best way to eat them to me.
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