Archive for May, 2012
The Garden Plan
The growing season so far has been unlike any I’ve experienced. Late into spring we’ve had days covered in clouds, drizzly, blustery with temps in the low 60s and highs in the 90s, sometimes all in one week. I wonder if this is what farming looks like in other areas of the country.
Seeds I planted back in March are finally producing an edible crop. Some, like tomatoes, squash and of course the treasured pumpkins are big enough to plant out in the garden. Seedlings of cucumbers, cauliflower and broccoli bolted in the short heat wave we had and have been replanted, but not big enough to be planted out. I have to keep telling myself it’s just May and in some parts of the country it’s just now time to sow seeds in the ground.
My garden plans are grandiose this year. With the lambs just a week away from being sold and our final show season all but over my mind has turned to other projects that have been on the back burner for the past few years. One of the biggest is a greenhouse, something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.
My neighbor Scott recommended Jordan a local handyman and part-time builder who loves to work with vintage anything and reclaimed materials for interesting building projects. When I explained what I was doing he was instantly onboard, and he completely understood the “girl thing” that it had to be functional AND cute. What a guy!
The greenhouse/potting shed will be built out of old wood frame windows I found at a local second hand store. The front door is a great old Victorian style with lots of intricate detail. Below the windows will be siding of galvanized tin roofing material. I was able to buy all I needed from craigslist for a few dollars per sheet. It’s used and the old scuffed and rusted areas will add to charm to the greenhouses look. The only materials that will be new is the fiberglass roofing. Even the rooster wind vane that will adorn the roof is more than 25 years old, a treasure I’ve been carrying with me from one house to another. The back side of the greenhouse, which faces the back of my property, will be solid siding. I will use this area to hang and store long-handled tools like shovels, rakes and hoes.
The inside I will build out myself. It will have a sink area with running water, shelves for newly planted seedlings and storage for potting soil, pots, hand tools, plant labels and all the other interesting gardening gadgets I’ve collected over the years. I’m looking forward to having all my gardening supplies in one location. But, more than that I’m looking forward to having a quiet, tranquil place to plant seeds, plan my garden and watch everything grow from the comfort of a small patio just outside its walls.
It’s been a long time since I’ve taken on a project of this size, but I’m looking forward to it. And, with Jordan’s help my dream should become a reality with just a few long hard days of swinging a hammer and cutting lumber.
I’ll post our progress and the finished product in all its vintage glory.
Words to Live By
A well-known motivational speaker and author once said, “Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.”
So lift a glass and celebrate stepping out and getting it all! No matter what your “everything” looks like. No fear.
Taking Back Life
Taking back a life and a farm is no easy task. It starts early, lasts till dark and cleanses the body with sweat. My “take back” plan started in the quiet pre-dawn hours of the morning. Over a cup of free trade tea I sat at my kitchen table staring out the window and thinking as all that needed to be done rumbled through my head. But none of that would get the job done, so I picked up my pen and started writing, making a list really of all the chores, repairs, tasks, errands that needed to be accomplished to get us back on track.
When I had filled an entire page I stopped, a little overwhelmed by the shear volume. But when I realized the jobs were falling into categories like barn, garden, yard, garage, house I felt a little better. I could group the jobs by area and work on one area at a time with inside jobs being done in the middle of the day when it was too hot outside to work very long in the garden or yard.
By mid-morning I had fed and collected eggs, planted and watered in 45 4” pots of pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes, watered 2 flats of sunflower seedlings, picked lettuce, radishes and spinach, fixed the water line to the fruit trees, repaired a few sprinklers, washed and refilled water fonts, water buckets and water bottles, scrubbed out and stored the water fonts used for the meat ducks, swept the front of the barn of cobwebs and dirt, cleaned the kitchen and thrown in two loads of laundry. I didn’t work at a frantic pace, I’ve had enough of that lately, but I worked steadily, moving seamlessly from one task to another like a dance of persistence and determination. As each chore was marked off the list I could feel the chaos and stress fade in my body and my mind.
A short break and a much needed glass of Mason Jar tea gave me time to regroup, figure out my next step and, of course, add to the list. The sun was reaching high in a crystal blue sky and it was getting warmer, no sign of the storm reported on last night’s news. Some of our chores would need supplies which meant a trip into town. We were also low on chicken and sheep feed and I had a few errands to run too, so I decided this would be our afternoon break with lunch thrown in as a treat.
I love living in a small town. I never have to go very far for the things I need. Some people think it’s boring, no energy and nothing to do, but there’s a different kind of energy in a small town. It’s steady and constant. I like it.
When I had unloaded 300 pounds of livestock feed and put away the proceeds of my errands I set about repairing a water hose blown out during the duck butchering. Nothing goes to waste on a small farm, if it can be repaired.
The worked continued…mow the lawn, clean the rabbit hutch, refill nesting boxes with bedding, bolt together another raised bed and fill it with cleanings from the barn and coop along with a healthy dose of garden soil and compost, a new home for salad greens and root vegetables. As later afternoon came we began to wind down. A late afternoon snack and drink, and a call from my sister inviting me to the movies brought our day’s work to an abrupt end. So much had been done and life was beginning to look normal again. After a quick shower and a change of clothes I’m off to see “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. I think I deserve it.
Besides, as Scarlett O’Hara famously said, “tomorrow is another day”.
Life’s Perfect Storm
Hi folks. I know it’s been a while since my last post and I apologize for that. There has been so much going on around here that writing, which I love to do, has seemed more like a chore rather than the true pleasure it really is. Have you ever had one of those days when work and school and kids and home and farm and future created the perfect storm of chaos that had your world spinning out of control? Well— we have, but not just a day. This has been going on since April. Some responsibilities can not be push off to another day, like college, scholarship and internship applications; job resumes and interviews; butchering ducks, working when the boss asks for overtime or attending livestock shows. They all have deadlines that must be met, while every other non-essential task like laundry, cleaning, gardening, dishes, grocery shopping…and writing on a blog take a back seat.
Finally, though, the grey angry clouds seem to be dissipating and I can see faint rays of light streaming through. The storm, at long last appears to be lifting, albeit slowly.
It’s been an interesting time, though, if not a busy one. It has served to galvanize my plans and my dreams of what the future will look like. It has shoved in my face, over and over, the chaotic, drone-like, unsatisfying life I DON’T want and pulled me more towards the life I do want for myself and my daughter.
Life will not be totally calm, it never is when a child goes off to college, but it should be more manageable. We will take it one step at a time, one day at a time, always moving forward. And, the first step starts today. A day off work will give me a big chunk of time to rein in a life that has been bounced on the rocky shoals over the last several weeks and come out battered and bruised, but not broken.
I have great plans working in my head, but I’m not ready to share them just yet. I hate to be a tease, but ideas and thoughts need to be worked on and fleshed out before they can be shared. Bear with me folks, life is getting back on track and we are taking back the farm. Literally.
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Aenean nonummy hendrerit mauris. Phasellus porta.