I got an email from one of my friends in an unnamed state west of the Mississippi. Springtime hits sooner out there than it does here in Michigan.
He wrote about replanting orchards, potting plants, picking mushrooms and trapping pests. I think he was trying to cheer me up. It worked.
The video at the top of this post is a good reality check. We start molding our property with a lot of ideas in our heads. And then reality hits us upside the head with a two-by-four.
Some people can deal with reality. They improvise, adapt and overcome. They adjust their expectations. Others fold.
We cowered indoors yesterday, neither of us feeling well. Today my wife sallied forth and found that our front garden suddenly has violets and primroses. Hurray!
ReplyDeleteWeather can be a cruel bitch. Just no good way of saying it - you can plan and construct all you want. Drought and floods will have their say in how well your plants grow. People who garden and farm year round know that 1st hand.
ReplyDeleteOur area used to be a winter garden agricultural spot (Rio Grande Valley - south Texas) but has much less growing now. Mexican water treaty is continually ignored and even sugar can plantations are nearly extinct. Past winter hard freezes destroyed orchards of grapefruit - orange trees. Damn shame - used to be very quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Now we grow apartments - car washes - mini-malls.
There have been a LOT of people moving into this area the past 10--12 years. Starting a homestead has been a very common endeavor. The best summation I can make is that most people that had chickens 5 years ago don't have them anymore.---ken
ReplyDeleteI've read quite a few stories of people trying and failing to start homesteads and/ or off grid living.
DeleteIt's one thing to dream and read about it, it's another to live the grind day in and day out.
It's a challenge to get used to living without modern conveniences.
(Which is why I haven't done it).
Jonathan