Much like this time last year, I am on the precipice of major change – but the context is so very different.
In early June, I am eager and anxious. My mind runs wild in anticipation of the many tasks on the horizon. I lose sleep wondering if I’ll be able to handle the labor, if it will all turn out like the pictures in my head. There are dozens of different lists in my Notes App – shopping lists combined with to-do lists, with various attempts to prioritize.
In 2025, I was awaiting my closing date. I was all packed and ready with nothing left to do but wait. I knew that as soon as the papers were signed, I would throw myself into a whirlwind of manual labor.
In 2026, I am awaiting a few key events: the last day of school, the installation of my garden fencing, and the delivery of my baby chicks. As a teacher who coaches a spring sport, most of the sunny afternoons have been spent at work rather than making progress on my farm. My hands are not tied; I can continue to chip away at the endless to-do lists in the few spare moments that I do have. But, similar to last year, there is a magical date that will suddenly unleash me to throw myself into the whirlwind once again.
Eager and anxious pretty much covers it.
Food Production
Unfortunately, due to supply chain issues, the installation of my garden fence has been delayed one week. I am concerned that one week might turn into two or three, but I have no choice but to stay optimistic. I already feel behind on my garden, which is disappointing considering I aimed to have a full growing season this year – but I’m trying to remind myself that it’s better to do it right and be a bit behind, than do it messy and regret it later.
In the meantime, I’ve decided to start building my lasagna beds. I figure that by starting towards the middle, the installation crew can navigate around them to minimize damage – and if there is any damage, it shouldn’t be difficult to fix. After measuring out the locations and marking the corners, I used a string trimmer to scalp the grass, laid down cardboard, and spread composted manure on top. I have only completed the first of eight 4 foot by 18 foot beds, and it took two full Gator-loads of compost to do. I have also been moving cardboard and tarps around to further kill the field grass. Now that the first is complete, I have an optimized workflow for completing the others.
In the meantime, my makeshift gardens are still producing – the potato towers are exploding, the snap peas are finally producing, the garlic is setting scapes, and the seedlings are growing a bit each day. I started cucumbers and zucchini in upcycled plastic clamshells; although they’d rather not be transplanted, it is my hope that transplanting the entire soil mass as one mound will minimize root disruption. I also planted the first of my homegrown sweet potato slips in 20 gallon grow bags; it will be a bit late to plant more, but as the sweet potatoes keep producing slips, I feel I will have no choice but to plant another batch in a few weeks.
Aesthetic Utility
I originally put chickens in the Aesthetic Utility category for my goals, citing that their main purpose would be joy, and that incidental egg and manure production was merely a bonus. This is still true, but I am increasingly seeing egg production as a source of calories. I eat very few eggs, due to both my ethical qualms about their production and my hesitations regarding their health value. Those concerns remain, but the best measure of self-sufficiency on a homestead is calorie production: what percentage of my daily caloric intake is coming from my homestead? Consuming a few homegrown eggs over the course of the week could greatly increase this percentage in a way that growing lettuce never will.
In any case, I set one more post for the chicken run – I intended to do more, but ran into several very large rocks that caused this one to take nearly three times as long as the first. I also set up the chick brooder in my extra bedroom, because the new babies will arrive any day now.
Homemade pancakes made with homegrown eggs and topped with my very own maple syrup are on the horizon. 🙂
Moving Forward
The list for the immediate future is endless, but I’m going to focus on a few specific things for Week 51: I’m going to set 1-2 more posts for my chicken run and install 1-2 more lasagna beds in my future garden. This is, of course, in addition to regular maintenance (manure management in the horse’s paddock, watering fruit trees, and weeding) as well as the impending delivery of 16 (!!) day old chicks.
As always, I’ll report back.
KC