The inner ideologue demands a high level of performance on the urban homestead. When homesteading, gardening, shopping and cooking turn into a list of "shoulds", a lot of the joy goes out of daily living and with that, the extinguishing of inspiration. As my beds turn to weeds and the thick masses of wildflowers overtake the sidewalk, as the currants ripen and shrivel on the bushes, I turn my thoughts to the why of it all. If I am honest, I acknowledge that the joy has been in creating a place for biodiversity and vitality from an ordinary city lot. I'm a "big picture" person and once the vision has been achieved, I am not someone who falls naturally into the rhythms of maintenance. I live alone and my beds have gone to hell.
The major lessons of the past three years on the homestead are easy to point to: Go slowly. Finish one major project before undertaking another - down to the most minute details. Follow joy rather than ambition or perfectionism. Balance dreams, visions and ideals with what is practical.
Right now, going on the garden, it looks like a crazy person lives here. I know I'm not crazy - but I took on a great deal more than I can realistically handle. Now, it's time to revise, revise, revise and to find solutions to the problems I inadvertently created in bringing radical change to the landscape.
May your garden be manageable, sincere and a source of delight. May your summer be filled with good fruits from your good labors and may your homestead be a thing of simplicity, beauty and joy.
2 comments:
I can relate to this. My garden is a jungle, and I have two potted apple trees on the side of my house. I've traveled a lot this summer and life had gotten in the way of my homestead. For me, balance is the elusive dangling carrot. Keep working at it, it will get easier.
I relate to this post, too. My garden is beautiful in my dreams but in reality, it gets away from me. I tend to plan on the fly and things don't always work out that well. Worse are the "permanent" plantings - the horseradish and the sunchokes and the strawberries. I'd like to start over again, but probably won't due to lack of time and that dragging "should" that make it not fun.
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