Carving a Bowl, Part 1

Winters in the high mountains of West Virginia are long, cold, dark, isolating, snowy, and really hard work. We spend much of our time splitting and stacking wood, tending to the fire, and keeping the sidewalk and driveway clear of snow. I always chuckle when our guests at The Ponderosa Lodge mention our "simple" life here because it is any thing but simple. Basic, yes; simple, not exactly. So, when the weather breaks and the temperature is unusually warm (ie. slightly above freezing) for a week, it is nice to get out and do something. My husband bought me a set of wood carving tools for Christmas (pictured below), so I decided to head down to our friend Dennis's wood workshop to learn how to carve a wood bowl.


Dennis is a native of West Virginia, and he has been carving for more than 50 years. If you have ever visited The Ponderosa Lodge, you will recognize his beautiful work because he carved the coffee table, sofa table, and end tables in the Great Room. He also carved all of our bread bowls, and we sell these items and many more at the lodge. Below is a photo of a big beautiful bowl carved from a tree knot that he is working on for us.


Unfortunately, when I arrived at Dennis's workshop (pictured below), he was not feeling well because he had a chemotherapy treatment yesterday, so I spent the day carving with his brother, Mac, and his wife, Dee.


This is the inside of Dennis's wood workshop and some of his cool power tools.


This is the piece of wood that I started with. It is a piece of cherry log split down the middle. I plan to carve it into a small bowl.


Mac first used a drill press to remove a little bit of the wood from the top. This makes the overall process a little bit quicker, and it also makes it easier for me to carve out the inside of the bowl with my carving tools.

Liam and Ken also brought their own "tools," and they joined in the fun.


Liam was very interested in assisting me while I carved. The whole process is fairly simple. Essentially, you hold the gouge (pictured in my left hand) by the wood handle and place the sharp metal end against the wood where you want to carve. Then you hammer the handle of the gouge with a soft headed mallet (pictured in my right hand). The force of the mallet causes the sharp end of the gouge to carve out little pieces of wood. This process allows you to slowly carve out the inside of the bowl. Apparently, the idea is to carve the bowl as thin as possible without actually carving a hole in the bowl. (Although Mac promised me he could patch the bowl if I accidentally do carve a hole in the bowl). Thankfully, I did not chop off any fingers, but I did slice a hole right through my work jeans with the super sharp gouge.


This is my little bowl after about 2 hours of carving.


This is my bowl after about 3 hours of carving. I still need to carve about 1/2" more to create the bottom of the bowl and then carve out the sides as well. Then, I will sand the inside and outside of the bowl. I plan to keep most of the bark on the outside, but Mac will sand around the corners so they are rounded rather than square.


Dee sanded these bowls while I carved mine. Sanding is one of the final steps in the process. She is nearly done with these bowls.

Cold Storage

I was very excited when Ken and Mac completed our cold storage room in 2010. They tore down 2 block walls and ripped out an unused shower stall, sink, and toilet to open up a space that would be big enough to hold 2 deep freezers and make shift shelves to hold winter squash, pumpkins, onion, apples, potatoes, and other produce that stores well. In Spring, Fall, and Winter, this room generally stays around 40 degrees which is the perfect temperature for the long term storage of crops. This low temperature also decreases the amount of electricity that the freezers use which is greener for the environment and keeps our electric bills lower. The cold storage room is located between the garage and the lodge, so every time I walk by it, I have the opportunity to admire the non-GMO, non-hybrid heirloom veggies we raised in our vegetable gardens this year.



My favorite crop that we grew for long term storage is the jarrahdale pumpkin. It is a slate, blue-grey pumpkin that weighs 6-10 pounds. Its shape is flat, ribbed, and very decorative. It is a good keeper. As a practical matter, it was very easy to grow, but the vines do require a large amount of garden space. Also, it is very easy to clean out and cook up because the flesh is smooth rather than stringy, and it has a very delicious flesh. These pumpkins are not available at traditional groceries, but they are sometimes available at farmer's markets in Fall.


