Daydreaming Homesteading

I found this post in my drafts. Apparently, I never posted it. It’s 6 months later now, and I’m well settled into my new home at The Wallow. What has happened and what has yet to come? Here’s the draft I wrote back in August:

I won’t be moving to my new house in Tennessee until October. So much waiting! I’m reading up on bees and pigs in the meantime, as well as prepping for Burning Man and Alchemy, which happen between now and then. There’s lots to do, but I’m spending a lot of time daydreaming away, too.

What will I be doing with my time on my little homestead? It’s hard to know until I’m there and doing it, but my brain is full of lists of all the things I think I’ll love doing. Especially when I’m trying to fall asleep, my thoughts go a mile a minute through all the different activities I think I’m going to absolutely delight in:

• Unpacking, organizing, and decorating the house
• Setting up work space in the barn
• Helping Joshua plan out our garden space and build raised beds
• Building a pen for the pigs I’ll have in the spring time
• Preparing the bee hive
• Walking around every inch of our land and falling in love
• Identifying the edible plants already in our yard
• Picking out orchard space and learning how to prepare the soil
• Building trellises/arbors for our back patio area
• Making sun tea and fresh bread often
• Learning canning and dehydrating to prepare for the summer bounty
• Sitting and swinging on our front porch swing
• Building a permanent compost bin
• Seeking out like-minded souls in the Knoxville area

The list could go on and on. I’m still a city girl at the moment, but I dream and dream and dream of the soon-to-be-mine log house, beautiful land, and endless opportunities of homesteading.

Back to the present. So how is the reality? One factor is that so many of these things won’t kick into full swing until spring. It’s wintertime on the homestead, which is a little more calm with many things in the planning stages. A similar post next fall would have a longer list of things already finished.

As it is, I have walked every inch of my property and fallen in love over and over again. Joshua and I moved in, unpacked, decorated, and organized all in one week, so we are thoroughly moved in. The workspace in the barn is all set up, although I have yet to build anything. I do make sweet tea (finally figured out the right recipe to make me happy) and we have fresh bread often. I’ve learned to dehydrate apple rings and banana chips. I love my porch swing, though less so today in the freezing wind.

Just today, Joshua is making intensive plans for the garden, and seeds will go in the dirt (in the house) this week. We think we’ve settled on orchard space. Pigs and chickens and bees and compost bins and arbor building are all spring projects (actually, it’s a pergola, and it might be a next year project).

Many things are happening, and many, many more are yet to come. I am both happily settled into my homestead and still daydreaming the extra happiness and activity yet to come.

Tags: House, Joshua