Benign Neglect

As Michelle’s town job gears up for the summer tourist season, I’m busy preparing for a community play. Consequentially, we’re not spending as much time on the work of the homestead as we would like. Even so, the enterprise continues to progress.

We might consider this benign neglect.

Looking around the homestead, everything seems well on track. The rhubarb’s just about ready to eat (see Rhubarb’s On its Way) the garlic is almost two feet high. We’ve switched from eating overwintered greens to this year’s growth. One of our two compost bins has just about finished its year of curing, and will become available for use in the garden in a few days.

We’ve just about reached the end of the winter wood heating season. I’m beginning to hope that we’ll have a decent amount of wood left over. I can set this aside until the wood shed’s filled, then use it for the next season’s first fuel. I’m already loading the wood shed with what will likely become next year’s overage.

Our wines perk along merrily; I manage to rack them on schedule. We assembled our bug out bags, and have even upgraded them already (see Emergencies Don’t Wait). I’ve managed to get out to the beach to fish now and then (no luck yet, sadly). We even made a new batch of soap over the weekend.

Every day, no matter how busy we become, we still get three solid, square meals each day, many of them heated in the solar oven. The laundry gets done, the dishes washed. We still find a few moments to sit and enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea in front of the view each morning.

I could list all the things that are not getting done, but that would become oppressive. I find it heartening to focus on all the tasks and projects that continue to progress, even under our current benign neglect.

This entry was posted in Homesteading and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *