And Now it Begins...

2012, A New Year, an election year and, some would believe, the last year.

Grist for the Mill...

Bale's Mill

 We were recently down in the Napa - Sonoma area of California, and driving from Calistoga to St. Helena spotted this enormous wooden waterwheel through the trees. I've driven this route many time and never seen this before! We just HAD to investigate.

It turned out to be the Old Bale Mill, a grain mill powered by a 36 foot tall overshot water wheel, newly restored and functioning. Amazing and beautiful to a fan of old technology, such as myself.

I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but I find incredible visual beauty in old machinery. Rugged and utilitarian, but always with a great deal of craftsmanship, the peak of the technology of its time.

Here is a short pictorial of that visit.

Built in the 1840's, when these lush valleys were full of wheat fields, the mill is now the centerpiece of a small State Historic Park. Restoration began in the 1980's and was only finished this year. They run the mill on weekends, and you can purchase milled grains at the gift shop after watching how they were ground at the site. You can read the about the history of Bale's Mill here.

Belt driven power

One can appreciate the incredible engineering to develop this machinery. Belt driven grain elevators and wonderful, wonderful gears.

In the day when the mill ran full time, the air would be full of flammable grain dust - so no light other than what came through the windows was permissible, being as electric light did not exist here then, and a lantern flame would prove disastrous. The same would be true of any sparks, therefore metal to metal gears were too dangerous. The solution? The cogs on one set of any two meeting gears had to be made of wood.

Water power - the source for much pre-industrial revolution machinery. The simple energy of moving, or falling, water amplified by gears to do large jobs.

At its peak this mill could turn out 100's of pounds of flour an hour!

Gears, metal to wood

gears turning

This separates dirt from the grain

The little cups on the belt are to carry grain up

within the vat are the mill stones, delicately balanced

How does a grist mill work?
Here is an animation of the technique.

grain hopper

If you want to visit, information & directions can be found here.

Some of the old millstones. The grooves funneled the flour out to the edges

The wheel. The power comes from falling water turning this massive wheel

Farmers brought grain to the mill where it was placed into the boot of an elevator to be mechanically transported upstairs where it was cleaned by various types of equipment. The slow turning of the old grind stones and the dampness of the mill's site gave the meal a special quality for making cornbread, yellowbread, shortening bread and spoon bread.
As old timers put it, "When meal comes to you that way, like the heated underside of a settin' hen, it bakes bread that makes city bread taste like cardboard."

I believe it. If you are ever in the Calistoga area, be sure to check it out. 

Solar Power - it's simple!

You may have seen our previous posts describing how our business and home are powered by on site, self-generated and renewable energy sources (see: Power in the Storm and Earth Day Every Day ).
Wind & water power are pretty obvious: the wind spins a propeller which turns a rotor inside an alternator which creates electricity; water turns a water wheel which does the same thing.

Solar power comes from Photovoltaic panels which work in mysterious ways.
Be mystified no more - here is a simple explanation of how they work:

Living on the River

Van Duzen River

We live on the Van Duzen river. Literally. It runs through the middle of our property.
A small stream in this dry end of summer, it becomes a fast moving torrent during the winter rains. Wild & free, it is but a small tributary into the larger Eel River. Part of the Eel River Watershed.

Van Duzen River

Our fresh water is one of the most important resources. Not only to sustain life, but these rivers are the nursery for several species of ocean-going fish, notably Salmon and Steelhead. For many years these fisheries have been dwindling. This year, after stricter rules and moratoriums on Salmon fishing the numbers have rebounded.

The Eel River by Fortuna, Ca

An amazing local artist, Michael Guerriero, has been working with elementary school children to educate them about these fisheries as well as doing art. He has a project going to Celebrate the 2010 Eel River Salmon Run that needs funding.



It is being funded through Kickstarter and the time to donate runs out on Sept 30. Please join us in supporting this wonderful project!

Making our Soaps...

mixing the oils in the kettle

We've been making a lot of soap lately. It is, after all, our business. And while it keeps us indoors on beautiful sunny days, it is still a labor of love.

We have been making soap since 1979, when we began as a way to provide natural & nontoxic soap for our own special needs. Sensitive to synthetic fragrances and colors, we could not find commercial soap locally that worked for us. And since that time we have never tired of creating the best soap we possibly can.

Saponification

Soap is the result of a chemical reaction called Saponification. Briefly, Saponification is the chemical reaction between fatty acids (oils & fats) & caustic ("lye", caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, etc.) that results in 98% soap and 2% glycerin. Different oils/fats and different caustic solutions can be used for different types of soap. Potassium Hydroxide, for instance, is used for liquid or soft soaps.

We start by mixing organic oils of olive, palm, and coconut together. We choose these oils for their individual benefits. Olive oil is the best for the skin. Palm creates a harder, longer lasting bar. Coconut oil is the source of rich, copious lather, without it bubbles are small and thin. These oils are heated and then we add the sodium hydroxide that starts the chemical reaction. This process requires a lot of stirring. At the point when the mixture has thickened the proper amount we add the various botanical elements that give the individual varieties their characteristics.

Dennis cutting the Orange Spice soap

Our soaps are made in rectangular columns. Once the liquid soap is ready, we pump it into these molds, cover it with an insulating layer and let it sit up to 48 hours before it is ready to cut into bars. Our soap cutter is a machine of our own devising, custom made by us for our soaps. Once cut we place the soaps on trays, then on ventilated shelves, where it cures for at least 3 weeks before we wrap it to sell.
We wrap the soap by hand. Each bar is wrapped in ecologically sustainable Thai mulberry paper, then labeled with a recycled paper band. You've probably noticed we color code our soaps: each variety has its own specific color paper.

Wrapping Lemon Shea Butter soap

Our soap shop has evolved a lot over the years. Starting by making soap in our kitchen, our original shop was built from trees we fell and milled ourselves (5 big buggy Douglas fir that were dying).
We outgrew that in a few years and expanded it into the shop we have today.




Here is a quicky version of the photo tour we have on our website:

Our kettles, lye station & manufacturing area

Where we wrap & label the soaps, etc.

The curing room with our renewable energy power wall

With over 30 years of soap making experience, it is our pleasure to provide you with the finest natural organic soaps. It makes us even happier to be able to do it in the most environmentally conscious way we know how. To learn more about our business and philosophy, please see 'About Us'.