I found this post in my drafts. Apparently, I never posted it. It’s 5 months later now, and I’m well settled into my new home at The Wallow. What has happened and what has yet to come? Here’s the draft I wrote back in August:

“I won’t be moving to my new house in Tennessee until October. So much waiting! I’m reading up on bees and pigs in the meantime, as well as prepping for Burning Man and Alchemy, which happen between now and then. There’s lots to do, but I’m spending a lot of time daydreaming away, too.”

Moving in at The Wallow involved a bit of reclaiming the house from the nature that had run rampant in the absence of people. The main project was mowing the yard, which had become insanely overrun with weeds. The other thing that turned into a huge project was the fact that woodpeckers were dining on our home.

Now that it’s 2010, I’m thinking towards the year ahead, which always involves a nod back to where I’ve been. The biggest whirlwind of awesome has been in just the last handful of months. In case you missed some posts, here are a few of the highlights for me:

Remember the red tree in the now-pasture I mentioned in the Weeds to Pasture post on Wednesday? The quest to identify it (as, I hope, a Black Walnut) has a new development, so I thought I’d tell you the story from the beginning.

I’ve been trying to identify some of the trees and plants at The Wallow. It’s fun to know what’s out there, to know what’s edible, and to give things a name. When I realized there was a tree amidst the brambles in the field, I wanted to save it from the bush hog. There are no other trees in the main part of the field, and it would be nice to give the pigs some outside shade. Of course, I tried to identify the tree based on its leaves.

The Wallow has lots of distinct parts to it. There’s the house, of course. There’s the two-story barn, which now contains Joshua’s workshop. There’s the hill, which is behind the house. There’s the forest-ish area on the way to the creek, where the bee hives are. There’s the front yard, which will be the garden area come spring. There’s The Bowl, an area made up of driveway and concrete walls at basement level, making it seem like you’re in a bowl of concrete. There’s The Island, a grass and tree space between the two main driveways where Joshua chops wood and wood that has been delivered is stored. And finally, there’s the area we’ve been calling the field or the pasture.

The field is about a 1/2 acre of space, enclosed in a high-quality wooden fence. This is the area that we plan to use for keeping animals. However, like the rest of the property, it had been completely taken over by brushy weeds.

In the past few days, we have set up most of the rooms in our home, Joshua has tilled three garden beds and built a work bench, I’ve begun building a crafting table, Joshua mowed and we both raked up the grass to become hay for later, we worked on hoeing the weeds off the brick walkways, we ran cable for internet, we’ve grilled out several nights, we sit on our front porch swing and enjoy the view, we’ve met some neighbors, and so many other random bits of this and that.

Awhile back, a mystery plant began to grow in my compost! Something was alive and green and growing in there, so it was rescued and planted.

Today Joshua and I closed on our new house!

I haven’t moved into my new house yet, but I’m busy researching many different aspects of homesteading. As part of that effort, I’m reading the blogs of lots of other homesteaders, farmers, and people who are otherwise in line with what I want from my life. Here’s my list of what I’m reading.

I’m on my way to becoming a farm girl! Last night Joshua and I signed the contract on the house. (Well, Joshua signed it, I looked on in awe.) We’re hoping to close by the end of this month, but I have no reference for how likely that is. It seems soon, but our broker thinks it’s do-able.