homestead and health updates: april 2024
I didn’t really intend to take a hiatus from blogging, but that seems to be what has happened. Time can really creep up on you, can’t it? I’m glad to report that it hasn’t been the result of idle time. A lot has been going on behind the scenes.
For starters, this is the time of the year when we set the groundwork for our growing season. It is an inherently busy season, but particularly so this year, as we are expanding our growing operation and, of course, continuing to refine our processes. We have built two additional garden plots so far and there are several more to follow, time and money permitting. We have been more consistent in keeping dormant beds tarped since the end of fall, so hopefully we will be able to reap some benefits from that in terms of better weed control.
The garlic is off to a great start and we are on the look out for the start of the asparagus flush. The peach trees are gorgeous. The blooms haven’t fallen prey to a late frost as sometimes happens in our region. We’re getting closer every day to being in the clear, but there are no guarantees. The berry bushes are starting to show signs of reemerging from their winter slumber. So are the grasses and weeds. Keeping up with them is an adventure unto itself.
There are pretty big plans in the works to ramp up perennial and annual flower production starting this year. This is Neva’s labor of love. She gets so excited about it. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching all of her hours of education and planning pay off.
All of those updates and observations are a pretty good segue to another reason that I have had to temporarily take some time away from writing. I have been trying to learn how to produce and post videos to document some of the events and progress at the farm. I have been wanting to do this for years, but haven’t been able to make it happen until now. Different people appreciate interacting through different forms of media, so it’s a logical progression, right?
We have been documenting some of our efforts and progress as able, and we have been posting them on YouTube to share. Hopefully there will be many more videos to follow. If interested, you can check them out at:
It has become apparent that not all of the material that we can produce will be a good fit for Homesteadmaker, so I now have a second YouTube channel under construction. Homestead Health and Wellness. I haven’t published anything yet, but I’m compiling some videos and trying to determine what direction I am going to take it in. Well, that’s not entirely true. I do have one video that I previously posted about how archery and dentistry aren’t as incompatible as some people may think at first glance. If it went viral, everyone must have been vaccinated. Still, making it was fun. The YouTube link in the header should take you to the Homestead Health and Wellness channel. I will launch some content soon and am looking forward to seeing how things evolve.
Oh yeah! I have also started the process of moving the www.operationhomeinstead.com website to my new domain, www.homesteadhealthandwellness.com. You may have noticed since you are, in fact, here. Call me Captain Obvious if you must, but sometimes it’s important to acknowledge and discuss what can be plainly seen. Why go through the hassle of changing names / domains? Because I felt like the name was more suitable and a better overall representation of the past, present, and future content that I plan to produce. Now that I think about it, changing names is becoming a bit of a theme for me.
On a more personal note, I have hit a milestone. For the first time in a long time, I have dropped below 200 lbs. That’s about 50 lbs down from my peak. I’d like to give a shout out to my good friends cocaine and methamphetamine for helping me get to where I am today.
Seriously though, it has been a long time in the making. Most people don’t set out to let themselves go. It’s one of those insidious things that creep up on you over time. Letting oneself go is a byproduct of excessive busyness, being over tasked and caring for others. Somewhere in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle you lose yourself and forget that if you want peak performance out of any machine, appropriate maintenance must be performed.
My line of work is a breeding ground for bad habits of all sorts. Irregular hours. High stress situations. Prolonged periods of being excessively busy. Death. Dismemberment. Dealing with difficult personalities under duress. You may or may not have time to take care of basic personal needs like eating, staying hydrated, and going to the bathroom, much less deal with the emotional baggage that comes with the territory.
You basically have to learn to live and eat like a raccoon to survive. Eat what you can. Eat when you can. Go to the bathroom on the floor if necessary. If anyone shines a light on you, bare your teeth and hiss at them. “How long has that been sitting there?” and “Who does that belong to?” matters in an inversely proportional fashion to your level of hunger. If someone says “Hey Man! Did you just go to the bathroom on the floor?”, distract, deny and divert. “Gross! That has corn in it! Nasty! No way I did that! Must’ve been you. What’s that stain on your pants from anyhow?” Always keep on keeping on because if you slow down too much, you might just fall asleep.
It’s hard to break bad habits, but it can be done. One of the first things that needs to be done is to identify the change that you want to make. After that you need to recognize the barriers and learn to differentiate between true barriers and excuses. Do not indulge yourself by tolerating excuses. Didn’t mean to get preachy there. Not to worry though. There will be no alter call and I’m not about to pass around the offering plate. I’m sure that I’ll talk about it more later but while it does feel good to be back in the under 200 club for the first time in decades, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
I’m glad to be getting back on track and am looking forward to a great year of growth and development.
“It’s good to be back, feeling like myself and enjoying it.”
