Last weekend the old cement path came out and I laid out the new one. We are making progress. Some one asked me about the cost. I did bid the project out in January because I was working at the time and didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to do it myself. I had several companies come and the average cost was about $6,000 – $8,000 depending. The major cost would be the new path. The average cost for a new path would be $2,000- $3,000 for cement, terra pave, or pavers. They were all the same price give or take a few dollars. I decide to wait on that type a path and will use chip wood that I’m getting free from a tree service. My total cost to date is $312.47. Of course, the labor is free…with help from my ex-husband! My goal is to keep it under a $1,000 or less. My goal is around $600 ish. Again, I’m using all the material I have on the property and move around some of the plants I have in the front and the back garden to do the design. At some point, I want to add some fruit trees so I have more fruit besides the grapes and strawberries. Ideally, I would like to start canning for the winter, and to drive food cost down.
I saw this video on Huffington Post called “Path to Freedom” http://huff.to/baARrE and this guy only had 1/10 of an acer in the city, yet he’s producing enough food to make a business out of it! Very impressive. He speaks about the time when every family raised a lot of their own food, vegetables, chickens, etc., we just forgot how or as I see it, we too busy, so it is easier just to go to a grocery to buy things that are already made for us.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how much we consume/buy. I happen to have the gift of helping someone who’s parents are hoarders(they just never threw anything out). They have four houses. Once they fill a house, they move. She’s taking one of the houses back and asked if I could help her sort through it all. Of course I was very judgmental when I walked through, since I don’t live that way. Still…if I had to keep everything I bought, starting back in my teen when I first earned my own money, I would have more then four houses worth of stuff. I’m also reading a book called “Hooked” which is about greed, desire and the urge to consume. Simplify …. how to simplify ones life without feeling deprived, or depriving your child.
I canceled TV when my daughter was four. I read a article in Harvard Business Review about how Marketing uses kids to get to their parents. Nope, they weren’t going to use my kid!! Every Christmas and Birthday I ask Mary what she wants and she always says she doesn’t know. Last year she asked for ice skates and books. Yes, Hannah Montana slips in there because of the kids at school, but I have to say…without TV, without much computer time, etc., she doesn’t feel like she needs much. Will that change with age? Time will tell.
So, how much do I need? 1/10 of an acer? A warm home, some clothes, a car/bike…what do I really need? Unfortunately, I need to pay a mortgage…in California, and as a single mom… I’m required to work and make a six figure salary. I could loose the house, but I would loose the garden, the chickens, the three cats, the dog, etc., and be a the mercy of a landlord.
Simplify, slow down, find meaning, be present, help others…find peace. How it will all work out..is still a mystery.
