To: Homestead List <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Writing for sanity
Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 18:54:59 -0400
I bet you guys thought I had dropped off the Earth; I suppose in some
ways, I have. As I approach the two month mark on working off the farm,
things aren't much better than day one and there is no end in sight to
the insanity of it all. I long for the days of relative relaxation,
working in the garden, feeding the birds, mending the fence, etc. I
have no personal time anymore, as I come in, fix dinner, clean up,
study, and go to bed. Weekends have been just as crazy, with my parents
moving(moving prep, moving, yard sales, etc.), housework, and other
necessary chores and projects.
I still have a garden, at least for now. The last time we got any rain
to register in the rain gauge was back at the end of March, and the
ground is cracking already. We haven't had enough rain to even wet the
deck, so little that calling it a trace seems to be an exaggeration. I
have hand watered my corn and tomatoes, just enough to keep them alive,
but with weather this dry, I am watching the well closely. Rainwater
supplies are gone. I soaked some green beans in preparation for
planting, but when I went out there, even my raised monster beds were
dry 1 foot down into the bed. I planted the beans in the raised beds
anyway, but the ground was so hard that I thought it a waste of time to
try to plant in the ground. Of course, there will be no fruit this year
due to that cold snap we had back in March when we had a hard freeze at
a crucial time. That, combined with the lack of rain, has really put a
hurt on many plants, even the established trees.
We had a forest fire on the other side of the ridge a few weeks ago-that
was scary-my worst fear, but so far most people are playing it smart and
not burning. Today, all of north Georgia is covered with smoke from the
fires in South Georgia over 300 miles away. It's so thick that I can
barely make out the horses in a pasture 1000 feet away.
Well, I thought I would drop in and say hi while the rice/jambalaya
cooks down...to my steadfast friends who have written but received no
personal answer, I am sorry...I love and miss you all..
Bev
--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.
[Homestead] Writing for sanity,
EarthNSky, 05/22/2007