I can’t believe I’m writing another weekly wrap-up post already.  This week seemed to go by way too quick.  There’s good reason for that – I had a lot of fun this week and was quite busy!  Come along and see what I accomplished this week on the Suburban Steader Homestead.

This Week’s Milestones

Travelin’ Man, Travelin’ Man, Yes I Am

Haha! Do you have that Bob Seger song stuck in your head yet?  If not, here you go:

OK, now that we’re done that with little pop culture sidetrack, let’s get down to business.  Mrs. Suburban Steader and I took a much needed mini-vacation this weekend.  We went up to a little cabin in New Hampshire.  Every year we try to make this trip.  It’s fun because we meet up with some friends.  I get to snowboard, she gets to relax and we all get some time to hang out without kids.  Good food and cold drinks are consumed.  It’s a great time.

I love it because I get to explore a little bit of New England and, if you’ve paid any attention to me, you know that I love New England.  The majority of our drive is spent on I-91 through Vermont but we end up at this little cabin affectionately called the Dumb Luck Lodge in NH.

It’s right near Attitash Ski Resort and that’s usually where I snowboard.  This year was really fun because it was so cold.  Yes, you read that right.  It’s always a challenge to have fun in the cold, but I did.  The day started out with base temps around -1oF and it didn’t warm up much.  At one point, we reached the summit and it was -5oF with 15mph winds.  The windchill was brutal.  But, if you had the right clothing (which I do), you were fine.

See, prepping isn’t all about doom and gloom apocalypses!

Did I mention we came home to blizzard warnings? Yup, blizzard warnings…on Long Island…in March.  That was no fun.  We all ended up home – kids had school canceled, my work closed and the Mrs works out of the house.  Fortunately, we all made it out alive and are here to tell the story.  Oh, and we only got about 2” of ice and not really much snow.  It turned to freezing rain in the middle of the storm and it really sucked to shovel.

Spring Is…Slowly…Coming

I didn’t plant much this week, but I’m seeing a lot of progress in the seed starting table since last week.

Everything has sprouted with the exception of the eggplant and the sage.  I’m hoping those are both just longer germination times.  I really should check.  I’m always too busy.

The unfortunate thing is that I’m supposed to be hardening off the onions and lettuce.  Yeah, well, with the storm last week and another one predicted for next week, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

The garden will just be started a little bit late this year. No worries.  I want to get this thing going as soon as possible; I’m finding patience in high demand and short supply.

Blog Work

There was no blog post this week.  Lots of reasons for that, but it really came down to time.  The mini-vacation last weekend took away my typical writing time. In addition, I’m in a little funk with what to write.

With that thought in mind, I’d greatly appreciate article ideas in the comments!

Next Week’s Goals

Next week’s goals are really weather-dependent.  I’m at the point in the gardening season where I’d really like to start transplanting some crops and getting others started outside.  Unfortunately, my beds are still under snow and we’re expecting more.  The temperature isn’t expected to climb that much either which makes it not such a great scenario for seed sowing.  I will probably push my plans back a week or two and let spring settle in a little more.

Outside of gardening, I have a few other things going on.  My folks are coming for a visit this weekend and I usually find something to do with my old man, even if it’s just tinkering in the garage.

I also have to figure out my next garage project. I’m thinking about restoring my grandfather’s toolbox. It’s an old wooden one that I think he made.  How’d you like to see some pictures of it over the next week?

Well, that’s a wrap, folks.  Week 11 is in the books.  To paraphrase Bill Belichick, the incredible coach of the New England Patriots, “We’re on to Week 12!”

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.