Farmer Jon - a Magical Night on the Permaculture Farm (and Cob Oven Pizza)

in #homesteading6 years ago (edited)

I’m now convinced I need to live on a homestead.

Over the years, @halcyondaze and I have been toying with the idea of buying land and living as modern farmers. Instead of talking about it, I decided to try it out for a night. Thanks everyone in the old homesteader slack channel, especially @pennsif for the motivation!

Although I can't own one now, I can sure rent one.

Thankfully I have a thoughtful girlfriend (Kath, @mintpaperplane) who found a homestead on HipCamp for us to stay at.

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Here’s a teaser of the pizza we made in a cob oven.

This homestead was unique because it's a Permaculture Farm. That means the owners are using permaculture practices to rejuvenate the land.

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It used to be an orchid nursery containing eight massive greenhouses. We stayed in one where the owner built a mini town inside including four huts, a cob oven and stove, fire pit, and a bar!

Kath loved the hanging swing. Usually, from this seat, you can see the ocean which is a five-minute walk to a private beach. As a surfer, this would be a dream.

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Back when I was living in San Francisco, my friend Lexi wanted me to build her a cob pizza oven in their backyard. Unfortunately, due to our schedules, we couldn't make it happen. When I saw that this place had one, I was stoked! I sent her some pictures of it and now the project is back on for 2018.

The real question was...could I make a pizza with it?

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I won’t kid around...it wasn’t intuitive right off the bat. Thankfully, YouTube University helped set me on the path toward success.

The secret is how to set up the wood to catch fire easily. I won't go into detail, but there are some great videos you should check out online.

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Soon your oven will be scorching. After about 40 minutes, you’ll start to see some white ash on the wood. That’s when it’s time to push the coals near the back and insert your pizza.

Don’t forget to brush the ash near the front of the oven so you don’t end up eating it!

Here’s pizza number one. I used Trader Joe’s cauliflower crust, some red sauce, mushrooms, chicken sausage, and some kale from my home hydroponic garden.

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Not bad for my first attempt!

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The second pizza was made from the Trader Joe’s wheat pizza dough. It was a little tricky because we forgot the flour which made the pizza stick to the baking wand.

I just found this to be beautiful!

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Here’s attempt number two.

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Although it didn’t come out pretty, it was delicious.

After we got our fill of pizza around the fire pit, we ended up hitting the hay early. I slept soundly, but Kath ended up staying awake because she was scared of all the random noises around us.

Turns out our greenhouse was next to all the animals. The inconsiderate alpaca, chickens, turkeys, and pigs sure gave her a fright.

Now if only the ducks had some fresh eggs to make up for the disturbance…

If you have a chance to stay on a farm, I highly recommend it! It was such a treat.


Thanks for following along!

If we haven’t met yet, please leave me a comment so we can!

By the way, I’m Jon. Most of my time is spent on my AI company and meeting new people on Steemit. I have lots of hobbies like traveling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, gardening, cooking, reading and crypto - which I plan to share here. If any of these topics interest you, please let me know so we can chat more!

Cheers,

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Jon

P.S. Where do you recommend I visit next?

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I remember when you sent me the pizza pic. I was so healius I ordered some from the south down the street...😂. Nowhere near as good as the real thing though.

Soon we'll have all the pizza we can make on the homestead! Always wood-fire, always delicious!

Must've been a really good experience, but i don't know about that 2nd pizza tho 😂..

Yeah... Maybe I should have omitted that one haha, but I believe in transparency ;P

Hi Jon. Great to see you back in action. That pizza doesn't look pretty, but I am sure tastes great. Thanks for sharing the experience. That looks and sounds like great experience to have. I hope one day you and Kevin will get your own farm.

Thanks for the kind words! When we get our farm, we'll invite you out for some of Jon's pizza!

That would be great. Thank you.

Thanks! I'm happy to be back. How have you been? Like Kev said, as soon as we have the homestead you'll need to come visit. I promise my pizza skills will be epic by then :)

I have been good, thanks. That is a deal.

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Wow! I feel honored. Glad people enjoyed the post. I just hope they all make a woodfire pizza soon.

Now that is the way to cook a pizza....

There's something special having to chop the wood with an axe, building a 🔥, and cooking something from scratch. It might take more time, but the effort translates into a better taste.

Living the good life huh ucsdsu?
Makes me want to move out of Amsterdam.....

That's funny because I want to go to Amsterdam in a few months. Want to switch 😂. Why do you want to leave there?

You know, when I'm about half an hour out of Amsterdam I start to smell the plants. Something you only can experience at the park. I live also in a very busy street. Always people around. Night and day. And I'm not always in the mood for that.
But I can't complain. It's vibrant in the "Latin Quarter" De Pijp where I live. Makes me want to create art.
What are your plans for Amsterdam?

I hear you. I'm going because my dad wants to see all the bikes. He's into refurbishing old school bikes. It's my birthday present to him this year. Anything you recommend we check out?

Nice! I use to refurbish bikes too.
Just roam the streets.
Maybe standing in the middle of Weteringcircuit? Especially during rush hour. It's an interesting energy.

love yourself and respect life

Thanks, I'll be sure to check it out!

Living the good life...As soon as i get the capital I'm starting my own small stead which will be soon I hope.

Dude I'm right there with you. Where do you plan to start it and what are you going to plant?

Somewhere near my hometown. I won't be planting much except to feed the livestock, there will be many animals tho. Beside i have lots of learning to do for this. Whats your plan?

I'd like to grab some land in Portland, California, or maybe Colorado. I want to grow my own food and run businesses from there. So much to dream up!

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