Springtime

The well pump gave up the ghost. I called customer service for Sure-Dri and they told me that it probably died of old age. Our choice is basically to replace it with something we know will be phased out shortly or go solar, in which case we are going to have to redesign the water system.

Spring is definitely upon us. Grass is definitely growing and the animals are choosing to eat more grass and less hay. I do not want to move them to the south pasture until the grass there is a little further along. For the present, I have been working on fences. Not much else can be done until the ground dries out a little more. We planned the gardens and staked the corners. If rain will hold off a little more, I plan on disking the plots this week. We now have a complete if not fleshed out Farm Plan. Hopefully this will keep us from making wasteful detours.

When the plan is finalized, we may post it but for now, a summary might help some people. We are continuing our pursuit of alternate energy sources. While this is still in the research stage, we are going to have to move on some of it right now. Certainly the pump, and probably the solar oven will top the list. Second, we are working on becoming more self sufficient. Of course, generating our own energy is part of this, but so is growing our own food. We are going to pursue building a house on the hill. This would give us a better site for both solar and wind energy. Obviously, this cannot be done immediately, thus there have to be both long term and short term goals.

At evening chores I watched the cattle play dominance games. George and Charlie squared off. George had his horn ridge just below Charlie’s, the points of his horns in Charlie’s forehead. Charlie’s horns did not connect with anything. George pushed Charlie back about three feet whereupon Charles quit and decided to go after William. Will stood up to him and Charlie pushed William back a few yards until he sat on his rump in the mud. James wanted no part in the games and came over and stood by me.

This morning I saw a scarlet Tanager.

Springtime

Blending Philosophy With Reality

It was 73^o, I saw both robins and mocking birds, the first buds are on the trees and shrubs and we had another thunder storm. The chickens gave us four eggs again today. The sow Isabella slimed my leg while I was cleaning out her water pan. We had to move hay again. The oxen sensed that it was a work day and met me at the gate all ready to work. Joe thinks George checks the depth of hay in the rings and knows when we are going to work them. William moved into position to take the yoke without being told and later got on the chain when he was told without prompting. Spring is battering on the door. We are talking about gardens and starting to plan.

The real issue is not what we are going to plant, or where. The question is how we make sustainable living a lifestyle. We have to factor in shelter, transportation, food storage, and clothing and provide food. We need sources of information and enough money to give us some maneuverability and acquire capital items needed to transform the farmstead. This is a tall order. Some things are obvious. The house is inefficient: Too much wasted space, poor insulation and a site that is someday going to get wiped out by a flood. We want to build a more survivable house up-hill where it will get more solar energy and pick up more wind. We have steadily reduced our use of the car and truck to about a single trip to town a week, bunching errands or simply staying home. Maria has almost single handedly reduced our electrical consumption to a quarter to an eighth (depending on the season) of our previous level. We have our sins, however. We are addicted to our computers and Netflix. Still these can eventually be supported by electricity we can produce ourselves.

Our plan is to move steadily toward a largely self sufficient sustainable lifestyle: Growing what we can, using draft animals where we can, making whatever we can do ourselves, bartering, trading or selling those skills we have to provide the capital needed to keep the place going. We believe that this course will fit with the changes we see in the environment and economic situation. We are not survivalists in the Y2K form, but it would seem to be provident to design a life that will not collapse if gas at the pump does hit $15 a gallon. We spend a lot of time here talking about the philosophy of living responsibly. At this time of year, the reality of carving this lifestyle out a hollow in southern Kentucky rears its ugly head and we are faced with making it work.