Adventures In Homesteading (Day 366)

over 1 year ago

Hello Everyone!

Waking less stiff, Compromises, Some dialed in routines, Planting black locust saplings & A pumpkin plant popped up!

Alright, I woke up around midnight again but somehow managed to fall back a sleep for a few more hours... before finally rousing myself, brewing some espresso and starting another day. While I was letting one of the dogs out, I could not help but notice that my back was a little less stiff... which is good because it has been incredibly annoying starting my days off by hobbling around.

I am still unsure of exactly what I did to tweak my back out so much... but more than likely it had to do with hauling tree debris around while working on that newly created flat spot... and the surrounding area. Or it could may well be due to the cumulative effects of doing so much physical work on uneven, steep and slippery terrain over the previous many weeks.

No complaints there or anything, because the progress around here really has been tremendous... even if that fact is not super obvious to an outsider. What I still marvel at, is how I can now step outside the tent and have a wee bit of privacy in most directions... which yeah has been amazing even if it is merely the illusion of privacy.

There are actually a lot of downsides to creating so many privacy walls and trellises... because aside from blocking my own view... I am also creating a heck of a lot shade... and cutting myself off from easily accessing various portions of the property. In short, doing all that construction was not something that I wanted to do... but that I needed to do... and yup I had to make plenty of compromises along the way.

Over the previous week, I have been reflecting heavily upon my stay here thus far... and all the quirky things that I have found myself doing... in what for a long time seemed like... a perpetual 'round' of forced adaptation. I guess that it could be said that the entire 'mad dash towards finding equilibrium' that I engaged in at first was well worth it... because somehow I have avoided becoming reactionary... or worse... mired in it all to the point of it impeding progress.

Many things along this journey could have acted as stronger impediments than they turned out to be... due to my lack of being overly fazed by them and yeah some fazed me pretty damned hard nonetheless. As far as the latter goes, I am referring to the passing of my elder dog... and events like that house fire... and the vast impact left by hurricane Helene related stuff.

Everything has left a mark on me in one shape form or another... and while my response has been far from flawless... it could have assuredly been worse. If there was ever a time when my ability to 'hyper compartmentalize things' both mentally and emotionally... it has been during the course of the previous year... because hot damn it has been an intense one.

Anyways, I have been carrying all that 'intensity' around with me over the previous few months... and using it to help me be as active as I can be each day... without overly taxing myself. In other words, there is an absolute focus to my daily actions... and at this juncture I have my eating, sleeping, writing and working routines all dialed in... or dialed in enough for my needs.

Since yesterday was my one year anniversary here, I went ahead and planted two more black locust saplings in the Mimosa Meadow... right beside that sapling that I transplanted from the driveway. I only spaced those trees about two meters apart because there really was not room there without having to dig in areas that I have previously planted corn in.

While I was in that area a few days ago I wound up trimming all the growth (except for the very tip of the tree) off of that sapling that I had transplanted there earlier in the week. All of its leaves had wilted... and were looking like they were going to eventually fall off... so I decided to do an experiment to see what would happen if I trimmed it all up.

In the end, I might have to just cut the entire trunk of that sapling off... and let it shoot up a new sprig from its roots. Currently, I am going to give it another few days... and if I do not spot any fresh growth... then I am going to go ahead and cut it back entirely and see what happens from there.

Right uphill of where I transplanted those trees is where I planted some pumpkin seeds a few weeks ago... and I think that one (of the five or six that I planted there) has been successful. The plant is not super large yet... but it is looking quite healthy... so hopefully it will take off given that it is growing in such a fertile mound of soil.

On a related note, I looked all over the place for where I planted the other pumpkin seeds... but could not figure out where they were because all the vegetation has grown in so thick that I can no longer see the mounds. Of course, I could find them if I went trampling through said vegetation... but again I have so much stuff planted all over the place that it would be hard not to step on something.

Well, I am going to wrap this entry up and get on with the editing and posting portion of my morning. I hope that most folks are doing well. Ciao for now.