The Education Never Ends

Now that I have graduated from college, the education can really begin.  The list of things I want to learn is long.  Here goes:

1.  Hunt and fish, okay maybe not hunt but at the very least I would like to learn how to kill a chicken and catch a fish.

2.  Make cheese!  The other day Anne and I made ricotta and it was very easy, something I could easy do again and again for the rest of my life.  The result (on top of a slice of homemade zucchini bread with some blackberries) is delicious.  But there are so many other (more complicated) cheeses to learn and I cannot wait to.

3.  Sew mo', if I'm really going to be a homesteader I should probably make myself a goddamned apron this winter, don't ya think?  And maybe a corduroy jumper to boot.

4.  Bake up a storm.  This winter I am going to full immerse myself in the Tassajara Bread Book. The main breads I am concerned with mastering are a crusty rye and challah (with raisins, duh).

5.  Shoes.  A friend of a friend of mine teaches a shoe-making class starting in September.  Shoes are essential and handy crafts are fun.  Bring on the leather and bunny-fur-lined slippers.

6.  Cooking for realsies.  I have been cooking for myself for three years now and I've learned a lot--with a good recipe I think I could make almost anything I'd want to eat, but that does not mean there isn't way more to learn.  In a couple of days I'm taking an indian cooking class from a friend of the farm.  This winter I am considering taking an 8-week intensive course in french cooking.

7.  Beekeeping, what a subject.  In my free time I've been pouring over the Beekeeper's Bible.  It's a very informative book with lots of pretty pictures on the topic.  I've recently had some first hand experience at beekeeping but still feel as though I've barely skimmed the surface of this life-long hobby that is crucial to the organic farmer.  Yesterday I checked on the farm's hive and it is absolutely thriving.  Must learn more.

8.  Building more stuff out of wood.  I need a small table for under one of my windows to act as a shrine where I can put incense, candles, photographs.  I would like to make said table.

9. READ.  This winter I would like to learn to read.  Seriously though, my reading list is a mile long and once the rain starts, that's all I will be doing.  That and swimming and skiing and everything else on this list.