Too Many Words

I normally would want to talk about gardens, food security, yard work, cooking homemade meals, preserving and preparing, all all of the other homesteading things. Right now it seems more important to focus on the emotional things going on with this pandemic first (and then hopefully an update on life around the farmstead)...

This is a time in history that probably happens about once every 100 years or so. Because of that, it seems to fade from living memory. With our modern world and modern lifestyle, I think we all thought we were immune to a pandemic like COVID-19. We seemed to assume that vaccines and drugs will sort us all out and we'll go about our business. We were wrong.

I feel confident (because I feel I HAVE to hold onto that hope) that we WILL have a vaccine eventually. We WILL have good treatments eventually. This will NOT be the kind of global pandemic it is now. But for now, this is what we are living with.

It makes us all afraid. We are afraid of getting sick (and dying). We're afraid of loved ones getting sick (and dying). We're afraid our economy is fuggered for some long time to come. We're afraid of our food security (what will this mean for food supply lines??). We're in desperate need of our friends and loved ones at a time when it is literally life-threatening to get together with them.

Many people are out of a job right now. I am trying to feel blessed that my husband has a job and that our income currently is staying steady. On the other hand, he still has a job because he works for a hospital as an essential worker. He is exposed to this virus every day. He could become sick and die, and/or bring it home to us.

We have protocols in our house right now. We have plastic sheeting "air locks" near the entry door as well as in front of the master bedroom (which is where he is now secluded at night). I am now my son's roommate in his bedroom, which is probably a cramp in his style (even though we cordoned off the room a bit for some privacy), but he is weathering it with fairly good grace (bless his sweet heart).

The kids and I try to stay 6 feet away from my husband at all times, although admittedly my husband and I will rub our backs against the other person's back in a sort of "hug", our faces heading in opposite directions but at least it gives us some sense of touch. The rest of the time, we all do "air hugs" and "air kisses", just in case my husband has picked the virus up at work and is asymptomatic. He washes and disinfects the second he gets home.

He has 3 pairs of shoes (one for going from the house to/from the car, one from the car to the hospital, and another pair at work JUST for at work - and they stay at work).  He changes his clothes the second he gets to work and puts on scrubs, a lab coat, a hair bonnet, goggles, and a mask. If he has to enter a patient's room, he puts on a full-head respirator helmet.

It's all very scary, but I try hard not to focus on how terrifying it is right now. I'm not exactly young and in the best physical condition (I have been trying to work out a few times a week for about 30 mins to build up some stamina and get my heart/lungs/circulation moving). I have to try to not think about it and be strong for my kids, who are old enough to understand what getting the virus could mean.

With all of this uncertainty, it feels more important than ever to have some kind of food security. If we make it through this virus, we could be facing food shortages. As a result, I've put in 2 4x4 raised beds so far (with plans for 10 7-gallon fabric pots on their way). I also still have several containers on my back deck along with several NEW containers that fit over the deck railings.

It won't be enough to feed our entire family, but it will hopefully help supplement what we can get from the store. It's also part of up-skilling.

It does kind of stink to have a situation like this force your up-skilling to happen a bit faster than you might have been ready for. I mean, heck we still only rent this farm. We haven't even heard from the landlady about renewing our lease for another year (although we "assume" we'll be all set. She is financially motivated to keep us here, and it's a BAD year to try to sell a house this year for her given this pandemic).

We want our own farm very badly, but the reality is that my husband needs to move up one more notch financially first for us to afford what we're looking for (4+ acres, mostly cleared, close to a work place, good internet, and a house that is in relatively good shape - 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a dry basement, etc). Some have thrown veiled accusations that we're being "too picky". Given that we currently have a safe roof over our heads, we can afford a little more time to wait for what we want. We aren't asking for a mansion, but it does need to be in reasonably decent shape (some fixing-up is fine) and it does need to have the land size we want. These are non-negotiables as far as we are concerned.

As for the garden, so far I have 11 plants in a 4x4 bed. There are 9 plants about a foot apart from one another, along with a fingerling and another regular potatoe tucked in. These are all spuds that sprouted under our cupboard over the winter. It's been nearly impossible to find seed potatoes, although I hear that is changing.  I can't decide if I want to get more, or just tuck away what I have given that we found plenty of potatoes at the store the other day. Maybe we'll just deal with what we have. I'll probably reserve another 12-14 spuds for NEXT year. The idea isn't necessarily that these potatoes I planted will be required for food survival this year. It is more about developing skills, saving seed potatoes, and whatever is left over we will eat and/or preserve.

I have ordered quite a bit of seeds, so I can get my seed bank loaded up with at least a couple of each kind of food. Seeds could become more valuable than gold if something major were to happen. There is something comforting about knowing we have our own organic, open-pollinated seeds for when we DO find our own land.

This year I'm planning to have several tomato plants, a couple of peppers, some carrots, zucchini, a spaghetti squash plant, lettuces, kale, beets, chives and hopefully my strawberries will come back again this year. I "liberated" some rhubarb from the property we're renting. My justification is that they popped up in a spot outside of the normal bed where they will get mowed down by the neighbors who are contracted to mow all summer long. I also took one plant from within the center of the bed (with the justification that they really are very crowded in there and will benefit from a bit of space). That gives me 3 "babies" and 1 mature crown. They have taken well to the deep container I've put them in on my back deck. I'll see how crowded the bed looks come next spring, which will hopefully be shortly before we finally are ready to find a place of our own. If I feel it seems like another plant or two will not be missed (and especially if any pop up out of the bed again), I may grab a few more to bring to our new home. 

I could get very nerdy and go on and on about the kinds of seeds and plants I've got, what my plans are for some of them - such as potato onions (perennial multiplier onions), which I plan to start some from seed as soon as they arrive, or asparagus seeds, which I'm planning to start in a container from seed.

Anything I grow this year I will definitely be saving the seed from the very best plants. That's part of the whole idea, isn't it? Self sufficiency and sustainable homesteading.

I don't just want to get through this pandemic. And maybe part of it is that I NEED some hope to cling to that we'll get through this and move on to the next stage of our dreams.  Somehow, if we do make it through all of this, when we finally have our very own homestead, we will appreciate it more than words can say. We've fought the good fight. We've rented for 4 years now, just waiting for the right place and the right time for our homestead dreams to fully get underway.

Until then, I'm making the most of what we've got...and I'm learning things along the way. I'm saving seeds. I'm keeping notes on everything.

I hope anyone reading this is well and healthy and thriving. Be grateful for all of your blessings. Please.