Hello there! Yep, we are still here! It has been so long since we have had a moment to even think about this blog. We don’t even know where to start so let’s just dive in and see where we go.
Ever since we moved back into a house it has been one thing after another. But, not in a bad way. We have just been preoccupied with the seemingly endless amount of chores and maintenance of our property. Until now, this blog isn’t something we haven’t even thought about this year. To be honest, the only thing that reminded us of it was having to pay for it.
If there is one huge difference between our RV life and today it would be how busy we are. We don’t think of this as a bad thing, just different. In the RV we were just cruising through life and did’t really have a plan every day. While that sounds great, and it was for the most part, the downside was that sometimes it was easy to get very lazy.
When you have no real routine or responsibilities it’s easy to fall into the trap of putting things off. We did a lot hiking and exploring to make sure we stayed active. We work camped in the winter months to keep busy and offset some expenses. However, there were many times where we just decided to hang out inside our RV and didn’t do much of anything. Again, not a bad thing. It’s just where we were at in life and we loved it at the time.
Now that we are settled into our house there is something to do pretty much every day. Some things are out of necessity and many others are just pride of ownership. Our property was just raw land when we bought it and we love making it better. This process can be hard work at times and progress always seems to move at a snails pace. But, it is also very satisfying when you complete a task and check it off that to-do list.
When we lived in Southern California our lawn was probably the same size as our driveway, if not smaller. Back then we worked so much the last thing we wanted to do was yard work. So we paid people to do it for us. The same could be said for a lot of other things we just didn’t have time for or just didn’t want to deal with.
Now we have time and a lawn that is more than a quarter acre in size. I enjoy taking care of it and it looks great for the most part. Like everything else it has challenges, like poor drainage in torrential downpours, but that just comes with the territory. I could have purchased a fancy Texas sized riding mower, but opted for a push mower instead. I might come to regret that decision this summer, but in the meantime I’m getting some good exercise.
The rest of the property is a lot of trees and open areas on both sides of our house. These open areas get a lot of seasonal ground cover that seems to relentlessly grow here. In springtime the wildflowers are an amazing site to see. It all starts with the famous Texas blue bonnets and then many other beautiful flowers follow. However, after their short life ends we are left with knee to waist high brush. Some of that needs to be cleared and cleaned up so we aren’t looking at a fire hazard or just an unsightly mess. It’s a lot of work, but again, it’s also satisfying to see the end result and clean meadows.
BTW, if any of you have some high grass or brush that needs to be cleared or mowed down I recommend getting a string mower like this. It gets the job done and it’s kind of fun to walk around and tear stuff up. Also a very good workout!
The thing that we have been busy with the most is our garden. We have had some great crops and some complete busts. The first year is always tough as the soil just isn’t the best. However, we have managed to put a lot of food in our pantry and freezer despite some setbacks.
We are not of the mindset that we can save money by growing our own food. At least not yet. In fact, getting start in gardening can be downright expensive. That is especially true if you take the route we did. With hard compacted Texas clay soil and wildlife looking to eat anything and everything, planting directly in the ground wasn’t an option.
After researching different options we decided using raised garden beds was the best way for us to go. We have also used these great grow bags for some of our smaller crops and to help us spread out and diversify. The beds can get pricey, but they look great and we have already had some good success.
It’s nice to know some of the food we are consuming is homegrown and strictly organic. We don’t have to worry about any pesticides or other garbage that has been sprayed on it. Also, homegrown food not only looks better it tastes SO much better than anything store bought, including stuff labeled organic.
Maybe once we get everything up to the level we are shooting for it will become a breakeven operation financially. The start up costs are a lot to recover from and will take time. Then you have the continuous need for fertilizers and other input costs.
These are things that need to be addressed before we can actually save money on our budget. Our long term goal is to limit input costs, but we are talking years to get to that point. For now we will just be happy with stocking our shelves and not worry about that part just yet.
In case you are wondering, so far we have put up a large supply of pickles, pickle relish, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, green beans and onions. We have also harvested garlic and potatoes, but not in the large quantities we had hoped for. In the spring we had enough lettuce to have salads everyday for a year if we wanted. Unfortunately, there is no real good way to store lettuce.
