Pictures coming as soon as John comes home with his banjo case where the USB cord for the camera is located. Why? We don’t know. 🙂
It has been quite awhile since I have written anything about our efforts with the homestead. The Confluence (the name of our homestead, homeschool, and educational organization) has grown since last year. Instead of the one garden plot that we had next to the cabin last year, we kept it and added two more down by the barn. The two new plots get full sun, so our corn, tomatoes, peppers, berry bushes, watermelons, peas, broccoli, cabbage, onions, swiss chard, and spinach is there. Here at the cabin plot, I have put in the potatoes, carrots, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, cilantro, basil, and dill. We still have some more tomatoes, lettuce, lavender, pumpkins, several bean varities, and sunflowers to plant. I haven’t decided exactly where they will go. They will be in the ground either this evening or tomorrow. However, I will not be planting while the sun pours down across my back. My shoulders and forehead are sunburned and I have the hot chills. Our planting takes quite awhile, because we do it all by hand, scooting across the ground, pinching and dropping seeds. Someday, we’ll have more equipment.
We hope to have enough produce to sell a bit this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed that John will get a chance to work on the barn so we can get a chicken flock that will be protected from predators, and eventually a few goats. I’d like to be able to sell eggs as well. John has mentioned wanting to spend more of his time on the homesteading, and for it to work as we have dreamed, that will have to be the case. Our friend Nathan has been helping us along, but he will be leaving on a year long, around the world trip in August. Another friend Brett Ratliff has been helping as well. He is a musician and travels quite a bit as John does, so his time exists a bit of everywhere. Both of them are bachelors with nothing tying them down – free spirits those boys, and huge helps as they can be. So, then there is me – mountain mama of two under five. 🙂 I can get a lot done, but not enough. If John is able to be here a bit more, then it will be a huge help for the homesteading dream.
The Confluence in it’s current existence is our home and Nathan and Brett call the cabin at the mouth of the holler home. The four of us are working on this project together as our time allows. We are planning to bring it into a place where we offer workshops on sustainable agriculture and traditional music. John’s art studio is here, and he plans to open that to the public. We may host some small group events as we are approached to do so for traditional music, arts, sustainable living, natural family living, and childbirth preparation. Eventually, when Nathan comes back from traveling the world, we may apply for non-profit status.
So, this year, we are slowly moving forward, and we are happy with that. John is so good for me in that regard. I’m like a wild filly out of the gate. I want to do everything in short order. But, we are moving just as fast as we are supposed to. Any faster would be overwhelming. We have heard rumors of Farmer’s Markets organizing, so my goal is to participate in those as we can. I am prepared to do a lot of preserving food too.
I’m excited about the opportunities this brings to my life. I am scattered all over the place right now, and if you asked me what I wanted personally, the list would be ridiculous. My goals are in some sort of transition period. I started simple when I began this blog, and then at some point realized that something wasn’t working or wasn’t enough. I’m still trying to set on what that something is, and at this point it is taking the form of many projects. I will figure it out. It’ll be a dang good thing when I do. 🙂
9 comments
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May 24, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Alisha
It will be fantastic! And I hope the farmer’s market ends up working out. That sounds like it could be a wonderful experience 🙂
May 24, 2010 at 8:10 pm
eastkentuckygal
I hope so. I think it would be. Offering fresh organic produce will be good for our area. The organic produce (what we can find here) is outrageously priced and rotten.
May 24, 2010 at 5:34 pm
kay
i’m jealous that you have your garden in. we woke up to snow this morning. hopefully next week mine will be in the works. you have a lot of ambition with all of your gardens. good luck!
May 24, 2010 at 8:08 pm
eastkentuckygal
Snow! Wow! It’s almost 90 degrees here! I couldn’t imagine still having snow. We are eating our spinach, onions, and swiss chard already. Yes, it’s ambitious…. hopefully not too much so.
May 25, 2010 at 4:09 am
Dana
You sound so much like me. Now that we’ve decided what we want to do, I want to do it all RIGHT NOW! The patience is good for me, though. At the moment, I’m dancing inside that my garden is plowed AND tilled. I can’t wait to start planting, so of course storms are in the forecast. 🙂
May 25, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Carrie
That sounds like such a wonderful plan Kelli. I am hoping that once we get moved, we can be more active in my family’s farming/produce ventures. We’ll be right in the middle of all of it so it should be easier. So many dreams and so little time….
Our garden is such a disappointment right now. Just no time. None whatsoever.
I have big plans to can/freeze/preserve a lot this year too. I need to get a notebook and set some goals and keep track of what we actually put up so I’ll know what we need each year. I read this awesome post on Thy Hand Hath Provided, I think it was, about a canning notebook. I could store it with my cookbooks.
Nearly enough saved for my pressure canner though!
May 27, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Plain and Joyful Living
Just this morning I was thinking… don’t get overwhelmed – it is ok to add just two or three homesteading skills each year.
Warm wishes, Tonya
June 16, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Fun Mama - Deanna
Your garden is still in much better shape than ours, I think. We didn’t get planted until late May, so nothing is over a couple of inches. And I remain one of the few people on the planet who CAN NOT grow zucchini.
July 11, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Sustainable Agriculture – Abingdon, VA « A Mountain Mama
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