Scattershooting: Coffee and Some Pics
7/16/08 - 4th Day - Midday. Well, we are in midsummer stride here, though we're getting almost nothing from the garden. We did get the peaches I showed you, and Tracy made some wonderful peach preserves from them. We also canned pork and ham all of last week from the last of our male hogs from last years litter. Now we just hope our last two females are pregnant. I read last years blog from about this time, and at this time in July I was hoping my pigs were pregnant... it turned out that they were. Tracy has also been butchering our meat chickens, and today she was culling out some of our old hens, which we gave to the Sustaires to use for soup or stew. We're also working almost full time on processing mesquite pods, which is going to be a full time job for awhile.
We have two processes going. We are roasting mesquite pods for coffee and tea, and we are boiling some down to sugar for other projects. I wanted to mention to those of you who were interested in the mesquite coffee. We have found that the mesquite coffee goes WAY further per ounce than regular coffee. I saw that the premium coffee in Coleman was about $10 for a 12 ounce bag... well, for us that wouldn't go very far, because we make coffee for a whole bunch of people, and usually make 2-3 pots a day. We usually use 6 full scoops per pot because I like it strong. When we use the mesquite coffee, Danielle barely covers the bottom of the percolator chamber with the coffee, and it comes out very strong. What coffee we don't drink (if there is any less) is watered WAY down to make tea. It works perfectly. The point is that this stuff is very, very strong. Some of the ladies said that they only use 5-10 pods for a full pot of coffee, depending on how strong they want it. I would say on average you would use 1/3 as much if you like your coffee very strong and dark. Also, I noticed that some of the folks don't roast their pods as dark as I do, since I like the roasted taste in the coffee and maybe they don't.
I would say we have processed about 20-25 lbs. of beans so far, which is a long way from where we need to be. I want to put up at least a two years supply of coffee. As some of you may remember, last year we didn't get any pods at all. It was strange, and we don't know why that happened, except that maybe the drought from 2006 affected the 2007 crop. Or the trees just lay off a year every once in awhile. Anyway, that is why I am going to be putting up 2 years supply (if the Lord wills). This means we should have some tasty mesquite coffee for Super Ranchfest in October, and we ought to have some mesquite beer as well. So Herrick Kimball and a few other folks contacted me about packaging up some mesquite coffee to send them. I am certainly willing to do it, though I can tell you our supply will be very limited, and I don't have a clue how much to charge for it. So, to start, you'll need to email me at editor(at)lazarusunbound.com with your mailing address, and I will do my best to send out what I can. To start with, we'll work on a donation basis, and - like I said - we won't have that big of a supply. Then, after I do some computational analysis (or counting on my fingers) I'll try to decide if next year we can offer this on a wider basis. I will tell you this (and I'm not trying to drum up business...) it is the bests coffee and tea I've ever had. We'll include some type of instruction sheet with the coffee we send out.
Ok, so here are some pics I took with my camera phone. This first one is Kelly Sustaire teaching my daughter Sarah how to count. Or he is telling her that he is not a crook. Not really, he is holding up fingers and quizzing her on her numbers:
Here is a picture of Danielle, Tracy, and Sarah hamming it up...
I think in that last picture, we had just finished snapping mesquite pods and then having supper. For those of you who don't know... Danielle (my wife) is the one waving. I included this picture because she has threatened to post a video of me on her "Process Driven Wife" blog where I am dancing after a "double ringer" in horseshoes. She is blackmailing me. So I am firing a warning shot with this goofy wave of hers. Sarah (4) is the little girl with the big smile, and Tracy (15) is the one who seems a bit troubled by the other two.
Ok, so we have also been digging on our second root cellar, which I hope to have done before rainy season next spring (if the Lord wills).
Alright, I have to run. I have to have a sermon finished for tonight's meeting.
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
We have two processes going. We are roasting mesquite pods for coffee and tea, and we are boiling some down to sugar for other projects. I wanted to mention to those of you who were interested in the mesquite coffee. We have found that the mesquite coffee goes WAY further per ounce than regular coffee. I saw that the premium coffee in Coleman was about $10 for a 12 ounce bag... well, for us that wouldn't go very far, because we make coffee for a whole bunch of people, and usually make 2-3 pots a day. We usually use 6 full scoops per pot because I like it strong. When we use the mesquite coffee, Danielle barely covers the bottom of the percolator chamber with the coffee, and it comes out very strong. What coffee we don't drink (if there is any less) is watered WAY down to make tea. It works perfectly. The point is that this stuff is very, very strong. Some of the ladies said that they only use 5-10 pods for a full pot of coffee, depending on how strong they want it. I would say on average you would use 1/3 as much if you like your coffee very strong and dark. Also, I noticed that some of the folks don't roast their pods as dark as I do, since I like the roasted taste in the coffee and maybe they don't.
