Visions of garlic dance in my head...

Planted my garlic yesterday. 100 cloves should result in 100 bulbs of the Chesnok Red variety of garlic. Plus scapes (my personal fav). So exciting. First timer for planting so hoping it all goes well. Am told that garlic is fool proof but Climate here can be pretty harsh in winter so hope the planting was deep enough. Put a good layer of hay over top to insulate. Will report back in spring!! :)

Compost secrets??

We just picked up this composter yesterday. Jardin Dynamic Composter. Readily available at Home Depot. Set up was a breeze and given our harsh climate we thought it made sense to have one that is easy to rotate so that we are not spending tons of time outside hacking away with a pitch fork. It is an experiment really. We got it super cheap (same price as traditional) so thought we would compare. Anyone out there have recommendations on other composters (we will need a second and third eventually) and how to keep the compost nutritious and delicious (for the garden that is).

Garlic is for lovers...

So excited to grow our own garlic this year. Don't know if I am more excited about the scapes or the actual garlic. The variety is Chesnok Red. Supposedly one if the best for cooking due to it's flavor and texture. Our mil fall means it isn't too late to plant. So my order is in and if all for well I will be planting by the weekend!!

Eating an apple from my trees and dreaming about possibilities...

And we have arrived!

We are here. It is a bit surreal but so far so good. The path so far has been one crisis after another... or in the moment they feel like crises. I think we both feed into each others neurosis and anyone who happens to be in our path, watch out! First, it was the rogue mortgage person. Then it was the craptastic lawyer. Then it was the shitty car dealership dude(s). Now, whether or not any of these people actually sucked as much as we thought they did remains to be seen. what is more interesting is that both M and I have become so insane with anxiety in the past few months that I'm not sure anyone could have done anything right in our eyes. It is good that we are discovering this about our dynamic now. We are a bit of a swirling vortex of "don't mess with us" when we are stressed. One mis-step and yer doomed! Something we for sure have to keep in check but it is also good to know that we aren't afraid to complain when we need good service.

So... farm and country living related adventures this week have included:

-watching the dogs chow down on horse manure
-having new neighbors tell us that the dogs escaped and tore down the highway at breakneck speed (strangely... when I came home they were locked up tight in the barn. So either the neighbors are crazy or the dogs are magic. I vote for number 2).
-realizing that it doesn't take long to smell like horse shit basically all the time (I like it...kinda).
-there is always something to do, another thing to keep on top of
-realizing that a generator is probably not a nice to have, it is a must have.

So much to do before winter!!!

Homesteading adventures are a coming...

In other news, and as part of the change agenda, my partner and I have bought a small hobby farm outside of the city. We are thrilled about the possibilities. Getting back to the land, growing our own food, giving our pets wide open spaces (nothing is more gratifying than a tuckered out dog), apple pies and cider from our own orchard, tapping maple trees and growing good, organic food to nourish our growing family. There are some scary elements, like the higher mortgage payments, the distance from the city (and our jobs and friends), worry about feeling isolated and lonely in the country. But we have decided that we have spent too much time thinking about all of the "what ifs" and need to live in the moment. So we are looking forward to the good "what ifs". What if we love it, we find lots of kindred spirits, we invite our city friends to visit us frequently, we make it a priority to stay connected to the city and develop new connections in the country... and so on. Being in the country feeds my soul, which is exactly what I have been craving for so many years. Lets see what happens!