Re' Burton

Joylynn, I feel that watery pain!

I am swamped as well, so thank you for your post!  I like your plans and everyone's ideas!  
I bought this half-acre place in the Fall of 2013 and have spent thousands of dollars on bringing in belly-dump truckloads of fill and sand and soil. The first Spring my top soil literally left the yard via overland flow from my neighbor's pond-building exploits which apparently was a 'favor' to a previous owner who wanted some flood irrigation water.  The whole east side mud sill of my house is gone from rot, so I know it may have gotten well flooded many times. I still get water flowing onto the property but have set railroad ties and brought up the elevation again, however it doesn't stop the water from coming up from below.  I use raised beds everywhere and have success planting early and covering.  Also, I had to have 7 huge cottonwood and elm trees removed due to disease so now I have created a monster, as nothing drinks as much as trees.  My wooden raised beds rot fast so last year I started using metal raised beds to slowly replace the wood ones, and I also hope to buy the very tall ones which may wick more water from below.  I use old horse water troughs with bottoms in them for plants that cannot get that much water. These are filled with old logs first then compost and some worms. Also, I am taking cuttings of my elderberries and stabbing them into the swampy perimeter on the north and east sides of the property where the water comes from. For some reason they like the swampy side here.  My chickens will enjoy the extra berries.  Also, since I have a ridiculous amount of seeds in storage, I will be attempting to get perennial flowers and herbs to 'take' among the elders.  I have found that leaving my 'lawn' in natural, edible plants/weeds, I am eating sorrel, clover and dandelions, sheep's foot and plantain very early in the growing season and the water doesn't phase them. My goal is to plant the crap out of the perimeter fences and also to create thickly planted islands as someone else mentioned.  The spaces where we walk will just keep getting wood chips which are becoming a nice mulch which will get dug out and used around plants before getting replaced every few years.  For the chickens, whose coop run is under about 8 inches of water until the ground thaws, I created board walks and climbing things for breaks from the mud in spring.  I usually gather most of the floating worms and toss in the raised beds when I have time. This year, a business that lies north about 1/2 acre away has removed all the trees and scrub along that border to install tall chain link around their facility.  I foresee a change in flow which may be worse, but we shall see. Benefit is I don't ever have to water my 'lawns' and last year I only had to water 1 greenhouse, but the ants and voles and moles make use of all of the beds until the heat starts up, the ground thaws, and in a snap the 'drain is opened' and we get back to mud. I think that hauling in wood chips and compost and creating more of Joel Salatin's  "carbonaceous diaper" for the yards  will be next here, since I cannot seem to make enough compost any other way.  I look forward to seeing what your place looks like once it is all planted out!  Thank you for letting us follow your progress!

Hi Jonah!  Great first post!  

At our farm store, Shiptons Big R, I buy three different leather gloves:  Buffalo hide, elk hide and cow hide.  I use the buffalo for cutting back spiky stuff, elk for everyday work-they live in the pickup, and cow hide for the wood splitter work.  The brand is Kinco.  However, I did just find these gloves there: (photo attached so I hope you see it)
Description
Golden Stag
SKU2771127
EID551-MED
Brand Golden Stag
Welcome to our collection of Golden Stag long cuff rose gloves with a synthetic leather palm, perfect for all rose gardening enthusiasts. These gloves are designed to provide you with the ultimate hand protection while adding a touch of style to your gardening attire. Say goodbye to scratches and thorns with these functional and fashionable rose gloves.

This may not be what you are looking for, however I taught a year of preschool and although it was in far north Montana, and NOT in the summer,  I love the idea of making a kid-sized reading teepee/green bean trellis where kids could pick and eat fun veggies while they read or look at books  in nice weather. I would grow purple green beans because they are cool, and also interplant cucamelons because who doesn't love tiny watermelons that taste like lemony cucumbers?  All things mini are my choices for kids' spaces. Also, I found that purple cauliflower gets eaten by kids who 'hate' cauliflower, which may be able to grow at the feet of sunflowers for fun.  Strawberries and seedless grapes, like others mentioned, are amazing and thornless raspberries and blackberries as well as dwarf apple trees everywhere, are my other choices.  Because I'm crazy like that, I would probably plant pink and yellow dandelions in a smart location and lots and lots of red/purple clover, teaching all the bennies of eating them but not just from anywhere (chemical sprayed places, etc).  For instance,  I eat my 'lawn' that is now 90% edible grasses/weeds much to the neighbors' dismay...they think I've lost my mind but are glad when I've picked the dandelions before the seeds blow toward their manicured and weed-n-feeded landscaping. I love your beautiful school!  Have a blast with all of your projects!

