02 – How To Only Do 22 Things On Your Homestead

I have been constantly working on projects since we bought our house. Most of the projects are garden related, but I am also learning to do as much of my own home maintenance and repairs that I can. Some of the projects I have been working on are: a fenced in garden area, with a fence made from T posts, cattle panels and chicken wire, 5 wicking beds, two made of a plastic 55 gallon drum that was cut in half, two from an IBC we cut in half, and one in a 2 foot tall, 8 foot by 4 foot corrugated metal raised bed. We put a 20 foot by 3 foot and 2 foot deep trench in the fenced area that was originally going to be a hugelkultur, and still is partially, but it ended up being filled with basically anything I could find, because I ran into a couple issues with using the wood I had: it was too fresh and most of it was too big (possible termite nest attractant). Along the opposite side of the fenced area, I loosened the dirt and worked in an inch or so of potting soil. I made my 55/30 tin man biochar retort. I have used it to produce biochar one time, while two smaller retorts have been used several more times to make smaller amounts of biochar in a regular fire. My indoor plant lab has come a long way: lights hung, areas divided, floor protected, and it has worked very well to start plants as well as hold plants during the winter so I don’t have to cover them. It serves many purposes. I have also been using that room to work on my mushroom project. After several misfires, I finally have some quality mycelium growing and if I play my cards right, I should be fruiting bright pink oyster mushrooms in the next several weeks. I have worked on the plants in the front yard, trying to prevent certain plants from seeding while babying our favorite wildflowers to have more next year. I replaced all the locks in the house and discovered that our front door had serious damage from being kicked in. I learned how to fix the door so that it is stronger than it ever was. If that wasn’t enough, there are 1,000 other little projects that have come up as well. Honestly, the hardest part has been trying to document as much as I can. Eventually, I want to work on video editing and put content up on YouTube. This blog is a good start for me, for now.

Oh, and by the way, the Cholla Casa officially has cholla in the ground now. I have had three staghorn cholla cuttings growing for most of the last year. We got them from Brad Lancaster’s neighborhood during a cholla bud harvest. The one I planted actually grew three flower buds and had one fruit from last year, as well as 4-6 new segments that had just started growing.