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2021 Farm Log

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Hopalong:
Wiiiiiise crone.

Y'all are going straight from texting to sharing a home, as you weren't able to have a nice actual drawn-out in-person getting-to-know-you thing (a la Judith Sills). So maybe in a way it'd be nice to acknowledge that despite the recognition and intimacy you've built over computers, phone and texting...how about granting yourselves a long slow period to recognize what it's like to really be together?

I like your realism and wise cronehood instincts. Trust them and don't fear. You have nothing to prove to anybody, just one day at a time to live and enjoy and learn from.

hugs
Hops

sKePTiKal:
Hops, I'm not busy enough right now. LOL.  Feelings are sneaking through!! The "stuff to do" doesn't matter - coz B isn't "company". He will help me and it will be fun. We fit together like that. B has been here 3 times. There was a lot more intimacy built in each sucessively longer visit than what just happens digitally. I just don't have words - yet. I'm proposing we don't "do" anything for the first weekend - just be together. Waiting on a response. He's busted his butt this week and needs to rest, so I have hope he'll see the sense in that suggestion.

Phyll - I lived in Kitty Hawk, NC for 6 years. I know sandy soil. My experience was nothing grows in it. I even did raised, lined beds. Everything flowered; but didn't set fruit. It's made me less confident in what I think I know, now that I'm back "home" in the rocky soils of the mountains. The salty environment likely had a good bit to do with that. The problem was compost, fertilizer, water all drained too quickly from the soil and evaporation was another factor. I'm relearning right now.

If you have wildflowers, try herbs - the perennials. That'll make beekeeping more successful. I'm also going to try a hoop house or walapini. Mainly to extend my growing season which is over end of Oct/early November for things like leeks & brussel sprouts. Every year is different here. I've seen 70 degrees on Christmas Eve. And snow on Halloween. So, one starts to read the weather & microclimate in your "spot" closer. I'm journaling (when I remember) and paying super-close attention to my soil. Everything works better with healthy soil. And still one is going to have failures and issues, even when devoting all your attention and adapting as fast as possible to conditions. It's just a fact of this lifestyle. That's one reason I encouraged the kids to start growing too. Redundancy - and their different location in the bottom of the hollar and methods (not much different; we're all organic) - could make/break a season.

Heat is my bane. Much over 80, especially with humidity, and you can write off my physical oomph. My body functions better at -25 than it does at 85. My theory is it's because I grew up with Lake Effect off Erie, MI & Superior. And maybe some DNA. But it's just a theory. This lifestyle requires paying attention to nature, intuition, hard manual labor, knowing what to do when... and working when you don't want to. Sigh. I'm relearning all those lessons. LOLOL.

Phyll:
Skep I live in Wisconsin.  I know about Lake Michigan's lake affect snow.  I will think about the herbs, good idea.  Have you tried drip irrigation?  We have all the tanks and supplies, but as you said nothing seems to grow in the sand.  Also  considering aquaponics. Looking at small scale for now, tomatoes and lettuce. I don't even know if I will be here in the spring!

Do you have a new love interest?  That sounds exciting.  Glad you plan to take things slow.

sKePTiKal:
Yeah I know about the irrigation methods. We get enough rain most years - and my soil here in the mountains actually retains moisture (compost compost compost) because there's a decent percentage of clay in that location. And my lazy-gardener technique of letting the weeds grow - it's like mulch - slows the evaporation rate and keeps the roots a bit shaded & cooler.

Lesson one of gardening for me, was the soil's importance and how to improve it so that irrigation or frequent watering isn't needed. And to keep replenishing it. I plant right in the earth (yes, I still have beds that I "raise" by hand digging). I still need to test the soil, however. It takes 5 years to build a new garden from scratch - and despite being here 5 years; the garden is a lot younger.

I had to sit down for a bit. More rain just starting and I have been completely forgetting stuff I still want to do. For me - and some for B. He's packing; leaving in about 12-15 hours. And it's an 8 hr drive. I usually have to help navigate for him; he doesn't know how far or what the next road number is he's looking for. LOLOL. It helps me find him on the atlas, if I know where he is. But sometimes he doesn't. LOLOLOL.

His new docs just got all his complete med records, today. For Monday's first appt.

lighter:
I'm very happy to read your updates, Amber.  You following B's journey sounds so right: )

Lighter

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