Homesteading. And homemaking.
Sometimes, I get really ambitious and unsettled. It's true.
Until our big move, I'd never really noticed this in myself - perhaps is accentuated by challenge circumstance.
Actually no. You know what it's accentuated by?
Dreams of this:
And this:
I awoke Saturday morning with a pit in my stomach - for some reason, in my half-sleep state, I began to think about all those 'irritating' things in the back of my mind. For example, the fact that our lease is up in May of next year....which is prime gardening time down here...which means that we still won't be able to have an established garden next season if we're looking to move into a house further out of town.
I also thought about the fact that this week, there is a hurricane headed right in our direction.
Though, in my half-comatose state, I remember thinking 'It's okay, we'll be safe from the hurricane, we're at Hogwarts!'
Perhaps I spent too much time finishing my Harry Potter book this weekend.
Sorry. Rabbit trail. Let me return to my point.
Sometimes the desire for things I wish to establish and build and experience cause me to feel anxious with where I am right now. As a Christian, I should seek peace in today - knowing the Lord has a plan, a perfect plan, for His child. The Lord knows the desires of my hearts better than anyone. He knows I long for this:
And this:
And I don't take lightly the fact that this is important to him. Timing, however, is another thing.tyutfgh 64
In the meantime, since I'm not really in a true homesteading position, I've found peace in the fact that I can use this time to learn to be a better homemaker.
For example, I'd really like to get better at doing laundry. Not just doing it, but doing it well (goodbye, stains!). I'd also like to maximize the usage of our drying rack and iron and acquire more linen napkins (which always look like a wad in my drawer). Did I mention I need to acquire an ironing board?
I'd like to always have a cutting of fresh foliage on my kitchen table (and Lord knows we've got enough of it in this jungle that surrounds us to keep us going!).
I'd like to finish up to-do projects that are tapping me on the shoulder (did you miss Friday's post about the 8 CHAIRS?!).
I'd like to prepare meals for the freezer for when baby comes. I'd also like to get a stock of homemade WHEAT BREAD, homemade SOAKED WAFFLES, and homemade pancakes in the freezer for...you guessed it...when baby comes.
I'd like get rid of every single stupid flea in my house.
I'd like to finish knitting Georgia's winter booties and start my new project - a cozy for our french press (more on that later this week).
I'd like to find a way to organize our mason jars and food storage in a better way.
I'd like to strictly manage our budget and utilize the computer spreadsheet I built for it last week so that it runs like a smooooth machine, baby.
I'd like to have at least one play date a week for Georgia lined up, on top of Sunday School and the new Book Study we will be attending through the fall.
Point being, there are lots of things I can get better and more efficient at right here inside the walls of my home. Perhaps the Lord knows I need this time and so he has granted me a period of rest from my homesteading ambitions. Perhaps he knows that in order for a home to function well, it needs to be built with a solid foundation that is based on His mercy and grace for every single day.
I want to utilize this time I have. Even if it's not what I would have designed for myself, I surely do not want to waste it.
One of the small homesteading tasks I would like to begin during this time is to establish a vermicompost system in our kitchen. Because we don't currently have our compost pile, we've been throwing away all our food scraps and coffee grounds - I hate this! I know this stuff is liquid gold waiting for a garden or at least wonderful scraps for the chickens. Vermi-composting would allow us to compost all of our food scraps (sans dairy and meat) into wonderful and rich soil - right in our very own kitchen.
The plan is this.
Acquire one of these:
And a pound of these:
I shall then set it next to the refrigerator in the kitchen and feed our wonderful fruit and vegetable scraps to these beauties each day. They eat the scraps - they produce beautiful soil. Simple as that. I just think this is incredible - not only does it eliminate almost all of our waste (we really don't produce much garbage...) but it produces an incredible product that can then be used to supply wonderful nutrients to the soil.
Even though we don't have a garden for the soil as of yet, we can use it for container gardening in the meantime - or simply bag it for future use as compost in our garden.
Oh, my friends, how I hope to have a garden again.
If you'd like more detailed information, there is a wonderful, informative site on vermicomposting which you can find HERE. I'm hoping to have my system up and running by the end of the month - that is my goal.
Sure, it's a small step. But utilizing what we have, wasting little, and building self-sufficiency are goals are family is continually working towards. And sometimes small steps are the best way to get started, are they not?
Though big dreams are pretty fun too:
Can't you just see it? My herd of sheep, grazing the grass knolls?
I shall then sheer them and make the most beautiful wool yarns imaginable.
*Sigh*
There's also a dairy cow involved in there, somewhere. Just for the record.