We are in the lull of the homesteading season here in the Northeast.  It’s not quite warm enough to plant outside and, honestly, my home is fairly up-to-date so there’s not a lot of work that needs to occur.  That being said, I kept busy this week on the Suburban Steader Homestead so come see what’s going on.

This Week’s Milestones

Make The Ick Stop!

Last week I complained of still being sick and, unfortunately, there’s no positive update this week.  My cough has lingered and it doesn’t seem like the inhaler I’m using is doing much good.  The good news is that my wife was able to get me an appointment with my real doctor (none of that walk-in clinic stuff we talked about last week) on Saturday.  Hopefully, I’ll get some positive results from that appointment and I can stop whining to you every week!

It’s Sports Season

Spring is always a big season in our house for sports.  It used to be that my twin girls played soccer.  Now one of my daughters (we’ll call her J) doesn’t do any organized sports in the spring (she’s a cheerleader for the youth football program in the fall).  My other daughter, M, is playing both lacrosse and soccer.  She’s busy which means I’m busy – especially since I’m an assistant coach on the lacrosse team.  Last week was the first weekend with games for us and I’m proud to say M scored a goal and had a few assists in an awesome lacrosse game which we won 6-2!  This weekend is the first dual weekend game with both lacrosse and soccer on the same day.  We’ll see how M shows up.

While she doesn’t do sports in the fall, that’s not to say J isn’t an athlete in her own right.  We had Game Nights at the girls’ school last night and I got to see J smoke the rock wall in their gym.  Awesome times!

I know this kind of conversation isn’t pertinent to the idea of homesteading, but remember that this site is dedicated to suburban homesteading.  And raising your kids is definitely within that realm.

Plus, I’m a proud Papa!

Gardening Slowly Lurching Forward

The weather is – finally – turning!  Next week should be in the 60’s here and I’m totally intent on getting some stuff in the ground.  The lettuce, broccoli, and onions are doing great and will definitely benefit from moving to their final homes.

That means I can continue growing the peppers, sage, and eggplant.  I’ll also be able to start additional plants like basil, cilantro, and cucumbers.

Oh, and I have garlic growing outside!!!

Blog Work

I got back to blog this work this week and boy, oh boy, did it feel good!  I posted an article about Misty Marsh’s 72hr Kit Plan e-book.  The e-book is great and, moreover, I feel like the article I wrote did it justice.

In addition, I did some maintenance on the site.  The side column got cleaned up.  A bunch of junk was removed and I added a list of the top ten articles on the site.  My goal was to speed up the site with the removal of all the junk and to also provide a way for readers to find some of the great information on this site.

The resource page also got a little bit of a refresh with some new items.  Most notably, I added a bunch of books.  I want to do a review of all the tools I’ve listed and may even do something where I put together a toolbox for viewers to win.  Is that a series idea you all would be interested in?

Next Week’s Goals

The underlying goal is to get better, but I’m finding more and more motivation.  I’ve started to use a Bullet Journal and feel like I’m getting a little more organized.

The garden will see some traction this week and I will most definitely take pictures.

In addition, I’m going to review my 2016 Suburban Steader recap now that we’re a quarter way through 2017 and see how I’m living up to my goals.

So, that’s it for Week 14 of 2017! We’re moving in the right direction and just need Mother Nature to play her role.  I also need to find time away from all the kids’ stuff.  But, I love spending time with them, so it’s all good!

Thanks for reading!

Dan

Founder/Owner at Suburban Steader

I am a middle-age guy with a wife, two young kids and a crazy dog. We live on Long Island, NY and had an interesting experience with Hurricane Sandy. That experience led me towards the self-sufficiency movement and eventually led to the founding of SuburbanSteader.com. I aim to provide suburbanites with the confidence and know-how to become more self-reliant by providing content on topics such as gardening, personal health, financial responsibility, cooking, self-preparedness and self-protection.