Welcome to the Homestead

Hello spring!

The seasons have gotten interesting here in the Pacific Northwest in the last couple of decades. Or, maybe they have always been this weird and I just never took notice because I was too busy being a kid. The summers seem to be getting hotter. We barely have a spring anymore. This past winter we had the somewhat disappointing “snowmageddan”. It seems the only reliable season around here is good ol’ fall.

I can’t help but be totally pumped about our first spring here on the homestead. I feel that we have a unique situation here. Although this is our first year in our new place, we’ve been coming here regularly for years. My husband has spent considerable time here his last 36 years, and I joined him in his visits for the last 12. So, although this is our first year living here, we’ve had the privilege to witness many springs, summers, falls and winters here. We know where the sun will hit in the summer, we know where water tends to accumulate, we know how slippery certain spots of the driveway can get in a hard freeze. This place is new to us, and it’s also kind of not.

Which is awesome.

We also know who to call when we don’t know the answer to our question. I can call my mother in law and ask what the scraggly tree in the back yard is. I can walk to my husband’s aunt’s house and ask her how her mother took care of the hydrangeas. There is so much history here. So much experience and knowledge of this place in our family, and that gives us a huge advantage to hitting the ground running.

We’ve already started some projects, here’s what we’ve been up to.

The Fence Situation

When we were considering buying this property, there was one big concern that I had that I wanted remedied sooner rather than later if we ended up here. This property has no fences. Some people might not mind that, but I literally just cleared and fenced 3/4 acre at our last place and wound up choosing a property that was completely unfenced. Sure, our neighbor to the south has a fence, but it’s just two strands of barb wire. That’s it. I knew that if we chose this place, working on the fence situation would be at the top of my priority list. I have three small children and I need to have a safe space for them to explore and play. I also knew that I would want animals and secure fences to keep them in and keep would be predators out is a given.

The first fence on our list is a 350+ foot wooden privacy fence. I know. Big fence. Long fence. Costly. I get it. And maybe that doesn’t seem justified to some people, but to me it’s not only worth it but a necessity. I intend on fencing most of the rest of the property, but will do that as I am able.

Priority one-privacy fence.

The Chicken Situation

The next project we are doing this year is expanding our chicken flock. I wasn’t planning on undertaking that this year, but an opportunity fell into our lap to get a small shed delivered that I am now renovating into a coop. I ordered my chicks online through Murray McMurry, this is my first time ordering through a hatchery. In the past I’ve gotten chicks at our local feed store or hatching eggs through the barter faire. Since I wanted to get a large number and variety of chicks, I figured going through a hatchery would be my best option. I have until the end of May to get the coop and fencing in order as the big order of chicks will be arriving then. They will of course be in a brooder for several weeks before going into their new outside space, but I want to make sure everything is ready to go before we actually need it to be.

My goal with these chickens is to provide our family with all the eggs we could possibly need while the chickens are laying. There is nothing worse when having a flock of chickens than to have to buy eggs at the store. Ugh. I am one of those people, however, that will let my chickens take their much deserved break from laying and will not try to extend their season through artificial heat or light. During those times, my family will be taking a break from eggs, bartering with a neighbor or buying from the store as needed.

Priority two-chicken area.

The Garden Situation

Although I told myself that I would be taking a step back this year with gardening and only have some containers on the patio, an idea kept growing and growing inside of me until it turned into a potager.

POTAGER: a kitchen garden (poe-ta-jhay)

It started with the realization that I might as well deconstruct a few raised beds I had built in my last garden and bring them here. After seeing how much scrap lumber we had also accumulated, I decided to just go for it.

After stepping through a gate, you make your way down a stone path with two june-bearing varieties of strawberries on either side. You come to four raised beds for growing annual vegetables. Right now I have carrots, radishes, lettuce, greens, spinach, kale, onions, peas and a few other things with some flowers tucked in here or there. The big black sacks are filled with different varieties of potatoes.

I am so glad I decided to put in the potager this year. I need to grow food. Eating it is a bonus, but growing food is like therapy to me. It’s the only hobby I have and I feel this desire deep within to constantly be moving towards my dream, which is to feed my family. “Waiting till next year” is just not my style.

Priority three-but let’s be real, it’s actually priority one-the potager.

The Edible Landscape Situation

Another group of must-do things around here is the miscellaneous food production items that need to go in.

The fruit trees, elderberries, raspberries and strawberries are all planted now.

The fruit trees were purchased online through Raintree nursery. The varieties we planted are:

• Greensleeve Apple
• Cosmic Crisp Apple
• Honeycrisp Apple
• Almata Apple
• Contender Peach
• Shiro Plum
• Beauty Plum

I planted 10 bareroot raspberry in the flower garden area. I still need to finish mulching and put up support for them. This was a bit of a wild card. The raised bed they went in is technically in the “flower garden” and I’m not totally sure of the sun situation. Thankfully, bare root raspberry starts are not very expensive, so if it’s a total flop then so be it. Lesson learned.

I planted 25 Hood and 25 Puget Crimson strawberries in the potager. These are two of the varieties I had tried out in my last garden and were my top two favorites. They are both June bearing strawberries, which means they give one big harvest around June. This is my preferred type for the bulk of my strawberry needs, as I can deal with a large amount in a short amount of time for freezing or canning.

I also got 25 everbearing strawberries to add around our outdoor living space so that we would have a steady supply of snacks while we are working outside this summer.

We also went ahead and planted two varieties of elderberry near the chicken yard. I got these plants for the medicinal berries they provide. Once they start bearing fruit, I can dry the berries in my dehydrator and use in our much loved elderberry syrup. Elderberry syrup has been a winter staple in our household for the last 6 years or so, although we do make batches of it all year round. I will be happy to share our recipe with you soon.

Having Direction

We have been in our new homestead for about 6 months, and I am delighted at the progress we have made so far. It seriously has been a dream come true for me to be here and to be planting the things that I have been researching, planning and dreaming about for so long. It has been a tad bit hard to reign myself in because there is so much that I want to do and plant, and I finally have the space to do it.

What has helped tremendously was spending the winter coming up with my plan for this year and next. That way I can stay focused on the things I should be doing instead of what I could be doing. It’s too easy to get swept away with new projects before old ones are completed or buying new plants at the garden center before the ones you bought last week have found a home in the ground. I’m a dreamer by nature, but I’m training myself to also be a doer.

Until next time.