A Year In Review

Here we are—it has been a year since we moved here. In some ways, it feels like yesterday; in others, it feels like we have been here for years. At times, we feel like we have accomplished so much, while at other times, we feel like we should be further along. With all of that in mind, welcome to our year in review. We will look back on the past year and share how we feel it went.

Let’s talk about the weather. We had an idea of what to expect, but Mother Nature decided to give us both extremes. We experienced an ice storm in January, and that alone changed the landscape around here. We were once completely wooded in on all sides except for the driveway leading out. Now, our driveway is no longer lined with trees, and the right side of our property has very few trees left. When the trees are bare, we can see the neighboring property and the road. Yes, it was very upsetting, but all we can do is focus on what the ice storm gave us.

It reminded us that, although we were on a time crunch before winter, we needed to make sure the trees were cut back far enough from the cabin—first, to create a fire break, and second, to prevent trees from falling on our home.  This would be our only real regret. Lesson learned, and fortunately, we did not lose anything of value expect our solar panels. We also gained some valuable square footage for building on the property. Once we get all the downed trees cleaned up, we will have a plot available for future plans. As you can see, we try not to waste anything around here. Some of the fallen trees have been used to line the flower beds along the driveway and our circle drive. We have been chipping branches to mulch the garden beds, digging as much dirt as possible from the root balls to fill holes and add to the beds, and even gifting wood to three other homesteads.

The heat waves and high humidity have been pretty brutal. We know many people across the U.S. are feeling that same pain. It made us reevaluate our need for air conditioning. We have our camper and can run it with a generator, but we feel displaced—we really want to be in our home. We tried using a portable floor AC unit inside, but it just was not enough to keep the house cool. We have future plans to install a mini-split system, but that will have to wait for now. We did end up selling our new portable AC unit to our neighbors, and we know it will be a blessing for them. Since we want to upgrade to a mini-split, we have also had to reevaluate our solar setup. We will be making upgrades down the road.

We wanted to share a little about the preparations we made before moving down here. Overall, we feel like we did a pretty good job—we’d give ourselves an A-. We miscalculated on a few supply needs, but nothing too serious. All of the tools we selected have served us well, and the cabin kit Rick made significantly reduced the time it took to put the cabin together.

Our only real complaint is that we bought some items in advance and packed them right away. A few products from Amazon and Walmart arrived in the wrong size, but by the time we unpacked and used them, the return window had already passed.

We’ve also been disappointed by the quality of some products available today. For example, joist hangers no longer extend over the rim joist, and the spikes intended to hold the hanger in place while you nail it in were mostly useless. We had some used subfloor boards gifted to us, and we were counting on buying the remainder down here when we landed.  Those are not even true size anymore.  So, we ended up with some gaps that Rick had to remedy.  

Let’s talk about gardening. Honestly, we didn’t have especially high expectations for any of the gardens. We built them as best we could with what we had on hand. When available, we layered cardboard first, then added sticks and leaves before topping everything with the compost we brought with us. That compost ran out pretty quickly. We used the lawn mower to mulch pine needles, and it picked up some topsoil along the way, so we added that to the beds as well. We also used a Christmas gift card to buy soil and picked up several additional bags. Then we added rabbit manure, Triple 13 fertilizer, and mulch on top of it all. We scattered seeds everywhere and planted the plants we brought with us, along with a few we purchased here. We were also blessed with some gifted plants and seeds.

We decided we would be happy with whatever produced. We didn’t have high hopes for a first-year garden, especially since we didn’t have the means to test the soil or provide every amendment the plants might need. We know healthy soil takes time to build. Since many of our plants had been living in containers for a couple of years, we expected they might need a year or two to settle in and begin producing well.

As for the food forest, it has been amazing. It is becoming well established, and while some of the newer plants didn’t make it, the majority are thriving. It will flourish in its own time. The vegetable garden, however, will definitely need more soil work. We will also need to add trellis systems to keep the vining plants from taking over everything.

In the medicinal herb gardens, we only had about half of the seeds germinate. We are hopeful that some simply need a period of cold stratification before they finally emerge. We also still need to address the flooding issues in the culinary herb gardens, and we hope to tackle that this fall.

