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Welcoming the new year....and setting up success

When I started this blog, now going into it's third year, I wasn't sure what I wanted it to do.  It lacked focus and intent.    

I had a rough idea that I wanted to be a homesteader?  However at the time I really had no way define it.  On TV you see people isolated to a great extent, trying to be off the grid and self sufficient.  To a certain extent that's where I would like to be too.

That's really is the basic definition of "homesteading" and even that most basic of definitions means different things to different people.  Generally however, we can all agree that it means trying to be a little more self sufficient.

In some ways I consider that lifestyle to be the ultimate goal.. For now however I am just trying to reconnect with with nature by growing a garden.  The more I learn about some company farming practices, the more concerned I become about the food that I eat.  Being able to grow your own food is never a bad skill to have.  

Although I'm not interested in raising livestock one never knows what the future brings.

I want to reduce, reuse and recycle more. Sue surprised me the other day by buying us a garbage can specifically for metals.  We are just trying to live more simply.

My dream is to slowly make this property a native oasis.   Sadly however I also know that climate change is real, if you believe in it or not, and it's going to affect us in a variety of ways.  If this is going to be my legacy, and I think it is, then I have to prepare my property for the next generation the best way I can.  

 

Long story short is that Pennsylvania is expected to be wetter and warmer than it was in the past.  Which means anything that I plant in the coming years will have to be adapt to that reality after I'm gone.

To do anything however requires a plan.  And I am planning for a future that I may never see.  I just don't see the "future" as being a very bright one for people in general.

That's the ultimate goal - to somehow set up an oasis for the future, then my question becomes:   How to get there?   

That's one of the reasons this blog will most likely be moving to another server in the coming months.  I'm going to need feedback, expert help and advice and, in order to do that, I need reach the largest audience possible.  No, we will not have a You Tube channel or Twitter account anytime soon.   No need for it really.  There is a lot of good info out there and I will always share those resources with you. 

I'm still panning on keeping the blog advertising free, I'm still planning on keeping politics off the blog as much as possible; however when you find yourself talking about the environment your bound to talk about politics.   Lately I've been commenting on sites that are either propagating misinformation or spreading falsehoods.   I think that will continue in the coming year.

So it may be political? 

In 2023 I think I'm going to concentrate more on that journey towards....the individual's role in saving the environment.   

So again...heading into 2023 I've a vague idea of what I want to do, and not any clue on how to get there.   Just a mist covered mountain path to trod and the belief that I am going in the right direction.  

I hope you join me on that journey.

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Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

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What all the cool kids are reading.

Maybe we need to rethink invasive species???

Hi. As the writer of the post and feel that I need to clarify something. I do not advocate the planting of invasive species. The point that I'm trying to make, and clearly didn't, is that perhaps we should be thinking about an invasive species in a different light. Apples, figs and other crops are clearly non native to America and Europe but are widely cultivated because they have use to humans as a food source, animal feed, etc. Kudzu is an edible plant and although it is clearly harmful can it be used someway by humans? It's a food source, it's been used as a cloth and is showing some use as a building material. All I'm trying to do is to create discussion on how we can use invasive plants in new ways.   It's mid April here in Western Pennsylvania and so far it's been warm and wet.  The buzz of lawnmowers fill the air as I gallivant through my back yard collecting dandelions to make some tea and bread with them.  I had always known that they w
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