Busy as the Bees

When  I take long breaks from the blog I get nervous about what to say next. Like, it’d better be important, meaty and enthralling or the people of the e-verse will wonder why I’d bothered. But, it’s time to throw caution to the wind and break back in after a long, awkward pause…

I am a little unsure of where to start in terms of what’s been up ’round here. Really, what hasn’t been up? Nary a corner remains that we haven’t touched or at the very least considered. But, consideration does little to get things done; yet, things done without it can be a waste of time and worse.
So, we’re constantly pacing ourselves.

Bit by bit some of the major things that make a place feel like home are getting done. We’ve got lots of new lighting, which is a great help in lifting the gloom that fills a house with ‘turret windows’ in the woods. (turret windows–affectionate term for the narrow windows that were put in a house situated in a place that deserves walls of glass on account of the views. Perhaps the builder was a survivalist? It’d be sweet to stumble on a hidden stash of weaponry).

I’ve come here today to talk a bit about the most overwhelming part of our move so far. We’re relatively easy-going about the house. We’ve accomplished a lot and are happy to take it one bite at a time from here on, but oh how we miss our garden. We have a blank canvas of unturned soil; and a lot of trees. The latter is intimidating to say the least. Who wants to cut down tall beautiful trees? Folks who want to grow big plump tomatoes. Our acres are about 9/10 wooded–and pond. We’ve enjoyed the pond FAR more then we would have expected especially since we’d never really considered buying a place with one. I’ll say, you should consider it, not only is the fishing fun, the canoeing dreamy and the cool breeze to die for on a hot and terribly tiring day–there is SO much to learn at the water’s edge!

And, the pond is yet another overwhelming consideration while we try to effectively plan our future farming. Where does one put the goat house? And, with little sunlight, where shall we plant the orchard? And, which of these tall trees might bring in a little income? Or fall over? What about the bee yard? The kids’ swings? And the chickens? And with the water flowing toward the pond, what about run-off and what equipment can’t we live without? What can we do today without spending a penny??

We know this place is an investment in our future, and that of our kids, but it’s difficult not to spiral into overwhelm-tion or to sit crippled for fear of screwing it up. Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize.

So, the order of priorities that you may hear more about here later:
-finish chicken coop
-finish goat house
-finish building hive stands and bring the bees home.
-plant some fruit trees/bushes
-get chickens
-cut down little trees for firewood
-get goats
-hire someone to take out big trees
-get ducks, and guineas, and a dog to keep them all safe.
Update 9.13 all of this is accomplished! Don’t worry, there’s a whole new list…

All this we’re trying to do in a way that makes sense. Efficiency is key. We’ve been reading this text on Permaculture–along with other resources. And we’re trying to apply Biodynamics preparations and get the soil ready for growing. Our heads are spinning a lot of the time. Surely everyone feels this after a move to some extent, and I keep trying to relax and remember what our last place was like 8 years ago when we moved in there. So, if in 8 years we make the kinds of strides here we did there–well, everything will be just fine. And, what’s the point if we’re not enjoying this process??