This weekend, I spent time in the Cottage Garden getting more flowers and herbs into the ground, pulled more weeds, and have a couple more beds to prep.
Tomorrow, I head down to the new vegetable garden to create beds to seed. Then I will direct sow and plant some starts.
As I spend time in the dirt, I feel a deeper connection to this little piece of land we have been blessed to cultivate. As every Gardner knows, we can make all the soil amendments, do all the research, and in the end, it is in nature and God’s plan.
So, as I water and tend to these baby plants, it is God that truly sows our heart and allows us to grow. My garden is my church.
Busy day working in the garden. Got the cardboard and leaves down. The search for woodchips continues. From all the rain over the weekend, there were herbs and greens that needed harvested.
Looking forward to getting my starts in the ground tomorrow.
Yesterday I spent some time harvesting some herbs from the greenhouse and foraging dandelion and wild radish leaves from the garden. Taking the time to connect with nature and to have the gift of nutrient dense food from my own yard is such a blessing. To be able to grow herbs not just for flavor but also as medicine to heal and strengthen our bodies is allowing us to enjoy this beautiful life we are creating to it’s fullest.
Taking time to make our health, both mental and physical, our priority is the best gift we can give ourselves. Turning to nature and plants nutures our bodies and helps us avoid illness and disease. Yes, the grocery store is quicker, but a quiet morning of cleaning, chopping and preserving food from my own garden is time and energy that is a joy to spend.
This weekend we were at the Farm Where You Live event. It was an amazing weekend of connecting with other homesteaders and learning from those passionate about the skills and knowledge they have acquired. Guest speaker Joel Salatin spoke on the 7 fears we encounter when homesteading. Honestly, it applies to pursuing any dream. Fear of not succeeding, of not knowing enough to start, making mistakes, losing money, are all boat anchors holding us back. Just start. Do one small step in the direction you want. If you want to garden, plant one plant. Cook from scratch, pick one recipe and master it. Learn to raise animals? Volunteer or intern at a farm. Your dream is waiting for you, all you need to do is step your fears and be relentless in pursuit of the life you are meant to live.
Last week I harvested Basil. We had it fresh, I made pesto, I made a basil simple syrup and I dried the rest. What is your favorite way to preserve basil?
The beginning of week 11, we were excited that our boys were going to be coming home for Easter. That meant getting the bedroom in the mobile home ready for us to move our bed in, so that there would be enough room in the RV for everyone to sleep. We also wanted to get the kitchen up and running so that we could cook while everyone was home.
While Shane was busy up in the mobile home, I was down in the garden. I created raised beds for the vegetable garden. I planted some corn and beans in the first bed and was watering when we had a surprise visitor.
Trenched beds for the garden
A gentleman pulled into the driveway with a tax sticker and said he owned the RV. We were lead to believe in escrow that it was detitled and was included in the property. He was a family member that had been living there previous to the sell of the property. We immediately called our real estate agent, who called the listing agent and the lawyers office that handled our deed. Shane and I got online, did some research and did find tax records indicating that it was owned by this gentleman. So, all work on the mobile stopped. Until the title was settled, we decided that it was best to not move forward. Fortunately, Shane had requested a survey to be done when we were in escrow. This would be the second time that we needed it. The first time, it showed the property was 1.99 acres, not the 3.5 it was listed as. Now, the mobile is clearly marked on the survey, so the lawyers office and the listing agent were well aware it was there and did not do their due diligence to make sure the title was clear.
So will that was getting cleared up, Shane moved onto repairing the fencing from when we had the garage installed and all the grating done. I moved forward with getting the garden planted. I planted potatoes, garlic, onion, and lettuce. I also had to run into town for more rye and hay. Then, I planted more rye grass to help control all the mud from all the rain we were getting. I also used some hay on the walkways in the garden in an effort to control the mud there.
Trenches doing their job collecting rain run off and hay walkways so I can walk in the garden.
By Friday, the listing agent finally made contact with the seller and he did admit that the other family member owned the mobile and he offered him $500.00 for it, never heard from him, so included it in the sale of the property. We gave them until the following week to resolve the issue.
Rainy weekend gave us a little down time to do some online research and order some needed supplies.
Monday, we learned from the seller he was able to secure the title for us, so we jumped into cleaning the mobile. We scrubbed and steamed all the windows and any walls that hadn’t painted yet.
We were back on track getting ready for Easter and picked up a picnic table for outside and a John Deere ride on tractor mower to cut the grass. Then cleaned and prepped the RV for our kids to visit and moved our bed into the bedroom in the mobile so we would have a place to sleep.
Once we received the title, we went straight to the DMV to put it in our names.
The week wrapped up with us filing Easter eggs for the big kids, getting our grandson’s Easter basket ready and grocery shopping for the holiday weekend.
We were ready for a few days off and some family fun!
Week 9 started with painting, painting and more painting.
We painted cabinet doors, ceilings, walls.
We also got paint samples for the outside of the mobile home and my She-Shed.
Shane was very busy finishing up the bathroom. Shower was grouted and floor tile went down.
Then we had a rainy day, so we went to check out Campbell’s Covered Bridge.
We wrapped up the week getting grating quotes since everytime it rains, it was running in all the wrong directions, towards the house, the garage. We hired an awesome company that did amazing work and we ordered another bin to get rid of trash.
The best part….. our grating contractors used their equipment to load it which saved me a bunch of time.
They also cleaned out the overgrown garden area so I could get ready to start planting.
Meantime, I was learning to do subfloors.
Week 10: The grating was done and my garden area was ready.
Then more rain and with all the new grating, everything was a muddy mess. Planting rye seed to grow some grass and help our new slopes for water drainage not just wash away, became a priority.
I prepped the soil, planted and covered the seeds with hay so the birds and guinea hens would not eat the seed to give it a chance to grow.
Next week I start on the vegetable garden and Shane will begin repairing the fencing.
Coffee Peace N' Homesteadin 