Some Catching Up To Do….

This blog entry will be a bit of a hodgepodge. There are several different things I’d like say that are on my mind. Then I’ll get back to finishing my ponderously-long, multi-part series about Getting Started & Finding My Way

It’s a “Herrick Toy”
My thanks to Paul Hambrick who sent me the photo at the top of this blog. He said the little squeeze toy reminded him of me and he called it a “Herrick toy.” If I ever shave off this winter beard I'm currently sporting, the resemblance between me and that thing will be absolutely remarkable.


Making Sauerkraut in Hungary
And while I’m thanking people, I want to publicly acknowledge and thank Szelsofa way over in Hungary who dedicated one of her blog stories to me. The blog is about making sauerkraut. I am honored, and flattered, and inspired. But we still haven’t yet made our own sauerkraut here! I have no good excuse.

As Szelsofa says, sauerkraut is “healthy, living food.” It is so good for us! You can read the story here: Szelsofa’s Sauerkraut Blog

Beer Tokens
One more thank you is in order: I happen to live in Moravia, New York. Allen Roeder down in the Republic of Texas informed me that there is a Moravia, Texas. A few days later, I received an envelope from Mr. Roeder. It contained two wooden tokens from the Moravia Store (established in 1889). Each token is “Good For One Beer.” That is a thoughtful gift. Thank you Allen!

A Funny Story
I was over to Don Underwood’s blog (you may recall that Don and his son Caleb were the grand prize winners in the Whizbang Garden Cart Contest for 2007) and Don mentioned a book called “Pagan Christianity.” That got my attention. I went to a review of the book at a blog named, “Letters From Kamp Krusty.” That's not the funny story.

While there, I surfed around and discovered a short blog entry that really got me laughing. So I read it to Marlene and we both laughed at it. She said she has actually done something close to what the guy writes about in the story. I have worn glasses since I was in 6th grade but I have never done anything close to what the guy writes about. Here’s the link:
I Went Running and Shoved My Glasses Up My Nose and Almost Killed Myself

Who is That Boy & What is He Doing?

It’s my 13-year-old son, James, and he is using a draw shave to carve an M1 Garand rifle out of a 2x4, of course.

Who is That Boy & What is He Doing? (Part 2)

It’s James again. This time he is using a router as a compass to cut circles out of 3/4" HDPE plastic. You can see a pile of just-cut circles to his right. The circles will be further machined and fabricated into featherplates, which people buy from me to make their own Whizbang Chicken Plucker.

Last year, I was caught off guard in the spring by high demand for plucker parts. We are working now to be better prepared for this spring. I have no idea what the demand will be for these parts.

Perhaps a lot of people will use the soon-to-come “windfall” government handout that was approved this last week to buy parts to build their own Whizbang Chicken Plucking machine. Yes! Now that will help the economy out of recession! Well, at least it will help my economy. ;-)

Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference
If you’re anywhere near LaCrosse, Wisconsin, do make it a point to attend the conference on Feb 21-23. I won’t be there but all my Whizbang Books will be there for sale. You can always buy them from me HERE

And Speaking of Books
One of the great things about having a small business, as opposed to a big business, is that you can more easily change your mind and your course of direction. I’ve done both in recent weeks. It was my intention to write and publish a book this spring, and I launched into the project a few weeks ago. But then I considered the economic situation in this country, and decided to hold off on publishing another book at this time.

I also heard this statistic on the radio: In 2006 there were 291,000 new books published. That’s 33 books a hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 7 out of 10 of those books were a financial failure. 2 out of 10 broke even financially. One out of 10 made a profit.

So now I am focusing on making chicken plucker parts, and I’m continuing to work on a prototype NEW Whizbang product with accompanying how-to instructions. I will put the product through more testing this summer with the idea of making it available to EVERYONE next spring.

I have found that making and selling parts for useful homestead products (like a homemade chicken plucker) is more profitable than selling just books.

However, There is Something New Right Now...
This year’s book idea is on hold. But much of the material that was to go into my next book will be published on my newest blog, Old Farm Almanacs. CLICK HERE to go to the blog.