When we last visited my folks, I managed to glean some raspberries from the edge of the row where they were creeping into the rest of the garden. I also clipped and dug some rooted concord grape vines whose arbor had long ago fallen. The vines had partially rooted under the tangle of grass. These I brought back to Maine, nestled in soil, waiting for me to figure out where to put them.
I've been clearing more of the back field. Above the mostly flat
grassy area, the ground slopes upward to ledge. The popple and fir have been removed here leaving a large maple, a clump of two white birch and 5 or so wild apple trees. The trees themselves have been cut into 4' lengths and stacked for firewood. The branches chipped into a pile for mulch and the brush and small branches shredded via field mower. This time, I raked the shredded brush, leaves, etc into piles and relocated them to the top of a decay pile at the lower edge of the field. The area I've cleared looks very garden-like; but that's kind of the idea.I admire the concepts underlying permaculture. If you like to garden, it's very much worth reading about. They advocate working "with" nature and the "lay of the land" to grow things (like edible crops). So, that's kind of what I am after. Last year, I planted some hearty walnut and pecan trees in some clearer areas of forest (admittedly, they aren't looking so good right now but there's hope). I also planted some edible/cider apple trees that look much better than the nut trees.
This year, the raspberries and grapes are being planted as sort of a replacement understory in the latest area I've cleared. The raspberries were planted a week ago in soil mixed with rotten horse manure (they supposedly like this). The grapes were planted in compost two days ago before the latest rain. Both are planted in rows awaiting the setting of support poles and trellis wire. With luck, they will both grow and we'll have a few red raspberries and concord grapes by next summer.It's mid-spring for us and the blackflies are a nuisance. They like to swarm around my head and inhaling one isn't uncommon (ick!). They seem to bother me less each year but I still get bitten up and down my arms. I've placed bird houses hoping that the inhabitants will consume the little buggers. I really need to get my bat house up! Bats are supposed to be the best at natural insect control.
The wild apple trees are beginning to bloom. The flowers don't smell yet but the bees have found them and the buzz from the trees is very audible. I also noticed a hummingbird the other day. I hadn't thought about it before but it makes sense that they would be working the trees also as apple blossoms would be one of the first sources of nectar in spring.My chipper is fixed. It fell apart after three years of use. Not only did one of the hopper hinges break clean off but there were a myriad of cracks where the bottom of the feed chute meets the chipper housing. I'm glad I can weld and that my neighbor up the hill has a welder. 6 rods later and my chipper is better than new. Reinforced hinges and filled cracks will hopefully last another three years (it better!).
With things the way they are, I can't help thinking (alot) about Scott and Helen Nearing. They were interesting folk, back to the land-ers and considered themselves "living the good life" (read the book of the same name). They lived on a farm here in Maine not too far from us. From reading their book, it was obvious that they thought and planned their life very logically. They had a daily schedule of work. I was fascinated that, as they worked around their farm, they would come upon rock (in Maine, there is more rock than soil). Over the years, they would gather the rock they deemed usable and place it in specific piles.
It was piled by size. It was also piled by how many good "faces" the rock had. One pile for one "good" (flat) face. Another pile for two adjoining faces. Down the road, when the time would come to build a foundation for another building, they could go to a particular pile of rock and fill a cart with it, knowing that it was already sorted as rock that would be used in the face of a wall or that it would make good corner pieces. When you are building a wall, there is a science to it and the shape of the rock you use does make a signficant difference.
For me, this story advocates for an interesting and sensible way to approach life. We as a society have become so entrenched in thinking about the present and the short term, we neglect to view life (in the future sense) as an accumulation of years. Perhaps if we re-adopted this "colonial" approach to life, our view and manner of life would take shape much differently.
For example, what if you froze all your "credit card" purchases until their debt was paid off and at the same time you paid into a "savings" account that was to receive the same amount as your credit card payment? This would pay down your debt at the same time it allowed you to create savings. You would also benefit as it would force you to think about how you spend much differently.
What would our roads look like if we had to "save" to buy a car with cash instead of using "credit" to get what we want now? I'm willing to bet that the focus we place on what matters in a vehicle would change as would the focus of the business of making and selling the vehicles.
There seems to be to be a mindset that exists about how we consume and that this mindset is driven by credit. Where did credit come from? I hope you can figure that one out!
