Holding Patterns and More Plans

We are still in a holding pattern, waiting for the closing on our new home with the growing season slipping away one warm day at a time. I'm disappointed, but there's no point in dwelling on my frustration. So I've turned my attention to reading books, blogs, magazines, and anything else I can get my hands on and working my plans down to finer and finer details.

In place of the progress reports I had hoped to have to share by now, I've decided to share my thoughts on some of the things I'm reading and how they are shaping my path even before I take the first step. So a few times a week, I'll be posting about something I've read that has given me pause, added a new idea to my homesteading plans, or brought my attention to a previously unnoticed facet of the issues that set me on this path.

One thing that has been taking shape in my mind even longer than the idea of personal self-sufficiency is shopping locally. The economy in Michigan has been struggling well before the recent housing and credit crises pushed the issue into the national spotlight, and I've long felt that buying from local business whenever I can is one way to show support for the people around me and the community I am a part of. It is extremely gratifying to see more and more people latching on to the idea of supporting local business, and in keeping with that I'm also going to be sharing some of the baby steps we've taken and some of the businesses we're supporting as we shift a growing percentage of our money away from the "big boxes" in favor of spending locally.

In this vein, I'd like to link a flyer I came across on another Michigan locavore blog, One Acre Farm, highlighting businesses and products made in our great state and the impact buying local can have on our troubled economy. It is far from all inclusive, but it is an excellent starting point and illustrates the remarkable diversity that can be found right here at home.

Reflections

I've been remiss in posting updates here, mainly because our closing got postponed once again and I've been throwing myself a bit of a pity party over getting such a late start with my gardens and my home, but the news today has my mulling over the reasons I've started on a path of greater personal self-sufficiency.

Here in Michigan, the news about Chrysler and now GM is nothing short of terrifying. It doesn't matter that neither DH nor I work for an automaker or automotive supplier. This hurts us all.

Our old house is quickly becoming an oasis in a sea of darkness. There are now 4 homes still occupied on our block, and another 5 vacant in some stage of the foreclosure process. Every time I open the door, I get a reminder of the stakes in this little gamble we're taking - if not for buying the new home outright, we'd be one bad season away from joining the ranks of those families who have moved on, often in with relatives, selling what they can and leaving so much behind because they have no place for it to go.

We're hopeful that we can find a tenant for the old house, but if that fails, the home we worked so hard to buy will go dark as well. We've already spoken with the mortgage company about short sale and deed in lieu of foreclosure options, just in case.

I'm eternally grateful that we have the ability to buy this new home. It is a dream in so many ways, not just because it is the type of home I've always wanted, but also because it is a home that is ours, that no one can take from us no matter how bad things get. It is a giant step towards true security for my family, the security of knowing that we'll never have to worry over providing a roof over our children's heads, something few blue collar families can attain these days.

But the house alone isn't enough.

There is so much more we need to do.

It isn't just the economy. The energy crisis may have taken a back burner as economic chaos dominates the headlines, but it is still there, looming on the horizon, threatening so much of what we take for granted.

I'm only one person, acting on behalf of one family, and I don't kid myself that what I do has any measurable impact in the big picture. Still, I have to try. What is the alternative? Burying my head in the sand and going about life as usual, or obsessing over CNN and allowing myself to be paralyzed in the face of issues bigger than any one person can solve?

Our house is our own, once we close. Now it is time to turn my efforts to other ways to make my family more financially and practically self-sufficient.

I've always been drawn to a different way of life, the life my grandmother lived in her childhood on the family farm. At her side, I learned to grow the foods I loved, and can the harvest for the winter. I'm really excited to start applying those skills to providing for my family and adding to them as we walk this path.

I want to sleep easy at night knowing that I've done all I can to reduce my family's dependence on volatile economic conditions for survival.

I want to know that I have food stored to get us through tough times.

I want to reduce our essential expenses in any way possible, through insulating and upgrading to energy efficient appliances, putting natural resources like collected rainwater to practical use, and using energy more conservatively.

I want to know that my energy and my money are being spent in environmentally and economically responsible ways, reducing food miles, growing food without the aid of chemicals that further damage our precious environment, supporting local producers and small business.

It is sure to be a long road with many bumps and course corrections, but it is a journey well worth taking. Maybe time will prove me to be a pessimist, in which case my only reward will be sleeping a little easier at night now and having the money saved to spend later. That is the beauty of responsible, self-sufficient living. There is no downside - if the S hits the fan, we'll be more prepared than we would have otherwise. If it doesn't, we have lower routine expenses and more of our money can be spent on things we truly enjoy.

Delays, Spring Fever, and Moving at Last

After endless delays that have kept us in our old home for two agonizingly long months, we finally have our closing date! On Thursday, our new old home will officially be ours, and just in the knick of time.

This weekend will be spent building garden beds, because I need to get my veggies in he ground as soon as possible. Our last frost date was last week, and with the beautiful weather we're having, it feels like we're getting a terribly late start.

I've finally decided on a design for my raised beds.

