We’re working towards future uses of our land for the good of ourselves and our community.  It’s mostly woods, but also several sections of fenced pasture and unfenced “pasture”, or I like to call it “meadow”.  In northwest Alabama, if you don’t mow, your meadow will turn into woods in a short time.  So Jerry has had a lot of mowing to do during HOT summer months.  After I put out the Intent that Jerry would have less mowing to do,we got a new renter who needed horse pasture and is able to supply fencing.  He got use of a barn, too, for cleaning out all the junk it contained.  It’s all win-win.

That fulfillment of my desire is one small example of “Law of Attraction” in that I vibrated / felt as if it were done, without doubt or questioning, thus drawing it to myself.  True as well is that I “partnered with God”, as Kryon calls it.  I chose what I wanted, directed my Intent, or Will, and allowed a little guidance from God via my Higher Self by way of noticing synchronicities and intuitive knowing.

Renting pasture land could bring us about $30 a head per year ($50/mo for twenty head, total).  We don’t think that’s worth giving up use of our land.  So we rented pasture land along with one of our rental homes.  My Intent held all that was important–that Jerry have some relief of mowing and good renters.  We feel our renters are a bit of community and we will help each other.  We invited them all to have gardens and raise chickens, if they so desire.

We still have to think about use of the original horse pasture.  The two old horses died in 2015.  Now, nature is beginning to take over the small barn and the fence, and will have to be stopped, soon, but Jerry has been busy with other priorities.  He single handedly took down and saved material from an old garage that wasn’t big enough for the tractors, nor was it suitable to convert to a greenhouse.  It is cleared now and awaiting concrete pouring for a utility shed.  That will save some rust.

Horse Barn, 2015, Horses Still Alive

Horse Barn, Spring 2016, Horses Gone

Horse Barn, 2017. No time to Bush Hog.

Several years ago, Jerry rammed the front of his riding lawn mower into a low limb of an apple tree and recently, a short time after adamantly telling me why it didn’t need replacing, decided to replace the broken “bonnet” or hood.  That’s the general sequence of response to my suggestions of change:  no way is it needed.  I accept that, then later he’s looking in to doing it.  That’s been true for buying himself smaller jeans to…well, the utility shed was one of those unneeded items.

Jerry did immediately take to the idea of having a greenhouse. We’ve been designing one with walls made of windows. Looking for old used windows, we found a good deal on light-weight aluminum framed mobile home windows, new. We can’t be sure until we actually purchase them (supply may disappear), but given dimensions of those windows, we have planned the size and shape, including a wooden tool and potting shed on the west end to block hot evening sun.

Gardening

I have to say that we have improved from last year’s status of failed gardeners to fledgling, poorly skilled gardeners.  We give ourselves a break for not recognizing the oncoming extreme drought, last summer, that lasted into January.  And this year was confusing for us, when the expected near 100 degree days of mid-July suddenly turned pleasant, while vacillating between dry and rainy.  That caused some tree leaves to turn.  Still, we kept all our garden plants alive.

Did you notice nature’s immediate response to the August solar eclipse?  Many more turned leaves, without cooler weather! 

Expect a Mini Ice Age

Be aware that we will have a “mini ice age”, scientists say starting in 2030 and Kryon says 2032.  It should last twenty years.  We considered calling it a micro ice age, but

let’s call it a long, cold spell. 

Pay no attention to the political types and paid pseudoscientists who disagree.  They do agree with the faked date for human-caused global warming that totally obliterated the temperatures reported during the mini ice age of approximately 400 years, at its peak in the 17th century.  From what I could find, temperatures were one half degree Celsius lower, 32.9 in Fahrenheit.  Maybe it won’t be that much of a drop, but we all should prudently plan for it.  The greenhouse will figure into our plan for having food during cold years, but for now, is not top priority.

Gardening the Whole Place

En lieu of pasturing and considering the acres of woods we have, Jerry’s love of native plants and our mutual interest in sane, natural, unharmful medicines, we will be “gardening” most of our land.  We think that plants, minerals and energy medicines are the future.  Our society will get over the drug and butcher paradigm that keeps people sick and broke.  The main method of cure will be to effect changes in Consciousness.  We’ll talk about that occasionally in the New Earth Blog.

Jerry once had cleared horse paths in the woods, but the horses grew old and the trails grew over.  He now wants to re-establish the paths.  Along them we will transplant natural plants and experiment with propagating them in the greenhouse.  We will also encourage natural plants to flower their beauty in meadows.  Luckily, my sister, Dee, visited us last week and told us not to mow a whole pasture, but each year or two, leave a different area unmowed.  Otherwise we would wipe out the wild plants.  We have a lot to learn.

Before her visit, I had made elaborate gardening journals for each of us, including information and log sheets for about all a gardener may need.  We finished assembling them together.  I was happy that she liked them.  Each journal is comprised of two 2″ binders with many dividers, plus a free form Garden Diary, which I put in one 1″ binder.  Dee will soon be gardening up near Ashville, NC.  She shares Jerry’s interest in native plants and already makes her own tinctures, infusions and other medicines and foods from them.

More Equipment Needed

Looking into more equipment for our extended gardens, the first thing is something to drive supplies to where we need them.  A pickup is too big; a golf cart doesn’t suffice.  We need a vehicle small enough to fit in the wood paths, clean and comfortable for me to carry textiles and supplies to the studio (which is lower in priority than stopping mother nature’s takeover of the building where it will be).  We are now choosing a workhorse ATV (all terrain vehicle) kind of tiny truck, minding the adage of one forum participant: “It is always better to buy a good bull at a fair price than a fair bull at a good price!”

Retirement is never boring!

p.s.

Today started with Jerry’s chain saw kicking back from vines (he knew not to do it) and taking a slice out of his leg, above the knee.  Thanks to protection of his ancestors in spirit, it did not slice off the knee cap.  16 stitches.  I’m on the way to town to pick up prescriptions.

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