Who Knew?

Seems like a year - to the date - is long enough to go without updating a blog, huh? And so much has happened! Updates - at a glance:

- Both Bill and I have left Corporate America. I left voluntarily in June, 2010 so that I could focus on our family and to see if I could, in fact, make it as an "independent". I can ;) Bill lost his job in February, 2011 and decided that instead of looking for another office job, he'd fulfill his lifelong dream to spend his days in the sunshine with his hands in the dirt. March 1st (5 days after losing his job) he began the Organic Farming Training Program at Michigan State University. I've never seen him happier. He's also living in Lansing during the week since it was costing > $100 a week in gas for him to drive back and forth. We're in week 3 and, though I've had a few freak-out spells, we are making it;

- We now have 2 80# German Shepherds in our home. Ezra came in July, 2010 as a 9 wk old pup. Maxx came in February, 2011 as a rescue. Since I work from home, they are with me almost 24/7 (except when I'm at client sites). I've always wanted to own a dog but a few things stood in my way: 1) I'm kind of scared of small animals. Weird, huh? I'm not afraid of horses, cows, animals at the zoo, etc. The smaller they are, the more they scare me. And don't even ASK about fowl. Shudder; 2) I've always worked full time and it didn't make sense to have a dog just to leave him at home all day alone; 3) I didn't really know anything about how to train or socialize a dog. So, I'm working all that out now in my typical "baptism by fire" manner;

- Kim & MJ moved back to Memphis in November, 2010. I miss them every single day.

- Finances? Don't even ask. Our household income is something like 80% less than it was and we will likely never be back at the earning level we were when I started this blog. We will need to move from our house at some point and we have NO idea where we'll end up living. We've committed to staying in this area until the girls finish high school, though. Bill wants to own a farm, maybe in the UP. Who knows? I'm trying to lean in to the ambiguity and look at this as a growth experience for myself. Some days it's easier than others.

All in all, the changes are good. The family is more stable & less chaotic than it has been in years. I am having fun with the work I'm doing and spending my time & energy according to my values. We are eating better, getting more sunshine and exercise than ever before (though I've dropped that ball SERIOUSLY over the winter). I've been broke before and it's not that big of a deal. We will not starve and we will not be homeless. All is well.

Remember those seeds I planted? They grew. I now have tomato plants, bean plants, carrot plants, lettuce, cilantro.......all growing in various South-facing windows of my house and almost 2 months before I can put them in the ground. What the heck am I going to do with this stuff until Mid-May?

Looking at the 12+ inches of snow on the ground in my back yard, it's hard to believe that anything green will ever live there again. March is the time of the year when I start to get really twitchy. Down South, it's already spring. Buttercups are starting to peek up. At most, they're wearing hoodies. Here, we're up to our knees in snow. Unlike.

So, to make myself feel more like spring is around the corner, I have started seeds for all kinds of stuff. Carrots, tomatoes (slicers and canning), cucumbers, broccoli, beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, lettuce. Garlic that I really should have stuck in the ground in the fall but let's see what happens.

I have a few friends who are keeping chickens that I'm hoping will want to barter eggs for veggies. And, as Bill mentioned, I'm hoping that we can produce enough veggies to barter.

The person who gave me worms for the first go-round has agreed to give me another batch for round 2. I think I know what I did wrong this time after more closely inspecting the bin - they got too dry. I distinctly remember my friend telling me that ignoring my worms was the right thing to do. Apparently, spraying them with water once in a while is a better idea. I found about 20 dried worms in the pain underneath the bin so I'm pretty sure that was the problem. I did scoop the dried worm carcasses back in to the bin so they'll rot and make my compost even more yummy.

I've spent the last few days reading books and magazines about sustainability. I've engaged hubby in a few garden-planning conversations but amazingly, I'm the one with the passion behind it right now. He seems only mildly interested in talking about it. I think he's going to need to be able to see the ground before he gets psyched. I've decided that instead of purchasing a $200 rain barrel, I'm going to look out for some recycled barrel to use. Honey, wine...really anything but oil should work fine. I was up for using rainwater for some of our household use as well, but Bill didn't think that was such a good idea. Give him a few seasons :)

D

Spring is around the corner...

It's been 5 months since I've blogged. To be honest, I lost my mojo when autumn came. We got 2 new household members in October, then the holidays hit, then the snow and frankly, I've been pretty holed up. But the days are starting to get longer and I'm getting a hankerin'.

I did manage to kill my worms over the winter. I'm not sure if I should have taken them from under the sink when it got colder or if being under the sink with several household chemicals did them in, but they ceased producing castings and then...well, kinda dried up. I'm going to hit it again, this time with a larger bin hoping to be able to harvest castings in time for our spring planting.

I am looking forward to trying my hand at canning this year. I bought a book (which doesn't necessarily predict any activity on my part. I've also got books on raising Alpaca, making soap and keeping bees..none of which I've actually made any motions toward doing)and I'm planning to do tomato sauce at the very least. I've got this fantasy about having people from all over the community come and bring their harvests for "Put Up Days" where we all prep and can and freeze to our little hearts' content and then trade off goodies. Doesn't that sound fun?

D

End of the Season

Almost everything has been pulled up from the garden. The only thing that is left is peppers. I would say that the garden was a success - at least tomato-wise. Thanks to Bill for making it happen. We're considering putting in some lettuce to see what it does over the next few weeks, but mostly we're done for the year.

All in all, I can't say that we saved any money by having a garden this year. Bill had many more peanut butter & tomato sandwiches (yuk)than he would have otherwise, and we've got some dried herbs.

Next year, fewer tomatoes, more bell peppers, broccoli and sweet potatoes.

Ode to Squash

We had our first garden casualty - if you don't count the cilantro eaten by the critters, that is. Bill pulled up all of our zucchini plants this evening due to a white, moldy issue on the leaves. We had tons of blossoms but no zucchini ever made it past the 2" mark. I'm disappointed since the kids seem to love it so much.

We do, however, have a buttload of tomatos. We've eaten a couple of the Golden Jubilee already and used a few of the grapes in a 'stir fry' kind of thing that we put over pasta. The Mr. Stripey's are turning out to be exactly what I read they would be - a waiting game. There is fruit but nothing is near being ready to eat.

I'm planning to harvest worm castings very soon as I've got about 2 inches of castings in the bottom of my 'high tech' container (a bin from Big Lots). Stay tuned - I'll post pictures of the wondrous worm poo.

D