My chickens are a wonderful resource for my place. I have never had to harvest one for meat but I have started getting "dual purpose" chicks just in case. They have become the working girls of the half acre giving all for very little upkeep. We eat and sell the eggs, as well as provide eggs for the dogs to eat. They clean up the gardens all winter and soon I'll let them into the greenhouses to run off the freeloader voles and mice. Not one grasshopper gets by them in summer and they simply make me happy when they run out to greet me like the dogs do, after work. Their poop and spent bedding are main components of my compost, and they love to receive kitchen scraps and eat the raw meat off beef bones from the butcher before the dogs get the bones. Some day I will raise meat birds as well but for now I buy them from the local Hutterites by the case. Love my hens!

I often covet the basements I see on homesteading Youtube channels but then I remember I have been in your situation in more than one home. It is a real challenge to fix. I opted to leave one basement bare as it was a  rented house and the water/moisture caused the main floor carpet pads to mold. I pulled the carpets to dry on the fence which ticked off the landlord. It was a beaver dam that directed the stream into the basement that time.  I had my office in the basement complete with digitizing table, drafting table and computers. I had hung cords from rafters and all furniture was propped up on cinder blocks but the water was much deeper. And the many mice I shared space with had left the building til things were dried out. We were told it could not be fixed. So we moved. The next one was a finished basement. A crack in the corner of the egress window allowed the water in. Sheetrock and flooring destroyed. I opted to replace the sheetrock once the crack was grouted and a better French drain was built but i just stuck with painting a rubberized cement paint on the floor and added colorful rugs. I agree that leaving things less finished but painted makes the repairs easy and being able to see the issue faster if there is a next time. Anything that does not mold but likes humidity like the mentioned canning jar storage, plants etc. Would be great. I had a second woodstove down there so i could help things dry out faster than with fans alone. I have seen many people turn the cold corner of the basement into a separate cold storage room which would be a dream for me. Ventilation is key regardless so the moisture and mold can be managed. Mold is usually the issue I dealt with when i had a basement. I wouldnt sleep down there due to allergies but it was nice and cool in summer so keeping yours as a livable space is a great plan. Best wishes!

Wow! So many great ideas and words of support!  Thank you all!  I am healthy and have 'wintered well' this far, so I have that!  I have a few resume's in and am supposedly being paid hourly to help close up shop.  We shall see.  There is so much here that nobody wants to deal with, so I will take it all and sell it. Many filing cabinets, equipment, computers, office supplies, etc.  The boss wants it all to go to the dump.  Oh heck no!  LOL. Of course I can always flip burgers but my time is better spent on selling stuff and cleaning out storages in case I get a job in another state, etc.  I am thinking of hiring the neighbor to manage my place as a rental this time, if it comes to that. It was a disaster hiring a local real estate company/property manager last time I left for work.  Destruction occurred and they never once checked my property which was turned into a zoo and childcare and dump site.  I am only looking at states with jobs where there are like-minded people and no state income tax, as it will probably be my last move, but I love Wyoming. I could go anywhere but I am thinking of my son, as well.  I'm learning about the many bennies of NW Washington state.  They seem to have the similar groups that my son would love to join. Almost everything I have for gardening is mobile. Poly tunnels and a never-built 6x8 greenhouse kit..I can be up and running fast wherever I go.  I started an online publishing gig at Publishing.com with the Twins, but just starting it now. It will be a blast once I get rolling and can do it from anywhere. I am pretty computer savvy and teach myself all the things:  I'll be taking home the CADD and GIS computer systems to teach myself. I have taught myself PETRA and Rockworks and "Wellsight" so hoping to get a few minutes a day to dig into that.  There were no personal computers when I went to Purdue so I'm self-taught. A friend has a virtual assistant and really loves her help.  I still do their technical reviews on reports at this point, and I'm a PG so can sign off on some of the reclamation plans.... Every little bit counts!  I'd rather just homestead, of course, but once again, it's not in the cards for now. Thank you all again! So many great ideas! Have a wonderful week!

