Memorable days...

Most days around the farm are filled, sun-up to sun-down, with chores. Today was no exception. Most days, though brimming with potential, end up blending one into another for the tedius pace at which we move from one project to another with the ultimate goal of having Four Cedars Farms look more like a homestead and less like a junkyard. Today, however, wasn't one of those forgettable chore-filled days.

Today was notable for two firsts. (Recall, we've got less than two years of rural living notched onto our belts.)

Take lunchtime for instance. I stepped out of the kitchen around 1 p.m. to call hubby in for lunch, and instead of finding a hungry man eager for a midday meal, I encountered smoke filling the shoreline and hubby frantically pulling a garden hose out of the stable. I ran to the spot where all morning long hubby had been grinding nails off of metal roofing to find that the sparks from the grinder had ignited dry hay which covered the ground. The fire spread quickly ... lunch had to wait.

Not an hour later, when things were calmer by the shore and hubby was taking a break from demolition, something caught my eye just over the tree line. I yelled out to him and ran around the granary for a closer look. It was a bald eagle, taking advantage of the gusty south wind to glide around the eastern shore of Rice Lake. We both watched in awe, wanting deperately for it to swing around and make a second pass. (My camera was only steps away.) But it glided out of view, the way a dream slips away as we wake, no matter how desperate we are to hold on.

And so it goes on a Saturday of firsts at the farm. When trouble flares, you move fast because you're out here all alone. And later, an eagle soars overhead to remind you why you love it out here, here where you're all alone.

The charred hay...

Red wine can improve your health. Really!

Researchers have been studying alcohol consumption and after 10 years of study, conclude that moderate daily intake of alcohol improves cardiovascular health. In one study, conducted at Harvard University, it was suggested that red wine in particular is the most beneficial to heart health. The cardio-protective effect has been attributed to antioxidants in the skin and seeds of red grapes.

The antioxidants, called flavonoids, reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in three ways:

• By reducing the production of low density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol.


• By boosting high density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol.


• By reducing blood clotting.

Furthermore, consuming a glass of red wine along with a meal may favorably influence your lipid profiles following that meal.

Another study found moderate red wine consumption may inhibit tumor development in some cancers. Yet another study indicated that red wine aids the formation of nerve cells, which may be helpful in treating diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The wine with the highest concentration of flavonoids is Cabernet Sauvignon, followed closely by Petit Syrah and Pinot Noir. White wine has significantly fewer amounts of flavonoids compared to red wine; drier red wines contain higher levels than sweet red wines.

So what is meant by “consuming in moderation?” We Americans have trouble with this concept. One serving per day of red wine, for women, equals four ounces. Men will benefit from consuming between one and two servings per day, somewhere between four and eight ounces.

For those who prefer not to drink alcohol, rest easy. Research has shown non-alcoholic red wine contains the same antioxidant profile as red wine. Grape juice, meanwhile, has anti-oxidative benefits, but does not significantly lower LDL cholesterol compared to red wine.

Tips for staying on a writer's good side

I'm cursed with a bit of a temper. But, as I near the end of my fifth decade of life, I can say that I've gotten a pretty good handle on rage. Things that used to get the best of me are now just shoved into a box in my closet marked "raw material."

This is why I love being a writer. I can take all the anger and any resentment that finds me along the road of life and redirect it at the fruits of my imagination: my fictional characters. I can turn a holier-than-thou hypocrite into a porn addict. I can get a spoiled housewife looped on painkillers. A macho bully? He gets a wee little penis. They don't say the pen is mightier than the sword for nothing, folks.

Fear not, dear readers. Blog fans are exempt from this type of wrath. Promise. But, in case you know any other writers and aren't quite sure where you stand with their pens, I thought I'd pass along a few friendly tips on how to stay on a writer's good side. It's free advice, so, take it for what it's worth:

1. Get past the fact that everything you say or do is being secretly recorded.

2. Stop urging your writer friend to send his book to Oprah. Offer him a lottery ticket instead; the odds are better.

3. Resist the urge to look over a writer's shoulder as he works. He may be packing heat.

4. Offer copious amounts of alcohol: wine, scotch, anything but beer. All those trips to the john will destroy his pacing.

5. Don't use the word "writer" in the same sentence with the following names: Al Franken, Bill Clinton, Bill O'Reilly, Joy Behar or Judge Judy. Never mind whose face graces the end cap at Barnes & Nobles!

6. Buy literature and read it. (See item No. 5, not literature, folks.)

7. Don't assume writers are confident about their work. (See item No. 4)

8. Don't call on a writer before 9 a.m., unless you have brewed coffee in hand.

9. Never, ever ask: How is the book going?

Walk a mile in my shoes...

There are 5,280 feet in a mile. There are 43,560 square feet in an acre. If you have a wide open field, you can cordon off an acre by measuring a square with 208.7-foot sides. Not being much of a numbers person, for some reason today I find these measurements comforting. Maybe it's because my feet hurt.

It was a perfectly pleasant late March day; the sky was overcast and the wind, slight -- a rarity in these parts. Temperature at noon: 40 degrees F.

In 48 days, a handful of our generous and kind friends will sacrifice their day off by coming to Four Cedars Farms to help us plant the 650 grapevines that have been ordered and paid for. Before they arrive, we've got a bit of vineyard construction to get done. A few days ago, I showed you the pile of posts that will have to be set. Yet even before we get to that, there's work. And so, we started...

There are 16 rows in all, set 8 feet apart. Since the vineyard extends south, where the full length of rows can be viewed from the kitchen, we felt there would be no worse blunder than to have crooked rows. So hubby and I measured the 320-foot rows carefully, using stakes, twine and paint so that each row lay perfectly parallel to the next. Starting near the west fence, once the staked and twined rows were painted, we moved the stakes and twine 8 feet to the east and repeated the steps. Farm dog observed.
At the end of the day, sixteen perfectly parallel 320-foot rows were marked with orange spray paint. In three weeks, we'll use the orange lines to center our herbicide sprayer as we drive down the rows to kill the grass in 36-inch strips. That will leave us with 60-inch strips of grass remaining between each row. We'll need a wind-free day for that task.

Once the herbicide does its duty, we'll run the 36-inch tiller over the dead grass to work up the soil. Then, we'll have to pull out the measuring tape again, to mark the 20-foot offset for our posts. When the posts are in, we'll be ready for planting. The vines will be set 8 feet apart, 40 per row, which leaves me with 10 plants that won't fit into the grid. I'm not yet sure where I'll put those 10 plants; with 9 more acres, or 392,040 square feet to work with, I'm not too worried about finding space.

One more thing to know if you visit. If you're interested in getting a bit of exercise, simply do as I do. Walk the vineyard. It's 16 rows, up and down -- that's one easy mile.