The pear tree stood in the yard like a stately matron, bowed with age and careworn, but still sharing her abundance. For over 70 years she'd blessed the farmstead family with fruit, and they in turn had blessed friends, extended family, and neighbors. We joined our neighbors in harvesting from this tree again this past week, as we have for many years. The neighbors are older now, married over 60 years, and the tree is tall, so a good portion of the work is best left to younger hands. As we...
4 days ago • 4 min read
For five long years they made do with a split life, August working away from home during the week while Laurie and their sons "held down the fort" — homesteading and homeschooling. It was challenging, but much easier than some families have it, such as those with family members deployed overseas. Laurie's momma passed, leading to an epic mess with Laurie's step-sisters. You learn a lot about some people's true colors when money is involved — and sometimes none of it is good. August was in a...
6 days ago • 4 min read
They'd done it! They'd finished their dream home and settled in. There were still many projects to finish, but the largest hurdles had been cleared - so they thought. Instead, they nearly lost everything. Instead of the promotion he'd been promised, corporate restructuring at the business where he had dedicated nearly 16 years left him without a job in the middle of the Great Recession. He applied for job after job, only to be turned away empty-handed. He worked temporary consulting jobs when...
8 days ago • 3 min read
As late summer eased towards fall, the metallic whine of the cicadas gave way to the chirruping chorus of crickets. Seemingly unbothered by the dry conditions, their numbers swelled, offering sustenance to a wide variety of creatures. Migrating birds passing through, young fledglings still learning to hunt, amphibians and reptiles build winter reserves, and even some mammals bulking up for winter took advantage of the bounty. This week we'd noticed the first of the murmurations of the...
11 days ago • 5 min read
It's been said that there's no great loss without some small gain, and I suppose that was true with the home-building project. Multiple delays gave more time for more research into the systems that would go into their "Forever Home". There were strong winds at the building site, so they chose sturdy ICF walls. Those well-insulated concrete-filled forms would protect them from strong winds, summer heat, and bitter cold, keeping heating and cooling bills low for a lifetime. They opted for a...
12 days ago • 3 min read
They'd lived in the suburbs for around eight years now. It was time to pursue their dream of moving out to the country, raising more of their own food and becoming more self-reliant, while their sons were still little. They looked at a lot of homes, but none of them seemed quite right, so they hunted for land. Much of it was priced out of reach, zoned so it wasn't suitable for homesteading, or snapped up as soon as it went on the market. Then they spotted it - a "For Sale" sign, tipped over...
15 days ago • 3 min read
She hobbled warily into the yard, foraging for stray seeds under the wild bird feeders. Her right leg was injured - we couldn't tell exactly how, but I suspected the neighborhood fox that had developed a taste for poultry, which had carried off one of our drakes earlier in the year. Weeks passed, and she became a regular visitor. We started calling her Turkey Turkey. We took to rinsing out the bowls from the duck chow near the feeders to give her more selection. She didn't completely lose her...
17 days ago • 4 min read
I spotted her as I was finishing morning chores, happily waddling out of the blackberry patch, her cream colored breast feathers stained with berry juice. Miss Sassy was the current matriarch of the duck patrol, and she and the other patrol members regularly rooted through the mulch of the berry patch, hunting for tasty morsels. On that particular day, she had found more than berries and bugs, as a large bulge protruded from the right side of her crop. The bulge tried to work its way back...
24 days ago • 4 min read
The delicate fragrance of the tasseling garden corn lingered invitingly in the evening air as we prepped the flocks for bedtime. During the day, other more robust scents dominated, but that evening held a bit of magic, hinting at the sweet, butter-dipped goodness to come. I enjoy my yard (when my backside isn't stuck by a computer). 20+ years of planting, building, digging, and experimenting has created something truly unique. It's messy, but you just never know what you'll run into. For...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read