It's been a while

It's been a long time since I have contributed to this blog. One Little Farm died when we were in Alamosa and decided to sell the critters and move back to the city for real jobs. We just weren't making it in the rural towns and neither Alamosa County nor Taos County would let us live in our Amish built camping cabin (shed) as a tiny house. Restrictions.

We moved the cabin to our Taos land and sold the Alamosa land and used the profit to pay off the cabin, our car and move to Pueblo, Colorado.

We rented a house from a slum lord for a year and then bought an old Victorian in the artsy part of town. My husband and I both had assorted jobs, but nothing that paid well enough to continue our work on our Taos land. Our stay in the city was supposed to be an opportunity to get our finances under control and slowly work on the land in Taos as a sustainable destination.

Until this last week, nothing has happened in Taos. We have gone down there a few times and painted the cabin, sided the pallet shed and painted it, and cleaned up some garbage (or rotting, weathered building supplies). We have battled the resident pack rat and filled in coyote burrows under the cabin.

Recently we took all of our solar supplies to the local solar guys to have them build us a workable system that is up to code and legitimate. It is supposed to be done next week. We will then have a "power wall" which we can plug the windmill and batteries into and run electricity to our shed and camping cabin. We need to get our water catchment system set up too. When those things are in place, we can go and stay there for the two weeks the county will allow.

Taos land buildings 2018

Meanwhile, one of us is working in New Mexico and one of us is working on the house in Pueblo. We both got our Masters degrees...him in Sustainable Community Development and me in Cultural Resource Management (I will pretend it is more related to anthropology than it is).

Victorian house sitting room remodel 2018

Sometimes I do art, but not lately. I still homeschool my kids. Mostly I work on the house when I do anything productive.

Front garden 2018

I do have a nice garden and am trying to build a food forest on the 6000 square foot lot.


So far I have plum, apple and peach trees, raspberries and strawberries, onions and garlic, chives, lavender, rosemary, and echinacea. I planted catnip in a pot for my cats. We rebuilt the raised beds with the same boards we originally bought when we were living in the Earthship outside of Taos. I plant annual veggies in the raised beds every year. The beds take up most of our front yard which is the only place we get enough sun to grow anything. The back yard is shaded by the house and half of it is cement...the remainder of an old garage or carriage house. I long for more space and fewer neighbors, but it is what it is.

I miss my llamas.

I have been writing on Medium.com since January 2019, hoping to finally make one of my artistic pursuits a reality that makes me some money. I have yet to make any money, but I am enjoying the writing and reading other writers' work. Medium is a great venue for writing and publishing.

I am thinking about starting another blog about my journey with the old Victorian house, but for now, I write on Medium. You can check out my work here.

Resurrection

Sand Hill Cranes, Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge, March 2015

We went to see the Sand Hill Cranes yesterday. What a remarkable thing. The fields full of dancing, talking birds never ceases to amaze me. And I still want to fly south with them....

Sand Hill Cranes in Monte Vista

I had an epiphany in the midst of my Grad school angst. While I realize now I will never have what it takes to be a full time shovel bum, I also realize that my passions to save the planet have remained the same. Through all of my work, I manage to tie in some form of environmentalism or sustainability, because that's who I am. That being said, I am planning on attending an archaeology field school for the summer, but this time on a day basis. There will be no living in a tent for this old woman. I have had enough of primitive off-grid living! I am an expert at hauling water and making do with next to nothing. Actually, for me to attend full time, R would have to quit one, if not two of his jobs and stay home with the kiddos, something we simply can't afford.

So while I whittle away at my classes, we try to dig ourselves out of our financial mess. We paid off the shed/tiny house with our tax refund, but still the dilemma of the county not allowing us to live in it, per county code. Okay, whatever. We have tried to sell the land, pulled back, decided to keep it. I work on my labyrinth and it ties to me to the land in ways I don't even understand. I am at a loss as to what to do, so I will do nothing.

