Time for you. Time for me. Let's start planning our garden time.

January is such a tough time. We're in the throws of Winter, and while it can be an absolutely beautiful time of year, it often can be calming or start building anxiety; especially when you live in a much colder climate. I start counting down the days when I can start my seeds in mass quantities and place them on my grow racks and under grow lights. I long for the ability to get my hands and bare feet into the earth and reconnect and reenergize my life source and thusly, my soul.

I typically take the month of January to plan out my gardens, continue to order larger and larger quantities of seed every month until about April or May and then start ordering root starts, trees, fruit bushes and the like from May until August, then start the winter garden veggie order about August/September and bulbs in September through November. It's truly a system I have. I love to attempt to save as much seed from what I grow to harvest, and I'm kind of a seed hoarder, to be honest. It's one of those things that I don't think you can ever have enough of. I do start cold stratification of certain seeds in about mid January, so that I have viable seedlings to plant in about March into seed flats and pots, then into the yard and garden they go come Mother's Day weekend. 

I'm very methodical, to say the least. I have set a goal this year, to convert my front enclosed south-facing porch into a year-round greenhouse of sorts, and that will be very interesting, if nothing else. Oh, the satisfaction I get from being able to play in the dirt throughout the entirety of the year, even if it is a mixture of my composting pile and seed starting mix. The energy is nothing short of amazing, that you receive from having your hands in soil. The plans for the indoor greenhouse have already begun and I have drywall pieces that I have salvaged, and will be picking up some insulation this Saturday, to replace what is in the walls now. The existing windows will be reset and resealed and new hardware will be place for them and an exhaust fan and heat ducting will be placed in the ceiling to ensure the proper environment for growing. Yes. I've done my planning and research, to say the least. 

What are your plans for January? Do you take this month to do seed and supplies inventory? Do you plan out your garden(s)and food forests like I do? Or do you just take this month to recoup and gather your thoughts and plans? I'd love to hear what you have planned! 

Happy planning!

Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.

Blessings,

Nonnie

This is Sparta! Well, in spirit, anyway (as it pertains to me).

Welcome to 2021. The year that will tell the previous one, "Hold my beer and watch this!" This is already a strange and upsetting year for a lot of people, including myself. I feel that life as I once knew it, is over and a new era of self exploration, heartache, laughs, tears and growth can and will occur. It hasn't started out putting it's best foot forward, but I'm sure going to try to put forth all of my efforts to put my best foot forward. I have goals; many goals. Some very lofty ones, sure, but I have many. I have a fire in my soul and a newfound sense of drive. I have plans in place for varying scenarios, and backup plans for those plans, if they don't come out just as I have anticipated. I will not be deterred from the end game.

I don't know about others in the country or the world, but for the first time in a very long time, I'm truly concerned for the future. I fear that the worst is yet to come and I can honestly say that I'm not prepared. Are you? I have a lot riding on success this year in many aspects of my life, including family, business ventures, outside relationships, finances and so many more, that may seem quite trivial to some, but I see the writing on the wall and I don't like it. This is where the fire starts to rage and fuels that drive for me.

Healthy skepticism and being a realist is what I like to call what I'm feeling and thinking. Most would simply call me a conspiracy theorist, and to some degree, sure; I could appear that way. But, I am trusting my 'gut feelings' about things and trusting my own thoughts, beliefs and actions a whole lot more these days and those who do not feel the way I do; well, their opinions are obviously not going to sway me from my trajectory of success and survival. Sure, I value the opinions of those that I love and trust, but, I'm still going to listen to my intuition, trust what I'm feeling and just go with it.

So, I'm turning things around with this blog, my social media, my businesses, and all of the other outside things in my life, to build success and reap those benefits. You will see change in the appearance of my life and how it is portrayed or presented to the public. These changes will not be overly dramatic, I don't think, but you will see the shift, I'm sure. Some of the more noticeable changes will be in the presentation on my social media. This blog will still be little life lessons I learn on my journey, but there will be more informative content on ways to help others through that same life lesson and ways to make your life a lot less stressful and a lot more fun. I hope that you enjoy the direction I wish to take it. 

Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.

Blessings,

Nonnie