Now that the weather is starting to warm up, we are making a garden. Anyone who has tried to grow food in a former hayfield knows just how tough the grass roots are. We hired someone with a tractor to break the top layer. Then we turned the soil with a rotor tiller that Lesa’s dad gave us. Tilling revealed a lot of rocks and root clumps that we had to remove by hand. There is something satisfying about crawling on the ground and throwing rocks toward a target (a tarp spread out) while taking care not to hit someone. It’s about time to plant the seeds we’ve been collecting!
The blueberry plants are growing near the 10′ x 16′ shed that I’m converting into a tiny cabin for my overnight stays. My eldest grandson is helping me install some extra windows and get a nice cross breeze going.
We now have a rather rickety outhouse on site for taking care of bodily urgencies in private.
Some beautiful natural plants are showing up. Since we have a limited knowledge of “weeds,” we have someone coming next week to do a walkabout on the land and help us identify plants. I’ve got a pack of wooden tongue depressors to write the name on and place as markers next to the plants we can use for food or medicine. Such fun to learn as we go.
It is so good to have my son and his family living on the land with us. He has built storage for tools and those living on the land now have a way to wash and dry clothes. My son is building a below-grade greenhouse where we can start seeds and house our solar utilities and water storage to supply the acreage on the upper ridge. We are still deciding how best to pump water from the creek and springhouse at the bottom of the hill up a 700-foot incline using solar power.
Lots going on at the moment and we are having fun.
As many of you know, my friend and business partner Lesa Gavron and I bought some undeveloped property in Tennessee last December. Our goal is to get a retreat center up and running. If you’ve ever worked with raw land in the winter time, you have some idea of what we’ve dealt with in getting the infrastructure in place. Here’s an update on our progress.
Mud, rain, snow, ice, wind, and a handful of sunny days–working with Mother Nature–was the norm for January. We began construction on the driveway that will allow us to move equipment, supplies, and dwellings to the meadow at top of the hill. For now, we seem to be confined to the valley below. It’s been like Noah and the Ark down there with all the “twos” on the land! Two buses converted into off-grid dwellings, two trucks, two utility trailers, two RVs, two fire pit areas (that we sit around when the weather permits), and two cars are parked on approximately two acres of soft muddy ground that flooded when it rained. The driveway project that was started January 10th was slower reacting completion due to the weather and seeming unavailability of gravel, chert, rip-rap, and dump truck drivers. We did a happy dance every time we got a delivery. I’d never been so excited about dirt and rocks! 
Getting our family moved onto the property is happening right now, and this includes getting a driveway installed. My son, Zeb is moving from Indiana to be part of this project. He has lived off grid for 18 months and has some amazing knowledge and homesteading skills. He will be installing a ram pump to get water from the beautiful creek in the valley up the hill to our personal residences.
In 2021, I met Lesa Gavron through a mutual friend named Jacque, who had attended one of my workshops at Sweethome Retreat Center. Lesa and I met for coffee last summer and learned that we have walked parallel spiritual paths and shared a similar vision for a spiritual retreat center where we would live off-grid with close friends and family.