So, it’s been a while, and that’s my fault. I started this site at a big transition point in my life and thought I’d be able to keep up with everything I’ve wanted to try. I spent a lot of time getting ready to move into my house and adjusting to a new job. I’ve made several batches of cider and wine, I think my strawberry wine is my biggest success so far!  I ordered five fruit trees and several more plants (I will update soon about putting plants “to bed” for the winter) and built an indoor a-frame grow stand to try my hand at growing microgreens and protect my more sensitive/younger plants that I began growing at a bad time of year.  I now can and dehydrate excess food, though I will readily admit canning is a huge pain, so I got a pressure cooker that can pressure-can and will control the temperature and pressure so I don’t have to sit in front of the stove for hours at a time! I had a worm bin that was working fairly well, until i had to leave for vacation and they all died; I will likely start a bigger one up this spring now that I will have the space with a true yard.

The last year has kept me primarily very busy with the house, I’ve installed a more efficient wood burning stove into the old fireplace, made several repairs to the house which was ruined by renters, replaced the kitchen floor, completely remodeled the bathroom, had a tree cut down from the back yard to let in some light for my future garden (and saved the entire thing for firewood and mulch) and then fenced in and cleaned up the back yard for our new rescue pup, and turned one of our spare rooms into a full on pantry with shelving and two full freezers.

This fall I got a mother-load of free mulch from a local tree trimming company and several trailer loads of horse manure from a local stable to prepare the garden for vegetables next spring. I had so much mulch I figured I may as well mulch the entire perimeter of the property and certain key areas of the front of my property to keep it clean but also establish plenty of beds to plant into. I plan to plant many varieties of productive plants into these mulch beds this spring beyond what will be going into the garden. I’m going to over plant like crazy and STUN them (Sheer, Total, Utter, Neglect); whatever survives without too much work will be used to grow stronger plants next year, and whatever dies will be sent to my new compost pile!

I make my own shampoo, clothes washing detergent, deodorant, and toothpaste,  and support a family that makes soap by hand.  For this  Christmas, me and Lady Tinker crafted homemade gift baskets for everyone, including a crocheted basket for the gifts and a soap scrub, bath bombs, homemade sugar scrub, and an amazing new comfrey-plantain healing salve which will definitely be a steady item in the Tinkerer household.

Writing this all out, it looks like I have done much more than I initially thought I did. But trust me, there is much more to come this year! Follow me on my journey, and hopefully I will inspire you to try something new that will lead you to a more self-dependent, fulfilling lifestyle.