Monday, February 18, 2013

The Haphazard Gardener


My first fail as a suburban homesteader this week was to NOT accept free edible landscaping. I DID NOT go to a friend of a friend’s house and dig up her unwanted raspberry plants and plant them in my garden. I just had too much else planned that day.

And some of those plans included a nap with my boyfriend after eating Sunday brunch at a local restaurant. It was the first day alone with him in fifteen days. These were important plans.

I got an email from my landlord the other day saying he’d decided to NOT sell the house after all (unless I personally wanted to buy from him.) Apparently he was contemplating a move out of the city and that was really why he was selling the house. I guess that’s not happening anymore.

I think I’ll go ahead with the VA loan process – but slower, and without the anxiety and threat of having to move behind it. If I get the loan, and the monthly payments stay the same, or are cheaper than my rent, I’ll go ahead and buy. I do like this house. But the main effect this change has on me is I don’t have to wait on my gardening intentions.

I’m going to rent a rototiller, plow up my miniature garden space and get some seeds in the ground pronto. I’ll have the raised beds made as soon as possible, and that will make weeding easier down the road – not to mention the dogs can't trample the seedlings – but the gardening can start now.

My next plan is to move the yard debris I’ve collected from around the yard. I can drop it off at Rexius for $5. Done. I also want to plant those tomato and pepper seeds in my kitchen. Of course, that will mean keeping the house warmer. I tend to wear layers in the house and use the woodstove to generate heat only when I’m going to be in the house all day. No use lighting a fire if I’m only going to be around for three hours before or after work. But these seeds will need warmth. If my house is cold enough that my nose is running, why bother planting the seeds inside?

The Costa Rica vacation will warm me up though. A wonderful change from “I need to chop more kindling.” March 25th can't come soon enough. I think Ali and I may even brave the $12 four+ hour bus ride from San Jose to Uvita. We'll stay at Osa Mountain Village Resort in a villa for a few days, and then decide if we want to spend the last three nights camping there. An OMV neighbor has offered to drive us around the week we're there so we don't need to rent a car. Sweet!

Chris (from Osa Mountain Village and Serenity Gardens Eco-Village) emailed me photos taken of some of the lots we are interested in. One has a particularly pretty view of the valley below us. And all the lots have a little jungle left on them. And two have a bunch of smaller trees on the property, as well.

I just got them this morning (or as my Indian friend says, “today morning”) so I haven’t had a lot of time to pour over them. For once a fun thing to add to my to-do list.

I’m leaning towards this one…

because of the view

…but it’s impossible to tell for sure until we walk on them ourselves. Another has more usable land for what we want to do with it but no creek running through the back of it. Hmm. 

In the interim we’ll just pick one (we have it narrowed down to four), and when we get there we can solidify the choice on paper, with signatures. Our first step towards Pura Vida

In other news, Ali and I are trying on business ideas for Costa Rica. We’ll both have some sort of writing/editing freelancing we’ll do, but we want a local business to run there, too. So far we are leaning towards hosting all-inclusive retreats in our piece of jungle paradise. Healing retreats, Artist retreats, and Writers retreats.

Also, mushroom farming.

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