Thanks Douglas.  Our midstream guys are taking it pretty hard as well.  I'm a single mom at 60 in the industry (well, maybe not anymore again). But this, too, shall pass.  Merry Christmas!!

Wow! Great replies everyone.  These are the times in my life when I really miss my dad. Of course there have been many of those times since he died at 56 when I was 28, but I love having a community of experience around me at this time.  Thank you so much!  

My house is not big enough for more people to live here but I may look into adult day care, if that is a possibility.  Personally, after raising 2 special needs kids while running 3 of my own businesses, I am exhausted, but  I may be able to get certified for that.  Infrastructure is all I lack. Thanks for the great idea!

I guess you're right that I cannot outrun property taxes and I am really hoping to stay small in my homesteading after having done the big and bigger, as well as the micro in the past.  I have a somewhat manageable mortgage and a screaming great 3.25% interest on it, so moving would probably never 'wash'.  The other debt was for repairs, replacement and remodeling materials.  Those projects are always ongoing. I've erased a whole lot more than I have now but I hate debt. I will sell everything to not have it again.  Well, not really, since that will freak out my son, but I will be selling a lot.

We have a local mushroom company that is going out of business but maybe I can pick up those pieces. I love that idea!  I have had multilevel marketing businesses, engineering, environmental, drilling, consulting, and mudlogging businesses, I ran 4H, Girl Scouts, raised market swine, trained colts, detailed cars, worked at a million restaurants, etc.... and I am a licensed Professional Geologist. LOL. I am even a certified proofreader, if you can imagine. It was easy, but now there are so many apps for that.

My air prune boxes are in process of getting built by my son and me and we will be ready to start our American Hazelnut tree "farming" soon.  There is not one nut tree to be found in any nursery or tree farm in our part of Wyoming.  This is my new passion.  I follow Sean at Edible Acres so I am hoping to get that rolling like he did.

You have all helped me so much!!! My head was spinning with panic but now I just need to get rid of stuff and debt, like you said, and stick to it.  Thank you again!

John F Dean wrote:Running with my background, are you getting funding for providing Adult Foster Care for your son?  

My son has a job at our local grocery store and he makes more than the allowable 'max' for SSI or SSD, for which I am so proud of him.  He pays a little rent and for some groceries and loves to help me garden and preserve food.  He was on those programs for a few years as he worked his way up to a full time position, but then his rent tripled at Easter Seals housing due to his income, so he moved back in with me.  

I am so glad I garden and put up food and prepare to survive for this crap to happen.  I've been a geologist for the same small Natural Gas production/operating company for 15 years, having been laid off for 2 years in the middle of that.  We are closing our doors as of this morning, according to the Board of directors.  I'm the youngest in management at 60 years old. The rest can retire. I cannot.  I feel so badly for the field guys though. We just hired 2 younger guys and our two compression/pipeline guys have families like me.  My 27 year old special needs son lives with me. My biggest hurdle is debt so I am looking around and making a list of what to sell to pay off more debt.  I do have some equity in the house....

I kind of feel like I'm supposed to sell the house (on half an acre) and get a little more land with less house outside of this area.  My property taxes keep going up and are over $2k/year and the city is trying to annex our little 'addition' into the city's boundaries to get even more money from us. However, I bought this place to age in place. I have built and fixed fixed fixed.... We have chickens and gardens and a hidden, deeper well at about 250 feet.  I planted fruit trees a few years ago so they should bear fruit soon.  I started growing nut trees and berry bushes and finally have elderberries in the right place.  It is not a pretty place, but the view is amazing.  

What do you think?