100 Day Plan - Prioritizing the right things

I got back to my hillside woodland around March 7, so i am now 20 full days into the roughly 100 days between the start of March and when i'll need to start heading West to attend the PTJ(!)

For my thinking it's helpful to imagine time boundaries that structure the passing weeks. I'm going to think of the 100 days as split into 5 periods of 20 days each.

My general guiding light for the next year is to be able to host friends and family next year when the Solar Eclipse passes overhead, April 8, 2024. I'd like the two important functions of eating and what comes after it to happen onsite without anyone being pushed too outside their comfort zone. In that vein, putting together a nice hand-washing station would be groovy. Then perhaps lodging beyond what i already have: three beds in two cabins, plus a large clearing for camping. Lastly i like to imagine showing friends some nifty amenity that they might hardly have imagined they would encounter out here - a sauna is my great dream, but i've seen low-tech hot tub designs i liked too.

I'm trying to pick the "highest-leverage" projects that are feasible to take on these next 80 days, given just me and some intermittent help from neighbors/friends/guests-who-come-out-to-lend-a-hand-and-hang. I'll feel most aligned and productive if i know that the task i'm working on is one for which Spring/early Summer is the ideal time to do it. Would love to hear any opinions about "Spring is the time you must do this in your woodland".

Here's me taking a crack at picking a major theme and project-level shortlist for each of the 5 periods:

Beginnings .... 3/7 – 3/26
What i've done so far
- Sited and began Hugelkultur
- Planted 100 trees
- Earthworks to understand feasibility of redirecting water from channels formed along road during rain
- Buying some tools

Landscaping .... 3/27 – 4/15
While the first growth is kicking off
- Finishing Hugelkultur
- Planting Hugelkultur with first-year cover plants
- Improve conditions around trees planted
- Downing some dead wood
- Select the path of a meandering hiking trail
- Trial my idea of transforming downed treetop brush piles (left by logging operation) into slow composting sites

Beat the Heat, Bugs, and Humidity .... 4/16 – 5/5
Things i'll be glad i did before things start to get really summery.
- Selecting and clearing more areas that can be campsites
- Clearing the trail
- Further earthworks to slow and redirect the rain runoff flow that runs along the road to ridgetop
- Explore methods to improve the bugproofness of cabins
- Look into restoring solar setups (inherited from previous owners) - will make recharging fans, and eventually running chest fridges easier
- Trial mini-wofati sanctuary shed near the ridgetop - just big enough for a person to sit in. (Still sounds over-ambitious, for sure)

Build Build Build .... 5/6 – 5/25
I'd start all these projects with baby steps and lots of research, will surely drop some aspects or whole projects.
- Acquire more key tools
- Outhouse with trombe wall or other passive heating, rain-fed handwash sink, urine diverter
- Handwashing station for near kitchen/den cabin, on skids
- Rocket stove outdoor grill setup
- Modify cabin's sagging front porch roof
- Outdoor shower, with solar water heating if any
- Mess around with low-tech woodfired (probably rocket) hot tub – can be soak tub during summer
- Continue clearing trail

Completing Things and Tying Up Loose Ends .... 5/26 – 6/14
Pretend the Eclipse happens June 15 and get the place "ready"!
- Finishing the things in progress where possible
- Set up those that won't be finished so that they're easy to come back to without degrading in the interim
- Clean up here and there the things that i've ignored but are key eyesores
- Continue clearing trail, maybe doing something additional before leaving during peak summer growth

Writing this out has really helped me to clarify my goals - i'd be pleased if that's actually all that comes from it. But if you'd like to give any feedback, i would welcome that wholeheartedly!

Hi Liam, Following with interest.
I think the best things to do in Spring that are timing related in a woodland is planting, and it sounds like you already have that covered. You might want keep an eye on the new trees and give them adequate water in the first year till they're established.
It's difficult to be constructive without knowing what you already have in the way of facilities (I'm assuming that toilet facilities are adequate for your visitors for example). I would just say don't rush things and try and do everything at once. Better to do fewer things properly than have to redo many things that fail.  If this is a new site for you then the principal of observation is one of the most important. You will get more of a feel for what is needed as time goes by. Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing. Taking it steady and planning like you are, will mean you get the important things done if possible.

Nancy Reading wrote:Hi Liam, Following with interest....Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing. Taking it steady and planning like you are, will mean you get the important things done if possible.

Thanks Nancy, i love that advice. I've had the place for almost 2 years now (only there intermittently), and at some points i've felt guilty about not having accomplished more. However in recent months i've come to realize that a slow pace has its advantages.

I'm grateful in the end to have not had the funds available for earth-moving equipment i originally thought i should use, because i think i would have rushed into some hard-to-undo tasks without sufficient preparation. I recently read the essay "Damage" by Wendell Berry and his description of a failed dozer-built pond, which will take years to be re-integrated into the landscape, stuck with me.

One concrete project which i'm glad to have proceeded slowly on is my outhouse. I dug the hole and started to set up the foundation thinking i'd just go the old-fashioned route of an outhouse that fills and you eventually move. But then a friend lent me the Humanure Handbook, and later i discovered permies, so now i'm glad there's still enough flexibility in that project to do something like a willow-feeder can sunk down in the hole (with a good way to remove it when the time comes). Or perhaps more simply the "dry outhouse" with poop beast trees planted downhill which Paul Wheaton pointed me towards when i got to chat with him at the Self-Reliance Festival.