BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: ABANDONED BASEMENT: Chapter 1 Section 2

in #life6 years ago (edited)

An overgrown basement foundation lurked towards the front of the property, near the main road. This is where a house was going to be built but never got completed. The area was a well-selected spot, strategically located close to the road for easy access. I'm not sure why the project was halted, but assume it had to do with the property becoming temporarily abandoned when my grandmother Gladys became ill. I can only speculate that dying of stomach cancer would halt life ambitions and drain finances previously available for building a house.


From what I remember, the house I grew up in actually used to be a pole barn that was converted into a temporary house, while the other one was being built. This ended up being where we lived during my childhood before we moved to the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. Because the plans of building the house stopped in the middle of construction, the basement basically became a concrete enclosed pond. Trees and bushes grew within and around it. Our well worn driveway, which was somewhere between an eight to a quarter acre of gravel, stretched beside it.






Looking at the basement from the house, its concrete perimeter was mostly hidden, overgrown with yellow honeysuckle. The smell was sweetly fragrant during the hottest part of summer. I would spend hours each year at that sprawling bush carefully plucking the elongated elegant flowers from this native plant. In my yearning to recreate aspects of my childhood, I’d love to plant this again. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find the native version anymore. You can find the incredibly invasion honeysuckle swallowing forests that can be seen from the highways. As much as I would love to have this plant growing on our new homestead, I don’t want to ruin the natural environment here.


As I assume most people who've grown up near a honeysuckle bush know, there is a sweet nectar within. At the base of the flower, where it attaches to the bush, is a small green area where, if you pinch it in just the right way, you can detach the stamine from the flower. Then, gently pull it out to coax the tiny amount of nectar onto your tongue. If you have ever tasted it, you will understand why hummingbirds and insects flock to it. The smell was so beautiful. I would carry pockets full as I trolloped all around. Sometimes a flower or two would find its way woven in my hair or tucked behind my ears like a meadow princess.






Around the perimeter were a variety of other plants. It was so long ago. Nearly 3 decades. I can't remember most of them now except that there were many small trees four to ten feet tall. Seedlings which had grown from fallen seeds from the trees within the walls. I’m assuming there were at least a few Oak, Maple, Elm, and Cypress, as many of these trees were lurking around the perimeter of our property.


There were also fruit and nut trees but I didn't pay much attention to which trees where which, except for the obvious trees which produced food. Those were easy to identify because it was a great pastime of mine to collect the edible gifts from the earth. A few small trees with thorns had beautiful red berries I was sternly warned not to eat because they were poisonous. I won't pretend I didn’t think strongly about it, though. The warning didn't 'suade me from picking them and playing with them, but ultimately I heeded advice not to eat them, like the somewhat obedient child that I was. They looked perfectly round, like little red bb gun pellets. They were solid inside and hard to crush.






On the inside of the basement were many other, more mature, trees. Much larger trees, in fact. Some were probably 10-20 years old based on their stature. The basement foundation had to have been around 8 feet deep. Those trees towered above the walls at least 20 to 30 feet. I believe this foundation was built in the 60s or 70s, so there was plenty of time for those massive trees to take root. It was a concrete enclosed wild forest by the time I was traipsing.


Although it had walls, I was never able to tell if it had a concrete or gravel floor. The bottom had island-like areas of gravel, concrete rubble, and a murky pool of standing water. Being built in that era, it could’ve had a gravel floor, likely being built primarily to function as a root cellar and storm shelter, seeing how the property had neither.


I was always told never to go near or inside of it because it was very dangerous. My childhood fear of monsters spooked me well enough it chased away any curiosity to explore the abandoned site, which sometimes looked magical, other times haunted. Other than the barn converted into a house, the cinder block enclosed well, and the old remnants of a disintegrating pigsty, the rest of the property was lush with wild plants and animals. However, the basement was being swallowed by nature over the years. During my childhood that in between stage made it seem like both an out of place man-made structure, as well as a mysterious otherworldly dimension. Like an ancient ruin from a past civilization. Abandoned to be consumed by the elements, yet with a rich history.



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For reference, here are the previous posts:


STORIES:

BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: EXPOSING MY ROOTS (introduction post)
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: Chapter 1
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: FAMILY OWNED: Chapter 1 Section 2

2011 GARDEN:

2011: DESIGN AND BUILD
2011 BACKYARD TRELLIS, PERIMETER, & VOLUNTEER
2011 TIRE PORTION OF THE GARDEN
2011 BRASSICAS-TIRE GARDEN
2011 DWARF ORCHARD


TO BE CONTINUED...


That's all for now. Until the next post... If you found this post enjoyable, please consider upvoting, resteeming, following, and commenting! Thank you kindly for reading.


(Created by @bembelmaniac)


(Created by @soulturtle)



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I love this series so much. You have a way with words that takes me back to my own childhood..and now I need to plant some honey suckles! Thank you for sharing this!

Thank you @llfarms for always being so encouraging. I'm glad you like these stories.

You write so beautifully

That's very sweet of you to say @yidneth. Thank you <3

Enjoyed your writing... looking forward to reading more.