I admired our jarrahdale pumpkins sitting in our cold storage for the past 4 months instead of eating them, so they were starting to spoil a little. The majority of the inside flesh was fine, but it was definitely time to do something with them.


Ken cut open, seeded, and cubed the pumpkin.



Then, he placed the cubed pumpkin in a large stock pot and cooked it down. We will use the resulting pumpkin puree to make pumpkin soup tomorrow. The rest of the pumpkin puree will be placed in Ziploc bags and put in the freezer. We will use the puree this summer to make pumpkin bread for our guests at The Ponderosa Lodge.

Preparing and Planning

The past couple of days, we had some above freezing temperatures that got be pining for digging and planting in the garden. Winter has returned, though, but there is much to do to prepare for Spring.

I took advantage of the nice day yesterday and cleaned our wood stove and chimney. We burn a lot of wood in our stove and I have to sweep it 4 or 5 times throughout the season. We use the stove to heat our dining room and kitchen as well as keeping the dogs warm.

I also will begin inspecting and disinfection my maple sap collection equipment. I wash the buckets, spiles, lids, and milk jugs in a solution of 1 part unscented bleach to 20 parts water. We have over a dozen sugar maple trees on our farm that I tap each season. I hope to start tapping trees in another week or two.


I also clean my seed starting pots in a solution of the same mixture. In the next couple of days I will begin starting seeds indoors, with the first ones being onions, asparagus, rhubarb, lettuce, and spinach. Once these plants germinate they will be moved outdoors to the cold frames. I also will draw plans for my gardens this year and decide what varieties to grow.


Last, I need to clean a room and prepare for our first intern of the 2011 season! Erich will be joining us next week. He is one of many interns who will be joining us this season and we are exciting to be working with everyone of them.

With Erich, we plan to make some repairs and do some painting indoors until the weather breaks. Then we have a lot of work to do outside. Some of the projects we have planned are building more raised beds, preparing the gardens, building new rabbit pens, converting the chicken coop into a garden shed for Jorene, and trimming apple trees. Look for more posts on our progress throughout the season.

Intern Positions Available

OUR INTERSHIP POSITIONS FOR SPRING AND SUMMER 2011 ARE CURRENTLY FILLED. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN INTERNING FALL 2011, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US. HAPPY GROWING!! We are seeking an intern(s) to join us for Fall 2011. Our interns will be provided room and board, all meals, free internet and U.S. domestic telephone calls, and the use of a vehicle. We would also be happy to fill out any paperwork that would allow you to get college credit for your work. We are unique in that we specialize in both small organic farming and lodging. All interns should be willing to participate in both sides of the business. Please feel free to contact us for further information. We are located in the New River Gorge area of southern West Virginia which is noted for countless exciting outdoor activities, including whitewater rafting, rock climbing, fishing, horseback riding, tree canopy tours, boating, and hiking. For more information about our farm located in Southern Western Virginia, please visit our Facebook page (The Ponderosa Lodge), or our website at: www.theponderosalodge.com

Farm Photos - October 7

Here's Liam, fully awake and making bread at 5:30 in the morning. He loves eating the dough and would slurp and say with a big grin "Bread!"

Jorene likes to make a fall display every year in front of the lodge. All of the gourds and pumpkins were grown here on our farm.

I've been clearing some trees around our parking lot to open it up for more sunshine. As always, the wood is being milled for lumber or cut up for firewood.

Farm Photo - September 14

Another day on the farm.

Clem, keeping watch from his window box.

Goofball goat, curious about what I am doing.

Turkeys on pasture.

I had to start feeding the cow hay much sooner than I thought I would. I had hoped to wait until the first of October, but late summer has been very dry.

Farm Photo - September 13

This weekend, Liam was surprised with a new (used) John Deere pedal tractor, with bucket and trailer. He LOVES tractors, and has been having a lot of fun with it. Since my tractor doesn't have a bucket, he is going to be a big help around the farm for me.