Mellow Days with Phil Away

On Monday morning, we gingerly unpacked the last of the containers that had been down at the campsite. In the center of a roll of wire, we found the mice’s nest that had summoned the snake. When Phil dumped the contents, he found two baby mice yet alive (barely), which makes me think that the copperhead of the day before had just eaten the parents (for how long could two helpless mice babies live without food or drink? Surely not much more than 24 hours!). A full snake makes a sluggish snake, I suppose.

We drove Phil up to the Charlottesville airport. I knew when we moved to the country that country life requires much driving, but we are often in the car for several hours a day. It’s mostly all beautiful driving, but it is a different use for my time than I used to have.

We did some fun school, and that closed out Monday.

Tuesday we were at Johanna Bush’s house all day. Of the six hours, more or less, that I was on the computer, I worked three and researched another three: are there pigs to buy right now? How about goats? How about cats (get rid of those mice!)? Chickens? Tractors?

It is challenging to be in another person’s house, as much as it is a blessing to use the internet. My boys unwrapped all the little “presents” in a dollhouse, and peeled the flakey plaster off the wall in a large patch on the stairs. And dumped out the dirt in a plant and spread cat food all over the floor. Yuck.

On Thursday, we got the soil test results back.

Grim. Very grim.

Humus, the organic matter in a soil, holds up to four times its weight in water. This is, of course, good for plants, good for holding rain water long term, good protection against drought, and altogether to be desired. The number that the lab would like to see is 60 (this isn’t pounds per acre or anything; it’s a number derived from data). Our number is 3. No zero behind it. Three. Ouch.

Calcium, the king of minerals, we had guessed was low in the soil. After all, when magnesium is high and calcium is low, the soil becomes like clay and sticks to everything when wet. Our soil IS clay. Well, I wouldn’t have guessed that we were almost 1/10th the amount recommended (399 pounds per acre, rather than 3000 that they like to see). That’s a lower grade than I’ve EVER got in a class—like the worst F imaginable.

And the magnesium that is “high” by comparison is only 1/3 what it should be!

The nitrogen, too, is 1/10th what it ought to be: 8 out of a desired 80.

The agony goes on, but suffice to say, our work is cut out for us. Starting with figuring out how to buy, and then apply, 5 tons of soft rock phosphate, among others. And that’s just for the five cleared acres! Phil is going to be busy!

As bad as this report is, it is nice to have a neatly defined problem, and options for how to improve the soil. So it is invigorating, in a way!

We are working on getting cats to kill any mice that may (will) materialize at our homestead. And we will hopefully get a few goats over the weekend. They, apparently, love poison ivy. I’m happy. They won’t be producing any milk, so far as I can tell (bummer), but they were offered on Craigslist by a friend of Michelle Bessette’s (and were actually Michelle’s just a few months ago!).

I’ll be in touch.