Thank you kindly @rockykelley. I've been trying to do them weekly but I'm in the middle of planting so the posts are a bit behind. I'm glad you like the series. there will be more.

I will be visiting regularly.

I've tasted that little drop of nectar from the honeysuckle flowers... so sweet!
And I, too, was warned not to eat those bright red, hard berries, though they were fun to play with and roll around.

Where was this house-that-was-never-built? Southeastern U.S?

The place I grew up was in South eastern Missouri in Greene county, not far from Springfield. I miss it very much but have found my way back to a place which is very similar. I'm living now in a rural area about a hundred miles north of there, not farm from Kansas City.

Where abouts are you?

I live in Chapel Hill, NC now, but grew up near Pittsburgh, PA where we kids would play with those verboten red berries. And I encountered honeysuckle when I lived on Hilton Head Island, SC.

Thanks for your comment on Discord chat the other day; I didn't see it till later and you were already off. :-)

Wow, you're a really good writer. I want to taste the nectar of this honeysuckle plant haha. I love the calming tone of nostalgia in your words. Very well done :) Like an ocean in a coffee cup or something.

Thanks @soundwavesphoton! You find the best gifs. I could stare in the cup a jo-cean for hours. That's what it looks like for a split second when I pour the coffee in my creamer.

love how you so vividly remember the plants of your childhood. that is a very cool, visceral memory... landscapes are so different when you're a kid, like you explain the "haunted at times" basement.... everything takes on grand proportions!

Very true! Vivid and grand. I imagine you've had similar experiences. The magic of the Ozarks is so thick you can almost taste it in the air.

Btw...guess what guess what guess?!? I'm so excited and I think you'll like hearing this. I haven't posted about it yet but will once I'm caught up with more stories, posts in the gardening series, and getting things more established here...

The orchard trees and bushes are here!! Weeee! I'm excited and nervous. Hoping to get them planted early next week. I'm still prepping.

I'm reading mixed information, though. It's very heavy clay here. We only have about an inch of topsoil. Some people say to amend the soil with compost/peat moss or coconut coir/topsoil. Others say that can be more detrimental. The nursery instructions say to add coconut coir. What do you do? I'm sure it's heavy clay there, too. I know you plant a ton of trees. We planted blackberries in potting soil and they're doing well.

ozark magic; thick in the air and sweet on the tongue...

excited to hear the trees have arrived! What you're asking is sooo common and there are indeed many responses. What i will say is my own understanding without seeing your soil, so take it for what it's worth.

Firstly, ammending soil around tree encourages them to "stay at home" meaning they aren't as likely to spread their roots. If you amend heavily, they won't reach for new areas, especially if the amendments include fertility. That said adjusting pH (with lime or sulfur) is a good idea.

Secondly, depending on the species, they might not like wet feet or soggy conditions. A slightly raise hill might help prevent the heavy clay creating standing water.

What we do is dig a hole as deep as (including room for mulch) slightly wider than the roots (or container). What you DON't want is a uniform hole, so make sure to puncture the side of the hole with shovel, creating texture and easy access for roots. It's best to leave the bottom of the hole undisturbed and slightly mounded (to prevent pooling in your clayey soil).

As for coir, depend on what you're planting and how thick the clay is. For instance, we added peat to the soil we replaced while planting our blueberries as they have shallow roots, need acidic soil and LOVE constant moisiture. I might add coir if you're worried about super heavy clay, but i would add in over a larger area than your initial hole, that way you will create lighter soil that will encourage wider roots.

Lastly I would not advise incorporating any manure of compost, rather adding them under mulch. Soil, manure, cardboard, wood chips or shavings (8-10 inches deep making sure not to crowd the stem) is the order we use. This will keep grass down, moisture in, maintain natural soil profiles and feed fungi.

PHEW. thats a lot, but hope it helps with your decisions. Just remember, just planting is a FANTASTIC step, so don't fret too much. ALL THE BEST <3

p.s we don't have much more than 2 inches of topsoil and LOADS of rocks, so we do the best we can.

Thanks so much for the input on this. I took pieces from several things I've read, plus some of your suggestions too. In the end I kinda sorta Phestyled the mix. I hope it works well. I did amendments, but in a way where I think the roots will still be able to spread in the native clay. I'll do a post on it eventually. It is freaking hard work, omg!!! im so exhuasted and I'm only half done so far with the trees. Still have the berries and other perennials and seeds and and and. haha. its an exciting time of year even though I always feel overwhelmed. Anyway, fingers crossed for the trees to grow well and the groundhog and rabbits and deer to stay away. Thanks again for the advice

This brought back some memories! I used to love collecting honeysuckle nectar too, and when I saw that picture of the black walnut, the smell actually came back to me. :)

Oh I know!!! Black walnuts are a distinct smell, aren't they? We have a few here on the new homestead. Actually, I should bust out the hammer and crack a few open.

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very nice photos of nature!

Thank you, but these are public domain pictures which I included links to the original post where they are on pixabay. I picked them because they go well with the story, which I hope you liked, too

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