Winding Up the Season

Here at Hunny-Bunny Farm the last of the vegetables has been harvested with the picking of the Brussels sprouts and the digging of potatoes. The sprouts I let sit through 3 or 4 frosts as this tends to sweeten the flavor. Once again due to the droughty conditions this summer, the yield, like other veggies this season, was somewhat disappointing. The sprout heads were small, but with six plants I managed to get about three quarts of sprouts. We’ve already begun using them in a fresh beef soup and it was Mmm, Mmmm good!

Meantime, the potatoes were a good yield of 22 lbs., which was a great investment in 5 lbs of seed potatoes. No wonder why the Irish and Poles so rely on this vegetable; it is relatively easy care with great returns. Overall, I would have had about 25 lbs., but in digging I sliced into some until I developed the knack of digging length-wise under the rows rather than cross-wise through them. These few sliced potatoes went immediately to the chickens who really relished them.

I left the kale still standing in the garden as this can be cut as needed well into and beyond a killing frost. I’ve also given the run of the garden over to the hens, which I hope will induce a renewed egg laying cycle. It seems to be beginning to work as we are getting one egg a day from the ladies. If, however, this situation does not improve many of them are destined for the winter stew pot. This will allow me to start with new chicks come spring.

Sharpening Implements

Well Used

While the garden may be over, before winding up the season it is time to condition all the tools. garden implements, and knives. Most people understand that knives, axes, hatchets, machetes, and various clippers need to be sharpened but few realize that some digging implements must also be sharpened, reconditioned, and oiled before being put away for the season. Most forget that much of the spading of the garden involves cutting through thick roots and various debris so sharpening of spades will make next spring’s planting so much easier.

Since I’m sharpening my garden implements I also sharpen the

Wire Brushing

kitchen knives which is really helpful as the Thanksgiving and Christmas season with all its feasting is just around the corner. So the first thing I’ve done is to sharpen all knives on the homestead; utility, pocket and kitchen knives  included.

Grinding Wheel

There is a certain skill to sharpening that I learned from my father, that is pri’t near a lost art. It involves angles, grinding, sharpening, and Arkansas stones, and working from course to fine sharpening. There are many excellent demonstrations on YouTube that teach the how-to, but the refinement comes from the actual experience.

Generally speaking there is little need for a grinding wheel. In fact,

Metal File

grinding wheels, most especially motorized ones are only used if there are deep gouges on the implement which need to be removed for optimal cutting use. If used incorrectly, a grinding wheel can actually be harmful in that it can ruin the implement through removing too much material and destroying the temper of the steel. On the other hand, judicious grinding can be of value in digging and long neglected tools. I recommend that you seek the advice of an old timer in such matters before grinding a treasured and useful tool.

Sharpening stone

There is also the question of the angle of the cut. Essentially, you replicate the angle of the instrument itself, this however, can be difficult for some people to judge, especially if the tool is badly worn. A rule of thumb is that tools, including utility and pocket knives need a 23° angle; while kitchen knives, butcher knives, and cleavers. Require a shallower angle of 20°.  Remember that 90° is “L”; therefore, 45° is half-way between the vertical and the horizontal of this “L”. Half of the 45° is 22.5°, so it is easy to get to this angle. It helps a great deal to actually hold the sharpening stone at 90°, then 45, then 22.5. This will give you a visual concept of exactly how each angle looks. Usually by the third item sharpened you can go right to the correct angle for the implement.

A second important step is to go from a course sharpening stone to a fine finishing with an Arkansas stone. This will gradually refine the cutting edge to razor sharp quality. It would seem that this is a no-brainer, but many actually use a course sharpening stone or even a file and leave it at that. This will result in a dull edge, and this is how cutting accidents happen, that is, using a dull tool. There are exceptions such as stone cutting implements which don’t require such fine edges, such as, stone and slate cutting implements which rely on only scoring the material to be cut.

The final step is to oil you tools and knives before putting them

Used motor oil

away. For kitchen implements a food grade oil should be applied, for pocket knives, I like to use a good penetrating gun oil. For all my garden tools, spades, shears, clippers, etc. I use used motor oil which I keep in the garden shed. I also apply this as needed to the garden tools throughout the season.

There is so much more to sharpening tools and knives, -too much for this brief digest. That said, as you become proficient at sharpening it becomes second nature, and usually require one solid afternoon to sharpen everything that needs sharpening on the homestead.

Quick Tips: the so-called sharpening steel found in kitchen knife sets is not a sharpening instrument at all. It mere removes the burrs. Sharpening stones and files are needed to achieve the edges needed for all your implements.

When putting kitchen knives back into the knife rack put them in upside-down so that the cutting edge does not rub against the wood. You would be surprised at just how much this wears the edge of your good knives.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.