Life, gardening, weather, and more

As our homestead continues to change and fit into our personal goals, it's amazing how so many things are affected by Mother Nature's whim.  We tilled up 3 areas to use as gardens.  These areas were on a hill so we figured that any rains we got would just run off and our gardens wouldn't flood.  It was a brilliant thought and plan.  Then Mother Nature decided to throw a monkey wrench in our brilliance!  Over the course of 4 days, the end of April and beginning of May, we received about 8 inches of rain and it turned cold.  So, in all our brilliance, we tilled up 1 garden to be vine plants, pumpkins, watermelons, and other fruits.  That "vine" garden now has 6 inch deep ruts through it, the blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, and asparagus are now somewhere in the pasture!  Our lower garden which held green beans, kidney beans, horticulture beans, and the kid's garden...has a few spurts of plants, but has rain tracks all the way through it and the seeds either rotted in the ground or floated away.  The upper garden which held corn, potatoes, peas, beets, onions, and radishes.  So far everything in the upper garden is doing ok.  However, we decided this year to order some heirloom tomato plants, climbing spinach and trees from a catalog.  All the plants, were supposed to be nursery grade plants ready to plant, and the trees were supposed to be 3-4 ft and ready to plant.  Needless to say, what we thought we were getting and what we actually got are 2 different things!  We ordered 4 different kinds of tomato plants, 9 beefmaster, 9 early tomatoes, 12 siberian tomatoes, and 3 cherokee tomatoes.  Then there were 3 climbing spinach that would be able to be picked all Summer.  We ended up with 9 beefmaster, 9 early tomatoes, and 21 cherokee tomatoes, and 3 climbing spinach.....ALL were seeds!  Not to mention we got 14 trees that were maybe 3 ft at best, and 10 of them were broke in half.  Needless to say, I was pissed!  The order got here 2 months after I ordered it, and not to mention that I didn't get them till 2 weeks after they were shown to be shipped.  I have sent an email requesting that the company make this right and I am still waiting to find out how they will fix this.  So, in an attempt to get to  plants to get into the ground on time, we made a rush trip to a local garden center to try to find some.  It amazes me that the beginning of May, there aren't many plants left to be found, and zero seeds!  So, I am on a mission to find more seed!

It amazes me how even though Richard and I grew up in different lifestyles, and a different geographical area, we have so many of the same goals.  Although the goals have evolved more over the last year, they have evolved and somehow come together on a single path.  We have been about 25% self-sufficient from the beginning.  We have had a decent garden since we've been married.  Now that we have our own homestead, we are planning to be completely self-sufficient within a year.  We have our angus calf, we are looking for a dairy cow and a bred sow.  We have our hens for eggs, and are growing our cornish birds to put in the freezer.  We have our horses for pleasure and relaxation.  As I grow personally, I am finding such peace in my time outdoors.  Whether it be the time with the chickens, the time with our horses, or my garden time; I find peace in all these.  I have taken my paternal grandmother and my aunts phrase and thoughts - Garden time is my Garden Therapy!  We work together and do as much naturally as possible.  It makes everything go a little smoother and a lot more efficiently than when we were doing things seperately.

As I said before, the weather has taken it's toll this Spring.  We had a fairly easy Winter, and early Spring was nice and warm.  Since about the end of April, the weather has returned to more normal temps and even a little cooler than normal.  That has stunned not only our garden but also the hay ground.  We are hoping that the weather levels out and gets back to normal soon.  If not, it will make for an interesting and expensive Fall/Winter/and early Spring next year.  As you can see, living a life of self-sufficientcy is planning for a long way out but still having to live through the here and now.

We have been in our new home for 6 months and I am not unpacked.  I am still going through boxes everyday and not making any headway!  Keeping up with the everyday stuff, trying to finish unpacking, working with our animals, now our garden, the kids and our homeschooling, keep me pretty busy.  I am working towards making home made soaps and other products to offer on our homestead web site to help suppliment our income.  We have decided that working outside of home for me, is really not profitable enough to do any good.  Especially with the hourly wages being what they are, the cost of daycare, and trying to keep up with the everyday stuff here.  I'd have to make a great deal of money to make it worth while.  I'm not giving up on my dream of getting back to work in the nuclear field but that is a long slow process since it's a federal thing.  Otherwise, I have my 2 businesses that I try to find time to work on when I can, and the home made items that I am making as time allows.  If you haven't been to our web site, check it out!

Wishing you happy growing and happy learning!
Salli