31 December 2008

My Piece Of The Pie

Dang I hate when I type a title and hit enter instead of tab! Publish a blank post...(probably a relief from some I've posted hehe.)

Aw well, it don't matter. Not today. Not much of anything gonna wipe the grin off my mug...

I've been holding back on mentioning this until the money was gone and the papers signed.

My checking account is down to three digits-- including the ones after the decimal point.
I go tomorrow to a notary with the papers.

And become the happy 'owner' (albeit an indebted one, hence the quotes) of 2.1 acres in the Ozarks.

I"M GOIN' TO THE BOONIES, ME FRIENDS!!!

Granted, I won't be headin' there menana; gotta race the rats for a few more. More WHAT-- months, or years-- will be determined by desire, drive, and a smattering of good ol' luck. I aint so sure we have the years. I've not been idle to this point; important to me, though, that if TS does HTF a little sooner than mayhap I envision, I have a retreat far, far away from Houston (or any other metro-polis (police? word origins; gotta love 'em)).

I say I've not been idle; in the last calendar year I have greened (greenered ain't a word...) my thumb by starting no less than two gardens from seed. Still have some seeds (Heirloom/open pollinated varieties) and the lighting equip for the startup. Last february while still laboring in Austin, with my brother's kind loan of a 7' x 14' slightly raised bed and some small tools (I was less than 30 days in front of no longer being a ward of the fine state of Tx.; DIRT-POOR, literaly! ha! i kill myself...), we ordered seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Took an old heater pad from a not-so-watertight waterbed, a small shoplight, a grow bulb to fit said, and some peat seed-starting thingies (technical, I know; try to follow, class...). Slapped 'em all together on a workbench in the garage...

Voila! Jardin.

Not long after, the landscape company that was rapin... um, that I was laboring for, expanded their operating yard by 66.6%. They were kind enough to let me garner an ~8' x 8' space. By this time I had a few "spare" (read: too many) seedlings from the garage project. Also, it was a little further along on Sol's journey northward; I direct-seeded for complimentary variety to the bro's backyard garden growfest.

Sadly, both plots were left behind when, in a storm of changes (ironically coinciding with the two Tx coastal storms, Gustav and Ike) I vacated the Austin area. But the experience was valuable-- always been green of dexterous digit, but proved to myself I could grow edibles, from seed, in addition to beautiful houseplants.

After a few months of itenerant work (storm clean-up variety, mostly) I have moved to the Big H. On the plus side, I'm in an abode which has a small but dedicated garden area-- so i'll be right back at it when the silverbeet seed arrives! Another advantage is, I can race rats until such time as the races are cancelled and the running turns from festive pursuit of green paper to the run-for-your-life variety.

When it does that... no, hopefully long before, folks. Or at least sometime before--as I say, I ain't convinced we got too "long"...
But whether when or before, my run will be towards them thar hills...

Where there is Magic, I hear :)

Other preps have commenced as well, most notably building up of foodstores to help the wait of fruit tree production (those'll go in the ground this fall up property way) and seed planting fruition. My ideal would be to be stocked enough food shelter and essentials-wise to have the latter-- the Ozark garden-- in the ground spring 2010.

Sounds like a long ways away, huh?

Folks, in another day it'll be aught&9!

Stay tuned to see how dedicated the MacMeister is to the timeline...

Thanks for stoppin' by...

Cygnus

12 comments:

HermitJim said...

Sounds like a workable plan to me...and of course, we can sit and discuss the formation of any more detailed plans, while sipping on the beverage of knowledge...COFFEE!

Good for you, nephew!

DarklyFey said...

I am SO excited for you! Good fortune in this and all your endeavours!

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Thanks Hermit!
Always a positive to have a friend help make a plan become reality.
And, of course, you have Full-Caff...

Hey DarklyFey, thanks for popping in. hope your new year was brought in well.
I'm pretty pumped myself! I've been... not so diligent of late on my spiritual walk; this land is a practical synergistic contributor to a larger ideal...
Time to get on the ball in many ways!

Best of luck and fortune to you in the cycles to come.

Cygnus

Livia Indica said...

Hey good for you! Maybe when you finally get here we can hang out!

Stephanie in AR said...

Hello! Hopped over from Mayberry's site. I live here in the Ozarks - lets say Springriver Area- drop me a line if you need anything. We just move to this house this past November but have lived in NE Arkansas for 15 years.

Congratulations!

Phelan said...

Congrats! I have friends that live in those hills, if I liked trees I would be up there myself.

ah, but the open prairie calls me so.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Livia... THAT would be a DREAM! I'll hold you to it; always nice to have someone to network with.

Stephanie-- Saw your name/ comments on... who, Mayberry? Bison? ah well, THANK YOU for coming by. and MUCH appreciation for the extended friendly hand; may well tap your knowledge. I am Honored...

Phelan-- I hear ya! Follow YOUR heart's longing... And loved the info, the practicality etc. of the goat (and all your) post(s)!
thank you so much for visiting.

Noki said...

Congratulations! Welcome to the club, too. In what area did you get the land?

Hugs,
Ashley

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Hey Girl!
Missed you of late... hey, I need your email if 's ok; my gmail is avail (i think) thru my profile; if not: jmacmeister@gmail.com.

C'est moi.

I'll be in Texas(egads!) county, Missouri. A stones throw from the Mark Twain Nat'nl Forest.

ur fambly,

C.

Livia Indica said...

Texas country! Aw hell, that's 4 counties away! I'm in Lawrence. But we can still get together.

Livia Indica said...

I'm just rereading this and seeing that you put heat under your seed trays. Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong. I've been trying for several years now to grow herbs from seed and having horrible luck. I get a precious few to sprout and then root rot always kills them off cuz they're not very strong. But putting a heating pad under them? I've never tried that. Perhaps I'll give the seeds another try with this new tip. I guess your seed trays have to be watertight to keep from getting the heating pad wet right? Hmm...I almost can't wait 'til February to start some seeds now!

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

livia,
we did the heat for one b/c/ the setup was in the garage; temps kinda cool in feb even in Tx(state, not co! Unfortunately... but damn straight we'll hook up...). Makes a HUGE difference in any month, though-- soil temp is very important for germination. You'll get great results now... and the "containers" were bought @ wal-mart; i'm sure any garden store would have something similar. it's a self-contained system, seed moss starters and all in a covered tray. add water; when the moss pockets hydrate, add seeds & cover; light 'em and watch 'em sprout!!!

I'll get the specific product name to you in the next day or two...

;)

C.