Looking to the future

Today's Weather.
Today's high: 50 F
Tonight's low: 27 F
Clear, NW Wind 6 mph
Humidity: 52%

1. Well, M is back at work full-time, mostly healed from her injury. I am through the application process, and we're waiting more or less patiently until March/April, when we should hear from the five phd programs to which I've applied. To make money for living expenses, I've gone back to construction work I have done off and on for many years now. By mid-Summer, we should be relocated to one of five metropolitan areas: Santa Barbara (CA), Nashville (TN), Boston (MA), Princeton (NJ), Chicago (IL), depending of course on the offers of acceptance and funding we get from these superb universities. We're slowly looking at real estate in each area, and the possibility of continuing our homesteading efforts in these places.

2. Meanwhile, we've recommitted ourselves to a Winter/Spring Garden. This past weekend, M had four consecutive days off, and after she had recovered from her 17+ hour shift last Thursday night, we put in 8 rows of Lettuce seed. Each row is about 1.5 feet wide and 5 feet in length. We're experimenting with raised rows, as our earlier beds (which were 5' or more in width) were simply too difficult for M to get to for weeding and harvesting. We're also experimenting with our planting time: M has observed that Lettuce seed may need to freeze (lightly) in order to grow well, and may not at all benefit from a prolonged period of warm days and nights. Given the climate change here, we're thinking that Lettuce and greens may need to be planted quite late into the "cold" weather.

3. We've also re-instituted some of our other homesteading practices, such as composting and hanging our clothing out to dry on a line, at least a few sunny days each week. While we have certainly fallen short of some of our earliest homesteading dreams and goals, we are more knowledgeable, and live differently, than we would had we not explored this path so thoroughly over the past year.