We’ve been movin’ and groovin’ on the homestead this past month! And we still have all our fingers and toes 😉
Our area is full of lakes, rivers, and streams, and AC had been itching to check out the waterways. So a couple weeks ago we took the kayaks out for the first time and we went fishing (separately). We drove up the Nantahala River, to a spot that several locals have recommended, and cast our lines. AC attempted fly fishing for only her second time and I tried… something lol. Let’s just say it was a learning experience and we came home with a whole lotta nothing! But that’s ok- we have plenty of time to practice. After our attempt at fishing, we put the kayaks in on Nantahala lake and had a nice little float before some weather started blowing in and we packed up. But the lake is supposed to be great bass fishing and AC is already trying to plan when she can take the boat out. Maybe one day soon we will have a fridge stocked with fresh fish. Fingers crossed!
This past month we also grew the farm with a herd of…wait for it…worms! Our local farmers market vendors provide an educational demonstration every month and this month was all about vermicomposting (composting with worm poo). Sounds gross, but vermicompost is some of the best stuff out there for gardens, and worms are very low-maintenance. The worm farmer answered all 1,000 questions that I asked and even had starter kits for sale so we bought the one. Could we have started without the kit? Probably. But we like to support local and he made it through my interrogation with flying colors. Now, I just have to keep AC from stealing my worms to go fishing! 🤦♀️
Recently, the in-laws visited us for a week and, with their help, we were able to tackle a couple of big projects. AC and her dad worked on clearing the trails in our woods and we repurposed the trees they cut down as garden posts. In order to build the garden fence, we had to rent a ditch witch, because ain’t nobody trying to dig a one foot deep trench all the way around the garden. So my father-in-law trenched out the garden exterior and we all pitched in to bury chicken wire and attach it to the posts to create a secure space for our garden. This also allowed us to extend the chicken run and give the hens more room to roam and scratch and forage. The plan is for the chickens to help us prep half of the garden for next fall. We’re starting to prep the ground for this fall’s garden and our spring garden. I’m trying out a no-dig-meets-Ruth-Stout gardening method where you don’t till up the soil because doing so stirs up dormant weeds and disturbs important soil microbes. Instead, you pile on a thick layer of mulch (hay, wood chips, leaves, whatever you have available). The mulch starves the existing weeds of light while helping keep the soil moist for those microbes. As the mulch decomposes, it turns to compost that improves the soil’s nutrients. No hard digging + natural compost = a win!
And the icing on the cake is that we have a field full of hay! AC cut a couple rounds of that field a few days ago and we let it sit in the sun to dry out. Today, she spent some time raking the hay into simple bales and brought them to the garden for me. I spread them out and we’re about halfway finished!
The Caraways were also a huge help in ditch-witching a 250 foot trench that extended from the barn, all the way across the field, under the bridge, and up to the side of the house. We were able to bury our water line and fill it back in, all in about 2 days. The water line is for our future barn-loft space that we’ll use for family/friends visits and rent out on Hipcamp the rest of the time. AC and I also built a box under the bridge to help protect the exposed pipe from the few extremely cold winter days we expect here.
This weekend we cleaned out the cabin to get ready for that renovation, too! We have a plumber coming out next to start work on that space. Eeek!
Some more exciting news is we finally were approved for our LLC and received our farm number! We are officially on our way to making A|C Acres a dream come true!
Stay tuned as things are constantly evolving on the homestead!
Until next time,
Charli
P.S. We experienced our first live auction and while things didn’t go our way, I learned I gotta be faster with raising the paddle (or in our case, a paper plate!) Don’t worry, next time I will dominate! 😉
So productive! Can’t wait to come stay in the barn loft!
Wow! Amazing! I love seeing everything falling into place! Love the photos!