As a reminder, I organize my week’s accomplishments according to my ultimate goals for this homestead property. Here’s what I got done this week:
Food Production
I placed a very exciting order for spring permaculture additions from Stark Bro’s Nursery. I was hesitant to order from them because last year they had a very difficult time fulfilling orders, which resulted in a lot of delays – they actually cancelled my mulberry trees and I had to reorder from somewhere else. However, everything I’ve had delivered has been very high quality and healthy, so I decided to give them another shot.
Here’s what I ordered:
- Raspberry (Double Gold)
- Asparagus (Purple Passion & Millenium)
- Apple (Macoun & Gravenstein)
- Peach (Contender & Redhaven)
- Plum (Stanley & Methley)
I’m sure this won’t be the last round of fruit trees I purchase for my spring orchard expansion, but it should be the bulk of it – I’m trying to establish the basics before I start investing in more unique options, like paw paws and nut trees. I also need to refrain from getting too overzealous, since I will be watering and maintaining these trees on my own.
Aesthetic Utility
About a month ago, I acquired 24 old wood-framed windows of various sizes for free from a Facebook post. I already have extra windows left from the previous owner in the hay loft, but I couldn’t resist – an opportunity like this doesn’t come up often! I was able to fit them all in my Subaru Outback and they have been stacked in the barn workroom ever since.
I intend to use them to build cold frames. I already have one, but it has some flaws. It was very productive in the late fall, but as we’ve marched deeper into winter, the poor insulation of the thin (and partially rotting) boards have allowed temperatures to drop. The window is also enormous and heavy, making access difficult, and the design doesn’t allow for the installation of something like struts or handles to ease the load.
As I begin to design my garden space, I can envision a series of cold frames along the exterior edges – the different widths will make for an eclectic yet controlled appearance, which I hope will also represent the chaos inside of the garden. It will also be an opportunity for me to learn how to build things. Up until now, I have only built two firewood racks – they work, but they’re not attractive, nor are they square. A little low-stakes, low-investment practice is just what I need.
This week, I sketched a basic design for the first installment. I have plenty of screws as well as reclaimed hinges that will come in handy. Since the windows were free and I have no doubt that I will save tons of money on food once I’ve completed the cold frames, it was easy to justify purchasing a new $250 circular saw when I went to buy the lumber.
All that is left now is to actually build the thing. Frankly, it has been too damn cold to spend extra time outside, even under the cover of the barn. I’ll share the design and materials list once I’ve built it, assuming I am successful.
Resource Acquisition & Preparedness
I thought about excluding this particular category in the update this week because I fear I am becoming redundant. However, it occurred to me that this might be your first time here, and so you might be wondering – how on Earth is this woman spending the many other hours that are unaccounted for by the two simple tasks that have been discussed up until this point? Well, I was working on firewood. Getting it, splitting it, stacking it, moving it. It was honestly a stretch to do much of anything else. I adore my wood stove and I enjoy all parts of the firewood process, but it hasn’t left much downtime. Perhaps next winter will be different, since I will have the whole summer to prepare in order to avoid the hand-to-mouth situation I’ve found myself in now.
Moving Forward
Now that my spring fruit tree order is in, it is time to start planning this year’s garden. In addition to finalizing the location and design, I plan to go through all of my old seeds to see what I can use. This will almost certainly enable me to order new seeds as well – since I’m ‘saving money’ by not buying more tomato seeds, surely I can then spend money on three obscure varieties of beans? It’s garden-math!
Talk soon,
KC