I realized I don't want to give up any more animals, my llamas and my dreams of a farmstead. Why can't we make it work? We have not tried hard enough, not dedicated ourselves to the right cause, being torn between this and that and fantasies of negativity. The world may end. I may die tomorrow, but I want to keep my camelids, regardless of any outside thoughts on the matter. So, I have plans to acquire 3 adult, male alpacas in a rainbow of fiber colors. I want to make felt batting and quilt camelid comforters. Ha ha. No, sort of really. We shall see, we shall see.

I will resurrect the Green Desert Eco-Farm and put the Sanctuary to rest for a little while. Who wants to worship the Earth, besides me? My church of one. I affect change in only myself.

The farm will get a new life! And maybe I will too. We have put a bee hive starter kit on layaway at the local feed/hardware store. I am excited. We can get a colony from a local honey producer after we get our kit paid off. It is vitally important that more people try to keep bees for the Earth. And plant Milkweed for the Monarchs. I'd like to do both.

We also bought a new batch of chicks for the farmstead egg laying endeavor.

Chicks. Reds of some variety. Rhode Island, I'm thinking.

In the next month we will pick up the alpacas and get all of our camelids sheared. That should be fun. An event I have invited the public to attend. That may have been a bad decision, given my love hate relationship with people in general.

The wind is blowing, the weather has warmed and Spring is here. We are trying to get garden space created in this rental house. I am so tired of moving our raised beds around. I am so tired of moving, physically, but intellectually I may always be a nomad. We still need to find a bus to convert.

As usual there is too much to do and not enough time or hands, or money. But, it is what it is and today I live for today. I have started another juice fast. It has been a while and with the new season comes change. I will resurrect old farm dreams and my old strong, healthy self. And it will be good. Or good enough at least.

The tiny house has arrived.

The shed/tiny house came yesterday. That was exciting. I could see it rolling down the road about a mile away, and shouted "here comes our house!"

 
Thankfully Richard put a new sign at the end of our road, where previously there had been none. We didn't want our house to get lost. (The driver still got lost...turned down the road I told him specifically not to. That's happened before.)

But, the tiny house arrived and it was interesting watching the driver unload it. That trailer had all kinds of bells and whistles and could move independently of the truck. With special hydraulics, and another cross axle, he placed the house exactly where we wanted it.

Our gravel pad was perfectly level too! The house is sitting in its new home now, waiting to be finished.

Since we opted not to get any extras, we have a lot to do. The first thing Richard did was install electrical outlet boxes and light switch boxes. We have to run the wire before we can insulate. Someone is coming today to give us an estimate on spray foam insulation for both the tiny house and the office.

Interior (Exterior dimensions: 14' x 20')

We are going to try and install another door on the west side, in what will be the tiny kitchen. We already have a nice glass door (actually we have three of them) that we have been moving around with us. With a little bit of lumber, some hinges, some cutting and building (a header, footer) we can have our second door in. Ultimately this door will lead to an enclosed porch that will wrap around the west and south sides, giving us passive solar heat, and expanding our living space.

We also have to start building the lofts. But first, the bathroom wall has to go in, which is pretty dependent upon finding a bathtub, so we can make sure it fits. I guess we can build to spec and buy the tub from a box store later.

Actually, we have to paint the outside to make it weather tight. We skipped the paint for a savings of $175. We have a five gallon bucket of paint we used for the roofs and barns at the rented Earthship a couple of years ago. We can use that and some stain we having been using on the wood trim of the office. That needs to be done in the next few days.

I know it's not much to look at now, but we are all super excited. It is so much bigger than the RV we have been living in for three months. We can't wait to get in there.

We are also going to pick up an old woodstove from Neighbor Larry and see if we can get the north/east corner fitted to hold it (fireproof walls and flooring) plus get some stove pipe. We will probably have to paint the stove too, but it would be nice to get it in and ready to go. Then we can at least move our beds in and sleep in a warm space.

