Hi, Pooka.

Well, here we are nearing Spring planting again.

I have all of my seeds ready. However, I need to move the chicken yard fence and cut down a few small oak trees.

Had a huge oak in the middle of the chicken yard. However, it was diseased at the base, and one night a year ago one of the tow trunks about 2 feet in diameter and 70 feet long fell on my barn.

I nearly fell off the barn roof while cutting it, so I decided that work is for young, agile folk now. As I slid down the sheet metal I let the saw fall off the roof and I used my hands to grab the ladder. Better to buy a new saw and save my hide!

Back in Dec. I had a contractor put a new roof on the barn. He had an assistant cut down the other half of the oak of the same size. I pulled it over with the tractor while he cut so it did not fall on the barn like before.

It took me about a week to cut it up with a chainsaw. However, I am getting stronger and can cut faster now. When I am done with the hydraulic splitter, I will have a LOT of firewood for prep.

Now, that chicken yard is not shady and is loaded with nutrients deposited over the years by my chickens.

That is the primary area that I will plant this year.

I have four cows in the pasture and one dairy cow in the front yard. All of them are turning hay into wonderful fertilizer for me.

I will slaughter one of the ones in the pasture and move the dairy cow, "Sweetheart", to the back pasture. The front yard will be excellent for low demand veggies such as okra and green beans.

I will then plant the field in the pasture to sunflowers and possibly some veggies that do well here. Will use electric fence to keep the cow off the crops.

We are NOT fully self-sufficient, but working on it.

When the big freeze hit Texas I was sorry I had not installed the wood stove in the house. It still sits by the barn.

However, I was well prepared with candles and kerosene lanterns which heated the house enough to be comfy.

We cooked outdoors on a propane burner, so I did not go without coffee!

Looking at the overall situation, I was WRONG about how fast the pandemic, economic depression, etc. would cause a crash. Our society is remarkably resilient.

However, the Big Freeze taught a lot of folks the value of being prepared.

I still expect more economic doom ahead.

For me, prepping is a multi year lifestyle. It was always something I wanted to do, and now we are well on our way to success.