Homestead Life

Growing a big garden or two gardens as in our situation, is a lot of work.  Yesterday, Emery and I spent a total of 8 hours planting our big garden.  Rows upon rows of seeds were sown.   We worked under a clean bright blue sky, with a cold north wind blowing in the early hours of the morning.  By afternoon the wind had died down some and we began to peel off the jackets and hats.  We would stop what we were doing for a minute or so to watch a hawk soaring over head, or listen to the birds sing and try to identify each one.  Lunch was taken in haste, so we could get back outside to finish our work.   It was a long, hard day but one filled with satisfaction .  We know that in a couple of months time we will be reaping the harvest of our labor. 

Carrots, Onions, both red and yellow, several kinds of Kale, Spinach, Potatoes, blue and red, Corn, Snow Peas, Green beans, Butternut squash, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Beets, Garlic, and of course a nice row of Sunflowers for bird seed.    The second garden will be planted this week and the list is long for what we will sow into the rich brown soil.    I checked to see how many calories we each burned yesterday after just 4 hours of work and it was about 1,300 calories.  It was a good workout !

I love this life of living simply, stepping softly on this earth of ours.  Living a life where we are not so dependent on stores for our every need.  Where if the electricity went off for a month, we could cook, stay warm and not be in a state of panic waiting for help.  Hard work gives great reward and keeps us fit at the same time.  I read an article not long ago, Garden to Improve Mental Health  which shows the research in this matter and its hard to dispute.   Simplicity is good, gardening is good and living life a bit old fashioned seems to be medicine for our souls.

our duck started sitting on a nest three days ago.  Will be fun to see little ducks following their parents around.