Thoughts of a Newbie Homesteader

It's been a great first start of the season despite the warm winter. Now May has settled over us and I have a few thoughts about our journey so far. It's been seven months since we've moved to our little homestead. So here is what has happened so far:

BUGS! Many many bugs. I believe the warm winter facilitated the explosion of beetles and stink bugs. Also around late winter we had an infestation of Asian Lady beetles. Bad. We were trying to remove a stump when these tiny lady bug imposters swarmed from some hell hole by the barn and saturated the air around us. We were all covered head to toe. Their stinging bites (I heard that they don't bite but their little insectile feet can pinch hard) making us run for cover into the house. As we beat off the few that rode us in we noticed at every corner of our home they were flooding in. Not a surprise since this house is super old (1928 build). We surmised they came from the sagging old windows so we immediately taped everything that might be a gap. Then my daughter took the vacuum and collected the intruders.

Garden wise Texas has a bad leaf footed bug problem, AKA: stink bugs. They LOVE berries, tomatoes and fruit trees. They love destroying fruit by burrowing into them. I've lost a dozen heirloom tomatoes so far. I'm a fierce warrior with my spray bottle of Dawn soap and water. Quick tip: 1 generous tablespoon of Dawn liquid soap to one gallons of water. Slay! Spray directly on bugs and they usually die with one minute, sooner if they are bigger for some odd reason. I spray early morning and afternoons if I'm able. They've made my Goji berry bushes a love nest. Fine by me since it makes it easier to kill.

Another pest that seems in abundance here on our two acres, cabbage worms and other things that love eating my kale and cauliflower. I actually got BT for them, they were getting too numerous to pluck off and keep ahead of them.

Finally on the list of pests but not necessarily a bug, rodents. Gophers, voles and mice. Lost three tomato plants, several squash plants and one eggplant. I've tried a lot of things but the barn and surrounding structures offer too much shelter for them. The barn is coming down in the next couple of years.

So after all the trials we faced with pests I now know what this land offers. Great soil but even greater pests. Things spring to life here in a very surprising way. Seems the hundreds of years these old oak trees have shed their leaves has left a very loamy and fertile medium. We were up to our eyeballs in potatoes , carrots and cucumbers. Tomatoes that have survived the stink bug infestation still number greatly on my island butcher block. Peppers are finally coming in as well, more jalapeños then I know what do do with. I've been pickling what I can.

With the ongoing bug battles and garden tending there are days that are slow. It's not something that comes around too often. Really what is happening is I ignore what is happening outside and do something that gives me a break. There is always something to clean, organize, down-size and build. Always. If you live in a homestead the laundry list of chores and projects can only grow and at times minimize but never complete.

Currently my list of things number so greatly that money is now a factor in getting things accomplished. We want to build a secured garden to keep our pests down to a minimum, barn tear down, dog run, chicken coop, water well,  and home renovation.

That's just the big stuff. The everyday is something else. We live by a busy road so there's garbage that flies in from mindless troglodytes, keeping our wild bees from going thirsty and tons and tons of brush and small trees that need to be cleared and burned. We got some burned which supplied us with biochar.

Then there's my dogs that need social time and care. Shibas are a very needy type dog. They crave attention almost always so when I'm doing chores I like to take breaks to give them the love they deserve. Shibas also have undercoats that blow out twice a year and that takes over a month to finally  brush out completely.

I know I'm new to this and I may have over planted this first time around. At times it does get overwhelming and there are days I close the door and ignore my responsibilities outside. It's few and far between that this happens. I cringe when I think of adding chickens and ducks when I feel these days creep up in me and all I want to do is stay in my PJs. It takes getting into a battle rhythm to bust me out of the funk.  I have many worries and thoughts about being able to make a functional hobby homestead. It's not because I don't think I can go through with all that it entails but more along the lines of me freaking out because I'm just one person and the list of chores never ceases.

Yeah I have a lot of worries. So far, I've enjoyed our time here more than anything. Harvesting fruits from plants I grew from seed, and picking flowers of varieties I've always dreamed about. Not to mention the views of fireflies, eagles, sounds of owls and the space 2.5 acres provide. It's a working dream. Sure the house is slanted, can't flush the toilet when it rains and the random raccoons can make it a struggle but we love it here. The potential is vast and it just needs some commitment.

We are currently in budget crunch from saving. We want to renovate the house as soon as possible to get the biggest unknown variable under control. We don't want the house to deteriorate to the point of us having to move out to handle it. We were going to wait a few years but we don't think the house will remain in its current condition by waiting. We did however get one of our biggest debts paid off so YAY!!! Before we undertake this transformation we wanted to get our rental house across town sold so our income to debt ratio looks promising. We are saving a nest egg for the probability of us going backwards on our rental house.

We got to do what is necessary to get our debt undercontrol which in the long run gets us to where we want to be with our homestead. So big money projects have to wait. On that note, next growing season I will be scaling back to my raised bed area and do what I can with that small space. The amount of headaches from not having a solidified garden shed, hardware cloth protected beds and a better localized water source is not worth it.

But maybe next year we will be saving towards these things. Actually more like towards the beginning of Fall next year I can see us being in a position to build a great garden space. Mean time I have a good long summer to keep battling for the success of my current garden. Seed saving, canning and pickling are the order of the day.

It's ok to feel overwhelmed at times and it's ok to take a break. If you are new to homesteading please go slow. Start with growing what you can handle on your own then as you get a good head on what your daily life will entail slowly add to your homestead.

Time for me to go clean a yucky kitchen.