Quick Sunday Updates and Imbolc Nostalgia
Happy Sunday y'all! I'm usually up early (around 4am) on weekends, which gives me a little extra time for steem before the fam gets up. Yesterday was a curation post for @naturalmedicine and my proof of trees post. Today, it's steem engine. I just updated some things, and am loving getting active on here again. I remembered my 10k actifit tokens, which I'll sell you for 10 steem if you want em. I'm powering up to support more people and my communities of NM and TSU. I joined three curation trails, (@naturalmedicine, @tribesteemup, and @ecotrain) and would like for my 10% votes through them to actually have value rather than .0001 steem.
Quick homesteady update: last weekend I culled our remaining six chickens, and this weekend I tore down and hauled off the old coop and run. We decided to go that route and let the sun bake the ground a bit to get rid of their virus. I'd struggled over this decision for months, and decided to keep the birds, but changed my mind recently because that choice just wasn't a settling one. We'll be getting a new coop, making a new run, and getting ten new chicks soon.
That's a picture of the coop that my friend has said she'll give us. It's got a chook door, a people door, nesting boxes, and roosting bars. An actual purpose built unit that's really ultra cute! I'm excited.
With our tax return this year, we've decided to overhaul our water well. We'll get a new pump, tank, and well house, which I think will total around a thousand dollar project. Yikes! But we'll have well water instead of city water, so it'll actually be an investment, both for money and for health.
There's another small hugel I made last weekend too! I planted greens and tobacco on it. More tobacco than I'll ever use, but that's okay cause I've got folks at work that are interested in replacing some of their industrial tobacco use with natural, local, permaculture tobacco. Should be fun to look into. :) This bed was made with logs and sticks from my parents trees and their neighbor's trees too, plus soil from the top swale. More soil from that Swale went over to the north hugel as well, but not enough to complete it. Enough for one leg though, which will be one of our cucumber beds again this year.
So, as we come into spring, expect to hear more from little old Nate. I'm going to be busy in the yard and the books, learning to manifest physical health through the gift of creation.
Going through my old photos this morning, this week marks one year since I planted my first goji bush. From a twig the size of a pencil lead, it has grown and suckered to nine canes, each 1-2 meters long! This plant is the embodiment of abundance that got me so excited last year about naturally abundant systems. The chickens loved the berries, I loved the growth and free chook food, and it just kept growing!
Yesterday marks one year since I discovered the area at the woods that I call "the spa." I didn't know it then though, as I didn't have access because of the route I used to explore it. Here's the first picture i ever took of it, where you can't see the foot bath or the picnic area, just the 2m deep swimming hole:
I havent been out there in a while. I need to change that.
Also, this marks a year since I discovered turkeytail mushrooms there, which catapulted me onto the herbalism path. I didn't know the name at the time, but I also found lion's mane on the same day. I'm tincturing a mushroom from that same spot right now. Imbolc is a magical time, as @trucklife-family reminds us.
Wow. I'm not usually a nostalgic type, but this timing coincidence is really awesome to me right now.
Busy times, coming this spring! Hope y'all have an awesome Sunday.
All action for the good of all.
Nate.
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'The spa' looks like a cool place where one can relax during hot summer times.
It's an excellent spot in the summer. The creek sets about 2-4m down below the ground line, depending on terrain, and it stays nice and cool down there with the tree cover. There's a small ledge right by the foot pool for sitting on.
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Glad you made that decision with the chooks. Can't wait til you get new ones. That chook house is lovely, though I'm not a fan of the colour :P - you're right to feel nostaglic. YOu've put in some grunt and passion - it's all paying off. xx
Grunt and passion! I like that :) 💚
A lot to learn from your post
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I’m jealous of your goji berry success. Mine have been in a few years now and only one sent a sucker out, which my husband dumped the firewood on and killed. ☹ Our soil and climate are tough, even on these hardy plants.
The one I planted in the shade didn't care as well. Not sure if it's even alive actually. It's under a few inches of leaves. I'm not sure if there's a trick to it or not.
The first goji I ever tasted, I chewed and spat out, so some of those nine may be from seed? Maybe try that, they may like being direct seeded with plenty of saliva lol
Hey @nateonsteemit! @porters here Here's to getting your vote up more! So glad you are back Steeming more, I so enjoyed your wonderful witty ways and loved watching all your developments! What changes you have gone through - it's been quite a year! Sorry to here about your chooks but having that virus can be nasty and best to cut it off instead of constantly struggling with it - cute chicken coup!
Super thank you for joining the @ecotrain curation trail. Appreciated!!
I'm inspired about goji - it grows like a weed here in Northern Thailand, I'm led to believe - especially in the cooler mountains. I'm off to investigate to see if I can find one to plant.
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They're a super Hardy species. Our produced all spring while it grew, so very lively and energetic! I think they grow up to USDA zone 3 (by weird US metrics), high mountains to low desert. The fresh berries have a fresh pepper flavor, but not spicy. Makes sense, as they're a nightshade. I've not dried my own yet, but have had some dry from the store, and they're sweeter, almost like a raisin.
We eat & use goji all the time... very cheap here & even sell in supermarkets. Im wanting to makeborganic goji tincture... wine even. 🍷