Pennsif's Progress - the One Year Anniversary Edition - Operation Blueberry Rescue
Today marks my one year anniversary of joining steemit.
I came here as a prepper and a homesteader.
Most of my early posts were just about my prepping and homesteading activities.
Indeed I carried over from a previous prepper forum my 'Pennsif's Progress' series.
This had the full title of Pennsif's Progress - the days are numbered, as I was counting down from an arbitrary number of 1000 days I had given myself to get prepared...
I never particularly defined what I was getting prepared for - but I will stick with my sometimes quoted "when the bad times come".
I continued Pennsif's Progress on and off for a few months but then other 'steem stuff' rather took over and I let it lapse.
And I was never sure people would be interested in my daily, mostly mundane, homesteading and prepping activities.
However Pennsif's Progress did have one very useful purpose - it was a strong daily motivator to get out and do things.
If I didn't get things done, I didn't have anything to write about !
These past few months, with health issues, with a busy business and ever more steeming I haven't been doing as much as I should on the prepping and homesteading front.
I have oft been a lackadaisical lapser.
So now on my Year 1 Steem Birthday I have decided to fire up the engine again on Pennsif's Progress and see how far a full tank will take me.
My first task under the new regime is...
Operation Blueberry Rescue
I love blueberries - one of my favourite superfood snackers. So last year I planted a dozen or so mixed variety blueberries in the old pig garden.
I built a border bed along the fence and filled it mainly with coniferous woodchips and a bit of compost as blueberries prefer a more acidic environment.
We harvested a few blueberries last year.
This year the plants have begun to get established and are bearing a fair bit of fruit.
However I have not been tending to the bed and it had got totally overgrown with nettles, willowherb, grasses, buttercups and other uninvited guests.
So this morning I begun the assault on the bed and area outside along the fence.
This is the before...
And this is the after...
And this is a puppy digging to help picture for cute effect...
Tomorrow I will clear a pathway along the border and do a final tidy up of the bed...
Once I have finished clearing any weeds I am going to 'top up' the bed with some more woodchips and old mushroom compost.
I will finish Operation Blueberry Rescue by draping some netting over the fence and the blueberry bushes. That was in fact why I planted them along this fence border bed. A cunning plan eh?
I am looking forward to getting our first decent crop of homegrown blueberries in two or three weeks I think.
Generally I am working on a 3 year plan for most crops like this to get fully established. So next year I am expecting great things from these blueberries.
One point I need to check on as a novice blueberry grower - should the bushes be pruned in the winter to open up the centres like gooseberry bushes?
When I was on the prepper forum I use to have a motto - Do One Thing Every Day.
That was, and most definitely should be again, my prepping mantra.
Be prepared, get prepping, you never know what is going to happen next.
You might also be interested in some of my other posts :
MY RADIO SHOWS :
My Life in 8 Songs - Thursday 14 June - with @darrenclaxton, @d-vine & @zipporah
The Alternative Lifestyle Show - Friday 8 June 2018 [recording]
SteemRadio - schedule of all the steemit radio shows - week beginning 11 June 2018
MY PROJECTS :
A Dollar A Day charitable giving project update : Steem Basic Income for donation recipients, weird smoothies & witness supporters
A Dollar A Day charitable giving project update : May report : over US$ 1100 donated
Pennsif's Sustainability Curation Digest for MSP - week ending 10 June 2018
Homesteaders & Preppers on steem - time to revive the list
One year on Steem, time to refocus...
[ images by @pennsif ]
This is a great achievement, my friend, on a platform where user retention is only 18%. that you have reached the year shows how well established in steemit you are now!
Congratulations, my best wishes and vibes for you!
please keep the post about homesteading coming, you may think is "boring" but it is not. Some people (like me ) learn from these post!!
so a good thing that you could do is to give some advices to your public, like how to make a compost for blueberry (in this case)
I am often surprised myself that I am still here...
I will keep making the homesteading posts - glad you enjoy them.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! One year and counting...
Like you... I too find some great motivation in steemit. It has forced me to become more creative, get out more into the world of gardening and learn new skills.
I remember your early days and the Pennif's Progress posts!!
You're doing a great job out there with those blueberry plants and your furry supervisor is adorable!
It will be interesting to see how it goes with Pennsif's Progress Take 2.
The puppy loves digging up roots - just need to get her to learn the difference between weed roots and vegetable roots !
Host of The Alternative Lifestyle Show on MSP Waves Radio.
Editor of the Weekly Schedule of Steem Radio Shows.
Founder of the A Dollar A Day charitable giving project.
I need to invest in some netting for my fruit trees. The birds just love the papayas and the mangoes. I have managed to harvest my pomegranate and kumquats. I guess the birds don't like them!
We keep losing our cherries to the birds - they are too tall for nets now.
I guess I will just need to stand guard.
I would love to be able to grow mangoes - but I don't that is ever going to happen in Wales !
I hope you are all safe.
I hope the 'bad times' are a long way off. I've not grow blueberries, but I do like them. I may need to add to my berry collection
I don't know whether you should be pruning the bushes to open them up, but my guess would be 'no, not necessary'?
I was lucky one year to find near where we had lived was a 'wild' blueberry patch and we spent some great hours harvesting them. They grew well in the local peat soil, and were very healthy. No pests except the birds. They were tall bushes, too.
Everyone became quite sick of blueberries that year ... lol. I have been collecting a few plants the last few years so hope to have some nice harvests in the years to come. :) I bet you will, too!
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So we both started here last June! I doubt almost anyone who hits the one year mark really ends up where they thought would be. The important thing is that we are still here! And as long as you enjoy writing them your homesteading posts will always be interesting to other homesteaders...and also those of us who are interested in gardening. Homegrown Blueberries are right up there with Strawberries! <3
Happy Steemiversary. Glad you're here.
Congratulations mine is coming up too. You've done a grand job and are surly a great example on this platform thanks 💯🐒
Clever idea using that fence! How many of the theoretical 1,000 days are left?