Growing in 2020
Frequently, I ponder the concept of community, how it’s built, how it’s maintained and what gives it life. I’ve always kept my personal circle small. My wife and I are a team and a pretty effective one as well. My parents are fantastic people, supportive, knowledgeable and dependable. I have solid neighbors, several of whom I’ve built a closer relationship with since the pandemic caused all kinds of shifts in our routine and outlook. But for the last several years, I’ve been searching for something in particular. I wanted to be part of a network of people who focused on the concepts of personal responsibility, personal liberty and effective communication. In addition, I was interested in folks who burned with the desire and ability to get stuff done. I knew this kind of search couldn’t be forced and would need to evolve organically. One of my personal tenets is to…
Fear is the Path To…
I write the following with love, compassion and concern for all of us: Living will always be dangerous – every day we risk illness, injury, pain and heartbreak. Despite that we should make our decisions from a place of confidence and knowledge. We need to understand that we’re all vulnerable to manipulation and that it’s constant work to overcome it. Overcoming fear builds strength and it’s true: Strong people are harder to kill. Growing up I was largely influenced by my grandmother, who, rest her soul, was a level 10 worrier. While she was certainly an upbeat and positive person, she always seemed to experience low level, chronic anxiousness and fretfulnes Whether this is an genetic inheritance of mine or simply social exposure is unclear, but I’ve always battled a case of The Worry. I was a serious, bookish and contemplative child. I developed an internal monologue that led me…
Working Through the Stages
My friends and family can confirm that I’m an action oriented person. I don’t spend much time sitting in contemplation (though I probably should.) I certainly have my contemplative moments, most of them while cultivating the soil. So when this virus ordeal smacked our area and my employer made the call to close the business, I immediately pivoted to my next move: identifying new mowing customers, seeking out folks who wanted my consulting services and getting really creative in finding ways to cover the lost income. That response is a result of 15 years of EMS. Identify the problem. Address the problem. Remedy the problem. Feelings later (if at all.) So while I’m able to take the long view on most things, my focus has been quite direct on securing things in the near-term. Then I realized today that I’ve actually been working through a sort of delayed grief process.…
Living on the Edge
It’s not just a good Aerosmith song. Edge use, for those of us who really like to push our food production to the max, is essential. Along a property line (assuming you have a good relationship with your neighbor and trust they won’t spritz your plantings with herbicide) is a great place to make use of an edge. Trellised hops or sunflowers are a good start. Well caged tomatoes, if the sun and soil needs are met, is another option. I’ve had success with all of those. Edge and vertical space use always go well together. Here, along the west side of our house I’ve planted peas. It receives moderate sun this time of year, the stucco holds daytime warmth and protects the plantings from late frost. Once the peas have finished out, I’ll replace them with cucumbers that’ll love the heat and sun that bears down on that side…
Navigating the Shift
Thoughts and Realizations… I’ve operated with a preparedness, homesteading and frugality mindset for most of my adult life. Even with all the skills I’ve obtained and the progress I’ve made (paying off debt, for example) the effects of the pandemic have still caught me a little off guard. I guess we all operate within normalcy bias. It’s always been in the back of my mind that an economic disruption or even collapse was probable in my lifetime. The main issue I’m trying to work around is how isolating this version of it is. My plan, should we start to see breakdowns in services, was to organize locally with my friends, neighbors and family to address whatever needed to be handled. But with the need to self quarantine, we’ve got a committee of two here to get more actions and plans in place. Fortunately it’s spring and there’s no shortage of…
The Simplest Successes
Since I’ve started on the homesteading path, I’ve always been a student of the soil. Building soil, understanding its components, learning what it needs to support healthy plants – all of this has been at the forefront of my approach when it comes to maximizing my growing capabilities. So I never paid much attention to hydroponics. It seemed too complex with too many inputs and too frequent monitoring needed to maintain a system. I figured it required a large up front investment and considerable space. Well, I was wrong and I’m happy to report that simple hydroponics, also known as the Kratky system, has become a staple of my growing style. In its simplest form, this method relies on just a few things: lights, a growing medium like peat pellets or clay balls, a container with a lid, a nutrient mix, net pots or something similar to hold your growing…
The Origins of the Stronghold
When my 24th birthday was coming up, my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. “A house!” I blurted out. She blinked a couple of times and said “Well, okay.” The hunt began. We’d been living in an apartment for two years and while I didn’t mind it over all, I was really wanting to stretch out and have room to do STUFF. I grew up on 80 acres, a mix of pasture and woods with a spring and pond. Most of my childhood was spent outside and by my mid 20s my need to be playing in the soil was returning. We had to make some compromises though. At that time, property was expensive and we didn’t have much time or expertise to take on a fixer upper project. We also wanted to keep close to our respective jobs. Most of our search was within city limits…
Appropriate Technology is Still Relevant
In the 1970s, during a time of political and economical turmoil, many people began researching ways to manage the challenges of the time by applying small scale solutions to local problems. While firms, governments and large entities were trying to enact sweeping, top down changes to address the issues of high oil prices, concerns about ecological damage and such, it was small groups such as the Farallones Institute and the New Alchemy Institute that put theory into practice in truly remarkable ways. I have always been more driven to find small, incremental methods to solve problems and when I started finding this research from the 70s, it was a welcome kick in the pants to take on these projects. Ironically it was modern tech, such as the recommendations function through Amazon that connected me with this research. I’ve always enjoyed and collected books about farming and country life that focus…
Soil Improvement for the Mildly Motivated
Understanding and improving your soil is beneficial to having a successful garden. You may encounter any number of varieties on your own land: sandy, clay-based, loamy (nice!) hardpan (that’s when your shovel bounces off and winds up in your neighbor’s yard) or silty (near creek and river beds.) These types may not be consistent throughout your property as well. If you’d like assistance assessing your soil, your local Soil Conservation District or Extension service ought to be able to help you. But if you’re inclined towards the DIY approach, here’s what I did: When we bought our land, it was pretty obvious that most of the yard had been used as a place to park cars. The yard was compacted throughout and any place I tried to dig I encountered dense clay with rock. The shovel wouldn’t penetrate more than a couple of inches. My first garden performed poorly. Even…
Raised Beds for Anyone!
Here’s a simple method to building a raised bed that you can accomplish in a weekend or less. Materials: wood (treated or untreated/salvaged/whatever suits you) Decent dimensions are 2×6 planks for depth and having something that’ll hold up for a few years. Stakes. You can make them or buy packs at the big orange store for a few bucks. Cardboard or lots of newsprint. No glossy. No tape. Screws. Self driving makes things easier. Once you’ve sited where you’d like your garden and determined your bed sizes (I recommend no wider than four feet and six to eight feet is a decent length.) If you opt for four feet, make sure you can reach it from all sides. The idea is to never step into this bed and compact the soil. If your soil seems pretty dead (only a few worms, compacted, etc, throw down some laying hen feed or…