Spring Opener This Weekend

This year our Spring opener is Saturday May 6th and Sunday May 7th 10 – 5 both days.  We have joined the Earth Arts tour again this year       We have pottery for sale           We will have produce for sale And Joyce Halvorson will be here demonstrating black smithing and selling her work  

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Mark Your Calendars!

Spring Opener at Keppers Pottery and Produce Saturday May 6th and Sunday May 7th  10:00 – 5:00 Participating in Earth Arts Tour Hosting Joyce Halvorson, blacksmith New Pottery and Fresh Produce              

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Pottery Wrap Up

This time of year Ken starts to wrap up making pottery.  The call of the  the many tasks awaiting him outdoors sounds more and more loudly.  Yes, there is planting, and there is   clean up,  bed prep, getting out things put away last fall, repairs if necessary.     And all the apples, plums, grapes, etc need trimming and pruning!  Today Big Red appears to be helping!

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Bowls!

Ken has been making mixing bowls.  He started with the smaller bowls and then made some larger ones.  Making bowls, like all pottery, includes several steps from mixing and wedging the clay to throwing the pot.  Then, after it has dried some to a leather hard consistency, Ken trims the bottom of the pot – in this case large mixing or bread bowls. He shapes the bowl,           and trims the …

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Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has pie pumpkins, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, beets, celery root, parsley, and salad mix Field Notes.  Happy Ground Hog’s Day, Imbolc, St Brigid’s Day, St. Blaze, Candlemas – or whatever you may call it.  This midway point between solstice and equinox is when the days lengthen dramatically, the cold doesn’t last, and Ken starts monitoring temperatures in greenhouses.  We are in transition and can feel spring’s approach.   The …

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Repairs on the Pug Mill

Ken’s pug mill of 40+ years needed repairs this week.  A pug mill has an auger that mixes clay to a uniform consistency and a vacuum pump that sucks surplus air from the clay.  The resulting clay needs minimal wedging (like kneading bread) before it can be used     Ken had to take it apart           He got out the manual           The bearings needed to …

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Making Concrete Forms for Clay

Ken processes clay found on our land .  First he dries the clay completely and then works the clay  into a slip about the consistency of cream or yogurt, then he screens it for impurities and next he has to dry the slip to clay.  He has been leaving open buckets to dry, but he repurposed some screens     These were sprouting racks for grain for the livestock.  He has some newer, improved screens, …

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