I think I have finally figured out how I want to structure a posting routine. Beginning on Monday of each week, I will post a short story about something on my homestead, PheSustainable Farm. In these stories I will highlight 7 interesting elements to elaborate on, one for each day of the week. Of course I hope to post more than just these, but it will be a good start until I find my bearings. Let's begin! You're cordially invited to...
><><><><>WALK ALONG WITH ME<><><><><
It was an especially nice mid-summer day in 2017. Luckily, the temperature felt more like it was still Spring, being in the low 70's, which was on the cool side for that time of year. In western Missouri it can get sweltering hot and humid during the summer, which invariably leaves me cooped up in the house because I am heat intolerant. The sun was intensely bright. So much so that even with sunglasses the light seemed to slightly dim the vibrant colors of the surrounding landscape. Still lush, albeit a little bit overexposed. My eyes begged for a closer look. My mind needed the stimulation. My body needed the exercise. My spirit needed the peace. My nerves needed the distraction. Needing an adventure, I went on an expedition.
The truth is, these walks happen infrequently for me. When the opportunity arises, I take it! Every time I stroll around the property I go very slow. As such, this is how it usually goes:
Walk 10 feet. Stop. Smell the flowers' perfume saturating the air. Put one hand in the air to shield my eyes from the Sun in order to watch the Turkey Vultures circling above as if they were graceful figure skaters. Walk another 10 feet. Stop. Marvel at the understory of the creek while listening for the hustle and bustle, or lack thereof, of the nearby wildlife. So on and So forth.
For me, gone are the days of living fast. Conservation is not exclusive to the well-being of our planet. Conservation of energy, calmness, and being present are essential to maintaining good health for ourselves, as well. We cannot GO! GO! GO! all the time. Our bodies and minds were not meant to live in that state forever. I encourage you to take time at least occasionally to recalibrate by being STILL in nature. Especially if you are the type of person who avoids stillness, as I once was. You deserve to experience nature, deliberately, at as slow of a pace as you are capable. I digress.
I am still learning about all of the plants growing around here. There weren't many I could identify in 2017. Over the course of the year with the help of online plant identification groups there are several plants which I can easily identify now, such as the pockets of White Clover that I can identify with my eyes closed simply by their smell, Common White Yarrow which has fern like leaves that feel as soft as a baby chic's feathers, the invasive edible Henbit with its pretty purple flowers and the ever constant beneficial native Dandelion.
(White Clover & Common White Yarrow among other common meadow flowers)
Anyhoooo... On that particular walk I remember listening to the dehydrated ground crunching beneath my feet as I walked along a path that had been mowed through the field. There had not been enough rain recently. Not the usual amount we should have been getting. Storms were in the vicinity but mysteriously kept missing our property, by and large. Is there something in the air which diverts these storms around us? A weather invisibility cloak? A curious mind wants to know! The Greater Kansas City Metro and surrounding areas were inundated with storm after storm that week, yet for the most part it remained uneventful and mostly dry here, apart from the humidity being so high in the predawn hours you could write love poems for the stars on the windows illuminated by the reflexion of the moon.
That day I started off in the direction of the Orchard, meandering in and around it in a haphazardly fashion, eventually following along the creek's edge, tracing it all the way back to the property line. At this time of year the Poison Ivy is so lush inside the creek that entering is next to impossible without a hazmat suite and machete (of which I only have the machete). There were two options. On the left was Option A; a lush impenetrable forest. On the right was Option B; a field with a stale appearance. By the look of it, some people might think to themselves how much more exciting Option A would be. Heck, at the time that's what I thought! As interesting as it looked, there was no way I was going in that forest. Bored and restless from being cooped up inside so much, ending a short walk prematurely on such a vibrant day for such a shallow reason was simply not going to happen. Boring or not, taking a 15 minute walk was more eventful than what I otherwise would have been doing. It's not always easy to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves, especially when they feel underwhelming. Sometimes those are absolutely the best opportunities to take advantage of. With that in mind, I chose Option B, jaunting off to the right farther into the crispy field with my eyes zoomed in on the ground for a change. After all, a closer look to see if it was as bland up close as it seemed from a short distance away never hurt anyone.
