What’s Growing? - Besides Me
Hey friends,
I know I can be wordy. Always have been, always will be. You can skim. I won’t even know. And good thing, because I can be sensitive lol.
I need to get better about posting updates, and when I do remember, they end up feeling like I’m writing a letter to someone, so here we are. When I was trying to come up with a name for this so-called blog (which I kind of hate calling it a blog), What’s Growing ?(Besides Me) stuck kind of immediately. Because lately, the answer has mostly been weeds, a ton of snap peas, and me.
To get the numbers out of the way, here’s what’s actually been given away so far:
8 dozen eggs
A pint of snap peas
A pint of black caps
That’s just what’s been given away. It doesn’t include the eggs I’ve bartered or the ones people left donations for. (Which—thank you. Seriously. My chickens appreciate it. Otherwise I’m buying the cheap stuff.) Every single donation goes right back into the homestead. I’ve been tracking every cent!
The roadside stand I keep saying is “coming soon” probably won’t be up until late summer—maybe. And honestly, even that might be a little optimistic. Not because I don’t want it to be, but because the garden was literally just tilled out of our actual yard a few weeks before planting, and I was a solid three or so weeks late getting everything in the ground. Plus, half the chickens aren’t even laying yet. So yeah—it’s behind. I’m behind. But things are growing, and I feel like more people than just myself are surprised. And like I say to myself, I also say to my plants: no one’s mad you’re late. we’re just glad you showed up.
Greenhouse update! Surprise! I’m building one! Eventually. I started barefoot (don’t do that), ended up with a screw in my foot (seriously—don’t do construction barefoot), and wasn’t allowed to keep working on it while I healed. Then a windstorm knocked the whole thing down before I could finish the walls. So now we’re rebuilding.
Apparently Mother Nature wanted me to rethink the whole thing if I planned on raising her babies in there. Fair enough. This time around I enlisted the help of both an engineer and a contractor! Somehow I completely forgot I have TWO brothers-in-law with extremely useful skillsets..
I am slowing down. Starting over. Reinforcing things. Trying to build it the right way. That seems to be the theme lately.
In more fun and exciting news, the chicks are 10 weeks old today! We might be seeing tiny eggs by late August or September. It’s honestly been a lot more fun dealing with chicken puberty than human puberty. Same amount of back talk, though.
I’ve been trying to keep up with the garden. Some days are easier than others. But I’m relearning that relaxing isn’t lazy—it’s taking care of myself. Recharging, apparently. I was also told I should try showing myself more self-compassion, so here’s me being as cringey and cliché as possible:
It’s not just the garden that needs a little TLC to grow.
Ew. I hated that. I’m sorry.
Anyway, now that we’re fully in stream-of-consciousness mode, I think that’s enough for one update.
More soon,
Bree