Windows. We also need windows. Not much to choose from at the local restore. I'm still looking.

The bare minimum

We ordered our shed/tiny house this past week and it will be delivered on September 9, only one week or so from now. We are super excited, but know we have so much to do. The shed we are getting is much smaller than the one we wanted. Sort of. No porch. No lofts built in. Plus, we had to scrap all windows and all but one door to bring the cost down. So now we have more to do. I am on the search for windows and other cheap building materials. We are also looking for propane range and a decent wood stove. Whatever will get us through the winter.

Office

We did get the glass in the office this week. This building is coming along now. As is the hay barn which Richard got a roof on as well. He is currently putting the masonite from the floors of the Jaroso farmhouse up in the turkey house. We used that masonite to protect the pine floors of the house we rented. Now it will serve as walls for the barns. We will most likely stuff the pallet walls with straw as insulation, but I have been toying with the idea of using llama wool too.

Hay barn

I'm still working on the labyrinth, as bottles and jars allow. I wish I could start planting the herb spiral, but it will have to wait until we move the cistern up next to the shed/house. I sure don't want to carry buckets of water the three hundred feet or so from the well, and I'm not sure we have enough hoses to run that far.

Labyrinth

We are starting up a recycle pick-up business in Alamosa. There seems to be a need. Maybe. I hope. We are calling ourselves Recycle Roundup. We will provide bins and pickup at the curb for those who might want to recycle but never really have the time or can't get around to it. If you are in the Alamosa area and are interested, please e-mail me for more details.

We have been selling off appliances and other things we no longer can use in our off-grid living situation to make money for the tiny house conversion. I am hoping to run by the Habitat for Humanity store this next week to look for windows or flooring or even a gas stove.

In the hemp field, we have a rat problem. Either that or the chipmunks have been sawing off our hemp stalks and leaving the tops, with seeds all over the ground. I have been collecting the sawed off tops and whatever seeds I can rake off of the ground. It appears we might be growing hemp there next year too--unintentionally. I put the hemp tops in a large paper bag in the hope that it will dry and the seeds will develop enough to be viable. Blasted rodents.

Hemp stalks

Another chihuahua joined our farmstead this week. He's a cute little guy we like to call Pico. Pico poco. Little bit. He's only about three months old now, so we are house (camper) training him and trying to teach him to walk on a leash. The other animals just don't know what to think of him. The llamas are curious as usual and come to the fence with ears perked up whenever we walk Pico by them. Next week he is off to get neutered, because it is so important to spay and neuter all of our pets. There are just so many pets out there that get euthanized because they don't have a home.

Pico

Things to do before winter...

You know, I'd really like to get into vermaculture. That's the farming of compost worms. I just need to build a bin and get some worms.

I'd also like to have an apiary. If there's one thing people should being doing, it's raising more bees. (And planting more trees.)

I'd also like to get a green house up and finish the office.

Of course there is that pesky little problem of winter coming on fast. Maybe if we just ignore it, it'll go away? Hardly. We must get ourselves some adequate shelter before the snow flies. There is no other option.

So, time keeps on marching along and there is still so much to do before the winter comes. Barns to finish and insulate, hay to buy and store, finding a winter safe place to live.

We have brainstormed and brainstormed and decided that if we take out all of the bells and whistles in the tiny house project (ie. doors, windows, lofts and porch) we can afford the monthly payment. Re-homing the goats saved us a bundle in feed costs, and we've paid off our car and a couple of credit cards too. There is a little extra money, but mostly it goes to building supplies. If we tighten up our budget, we may be able to make this work before winter comes along and we all freeze to death.

Now that is good news!

Hemp news, the tiny house project, working on the office

And this week....

A trip to the vet...

We took Fairy Dust to the vet...

Photos and news

News and photos from the farm.

The tarantulas are traveling...fall is here.

