{"id":2293,"date":"2019-12-28T10:24:23","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T15:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2019-12-28T10:24:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T15:24:23","slug":"homesteading-aint-always-pretty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/","title":{"rendered":"Homesteading Ain’t Always Pretty"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love it here on The Little Half Acre in late spring and early summer.\u00a0 Everything is fresh and green and the “jungle” hasn’t yet overtaken the property.\u00a0 The garden beds are starting to fill out and everything seems neat and tidy:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

BUT…. in winter it’s a different story.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Cause after a busy farmer’s market and CSA season, the Happy Homesteader is usually too tired to tidy up after any projects so “stuff” accumulates everywhere — plastic plant pots, tools, etc.\u00a0 The garden beds are full of dead vines and plants, the bare trellises look pitiful, the wood chip mulch needs replacing, the grass is brown and tufted and the moles play havoc all over the place with their little tunnels and red clay hills that stick up out of the dirt.<\/p>\n

Add to that a few piles of frost blanket for the garden beds that are being overwintered along with the PVC and plastic that form the low tunnels, the dead brush that lines the creek bank and voila!\u00a0 Instant ugly mess:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s hard enough to keep up with general maintenance when what is really needed here on the homestead is a helper to 1) cut back the Japanese honeysuckle that grows by several feet each year, 2) ditto on the Ailanthus trees that WILL NOT DIE, 3) ditto on the wild roses that also grow with happy abandon, 4) chip up the branches that should get cut down each year, 5) fix all the things that broke and\/or went wrong over the season and 6) perform the endless hours of weekly weed eating that’s required thanks to all the rocks, garden beds, food forests and other goodies that can’t be simply mowed over.\u00a0 So, any volunteers out there???\u00a0 No?\u00a0 Didn’t think so but one can dream!<\/p>\n

It’s backbreaking enough, at my tender age of 67, to get everything planted, watered, weeded, harvested, washed, packaged and delivered during the spring, summer and fall.\u00a0 Then the Winter CSA continues from November through whatever date the produce and the Happy Homesteader finally say ‘Enough!’\u00a0 After all that, there’s just no energy for the clean up that’s desperately needed.\u00a0 I’m sure my neighbors understand though.\u00a0 I’m sure they’re absolutely delighted to have our messy little homestead right next to their nicely landscaped homes.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Uhhhh, right???<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love it here on The Little Half Acre in late spring and early summer.\u00a0 Everything is fresh and green and the “jungle” hasn’t yet overtaken the property.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening","category-homesteading"],"yoast_head":"\nHomesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I love it here on The Little Half Acre in late spring and early summer.\u00a0 Everything is fresh and green and the “jungle” hasn’t yet overtaken the property.\u00a0…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Little Half Acre That Could\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jackie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jackie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jackie\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9\"},\"headline\":\"Homesteading Ain’t Always Pretty\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\"},\"wordCount\":398,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Gardening\",\"Homesteading\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\",\"name\":\"Homesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Homesteading Ain’t Always Pretty\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/\",\"name\":\"The Little Half Acre That Could\",\"description\":\"A sustainable living experiment on a mountainside half acre in North Carolina, USA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9\",\"name\":\"Jackie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2387c20ebe45d06fc208c16985b5f423fef2e935d4bf610ee1d16c44bd599e0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2387c20ebe45d06fc208c16985b5f423fef2e935d4bf610ee1d16c44bd599e0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jackie\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/author\/jackie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Homesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Homesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could","og_description":"I love it here on The Little Half Acre in late spring and early summer.\u00a0 Everything is fresh and green and the “jungle” hasn’t yet overtaken the property.\u00a0…","og_url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/","og_site_name":"The Little Half Acre That Could","article_published_time":"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jackie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jackie","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/"},"author":{"name":"Jackie","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9"},"headline":"Homesteading Ain’t Always Pretty","datePublished":"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/"},"wordCount":398,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg","articleSection":["Gardening","Homesteading"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/","url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/","name":"Homesteading Ain't Always Pretty - The Little Half Acre That Could","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-28T15:24:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_1033-e1570728903486.jpg","width":1000,"height":750},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/homesteading-aint-always-pretty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Homesteading Ain’t Always Pretty"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/","name":"The Little Half Acre That Could","description":"A sustainable living experiment on a mountainside half acre in North Carolina, USA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/27800d2f67a398f922bf5395be6d0cb9","name":"Jackie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2387c20ebe45d06fc208c16985b5f423fef2e935d4bf610ee1d16c44bd599e0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2387c20ebe45d06fc208c16985b5f423fef2e935d4bf610ee1d16c44bd599e0a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jackie"},"url":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/author\/jackie\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2299,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelittlehalfacre.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}