Currently we have quite a few other crops going and food preservation is in top gear until we start transitioning to our fall planting. We haven’t done too bad for our first growing season. Most importantly, we are learning a lot that we will be able to apply to future growing seasons.
Speaking of food preservation and learning. Canning and pressure cooking is something I watched my mom do when I was a kid. Back then my parents had a backyard garden and my dad always grew more than any family could possibly eat. So during the growing season my mom would be in the kitchen pressure cooking food all day long. I never thought it would be something I would do, but here we are.
We have mostly done water bath canning which has helped us preserve things like homemade pickles, pickle relish, tomato sauce and pasta sauce. We purchased this electric canner because our stovetop is not compatible with large heavy stock pots. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s been great and is really easy to use.
Pickles, Pickles and MORE Pickles
Another way we have preserved food is by dehydrating it. We decided to purchased a cheap dehydrator and herb grinder to get us started. Now that we are getting into the process more we might need to step up our game next year. There is just so much you can do with dehydrated food which can add up for saving money over time.
One of the things we started doing is making our own seasonings and spices. We love our seasonings and spices so this could actually be a money saver right out of the gate. These are things that we use every time we cook and they are so damn expensive! Sure you can go to Walmart and get some low quality stuff for a dollar. But, you get what you pay for.
We have been growing and dehydrating the usual herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and more. But we also started dehydrating and grinding down food to make other seasonings that we use every day. Things like onions, garlic and tomatoes to make powders and pastes.
Now that we are getting peppers we have started making cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and paprika. We are creating a nice supply and they are all organic and fresh. The color difference alone when compared to the cheap store bought stuff tells you how much better it is.
Green Onion Powder
Once you get a nice supply of base items in place you can then start mixing them to make things like chili powder, taco seasonings, rubs and much more! I would like to make my own hot sauces eventually! As you can see, herbs and spices are a great place to save a little cash and the quality is so much better!
This has been our life for the last few months and we are finally getting over the hump and stresses of moving and getting settled. Aside from a couple of breaks for family visits we have just been putting in a lot of hard and rewarding work. The best part is that we love it and we love being here. It’s time to start living life again.
The interesting thing is that there is so much happening on and around our property. Sometimes it feels like we are camping even though we are at home. When we were on the road it was a treat to see wildlife like deer and rabbits around the campground. At our house we have deer and rabbits in our yard just about every singe day. As a matter of fact, there are two bucks outside our window in the back meadow as I write this.
We also had barn swallows build a nest just outside another window. We watched the babies hatch, grow and fly off. They still come back each night for rest and fly off each morning. Our cameras are active on a nightly basis capturing wildlife passing through our property. It’s surreal to think that this is where life has brought us.
In our last blog we asked the question “are we still financially independent?” The answer at the time was yes-ish. We have moved into the new phase of retirement as we laid out in that blog. So far everything is working out great and we couldn’t be happier.
We will probably do a financial update blog as soon as we can get around to it. It’s been a long time and we are now pretty well established in our new financial reality.
Until then we thank you for reading our blog and sticking with us. We never intended to go silent, but life became too busy. There was, and still is, a lot of work to be done. Hopefully we can try and get back on track with some regular updates.
There are a lot of people who talk about retiring early, but only a few who actually do it. We are about 5 years into our early retirement now and we have never looked back. We are living proof that it can be done despite the naysayers. We are also proof you can change course after or make major changes to your life and still continue on. These things don’t have to be the end of early retirement or financial independence.
We have tried to be very transparent about our finances over the years and we would like to continue that mission. Good or bad, it helps us to stay on track.
We also hope it helps others who are thinking of taking the leap. It hasn’t always been easy, but that is part of the journey. There will always be something, someone or some reason to make an excuse for delaying, holding out or second guessing.
For us it was work, bills, material things, our kid going to college, Covid and family that didn’t understand our dream because that’s not how things are done.
Well, we did it anyway! And now we have had 5 years of fun while most people our age are still a slave to the grind with no end in sight.
That’s not how we should live and it doesn’t have to be that way if you’re willing to put in the effort.
Until next time…….
Happy Trails!
Joe
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