I’ve been pretty tired lately and stretched thin with professional/social obligations, which has probably contributed a lot to the fact that I haven’t given a garden update in awhile. That and maintaining a blogging habit (or any good habit, really) is difficult for me.
The garden is going okay. I’ve had some damage due to frost, mostly because I am too lazy to a) watch the Weather Channel, and b) drag bedsheets into the yard every night. I’ve also discovered that having no access to a watering hose when you have an entire bed of vegetables is a real pain in the rear end.
I just determined recently that I will be moving back in with my folks when my apartment lease is up, for a couple of reasons. One is that at my current salary and my current living expenses, it would take me years upon years to just come up with a down payment for my own land. Another is that my apartment complex sucks and doesn’t actually maintain anything, which leaves me with electrical outlets that don’t work, an air conditioner that constantly freezes up, and a porch that STILL hasn’t been painted since I put in the work order LAST June.
Also, it was offered to me to move back in so I can live rent-free while I save up some money and pay off my final credit card; turning down an in-ground swimming pool, high def giant televisions, and a big sprawling four bedroom house with WORKING air conditioning and homecooked meals while I save money for a year was too generous of an offer to pass up. Also, my father is having some issues with his back that has made maintaining said gigantic house difficult, so it would be good for me to be around to help with the chores, especially stuff like heavy lifting and mowing the lawn. Also, unlike a lot of people, I have a great relationship with my parents. They are neither too lenient nor too strict, and because I was such a privacy-craving, introverted, antisocial teenager, we’ve basically learned to coexist peacefully and not get into each others’ way. I didn’t have curfews or dress codes.
I know there’s a huge stigma against moving back in with the parental units, and I’ve personally been wrestling with it for awhile because I’m a pretty independent-spirited person. But there are financial advantages of hanging back for a year to build some capital that I simply can’t pass up. I know that this decision will be better for my end goal, which is to own a small farm within the next three years. (Not an agricultural business, but a homestead.)
After all, after I do buy my land, I will probably be living in a rickety used singlewide trailer for a year and a half while I work out the construction loan and build a ecologically-conscious farmhouse, so I may as well enjoy the lap of luxury while I can. And between now and then, I will be doing the architectural design of the house myself.
But all of this begs the question – what will happen to my little apartment garden? The leeks and the onions, the strawberries, cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and lettuce? What about all the herbs?
Unfortunately, none of this stuff will transplant well again. So any new gardening I do between now and the time I move will be limited to containers (at least my strawberries and herbs can come with me…)
I am debating leaving the baby plants for the new apartment owner to destroy or keep. I do know it would upset me to have to pull all of that stuff up. I guess a mass transplant could at least be attempted.
But on the other hand, most of the stuff I’ve planted is cool weather and will be dead LONG before June, so I don’t think I have much to worry about. In any case, I have full permission to continue with my gardening ventures in my parents' big backyard (provided I can keep their equally huge golden retrievers Bella and Vito from good-naturedly demolishing it...)
So there is still gardening in the near future. Fresh beds, new vegetables, and chickenwire! Stay posted!
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