Gardening Season is just around the corner!

 

Well this year at College Hill Farm we are working on so many construction projects that I don’t know how much gardening I will be doing. With my health conditions and dead of summer temps work is tough on me so I have to work early morning during the summer. But, right now the temps are right for me to work outside all day long. But, this is when I can do those construction projects.

It is also time to get to be planting those gardens. Right at this moment our freezers and pantry are still pretty full. Since the pandemic we have not had as many visitors and have not eaten down our supplies like in regular years. So we still have a pretty full larder. So this year I will have to pare back the garden a little and concentrate on the building projects.

I know! You come to the homestead and to see homesteading stuff. Well building tractor sheds, goat barns, greenhouses, etc. are all vital homestead infrastructure. I worry that my speed at production of these items will be the boring part. I am not the man I used to be and have had a few recent health setbacks too, such that I am only firing on 5 cylinders. I have never been a V8. Straight 6 with bulldog is more like me. Although, the channel is a chronicle of our life establishing a working homestead after 50, so I guess most people understand that.

As far as the channel goes, I have been looking at the videos that get the most views and they are mainly the equipment, hacks, tool reviews, and the Prepping stuff. The gardening has not received nearly as many views. So I guess it should be fine if we pared back the garden this year. When we got here in 2015 I just didn’t realize how hard the work would be on my old body. But at 60 now I realize that there may be parts of this homestead that I probably will not be able to master. But, you know what, that is Okay!!!

I had high expectations about what I wanted to do and how I needed to do it. But I assumed, wrongly, that my health would hold up to all of it. The kids see me as bullet proof, ready to handle any incident. The truth is, I think, my bullet proof days are over. Don’t get me wrong I am not ready to roll over and spend my days on the porch. I am still a big dog but now I amble instead of run. However, it is going to take a little better planning and effort on my part to work through what needs to be done.

Some of the things I wanted included large animals like a milk cow. Now, Crystal is not an outside kind of girl so I would be the one doing the tending and milking. We have been together for 38 years and I knew this when we started this homestead. A cow is a huge animal. In my youth this was never a problem, mules, horses, and cows were all easily worked. But, now I don’t know if I can do that anymore. I want to get goats and will try and get the fences in this year as well. But, I had planned on full size meat goats or full size dairy goats. I might still do that but maybe go down to smaller breeds. Don’t think I will ever go back to raising rabbits. Geese might also be on the horizon but boy are they pricy. I still want to raise pigs but instead of breeding pigs I think I will just work with raising shoats (baby pigs) each year and let someone else do the breeding. That is what my grandfather did on his homestead during my youth.

So I have my work cut out for me this year. Tractor shed, greenhouse finished, goat barn, small garden, and fences. May be more than an old guy can get done, but hey, plan big and if I get everything done then that is all the better. Set goals high that way if you achieve some of them you still have had success. I remember the homestead of my grandparents and want to have a similar setup. However, I need to remember that the homestead of my childhood was already 40 yrs old when I came along. The infrastructure was established over a 20 or 30 yr period. So at 8 yrs I am still doing OK because the first 2 were basically only the house and I still have a couple of projects in there to do. 

The recent electrical outage told me I needed to take some time and work on the backup heat. What we had already done worked but it sure would have been better if I had it such that we only needed to push a button and then there is the solar, and on and on. Whew, so many projects.

I hope this finds you well. We will pray for you and ask that you pray for us when you get a chance. But, also remember that Life, Like Homesteading, is a Marathon NOT a Sprint – Slow Down and Enjoy the ride.      

Be Certain to Visit our Homesteading Channel on Youtube at http://Youtube.com/c/collegehillfarm  as we create and live on a modern homestead like our ancestors before us. Also check out and add your name to follow our weekly blog channel at https://collegehillfarm.blogspot.com so you do not miss our weekly ponderings on the past, present and future and on our Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/College-Hill-Farm-295659074295747