I would say we have processed about 20-25 lbs. of beans so far, which is a long way from where we need to be. I want to put up at least a two years supply of coffee. As some of you may remember, last year we didn't get any pods at all. It was strange, and we don't know why that happened, except that maybe the drought from 2006 affected the 2007 crop. Or the trees just lay off a year every once in awhile. Anyway, that is why I am going to be putting up 2 years supply (if the Lord wills). This means we should have some tasty mesquite coffee for Super Ranchfest in October, and we ought to have some mesquite beer as well. So Herrick Kimball and a few other folks contacted me about packaging up some mesquite coffee to send them. I am certainly willing to do it, though I can tell you our supply will be very limited, and I don't have a clue how much to charge for it. So, to start, you'll need to email me at editor(at)lazarusunbound.com with your mailing address, and I will do my best to send out what I can. To start with, we'll work on a donation basis, and - like I said - we won't have that big of a supply. Then, after I do some computational analysis (or counting on my fingers) I'll try to decide if next year we can offer this on a wider basis. I will tell you this (and I'm not trying to drum up business...) it is the bests coffee and tea I've ever had. We'll include some type of instruction sheet with the coffee we send out.
Ok, so here are some pics I took with my camera phone. This first one is Kelly Sustaire teaching my daughter Sarah how to count. Or he is telling her that he is not a crook. Not really, he is holding up fingers and quizzing her on her numbers:
I think in that last picture, we had just finished snapping mesquite pods and then having supper. For those of you who don't know... Danielle (my wife) is the one waving. I included this picture because she has threatened to post a video of me on her "Process Driven Wife" blog where I am dancing after a "double ringer" in horseshoes. She is blackmailing me. So I am firing a warning shot with this goofy wave of hers. Sarah (4) is the little girl with the big smile, and Tracy (15) is the one who seems a bit troubled by the other two.
Ok, so we have also been digging on our second root cellar, which I hope to have done before rainy season next spring (if the Lord wills).
Alright, I have to run. I have to have a sermon finished for tonight's meeting.
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker
posted by Michael Bunker at 7/16/2008 10:45:00 AM
7 Comments:
Michael,
sorry to read of the current garden output...do you just simply not have enough water to spare for it, or would the relentless heat render that a moot point anyway?
Bill
Bill, the heat has really not been that bad. I mean, we are having a traditional Central Texas summer. The total lack of rain is what has done it. It really doesn't matter how much water you can pour on the plants, if you don't get rain then they aren't going to do well in the heat. We're looking at about 3 inches of rain in the last three months, when our average rainfall would have been closer to 10 or 11 inches. So the heat is just a cumulative negative when added to the lack of water.
I am sure if we had an endless supply of city water to dump on the plants, we might have had some production, but we just don't have that.
Our sweet potatoes are still doing well, so we are hopeful for them.
Michael
Yeah I guess it hasn't really been that hot by Texas standards, daily mid 90s or so. Looks like more is on the way.
If you end up having enough of that Mesquite java that you're able to sell some (or receive a donation for), we'd certainly be interested.
Bill
Michael,
I forwarded this post via e-mail to Karen to just enjoy reading off the computor screen; and this morning she wrote back and said MMM...I'm dying for a cup of that coffee!! She and I are both old Swedes when it comes to coffee consumption.
Danielle, now I'd definitely like to see that Horseshoe picture! Ha! My dad and brother were good horseshoe competitors, but esp. my Dad!
Have a great day!
Beth
Oops, I meant to say, I'd love to see that VIDEO!! Go for it Danielle!
Beth
I would love to sample a bit of that Mesquite coffee and tea. I'm long overdue for making a donation to the ministry so I will do just that. Sonya
Hi Michael. We're in the same boat with our garden. Even with purchased grid water we're only keeping it alive until cooler weather arrives. I got out fall seeds the other day and will be dusting them in this week and waiting on the first of the fall rains, Lord willing. The satellite's been down for several weeks now, so I've been offline for a while.
Judy
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