This is something I've agonized over and experimented with and researched until my head spun. I want to steer clear of treated wood because of the chemicals used to make them rot-resistant. I've tried non-treated lumber only to find myself rebuilding beds every couple years. I ruled out cedar and paver stones because of the cost.

Then I stumbled upon a garden blog with photographs of a raised bed design I'd never even thought of - cinder blocks. Less expensive than decorative block and more durable than any wood, it is the perfect solution! I plan to use 12" x 6" block and use the holes in the blocks to plant herbs and ornamental companions like marigolds to form an attractive border around the main vegetable beds.

So on Friday, I'm off to the local lumber yard to buy a hundred or so cinder blocks to get a start on my first section of garden in the new yard, a 9' by 34' area outsid my kitchen window that is just begging to become a kitchen garden. Two 3' wide beds will run the length of the space with a path between them, ending at a strawberry tower at the fence. At the entrance to the space will be raspberry plants trained upright on a system of 4' x 4's and galvanized wire.

Now all that is left is to build an attractive, inexpensive gate for the area, to keep my over-eager Lab puppies from digging up my precious plants.

WE GOT IT!

We got the house, my new little patch of paradise. It will take a while to close because HUD only has one approved closing agnecy in Michigan and they're understandably slammed with all the foreclosures here, but the offer is accepted and the contract is signed. It is OURS!

So, what does 20K buy in new-depression suburban Detroit? This lovely house, in a quaint little town on the fringe of the Detroit metro area:





I can't wait to get moved in and start on the renovations!

Spring Fever

This is, I think, the toughest time to live in Michigan. At the very least it is the toughest time to be a gardener in Michigan. One day it is 70 degrees and sunny; the next we're back to sub-freezing lows. The beautiful days we've had lately have me chomping at the bit to get everything in order so I can get a quick start on planting, but with more than two months left before our last frost date, there's really no rush.

That doesn't make the wait any easier. Every year around this time, a vague and nagging restlessness sets in, making it hard to focus on the mundane tasks at hand, calling me to dive into new projects and passions. But this year I have to resist, at least for now.

We're still waiting to find out if we got the house, with attractive new prospects on the horizon and a clear fork in the road rapidly approaching. If tomorrow brings news that they have again rejected our offer, do we come back with a better offer or do we sit tight? There is an auction just a little more than a week away that holds some promise, with 4 properties we liked going up for sale with very low starting bids and an expectation that they'll sell for a price we can afford. Two of the four have acreage, but none have the emotional appeal of the house we're currently in negotiations over.

I just wish the whole process was over. I'm getting so frustrated with not knowing! I just want to know which house we are going to buy so that I can start moving forward, past living in a half-packed house playing the waiting game and on to shaping our new home into my family's dream.

Dreams and Reality

After weeks of looking, looking, and looking some more, we decided yesterday to make an offer on a house that we first saw months ago and have kept coming back to time and again.

Built in 1880, it must once have been a stunning Folk Victorian before someone somewhere along the line decided to "update" the exterior with aluminum siding. The house itself is huge, nearly 1800sq ft, with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, a bright country kitchen with walk-in pantry, formal dining room, attic space that will make an adorable "tea room" for my girls, and a full basement with plenty of room for a "man cave" for my son and a root cellar for me. Unlike the exterior, most of the interior renovations and updates remained true to the history of the home, and the woodwork is intact, including a beautifully carved pair of pocket doors between the living and dining rooms. Restoring this home would be a long term process but it is in good condition, just in need of a lot of cosmetic TLC.

The lot isn't perfect, but it is good. It is 1/4 acre on a quiet residential corner, and the house is nestled near both streets leaving ample room for gardens. The sun exposure is excellent, with only a small area in from of the house too shady for productive plantings. And the location is wonderful, walking distance to the library, my daughter's dance studio, a cute little downtown shopping district of antique stores, bookstores, and a coffee house, the grocery, and everything else we'd need on a regular basis. The only downside is the 10 minute commute to my kids' school, but I'm willing to deal with that for all the other upsides of this house.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved the "painted lady" Victorians in the small town fringe of the Detroit metro area, so to have a real shot at owning one is truly a dream come true.

Now, for the hard part... Waiting for a response to our offer!

The choices we make...

As my husband and I continue our search for our own little patch of paradise, I find myself thinking more and more about the tradeoffs we make as we build the life we want.

Yesterday we looked at a home that would make an ideal homestead. Nestled on a dirt road out in the country, it is a turn of the century farmhouse with more than enough space and resources to provide for our family. But on the drive home, we realiozed the downside. It is so far from town that allowing my children to continue the sports and activities that they love would be difficult if not impossible. The time and gas spent getting to and from baseball, dance, football, and scouts would be overwhelming, and with no close neighbors they wouldn't be likely to make new friends nearby. So reluctantly I found myself scratching that house off the list. As much as I dream of a little farmhouse on a lot of land, it just doesn't fit into what we want for our family right now.

So we move on with a clearer idea of exactly what we want in a house and of where our limits lie.