Garden Carts

Not sure if many of you have ever used a garden cart before.  They are amazing and I’ve always admired the hard work they can do.  The quantity and weight that these carts can haul make any job easier, from distributing compost early in the season to harvesting the heavy root crops later in the fall.  A garden cart is an essential tool for any homestead.

They are awfully darned expensive though ($350 for a new one), so I made my own.  I used a plan book from Herrick Kimball, (buy from Amazon or directly from Mr. Kimball) the man who also made the plan books for my chicken plucker and the cider press.  I bought the plywood, stain, wheels, metal axle and wooden dowel for the handle.  The rest was from my favorite local junkyard.  My total cost into this project was maybe $140.

I can’t wait to try it out and I’ll be sure to let you all know how it works.

Thanks, Robert.

The Deliberate Agrarian

Many of you already know that I’m a huge fan of Herrick Kimball, author of the Deliberate Agrarian blog and also many books including Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Chicken Plucker and Anyone Can Build a Whizbang Apple Grinder and Cider Press.  He also has a monthly blogazine called The Deliberate Agrarian. 

This month’s article was about a very inspiring answer to prayer.  He has finally landed the deal of his dreams and will soon close on sixteen acres of farmland.  Oh how Courtney and I would love to do that too.  I congratulate Mr. Kimball.

Later in his post, Mr. Kimball made a reference to an article he wrote in January 2008 titled An Agrarian Style Economic Self Defense Plan.  I really liked that article and it helped me better define the way I felt and set a plan about what to do.  At the time I was concerned (and I still am) about the direction of our country’s economy and wanted know how to better prepare.  This is why we spend our spare time reading and applying what we learn about gardening, animal husbandry, food preservation, etc.

At the bottom of that article, please also read the comments section.  I always read the comments at the Deliberate Agrarian because they are also usually chock full of useful information or advice.  One person linked to an article by Mark Cuban titled, The Stock Market Is for Suckers.  I couldn’t agree more.  Another commenter recommended Survivalblog for more information.  I did get stuck there for more than four hours as warned in the comment and became a daily reader.   Find your way to the precepts page on that blog to find out what it is all about.  There is always practical, useful information posted about self sufficiency.

Thanks, Robert.

Inaugural Cider Batch

We’ve done it!  We gathered up a whole bunch of granny smith apples on Saturday morning (for free!) and turned them all into wonderful cider.

So, here’s how the process works:

Start by washing your apples.  I used the bottom section of the 55 gallon tub I used to make my chicken plucker, filled it with water and Courtney and I sat around while the kids were napping and inspected all the apples.  We sorted them into two buckets, one for good apples and one for those that had a moldy/wormy spot.  We rubbed each apple with our hands to knock off any dirt, etc.

Halve or quarter all of the apples.  This is so that they fit into the grinder.

Grind away!  The grinder will chew up the apples as fast as I can feed them in there.  It is amazing.

The ground up apple pulp is collected in a food grade bucket.

Another view of the grinding in action.

Filling the pressing bags.  The bottom three inches of a five gallon food grade bucket acts as the form.

Tie the bag with a piece of kitchen twine.

Loading the press.  Put a bag in the bottom, then a pressing disc, then another bag, and so on.  A lot of juice will come out into your catching basin before you even begin pressing, so have that in place first!

Start pressing.  On the ground is the scissor jack from our mini van.  You start with that and once there is room, switch to the 6 ton bottle jack.

The final product.  One sip and you’ll know what the “Wow” factor is all about on this fresh squeezed cider.  It is comparable to nothing else I’ve ever had.  Courtney and I drank a large pitcher of it over the next few days.  The rest was split between a few half gallon Ball jars to make vinegar with the balance put into a fermenter to make hard cider.

Thanks, Robert.

Other Apple Grinder/Cider Press Posts:

Project Introduction

Status Report

Cutting a Keyway

Completion

Being Bold: Apple Collecting

Apple Cider Vinegar (future post)

Hard Cider (future post)

Apple Grinder and Cider Press Complete

Unveiling the newly completed Whizbang Apple Grinder and Cider Press:

We plan on gathering apples from any source possible.  In fact, we spent yesterday (Saturday) morning driving around the nearest town and asking homeowners if they plan on using the apples that we could see in their backyard.  Some people are very receptive and are thankful.  They almost think of their apple tree as a pest or a chore and so we’re alleviating them of cleanup duty.

We plan on making sweet cider, hard cider and apple cider vinegar.

We’ll post again soon with pics of our first test run!

Thanks, Robert

Other Apple Grinder/Cider Press Posts:

Project Introduction

Status Report

Cutting a Keyway

Being Bold: Apple Collecting

Inaugural Cider Batch

Apple Cider Vinegar (future post)

Hard Cider (future post)

Cutting a keyway

The cider press is complete, and the motor arrived for my apple grinder.  The only problem now is that the shaft on the garbage disposal did not have a keyway cut into it, so I’ll have to make one.  Without this, the coupler would never hold tight and power transmission would be a big problem.

This had to be done cheaply, as I didn’t want to dismantle the whole thing and take to a machine shop for a proper keyway to be cut.  Instead, I put a cutoff wheel on my angle grinder and got to work.

I had to wedge in a few blocks of wood to hold everything still because the grinder vibrated everything and I wasn’t getting good contact with the motor shaft.

In the end, it all went together just fine and I think it will work great.  It doesn’t look pretty, but I really don’t care.  What matters most is that it works, and it does.

A little more plumbing work is all that is needed and this project will be complete.

Thanks, Robert.

Other Apple Grinder/Cider Press Posts:

Project Introduction

Status Report

Completion

Being Bold: Apple Collecting

Inaugural Cider Batch

Apple Cider Vinegar (future post)

Hard Cider (future post)

Cider press update

I had quite a bit of time to work on my apple grinder and cider press this past week.  The press frame is all put together now.

That press frame required lots of sawing, for someone without an electric saw.  I do have a Black and Decker scroll saw, pictured here in my post about mechanical tools.  But that blade won’t cut the notches required to piece this frame together.  I guessed I put about three or more hours into cutting out the notches, as pictured below.

I used that hand saw to make 1/4″ deep cuts at 1/2″ intervals and then chiseled out the pieces.  Then I used a rasp to smooth everything out.  The 2×4 uprights had notches on both sides where the 2×6′s are mounted.  There are also notches in the center 2×6′s where the press shaft goes through.  And can you believe I passed on a Dewalt circular saw at a garage sale for $12 a few weeks ago?  I’m kicking myself for that one.  The bottom plate was slightly bent, but it would have been fine for a job like this.

Thanks, Robert.

Other Apple Grinder/Cider Press Posts:

Project Introduction

Cutting a Keyway

Completion

Being Bold: Apple Collecting

Inaugural Cider Batch

Apple Cider Vinegar (future post)

Hard Cider (future post)