Tarantula crossing our driveway.

Interesting week . The tarantulas are out on their walk abouts. On the highway down to our land last week, I counted fourteen of the little guys crossing the road. Yesterday there were ten in the road and one in our driveway. Lucky for me this guy presented a photo op that could not be passed up, especially since last week, when I was trolling for tarantulas along the highway (after having seen 14), driving at about 15 mph, I didn't find a single one to stop and take a picture of. They are not as big as I expected. The ones we had in Fremont County, Colorado were larger and more varied in coloring. The female that lived next to our path to the barn was beautiful, and huge! And a little intimidating.

Also this week there have been beautiful birds...migrating maybe. Crazy colors. When I first saw these guys, I thought, wow, they look like the African Masked Weaver I made for my Safariarte piece. What would those birds be doing here?

Recycled wood, yard staple--African Masked Weaver

On further inspection, they are just opposite of the Masked Weaver, and I think they are really Yellow Headed Blackbirds.

Blackbirds with yellow heads and breasts.

Yellow Headed Blackbirds

Still, they are very pretty and took my breath away as they added color to the desert landscape.

It is fall in the desert. There is no denying it any longer. It frosts nearly every night now and there was snow on the mountains one evening after a rain. We tried to cover the plants, and saved them one night, only to be caught off guard the next night when the weather forecast did not call for a frost. We lost most everything. We planted too late here anyway, I think. There are still some peppers under a row cover that may survive a little longer, but overall our gardening experience has been less than we had hoped this year. We got onions, garlic, potatoes, some lettuce, radishes, and there are still carrots in the ground. The peas went to seed too fast, so we saved them for seed for next year. Richard still has hopes on getting a few fall crops in.

Surprisingly (or not really), when you spend so much time out in the desert, you begin to notice the subtle changes in color as the seasons change. The sage is blooming. The Chamisa is a bright yellow in some places and gone to seed to create a creamy yellow in other places. There is bright, white Winter Fat, Purple Astors, Brown -eyed Susans, other varieties of yellow flowers, plus the sage green of the sage not blooming, and other plants gone to seed. Most of this colorful loveliness is next to the roadsides where the plants get the most water from rain runoff. So as we head to our E-ship down our long and dusty dirt road, the eyes are drawn to the color along side the road. It is amazing and inspirational. The colors of the desert in bloom in the fall cannot be beat. I am in love with this place and I am in love with the palette presented to me daily as a go about my mundane chores. I will try to get a photo before the colors fade into winter.

We haven't gotten out to our land as much as we would like due to financial constraints. Gas is expensive and we still have bills to pay before we can buy more supplies. Richard did a canning class last weekend, which was a great success, and we are hoping to have another one at the end of the month. Also another chicken processing class is coming up this weekend. I hope more people sign up for the classes. You'd think with all of the instability in the economy, people would be more interested in learning the homestead basics.

We did finally get the gravel out of the trailer and into the cistern down at our place. Richard sloped it down to the drain. The next step is to cement the floor of the cistern and of course keep adding more bag courses.

Gravel in the cistern.

We also dug out the foundation trench for one of our "cabins" which in reality will end up being a small home...not tiny, but I like to call it that. It should come in around 600 sq feet with a 20 x 26 foot footprint. It also will have an upstairs.

Staking out the tiny house.

Tiny house foundation trench...done in about 7 hours. 

There is always something to do, it seems, and still nothing gets done a fast as we would like. I wish we could be out on the land so we could get more done. But we have to have a house to live in first. And so much still to do for the coming winter. Maybe we can get enough people into the classes to buy our hay for the llamas or refill our propane tank, since Richard's job is not paying much these days.

I'm still trying to work on my art, when I can. Have a new  website , connected to some print on demand thing. The cool thing is people can buy prints pretty inexpensively, and if they want an original, they can contact me directly. Check it out. Buy some art. Feed the homestead.