Making best out of temporary downsizing
This next week we will close on the sale of our house and move away from our yard with its trees and herbs. We will move to a big city, to a townhouse style apartment, with a small balcony instead of a yard. It is only anticipated to be for 6 months, and we will start looking for a new house after a bit. I am trying to stay upbeat and proactive even if I can’t grow a garden like I would like to this year. Before I go, I am harvesting as many of the medicinal plants in my yard as I can, of the ones I presume will be viewed as weeds. I plan to have a container garden on my balcony, and hope to find places I can get permission to wildcraft. And I can resume my studies again. Looking forward to new opportunities and exercising flexibility. Mixed with a bit of less optimistic feelings, but I try to keep those reined in. They aren’t helpful ;).
Comments
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@csinclair461 I, too, am going to be leaving a rental where I have been able to plant a lot of herbs and fruit trees. My landlords offered to let me stay as long as I want, but they are leaving this area for his job prospects. My family is about 2000 miles away, and I've decided to find a job closer to them.
It breaks my heart to leave all my hard work, but I've done it before. I hope that the next owners appreciate the work that has gone itno the yard, and that they continue it. At any rate, we are leaving things better than we found them. That's a big thing to be proud of.
Best wishes and prayers for your future home and for those new opportunities!
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Seeing anything growing makes me happy. So I have a grow light to see my plants flourish and that lifts my spirits. If the balcony doesn’t have enough sunlight you may consider supplementing with a grow light while you pass this time. I wish you well.
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thank you Louise. I have my Aloe Vera plants and grabbed some sage, rosemary, and lavender starts from my yard before I left. I brought all my pots from my house, and plan to start some comfrey, hollyhock and calendula. So I do have some growing to look forward to! I will also work on growing other things indoors as well. Today, I am still unpacking.
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We ended up living in our apartment in the city for 18 months. The first summer I covered the porch in potted plants. The lettuce did well. The herbs did ok, but I didn't get a large harvest from any of them - they didn't really like the added heat of being on a porch I think (the reflection from the glass door, etc. Our cats fancy themselves as herbivores, and voraciously eat every plant I attempt to keep inside. A shelf helped. The second summer we were searching for a new home, and I didn't grow nearly as much on my porch. We ended up buying a house in Florida. We had lived in Orlando before and never forgot it. We now live on 2 acres in Tallahassee. Now I will be reviewing all the information on starting a garden!
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@csinclair461 all the best with your new purchase in Tallahassee. I bet you can’t wait to plan and “dig in” hope it grows really well for you.
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@JodieDownUnder Thank you! Yes, I am looking forward to it!
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@csinclair461 congratulations on the Tallahassee purchase! Your pots and plants may love their new home and the cats may find others to munch on during the plants’ transitions.
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@SuperC Thank you! They are trying to munch on the fake garland currently - we had to readjust it to get it out of their reach! Sadly, all my pots did not make the trip. Moving away from the west coast is 2x as expensive as moving toward it. We had to let go of a LOT of things. But there is good that came from that. Sometimes it's good to purge the old. But I brought seeds, and am meeting the new plants on the property, and getting ready to grow more soon. I think the cat's favorite plant is self heal. One of them ate it when she was feeling sick and wouldn't eat anything else, and she recovered quickly after that (we did consult with a vet).
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A new adventure with new plants to mix in with old. Enjoy it. And 2 acres! You will have fun creating a new garden and home
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Congrats on finally getting your house. @csinclair461 Gardening in a different climate can be a challenge. David the Good has great advice on Florida gardening. https://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/
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csinclair461 Yes, changing from coast to coast is quite a change for growing. I did not know much about herbs back when I lived in central Florida. There was so many things I could grow there that will not grow here in Alaska.
Have fun learning what is available and what you can grow there. Just a hint, if you mow down a cactus, (I forget the specific variety, but it is a big paddle type) all the little cut up pieces can grow whole new cactus'.
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We've found that our moves force us to go through our piles of junk and simplify, even when we aren't moving to a smaller place. Without that incentive, we never get around to throwing out our accumulation.
So embrace the move, take the opportunity to discard unwanted items, put the stuff you'll need at your next larger property in storage, and relax in your temporary apartment.
And keep growing plants in pots in that apartment. :-)
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@Tave Thanks, and thanks for the link! I will look him up, I've seen him talk on a couple of Marjory's summits, he's great! Makes it all sound real simple :)
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@vickeym oh wow, yes, going from central Florida to Alaska is even more extreme. I am imagining the cactus hint has a whole story behind it! I haven't seen any where I'm at yet, but if I do, I hope it will trigger the hint :)
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@VermontCathy Yes, that is very true - and what we discovered is a cross country move pushes that incentive to discard even further.
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Prickly pears (the cactus with paddle-looking pads) grow very happy where I live. I'm getting ready to plant some starts on an abandoned lot across the street from me. Nopales and prickly pear fruit are good foraging foods, and the pulp of the mature pads is good medicine.
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It's been awhile now. Have you found any cactus yet?
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@vickeym I saw some prickly pear in someone's yard (driving by), and at the local plant store. So, yes! There is none on my property yet, but I will work on getting some one of these days!
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