Blog Post 1

When I first moved here homesteading was not my goal. My rental of 7 years in north county San Diego had been sold and the rent was going up $1100 (yes that's correct) a month. I was spun at the bonfire at east coast melt in 2021 when I got the call.

My next stop on that cross country road trip was here in Maine where I like to decompress on a lake near where I spent a few family reunions as a kid. I had a lot of reflection to do by that lake and it occurred to me that people live out here, maybe I could live out here. People here are friendly, it's safe and beautiful and the cost of living is very low compared to SoCal.

So once I got home I set to work figuring out this first time home buyer as a self employed person thing, and then in January 2022 as I was really getting serious about finishing my taxes early and getting pre approved, the house that was meant for me fell into my lap. I saw a kiln posted on one of the glass groups for sale and the location was Orland, Maine, the same town of 1300 people in which I had just spent a week by the lake.

I hit up the seller asking about the area and quickly learned he was planning on putting his house on the market in the spring! Complete with a heated insulated glass shop with oxygen system and ventilation all ready to go. He was dreading having to dismantle all of it and sell it off piece by piece. Within 4 days I had bought a coat and a pair of snow boots and was on a plane back to Maine in the dead of winter to look at this house! I toured one other house that trip, saw my house that afternoon and canceled the rest of the viewings. I sat in my living room and chatted with the seller for hours, about glass and Maine and it was immediately clear that this was my home. He was eager to sell to me and I was sure I would never find a better fit.

When it got closer to moving time, the seller asked if I would like to adopt their chickens since they were moving into a rental and rather than upend the birds routine he offered to leave them for me. I had never even interacted with an adult chicken before but as an animal lover I said sure, why not! The seller left me lots of supplies and a nice chicken book for reference. Well, that's where it all started.

The chickens brought me so much joy I was out there every day smoking joints and figuring out my tractor and watching these nonsensical creatures bop around the yard, far more familiar with my home turf than I was at the time. I spent the first year watching things grow, noting how the spaces change with the seasons, still getting my bearings, very unsure of what the seasons held. I arrived in the spring and got to watch everything come to life slowly, not sure what to expect having never experienced seasons in full. I filled my house with indoor houseplants because that's what I was familiar with and it brought life into my big empty new home.

The second year I put some raised beds in the front yard, fenced in from the deer and grew a chaotic explosion of learning experiences, and some shockingly proper weed! Was I on to something here? I sure enjoyed it, and the glass market was declining steadily. I found myself spending more and more time watching my plants grow and researching and observing the gardening habits of my neighbors.

Year three I laid down my backyard patch and barely bought anything but bread and meat all summer, I failed at some things but had great bounties of other crops, and the chickens were always happy to clean up after me. I got a gig taking care of a really fancy cut flower garden nearby by knowing what nasturtiums are, and my clients loaded me up with plant and soil knowledge and giant bags of fancy, hard to find dahlia tubers. I sold all my garlic and barely saved any to re-plant or eat. I grew enough hash to keep me out of the dispos and afloat all winter. I pulled all nighters for 2 weeks harvesting and bucking my fresh frozen all while busting out work for my first solo glass show. The satisfaction of having my own solo show while enjoying my own homegrown rosin really did it for me; it was self validation at its finest.

So here we are year 4, and it's really coming together. 12 varieties of pepper, 5 varieties of tomato, clients on the list to buy tomatoes and garlic that's not even done yet and a solid hash fan base looking forward to new flavors. 6-8 fresh eggs a day. I added perimeter flower beds, a squash and corn patch and expanded the backyard garden as well. I treated myself to some fancy goth chickens and found a rock plug out in the country for my garden bed borders. My growing stash of tools helps me start new projects faster and easier and now I'm more aware of the necessary steps to get the projects done.

I guess it feels like work sometimes because it is manual labor but most of the time I just feel like I'm fucking around in my yard hanging out with chickens and making things look nice. None of this was the goal but I am so thankful it all shook out this way.  I never even considered this type of lifestyle change considering I have only lived in urban environments until now, and I know that I never would have sought out this drastic change unless it was presented to me so unavoidably, undeniably perfectly.

Admittedly there have been ups and downs, coming to terms with the glass world as it is, learning to supplement vitamin d in the winter and avoid the spirals, taking everything a day at a time and really diving in to demystify and learn about things that seem overwhelming have been the main tools in my arsenal. And these damn chickens never stop making me smile, so that's a nice help too.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and now you know how this all unfolded. It really does start with chickens.