Category Archives: Wildings

Is A New Year A New Beginning?

RewilderLife Posted on by

 

A reflection on 2023 at 4 am on January 1, 2024

Is a New Year a new Beginning? Of course it is!

I’ll be honest, I’m ready for 2024.  2023 was rough.  I’m bruised, battered, beat up, defeated, and exhausted.  I battled pneumonia or RSV for weeks and weeks (my doctor is not even sure), shingles, and more.  There were several deaths in my immediate circle and I didn’t make some of the progress I wanted to on the land and in my personal life.  BUT I endured.  I made it. I got back up.  I battled through illness and exhaustion. I grew from the experience and have gained some tools and resolve to become the healthiest and most productive I can be (more on that later). I saw a meme about the New Year, it said, “It’s okay if all you did was survive last year.”  Thankfully I did way more than survive. Despite some of my biggest failures and my biggest obstacles I had some of my highest and most humbling experiences.

I will name just one weekend that I still have to pinch myself over.  I spoke/taught at The Indiana Homestead Conference on canning (a link to see my presentation).  I met Harold for the first time in person at the conference, but it felt like we were old friends (if you don’t know who Harold is, he is my co-host at The Modern Homesteading Podcast). I also met and got to share some lunch with Joel Salatin. I enjoyed a conversation with Shawn and Beth Dougherty. Amazing people who have been mentors through video and books for years, even if they don’t know it. This was a huge victory for me in overcoming using tech, I made a slideshow!! A huge victory in overcoming fear of public speaking!! And a highlight of a year that as I said above, was pretty rough.

So I guess, if your 2023 was littered with bad news and struggles, look for the nuggets of success and happiness.

IF a New Year is a new beginning, so is every single day.

When we made goals and resolutions that didn’t stick remember we have a new day, even new moments all throughout the day. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress when it doesn’t need to be.

Starting is progress!

AND

Failing is progress!

When I started giving myself permission to fail that was one of the best personal breakthroughs I ever accomplished. It has allowed me to do more, experience more and be healthier and happier. I have stopped that negative self talk and instead I have started to give myself pep talks. I have accepted that failure would happen. AND that has helped me pick myself up and try again. Do I still want to quit, HECK yes (and sometimes that is the right thing to do, more on that another time).

So go out there and start 2024 by DOING and FAILING.

 

Go be untamable…

unstoppable…

GO BE WILDER!

 

 

Hey, these are affiliate links to Amazon, I do get a bit of compensation on things you purchase once you follow that link. I do not see who purchased any items, so your privacy is still intact.

 

Shawn and Beth Dougherty’s The Independent Farmstead

Joel Salatin’s Polyface Micro (he has many books, this one is just geared toward a smaller scale)

 

Also, a link to my canning series over on The Modern Homesteading Podcast page…

https://www.modernhomesteadingmembership.com/how-to-can-bundle

We do have a membership over there if you are interested.

https://www.modernhomesteadingmembership.com/

New Homestead Wildings and Adventures

RewilderLife Posted on by

 

In 2020 this property was full of discarded logs and tree tops from past logging operations.  It had been logged three times that we could tell from records.  The logs were stacked high enough we had to climb on them to view the entire acreage.  Mixed among this mess was brambles and thistle.  If you’ve ever had to try to walk through that kind of pokiness it isn’t fun.  It was a mess. But we could see a diamond in the rough.  We could see the new forest among an old growth one, the ponds, the sugar maples,  the wild fruit, the flora and fauna. It could be regenerated and turned into a beautiful working homestead all while restoring the wilderness areas we wouldn’t be using.

In September of 2020 we purchased it and started cleaning it up.  We moved the piles and endless piles of dried tree tops, a fire hazard, we pushed, sawed, drug and piled them up and then covered
them in dirt and then planted them.  Fast forward three years to 2023 and those piles have shrunk considerably and became home to many living things.  They are also no longer a fire hazard, after two years of drought it is a relief to have them taken care of.

In 2021 and 2022 we planted grasses and grains in the paths that were cleared of logs. They have turned into green meadows now full of life and beauty. The winter rye we have planted has held back the brambles (This was something an old farmer told us) and help shade and improve the soil. It will be planted again this year.  We did try winter wheat, buckwheat, daikon radish (we have some clay in spots) we haven’t gotten enough rain to sustain these crops as well. Maybe next year.

 

We continue to work on the soil so we can eventually farm and graze animals here. We are learning a lot while we do this. We are also getting into fantastic shape!  One method we have used this year is called crimping. It’s a method many no till farmers use for cover crops. This method helps reduce erosion, heat on the soil, and mitigates the loss of nutrition bare soil can cause.  We chose to do this because we don’t have a lot of equipment and we could just push the rye down with our small tractor bucket.  We also chose to do this because our land is hilly and erosion can be a problem. You can also use a board to crimp grasses and just step on the board to flatten the grasses.  This works well in smaller areas such as gardens where you use cover crops.

 

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to build our permaculture paradise and make decisions.