I don’t know if anyone else’s brain works the very linear perfectionistic way mine does but, despite the dearth (rabbit trail warning: I thought it fitting that synonyms of dearth are famine and drought) of new garden blogs, I have had lots of ideas and thoughts of what to tell you. Rarely do I ever find myself at a loss for words, my problems lies with the fact that I think they have to be in a certain order or I have to finish one blog before going to the next. I got seriously bogged down on the December blog and haven’t written a new one yet because it wasn’t finished. So anyhow, I am scrapping the list in my head and starting from where I am, here, which is a new space.
HERE is in the middle of a very mild February that has had brief snow flurries, but no real snow on the ground. The ground is thawed; in fact I planted a bunch of bulbs in January without any trouble. We are 8 weeks into Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Design Course which is a 24 week certificate course with a design project as final exam. Permaculture is a blending of the words permanent and agriculture, but it is so much more than a bunch of food plants that come back every year. The first 6 weeks of the course focused on ethics, the basic moral platform of this practice of earth care, people care and return of surplus. I have found that Biblical stewardship and permaculture share many principles. This course is also stretching my mental muscles. We have covered everything from astrophysics to zoology.
My food garden plans are made and entered into T’s Garden Time app. I have already started my cabbage and asparagus seeds and will start more in the beginning of March. I will tell you about some of the ways we are trying some different things soon.
The book shelf is full as usual, the latest reads were Take the U out of clutter by Mark Brunetz and Born Again Dirt by Noah Sanders. Currently I’m reading The Lean Farm. All three of these books have brought a bit of shift of perspective to my thoughts. This too will hopefully move us towards our goal of learning and implementing how to be good stewards and healers of whatever land we are working with.
Speaking of land, Timothy and I have decided to stay where we are currently living. The possibility to own Timothy’s parent’s farm after they leave or pass was offered, but after considering many factors, discussion and thought, we are letting that possibility go for now and focusing on creating a vibrant place here on this half acre of land we own outright. Timothy’s parents are still blessed with good health and they may (hopefully) stay a long time yet on the farm. We have been in limbo, waiting to move rather than start investing and working now and thus have become stagnant. We didn’t want to put a lot of time or energy into this house if we were just going to leave it behind and waste possible resources we could bring to the farm.
I have such peace and excitement after making this decision with T. I believe that we are back on track with what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. Will we stay here forever? I don’t know, but I do know we are supposed to do SOMETHING with our time and resources and we were not doing that before while waiting for something bad to happen to his parents so we could get something that was nowhere near as precious as they are to us. I felt guilty for being excited that I wanted to begin, because it would be at the expense of Mom and Dad’s life or force them to move before they were ready. That is a sure way to destroy motivation and energy.
Taking advantage of the warm weather this week, we created a video tour of our yard to show the starting point of our new journey. I say new because with the information that we are learning in the permie course and the insights that I am learning from the books I am reading, it is a new journey. We have new eyes, new goals and plans despite being in the same place. Location doesn’t matter as much as perspective does. Perspective lets you see the world in a whole new way and it can be so exciting.
Garden Tour... Feb 2017
