The Misty Manor, Mercers

We will be at the Not-So-Square Arts Festival in Mount Vernon today in the town square.

Trans-partisan group of politicians, business', farmers and families mobilize 'first in the nation' food Independence movement

Columbia, MO- A group of prominent citizens will gather this Sunday during the Sustainable Living Fair at Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri to announce the details of a monumental 'first in the nation' Missouri Citizen's Food Security Congress; a call to action for implementing a sustainable state-wide food supply system.

The article from tonight's talk on US silver coins is here: http://thestatesmen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76:....

Updated 3 Times: As most of you know, a deadly tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on Monday 23 May 2011, with an estimated toll of: 8,000 structures, 300 businesses, 4,000 jobs, 1,150 injured and at least 142 lives lost. Our farm is a bit over 30 miles from Joplin and one of the tornadoes touched down just about four miles away. Parts of the St. John's hospital have been scattered over much of the region. We have had medical records turn up in our front yard. Fortunately we escaped the storm system with minimal damage.

This journal is an account of what has been happening in Joplin and what we have been doing with the relief efforts locally. We have started putting photos in an image gallery.

As a lot of you know, I've currently got a graduate assistantship at Missouri State's William H. Darr School of Agriculture while pursuing my masters in plant science. Part of this program includes a plant sale, which helps raise funds for research in the greenhouse. This year, I've planted a huge variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers for your pleasure; both heirloom and hybrid varieties of vegetables, several types of herbs, and new flower varieties from our seed trials. These plants are looking great, and need to find new homes!

Here's a tentative list of what we'll have on hand:

We are currently digging out from the storm last night. We got hit pretty hard, hail, rain, wind, etc., and things are a bit scrambled. Luckily, damage to the PV array was minor.

Anyway, we are still on here, but things are going to be a bit delayed throughout the day and, unfortunately, our stock was greatly reduced. Candles, which were already set up on the porch, are about a complete loss. Things will probably get rolling about noon here. If you are already on your way, you can hang out, just be aware we are still scrambling.

In addition to the PDF of the current edition available for purchase on Scribd and the html version available for free browsing on our site. There is now a (free) partial draft of the 2nd edition manuscript on Scribd.

You can now purchase and download a copy of Pages From An Ozark Herbal from Scribd as a PDF (the same file included when some of you bought it on CD). This is experimental, but it will let you 1) use and search the Herbal offline (i.e. no Internet) and 2) help fund further improvement of the work. In particular, we are working on producing a Kindle/Nook friendly document in the near future.

We're hosting a primitive skills day at the Manor on Saturday, April 9, from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Among the things we're going to get into:

Primitive Soapmaking - making lye soap from leaching rainwater through woodashes to finished soap.

Breadmaking from whole grains - making bread from wheatberries including making a sponge to increase gluten production and a good, light loaf.

Weed Walk - Eric will be conducting a weed walk to identify local wild plants that are edible, medicinal or otherwise useful. These have always been a big hit at our events!

Well, we're going to be at the Pierce City Arts Festival next weekend, June 12, 2010, from 10-5. We'll be demoing our fiber arts stuff, and if weather cooperates, I may try to bring my lampworking (melted glass over a torch) setup with. We'll also have some new fiber arts pieces and lampworked jewelry available. Hope to see folks there!

http://www.piercecityartsfestival.webs.com/