Scattered about were balding areas exposing the predominately clay earth where the lawnmower cut a little more off the top than was necessary. I nearly tripped over some sort of massive cluster of roots spanning about 3 foot in diameter. It was obviously from a mature species with how extensive the network of roots were, which looked similar to turmeric without the rich orange color, having a hundred or more connected in a large matte, as if they were rugs placed on the ground. On none of my previous walks had I noticed it. Maybe on none of my previous walks I had looked closely enough. Or, maybe they had become exposed the last mowing. The lawnmower has a tire with a persistent tendency of deflating due to a slow leak.
Growing nearby in the neighbor's undisturbed meadow were the same plants reaching about waist high with thick, long, sturdy blue-green blades of grass. A rather pretty grass, I think. Others must think so, too, because it is used as a decorative grass in commercial and residential Landscape Design. Behold, Little Bluestem Prairie Grass. There is another lovely grass, Native Switch Grass, that coexists in the fields with the Little Bluestem Grass, as well. Plus, of course, many other species I am still learning to identify. The two of those make up the majority of the 40 acre field stretching from our property line to the next creek over.
The neighbor's meadow that touches our property is where the highest point on our property is. From there the land slopes downward, dropping about 10 feet in elevation over about a 100 foot span until leveling off at the creek's edge. From the property line looking down, there was a thicket growing I had previously never noticed, although it must have been there before. I imagine it had likely been "chopped and dropped" from periodically being cut down by a brush hog. As I'm sure you can imagine, once the field grows too tall, it becomes too difficult with a simple lawn mower. Missing two weeks of mowing, next thing you know, it'll break the mower. 2 weeks later it's tall enough to tickle your armpits. The plant growing in this thicket had dainty fern like leaves that were inviting to touch, reminding me of a miniature version of the beautiful but invasive Mimosa tree's leaves. Pretty foliage, to be sure, but that wasn't the most beautiful part of this plant. Known as False Indigo, when I happened upon it, it was moderately peppered with 1 to 2 inch long cone shaped flower clusters that were a rich deep purple. The flowers in each cluster had not all opened up yet. Of the ones that had, there were what looked like little wispy strands of brilliant orange sticking out. There was no distinct fragrance, although I wonder if I had gone back a few days later if there would have been when the deep purple flower clusters surely would have been in full bloom. After seeing this plant in that perfect light, at that perfect time, I'm thankful last year we got a late start on mowing. That must have allowed the False Indigo to become better established. It's a lovely plant. Not in the ideal location as far as the future permaculture plans for that part of the property, but it can be moved to another location. There is plenty of time to decide because that is what is being considered Zone 5. It is currently kept mowed to reduce the risk of fire hazard but is otherwise unused. In the future it will become zone 4 where we will extend out the edible forest along the creek.
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Stay tuned! More is on the way...
Be sure to look for more in depth posts on this week's 7 elements on the following plants:
1.14.18 (Sun.) Little Bluestem
1.15.18 (Mon.) Switch Grass
1.16.18 (Tues.) Dandelion
1.17.18 (Wed.) Henbit
1.18.18 (Thur.) White Clover
1.19.18 (Fri.) White Yarrow
1.20.18 (Sat.) False Indigo
Thanks for reading!! I hope you enjoyed the first short story in the WALK ALONG WITH ME series. Please consider upvoting, following, and resteeming to follow along. While you're at it, check out the Homesteaders Online community, too. Hopefully you'll decide to join along in the fun.
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http://homesteaders-online.com
P.S. Since I joined Steemit mid December '18, I've been struggling to get synced up with a posting routine due to having technical difficulties with my computer, having to sort out some urgent family stuff, trying to make sure the health of my family and myself are being properly looked after. There never seems to be a shortage of obstacles. Looks like I missed the deadline for the Healthy2018 contest but I can sum up what will be the primary focus for this year in fewer than 14 words.