Hello from Interlochen Michigan

[InterlochenVictoryGarden]

I have been lurking in the background for quite some time, just reading the forums. But today I thought that I would introduce myself.

My name is Gary. I am 62, and I have been working at creating a homestead on my 7 acres for a few years now. I have arthritis issues and I have decided to deal with it by keeping moving and working through the pain.

I am building raised beds and starting to garden. I used to have chickens and rabbits but I got rid of them last fall as dealing with everything in the winter is just too much anymore. So instead I make soup and can it to keep myself from dealing with seasonal depression during the cold grey days in northern Michigan in the winter.

I started all of this a few years ago when I watched the Back To Eden Gardening movie. From that I called a local tree service company and over the last few years I have received about 250 yards of wood chips. My entire front yard is covered in wood chips and I am building raised beds for pollinators. The raised beds made with tin siding (pictured below) is my strawberry and blueberry garden that I made last summer. I will be building raised beds like those in another area of my back yard this summer for my vegetable garden. The best part is that the soil I am using was made by wood chips that the flock of chickens that I used to have turned into garden soil.

I am also getting barn clean out material that I pile up of my back 5 acres to compost that I can use for raised beds, or spread out back there to plant pasture seed in for a future pasture. I am also seeing that it attracts deer back there that I never saw before. So I guess I will have to find freezer space for 1 or 2 of them a year as well.

So that is me. I hope you will welcome me and I can add and be a blessing to your community. I don't do social media so I being a part of this forum will allow me to glean a little and maybe add to what this community already does.

Thank you, and may God bless you all!

 

[murphysranch]

Holey Moley! What a great story/progress!! Welcome from Southern Washington state.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hi, and welcome from Texas. Love your story, admire what you've done and can't wait to hear more!

 

[flowerbug]

welcome to SS from mid-Michigan (a ways south of you ). i understand the desire to keep moving as a therapy for physical issues as i've had back issues most of my life (from work as a teenager plus things that have happened after that). gardening is what helps me the most as i've found that my back loves it when i dig.

we have various critters here to contend with too. for deer i have to have fences tall enough to keep them out or i wouldn't get much of a harvest.

 

[InterlochenVictoryGarden]

One of the first things I did in my back yard was put in a perimeter fence with 3 separate area's. One for an orchard (dwarf trees), one for chickens, and a larger yard for a big garden. The orchard came first and I has a real hard time getting the trees to survive and bare fruit. Our soil is basically just sand. So last year I took out the few remaining trees, and that is where the raised beds in my pictures went. Not only that, I am a type 2 diabetic and I am finding that high sugar fruits don't work well for me. I still have an apple each day, but strawberries and blueberries are what my wife and I really like. So I am hoping to fill a freezer every summer with them.

Anyway, the fencing post stick 8 ft out of the ground and above the 4 ft fencing is a strand of black poly wire every foot above the fence. I have seen foot prints outside the fence, but they don't try to jump over.

The back 5 acres I just had forestry mulched last year. The food plot I grew last year was just a test. I will be expanding and improving that as the years and compost comes along.

I wish that I would have started this project 20 years ago, but I was too busy working and chasing a dream that never came true. The last 5 years or so has been humbling as my body was telling me to do other things. I am glad I finally started listening.

Thank you for stopping by and saying hello neighbor!!!

 

[Mini Horses]

Your raised beds are lovely!! As to the arthritis, some find that activity helps if you don't over do. Many use ointments to keep inflammation ( thus pain) controllable. DMSO, arnica, comfrey oils, natural products that help many.

We're glad you have joined us. Many in this forum deal with age, limitations, health issues, so often help is close at hand with hints and adaptations. Animals do need attention all year and being way north -- well, it's not for everyone . Heck I'm in VA .... near VA Beach/Norfolk, mild winters and I hate the cold days here, which are nothing compared to yours! But chickens & goats need water, food, eggs collected, goats milked, etc.

Like your pantry fill. Many of us can our foods. Yep, you're in a friendly, understanding community.