What do you do with almost two acres of land? That's the question I've been asking myself. Homesteading is, by its very nature, a stay-put kind of activity. You work your land, you add things to it which will nourish your life, and then build on what you've already built. Moving wipes the slate clean, unless you buy land from another homesteader, which we did not.
The woman who lived here before us lived the country life with all the city conveniences. She has a massive sprinkler system to water a massive, water-sucking lawn. There are shrubs and flowers, but only one productive fruit tree. It's not her fault by any means. She lived like 99 percent of America does. But it does mean we're starting from scratch on this property as far as homesteading goes. We need to build raised beds, re-purpose most sprinkler heads, plant fruit trees, and look at our soil to see what will grow where. Eventually I see a small vineyard, a berry patch, a place to grow wheat and corn and a place to keep livestock. I see a very small lawn, mainly kept for adding nitrogen-rich greens to the compost pile and to give the dogs a place to run around without getting too dirty.
But we also need to paint inside and get flooring replaced, and it's the inside tasks which will be done first. There's an eco-friendly purpose to those renovations, too. A hardwood floor can be swept and doesn't need an electric vacuum cleaner to make it look pretty. A lighter coat of paint in the house means we will be able to use less electricity-using lights and lamps, as the walls will reflect light naturally (I never realized how much light-sucking capacity dark walls have before I moved here!)
There's a method to the whole process, but at times it seems overwhelming. But the old adage comes to mind: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We're chewing on that.
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