Growing varmint pressure in the garden has made it necessary to install fencing around both the garden and the chicken run. The summer heat has slowed the process, but we are making steady progress. Once the fencing is complete, we can expand several garden beds and decide where to install the trellis systems. It will also help define spaces and provide support for flower beds. The more flowers we plant, the more pollinators will visit and help care for the garden.

We both agree that our biggest accomplishment is the cabin. Not many people around here are building their own homes, and we are proud to be doing this for ourselves. Although it is not finished, it is fully functional—aside from having a shower. We had hoped to complete the interior by our one-year anniversary, but that did not happen. Now, we are aiming to have it finished by the end of the year.

When we came here, we agreed that everything would be neat and tidy. We also planned to focus on one project at a time before moving on to the next. We didn’t want 10 half-finished projects sitting around. For the most part, we’re proud to say we’ve accomplished the neat-and-tidy goal.

We do have neatly stacked piles of wood waiting to be bucked up, debris piles along the main area, and a few items stored under a tarp behind the conex. There is also a tarped area for extra building supplies, with additional metal stored in its own pile. Yes, all of these piles drive us a little crazy—but they are organized. Everything has a place. Most of these items are either waiting to be used soon or waiting for their permanent homes to be cleared and ready. That means finishing the cabin so we can clean out the conex and use it for long-term storage and as a workshop.

We had good intentions of tackling just one project at a time, but honestly, that is rarely feasible. There are so many variables outside of our control. If the weather is bad, outdoor projects have to wait. If the project budget is spent, we have to wait until the next month. If critters start destroying the garden, that suddenly becomes the priority. And if an ice storm damages land you worked so hard to make look nice, all other plans stop while you clean it up again.

That is the reality of homesteading. The interior of our cabin should have been finished by now. We should have chickens by now. Who knows what else we could have completed if we had been able to stick to the plan? But when you’re homesteading, you have to learn to pivot. We may not always like it, but we have to accept it. If you can’t learn to adapt, you may end up doing more harm than good to yourselves.

Another difficult part of this journey has been missing our family. Yes, we love being here and building our dream. We love the new friends we have made and the old friends we have reconnected with. We could do without some of the neighbors who seem determined to disturb our peace, but overall, we are happy here. Still, we miss our family.

It became even harder when Cat's daughter started seeing someone we have not yet had the chance to meet. Then, our not-so-little grandson was born, making the distance feel even greater. It has been a year since we have seen everyone. Cat's parents made plans to visit twice, but unfortunately, both trips had to be canceled. That is why our upcoming vacation will mean so much to us. We are not looking forward to the drive itself, but we cannot wait to be with family, relax, and take it all in. Of course, we are especially looking forward to getting hugs from our Ladybug.

The last thing we want to cover is our plans for year two. We plan to finish the inside of the cabin and install the front and side porch. We also want to create at least part of the permanent outdoor kitchen. There are still trees in the danger zone that need to come down, followed by the cleanup of all the fallen trees and debris.

We will also continue expanding the food forest. We have several trees in pots waiting to be planted, along with seeds for other perennials we would like to add. A greenhouse is on the list, and chickens will be joining us soon. As mentioned earlier, we also plan to build up the soil and make updates to the garden.

None of these projects will begin until the fencing project is complete. We hope that will be soon, though our vacation has made this month’s budget a little tight. We are also waiting for the heat wave to finally break. Next month, we will be farm-sitting for a long weekend, which we are very excited about. More than anything, we are looking forward to cooler weather, when we can get so much more done.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for following along on this journey. We love writing these blog posts as a journal for ourselves, and we are grateful to share them with our family and friends. Most of all, we hope our story inspires someone to make the scary leap and pursue the dream they have been holding onto so tightly.

We do not regret our decision to leave for even a moment. We are building something real, peaceful, and entirely our own. We have been tested time and again, and we are stronger because of it. Even when we are sweaty, dirty, and stinky—or when nothing seems to go right—we would not go back. Despite the difficult moments, there are a million more that are beautiful.

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And finally—for real this time—please enjoy the slideshow we put together, featuring memories from the very first day we purchased the property.