Author: Chanarin

What can I say? This week was a success in some aspects and a failure in others. Most, if not all the transplants I put out last week has been eaten up by slugs or the birds pulled it out of the ground. The failed transplants were squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkin and beans. The radishes and turnips have turned pithy when I cooked them for dinner. Luckily, I was able to use the green leaves in soup. Fortunately, I have learned there are plants that had to be direct sow or a few weeks after the last frost and it includes all the plants that were destroyed by the slugs or birds. I will have to plan a better spacing method for radishes and turnips. It seems that planting them in 10 gallon pots did not fare well.

These are the factors that influenced our decisions with the planning and strategy for the homestead. Did we succeed in regards to those factors?

1. Age: We must be able to work on our homestead well into old age. That means we have to look at methods and practices outside of the traditional norms. We have implemented measures to ensure that our age will not be too much of a hindrance in our quest for low maintenance homestead. We’ve used planters, grow trays, and mostly no-dig concept to ensure that we do not have to till soil annually or spend all of our time fighting the weeds.
2. Sustainable: We want to have a closed loop method of giving nutrients to our plants without chemical fertilizers. We have three 300 gallon trough that we will be using to raise trout. We will use the fish waste and the filters during cleaning to water and fertilize our vegetables. The end of the summer will indicate how successful we are with this idea.
3. Physical limitations: This might be in the same category as “age” but it cannot be stressed enough that we both have physical limitations and anything we plan will have to be factored in. The answer will be the same as the “age” factor in number one. I do believe that age and physical limitations are one and the same…as one ages one will develop physical limitations.
4. Pacific Northwest: Any plants or veggies or plans we have will have to factor the weather of the Pacific Northwest. So, I think I’ve made decent choices with regards to vegetables and perennials that are appropriate for the PNW.

Learning objectives:

1. I want to learn about myogas (Japanese Ginger) growth requirements.  According to my discovery, myogas likes damp, shady, humid, cool growing conditions.
2. I want to learn the theory and process of tending a myoga garden plot residing within a home garden space.  Still in observation status since it has only been about 2 weeks since the myogas in the greenhouse has started to grow.
3. I want to learn the origins and health benefits of myoga. Myogas are from the Japan, Korea and China. Japan is the only country that treats myoga as a crop. It’s noted for its’ health benefits such as: combating malaria and intestinal parasites...amongst other things.
4. I want to learn how to start self sufficient farm with an emphasis on myoga. My quest for a self sufficient farm has been an ongoing process with a lot of trials and error. I have learned to adjust and adapt to new knowledge and growing requirements.

My herbs are turning out better than last years grow. That is particularly good news since the seedlings I’ve had in the ground does not seem to do well. I’m extremely happy because most of my herbs are perennials such as mint, rosemary, thyme, oregano, fennel and various Asian herbs. Recently, I find myself extremely interested in edible perennials.

Cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, squash and green beans have been in the ground for almost 2 weeks. It seems the leaf have more holes than leaf. Still working and prepping the garden.

I finally did it! I’ve transplanted the seedlings to their designated spots. Just in case there are issues with slugs and other unwanted issues, I decided to transplant 3/4 of the starts I had in the greenhouse. We still have so much more cleaning and prep work to do around the homestead. The weeding never ends…

The weather has caused delays in clean up and transplanting the seedlings that were in the green house. However, it is the best time to transplant because my zone has a projected last frost date as May 9th.

Guess what? Work and more work. My body has become adapted to the new routines that I have been going through.

Work and more work. Tired and aching bodies daily. I have to remember to have my phone with me and take pictures because I will forget about it throughout the day. I have to start taking notes or pictures of the different plants and vegetables that I am growing on my homestead. I know this and yet I keep forgetting as I get on my work day. The weather was warming up. However, the rain and mist was just enough to be bothersome and during those days I would usually YouTube all things homesteading and gardening. Again, it has become my escape from grief.

During the course of my YouTube rabbit hole I became interested in hardy fuschias. I have since bought several types of fuschias that I hope would do well in my climate.

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I have also bought several types of myogas and transplanted them into the prepared tray beds or containers.

Finally! We are home! It’s time to get to work.

We worked and worked. I have learned that homestead life requires schedule and plans to change constantly. In the midst of rushing our vegetable and flower seeds into soil starts because we were late starting seeds, we have weeded, cut logs, made new garden beds and prepared trays for the myogas in the greenhouse. I find myself spending hours prepping or weeding a small area only to look up and realized that I have many more days and hours before the area is somewhat reasonably prepared for the next step.

We spent about 2 weeks in Pennsylvania dealing with family medical crisis. During this time, my husband and I picked Catalpa Tree seeds from my sister-in-laws’ property. My husband liked the trees and how it looks. My belief was that any tree that can survive zone 5A is deserving of my starting their seeds. She was kind enough to let me pick as many seeds as possible. I have 2 large grocery bags of the seeds that has been packed with care in my checked in baggage. I have plans to start the seeds as soon as I can.

I have spent the majority of my time from February through March in Colorado dealing with a grief stricken family while we wait for the inevitable. During this time I have spent my waking moments listening, watching and learning all things gardening and homesteading via YouTube. It was an escape from the heavy emotional roller coasters that my family are dealing with on a daily basis. I have learned there are many, many ways to homestead and garden. It seems the only thing limiting my homestead ambitions are myself and my physical limitations. During this time, my husband and I came up with plans to situate our property into a homestead that can be self sustaining and hopefully provide a living wage for us in a few years if not sooner. That’s the plan! My husband worked on the property while I was away. He cut and moved logs, and moved soil and mulch weather permitting.

We agreed on several factors that will make our homestead work for us:

1. Age: We must be able to work on our homestead well into old age. That means we have to look at methods and practices outside of the traditional norms.
2. Sustainable: We want to have a closed loop method of giving nutrients to our plants without chemical fertilizers.
3. Physical limitations: This might be in the same category as “age” but it cannot be stressed enough that we both have physical limitations and anything we plan will have to be factored in.
4. Pacific Northwest: Any plants or veggies or plans we have will have to factor the weather of the Pacific Northwest.

Learning objectives:

1. I want to learn about myogas (Japanese Ginger) growth requirements. 
2. I want to learn the theory and process of tending a myoga garden plot residing within a home garden space. 
3. I want to learn the origins and health benefits of myoga.
4. I want to learn how to start self sufficient farm with an emphasis on myoga.