Benjamin and I visited Loren and the homestead this past weekend and WOW! Just WOW! I’m so impressed by and excited about the evolution of our property. I had not been there for five weeks and the changes are significant. Let me count the ways…
- Our friendly bull-dozing Don cleared another section of forest to turn into more gardening area.
- My lumber-jack hero, Loren, single-handedly cut down four HUGE (60′ – 80′ tall) pine trees to allow ample sunlight into the same gardening area.
- Loren is processing the trees he cut down (in addition to the trees the bulldozer cleared) into mulch, fire pit wood, wood stove fuel, and lumber.
- Loren milled some of the pine trees into 2″ X 12″ boards from which he built four 4 1/2′ X 9′ raised garden beds. He still has two or three more trees to mill, so that means lots more free lumber for us.
- There is a pretty significant wood pile already stacked and drying for this winter’s heating fuel.
- Loren also built the Taj Majal of compost bins. It looks SO amazing! And it’s all built from recycled pallets and our own cedar trees.
- The ornamental outhouse has been cleaned of wasp nests and renovated into a tool/garden shed.
- The former screened-in porch is trimmed and painted on the outside and the insulation is up on the inside.
- The containers of herbs and greens that we planted back in late March are all sprouting and looking good. Mmmm! That lettuce tastes so lettuce-y, and the cilantro tastes so cilantro-y!
- AND, perhaps most importantly for me, the composting toilet is up and serviceable! No more traipsing about the woods looking for a likely spot 🙂
Nature has made quite a difference in the appearance of the homestead as well. All the trees are leafed out. There are birds flying about everywhere. Bugs and frogs abound. The weather was sunny and warm with a little breeze the whole time we were there. I could not have asked for a nicer weekend.
I did contribute a bit to preparing our home for the big move-in. Loren and I shoveled a few tons of dirt and compost into our raised garden beds and we planted two and a half beds before time ran out. It’s strange how time passes so quickly when you’re working on the future… Even though we got up early and got started working early, before we knew it, it was time to clean up and think about dinner.
It was quite the bummer that Ben and I could only stay for a long weekend, but we had to head back to Kingsport to finish up the school year. Only three more weeks of work and school, and then the moving begins. There is lots to do between now and then for me here in Kingsport and for Loren in Sardis. I can’t wait to be coming HOME!
