The young know the rules, but the old know the exceptions...

Every so often I am hit with a eureka moment. There is a term for it, like a shower spark or whatever, but essentially it is a theory that a certain part of your brain can kick into high gear when you are predisposed with something else ie in the shower or driving a long distance. I am cursed with these all the time and I say cursed because I have forgotten more profound ideas and theories than I'd like to admit. Mostly because I don't write them down and by the time I get to the blog it's been replaced with day to day clutter, either way it's frustrating. Every so often I'll remember one and try to casually slip it in but if I could remember them, my blog would be way more enlightening. You'll have to make due with my inane babble until I can get a tape recorder that floats around my head.

Anyway, it's Christmas day and we are relaxing after a couple days of whirlwind family visits. D and I decided to host this year for a few reasons. My side of the family has no real room for formal visits, her brother is hunting photo ops in Africa while on a not deserved/overpriced honeymoon, and except for her mother, all her family lives in Quebec. We are happy to do it honestly. I'm not a fan of driving long distances, I prefer to be in my comfort zone and frankly we have the room. Everything went without a hitch, everyone was on time, no one aired their festering grievances and there were plenty of cookies. All in all it was a classic old school xmas dinner and I must admit, one of the best holiday meals I have ever eaten. D really went above and beyond and worked her a$$ off. How she can work a fulltime corporate job and even have the inclination to pull a meal stream like that one is amazing and solidifies reason # 344 why I married her. I'll thank her with a foot rub later.

The farm is prepped and ready for next season, Phase 1 is complete. We were hit with a week of very warm weather and after a patented eureka moment, I was able to finalize a plan of attack, finagle my cousin into coming over to clear the rest of the Montego plot and move around some top soil. The neighbour had helped a lot previously but some key things were still nagging me.

• How to get the soil back to real growing potential without wasting so much money and time on rehab. 
• Where to get the soil from to even get the grading back to normal.
• How much real workable space will we have considering the hazardous waste and trees.
• How will be spread the soil without damaging the substrate and using up too much favour credit. 

Auditioning for scarecrow job on next years plot

 The final resolution is to clear and grade the first plot, which finally grew to a mere 100ft x 60ft. All the good clean top soil, which was left over from a parking pad the previous owner created nearby, would be moved to the side until needed next spring. The base now is a relatively clean spot lacking in an overabundance of healthy nutrients but good grading and tons of natural sunlight.

Our move for the space next year is to build small plots within this larger one. 3 ft by 15 ft each which will be perimeter lined with landscape/interlock stones and useful pieces left on site or skids of over stock stone my uncle's business can't use. An ultimate example in reduce reuse recycle, the hippies would be happy. The stones will surround each plot essentially just to keep in the dirt we'll be adding, in turn creating a pseudo raised bed style. Between each plot will be 2 - 3ft wide walkways topped with soy ink based newspapers/cardboard covered with hay we snagged from some locals. Each plot will then be filled with the rich topsoil we have piled in the corners and then a few inches of this GardenMax super soil a local garden company sells. At that point we will adapt each plot to what we need in terms of pH levels, porosity etc. From then on, those plots will stay there and just be rejuvenated each season in whatever way works best. In total there may be approximately 40-50 plots, but we'll see...

Not sure how the future plots (adjacent to Montego) will be done, but we aren't a huge fan of the row style of farming so if this works we may just buckle down and do the mini plot style for each addition, then just maintain them. Now that the snow has set in and land manipulation is at a stand still this will be an ultimate too be continued/stay tuned. The GardenProPlanner App discussed previously is on sale for $9.99 and worth every penny. The final seed details will be added at a later post. A friends uncle sent us a care package full of some pretty interesting seeds to mess around with. Some including, I think, a few psychotropic cactus seeds from the peyote lose your mind genus family. But you didn't hear that from me... 

Cooper at 16 weeks

Cooper update coming next blog but I will say this, which you can add to my Eureka File (EF): I am positive, not unlike greeting card/chocolate companies creating holidays like St.Valentines Day, there is a conspiracy to be uncovered where paper towel companies are perpetuating the idea of people adopting puppies... you heard it here first...

Finally, from our family here at Homestead U and Keltic Kreek Farm, we want to wish you a safe and happy (insert holiday here). May your best days of 2012 be your worst of 2013. We hope to share another year of progress and please feel free just to leave a hello below to let us know if/who  someone out there is sharing our trials and triumphs up to now.
(D and I have a bet as an over/under as to # of replies) 


Life Lesson #701: Best Xmas movies to watch Xmas day in order:

1. Christmas Vacation   
2. A Christmas Story
3. Scrooged
4. Elf
5. Die Hard
6. Gremlins
7. It's a Wonderful Life

You never count your farm equipment while sitting at the table...

The other night I was invited to a poker game held by a friend of mine who lives locally. I'm not much of a drinker and have little patience for when people are overly drunk. In no way would I be classified as a prude or preacher, I drink from time to time. However my tolerance for idiocy is very minimal. That being said, if you choose to play a game for money and you also get loaded and lose your shirt to me, so be it. So just as the night is wrapping up, a couple of the guys were a little low on funds and the betting turned interesting. During a game of Hold em, I flopped a King high straight and totally played another guy into a classic limping trap. Once all was said and done, I cleaned him out and walked away with $$ and a new fertilizer spreader. Isn't it funny how life goes, I never thought I'd be happy to win farm equipment in a game of poker but there it is...

Been a year already??

D and I are leaving day after tomorrow for a 'honeymoon'/anniversary back to Jamaica. We were married there this time last year but with the 30+ guests and stress up the ying yang it wasn't much of  a relaxing time. With the new house, farm work, Cooper: the super pain in the a$$, and just all around bad things happening around here, it will be a very welcome break. Coop is still pretty young and we should be here for him but the trip was booked a while ago, and as mentioned before is very badly needed. A family friend is gong to stay here to watch the homestead and take are of our menagerie of animals.

I'm going to try and leave a few neighbours with jobs to do on the property while we are gone. Why? Because they're mostly retired and have offered, or they want some of our trees to trade so it may actually get done by the time we're back. Most likely we'll come back and nothing will have changed. If I don't get that back Montego plot prepped by winter it will be a tough season of growing next year. I'll let you know how it turns out.   

And although it is a day late, and no one really reads this blog, I want to say thank you to all those who have served our country locally and abroad to keep us safe. Remembrance Day is an important day in our family, both my grandfathers served in WWII and the Korean War. Years ago I was walking through a school yard and a home whose fence backed onto the school had an older man working on his garden. We struck up a conversation through the fence and after a few minutes he had briefly mentioned serving in WWII. I gave him a sincere thanks for his service and he started to tear up a little. It was a great moment I try to recreate any chance I get. So anyways... thanks.

Life Lesson #3: Being born in Canada is winning the human race lottery. Appreciate and take advantage of it...