Some hard truths

I wanted to share some hard truths about life here on the homestead, things that Rosie and I have come to accept that we don't talk much about. In order to keep it on the lighter side I will be quoting from one of Rosie's new favorite movies. Bonus points if you can name the film.

So the time for kitten whispers and tickle fights is over! Here are some of the uncomfortable truths about life on the homestead

1) Your house will never be clean. I know most of you are thinking "But...." well Shut your pie holes! There is a fixed number of hours in the day and Brown cow does not care if the kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, she has to be fed. So if you come over and I am still trying to clean up and the place looks like a dump, just imagine how bad is was before we knew you where on your way.

2) You will loose all your free time. In order to make sure you will have food next season you have to plant NOW! You may want to go see the new movie at the theater but there just is no time. Your friends may think you hate them or that you have died because you never see them any more (Thinking of Fia a Becca) but the simple truth is that you have to spend 16+ hours a day working to make the homestead operate. As much as we want to be selfish and take a day off, stuff has to get done and done now. A selfish man is like a mangy dog chasing a cautionary tale.

3) Money..... Kiss it good bye. Everything costs more on the homestead. We spend a lot more money than most people in  order to be able to eat and keep our animals. Since we started this whole adventure feed prices have almost quadrupled and we are spending every last cent to keep our farm fed. OK no fun quote here, this part is just hard.

4) Remember bath time? We don't. Just the other day Ivan was saying "Your breath is so bad it made my ears go numb!" OK not really but you get the point I hope. By the time you have finished with your 16 hours of farm and house chores taking a shower is going to seriously cut into your sleep time and given that you have started to talk to your hallucinations the last three days you may  need a little more sack time than shower time. If you want to live the homestead life you better be willing to be a little stinky. 

5) Your life will be more gross than you could ever have imagined. You will find yourself carrying things that smell so bad you gag. Let me just say MAGGOTS and leave it at that. Oh..... the maggots...... When you open/flip over a bucket and  scream out "GREAT MOTHER OF MONKEY MILK!"  on a daily basis you will know you are living the 'good life'.

6) Loneliness. Some times Rosie and I only get to see each other a few hours a week and we see our friends even less often. If it seems like Rosie and I talk your ear off when we see you it is because we are starved for conversation with other people. Farm life is lonely, one of the reasons we try and keep this blog is to help keep us connected with people even when we can not see to meet up with them. Just one of the joys of being me. 

7) Your work is never done. We have only been plugged in a week and every day it's 'climb the tower and fight bugs'.  You will never be out of projects to do and every second of the day there are more projects joining the ranks of the 'yet to be done'. 

8) We don't know what we are doing, not really. We are teaching skills to people that we ourselves have not mastered but some one has to assist with the complicated sheep births and the hoof trimming, it will not do its self. And lets face it, it can be a little scarey some times. But fear is a four letter word people, if you want to go wee wee in your big boy slacks keep it to yourself! That pig needs to be put down, that animal scream in the night has to be investigated and that veterinary medical issue has to be address before it gets any worse. Half the time you are just making it up as you go along but if it works then you have something to pass on during the class next week. 

Don't get us wrong, we love the life we lead but it does have its down sides and it certainly is not for everyone. Hard truths, this is not the idealistic picture if farm life. It is long hard hours by your selves with few breaks to help you keep your sanity. But it is a good life, and I would not trade it for anything. 

Summer Garden

Sheesh, I thought I had posted on this before, but I guess I just forgot. The summer garden is in full swing. We started by tilling part of the of the drive area to the back as well as a small are next to the front apple tree. We planted over 22 types of tomatoes (30 tomato plants in total), an eggplant, some tomatillo, a squash, and a cucumber. The tomatoes are already producing some tomatoes but I have to make sure that I watch when Ivan gets near the spigot because he has a tendency to turn on the water full blast (my poor favas have dealt with this) and I need to make sure we don't have too much water on the tomatoes so that the flowers aren't damaged. We're also adding 8 okra and plant out some more Moon and Star watermelon. The corn will be planted soon along with our Amish pumpkins. The garlic is almost fully formed and we keep harvesting garlic scapes to eat. The weather has been too hot so our leafy greens have all turned bitter, we're still working on trying to figure out a way to keep producing leafy greens through the summer. I'll keep you guys posted as we keep adding more items to the garden.

Expanding the edible forest

We're pretty happy with how the front is looking in regards to using edible landscaping, but we also would like to expand this concept to the back. Earlier this year I planted currants, gooseberries, and some horseradish. Well, the horseradish is valiantly trying to survive as the new chickens (another story) have decided they really like digging up my plants in that area. So far the currants and gooseberries are growing well and we should get some fruit in a few years. We did have a semi-dwarf santa rosa plum I had not planted as I had not found adaquate fencing to keep the geese out, but after the obvious death of the blood orange I decided to take out that root ball and plant the semi-dwarf santa rosa plum in its place. On Sunday Ivan and I picked up some fabulous tomatoes and herbs from Wind Rose Farm (I would highly recommend getting plants from them.) and so we had herbs to add in amongst the fruit bushes and tree. I did graft some mandarin onto the root stock on the side so I'll have to keep watch to see if it does grow. I also have a bucket full of the remaining grapes and another dozen asparagus. I planted the grapes (6) in the back so that they can grow up the fence and the asparagus in the front to help deliniate the planted area vs. the pathway and I it also makes it easier to pick the asparagus when they are so close. We're keeping a close eye on the side area to make sure that it thrives. I'll post picture as soon as I can.