Clarkstead Farms

We have two Angus cross steers ready for harvesting. One half is sold as of today. They have been well taken care of on our little homestead, fed pasture and hay (mostly hay now) along with DE, kelp and salt. They do enjoy our apples that don't make it to the kitchen as well as some citrus peels. No sweeter smell than a bovine crushing orange peels. We are charging $2.38a pound for the front quarter, $2.58 a pound for the hind quarter and $2.48 a pound for a half (and all prices are hanging weight),plus cut wrap and freeze. If interested, you can send an email to clarkmk@dukes.jmu.edu or call at 540 478-3521.

Trucker's Favorite, an old sweet corn variety, is drying on the stalks. About half of the corn has been harvested and will be used for the poultry and for human consumption. Trucker's favorite is not so sweet, but safe from gmo concerns. It will be ground up and fed to the chickens for an organic addition to their feed. For the family, the corn will be ground to make corn bread and chips. We like to experiment with "from scratch" recipes and solutions.

For all you do-it-yourselfers or pioneers or el cheapos, here is a safety tip. For the rest of you, just hire or nag someone else to check on this. Tuesday I was just trying to get some housework done when something fell in the lint catcher in my dryer. I heard the metal sound, thought uh, oh, and decided to investigate. I tried a magnet to fetch it out, but as the innards of the vent are all metal, it only went so far. Next, I thought a magnet in a bag that I threw down quickly might do the trick. No dice. It still stuck. Then I tried a long strip off the front of my husband's desk might do something. As I stuck it down ever further into the depths of the dryer, I noticed something soft. Oh...lint? down there? Not good. Out to my husband's shed I went, hunting an adjustable wrench, some normal wrenches, and back to my very own tool drawer to get my very own ratchet set. (Warning: I only scored 8 on the military's mechanical aptitude test when I was in high school. I am sure that I would now score 9 because I know that a monkey wrench is really an adjustable wrench..I think). The wrenches were not the right size but the ratchet set worked. I even remembered that sometimes you push the little lever on the head one way to take the screws off and another way to tighten. That's handy. I got them all off, the back removed, the back of the vent off and there it was! Packed lint that had accumulated for years, with a nail in the midst of it! Oy! Danger Will Robinson! I had faithfully cleaned the lint catcher for years (yes, it is an old dryer), vacuumed periodically, and yet all along this insidious dust had built up to a sizeable amount. I cleaned and dusted and vacuumed, stuck a duster in another spot that goes in around the drum and pulled out some spider webs. So much safer now! I had no idea what a hazard was building up in my own laundry. I was able to put everything back together and it still works! Hallelujah! ...I did find two more screws, but who's noticing? Shalom and be safe. P.S.: put the lint catcher back in place while working because it attracts metal objects including adjustable wrenches that also fall down the lint shaft.