Northwoods Homestead Journal - Spring 2025

It's been a busy and chaotic year so far. Self-sufficiency has become more of a priority than ever before. There are a lot of unknowns in the world right now, but nature marches on with a comforting certainty. The ice has melted on our small lake, with the loons and swans returning in joyous celebration of open water, and of fish.

Sound up! Loons and Swans celebrate open water and fishing.

The wetlands, forest, and lake around our home have come alive with activity. Birds hop from tree to tree, swooping down near the shoreline to feast on bugs and scraps. Beavers and otters busy themselves swimming back and forth. Wolves and spring peepers serenade the dusk. I've seen three mosquitoes so far. There's a part of me that will never get used to the intensity of the mosquitoes in the Northwoods.

The dock is mostly in, and the kids have been Northern Pike spotting, dusting off their fishing poles and tossing in a few practice casts to warm up before fishing opener next weekend.

A Northern Flicker woodpecker hit our lakeside window. I watched it breathe rapidly and thought it might die, but it popped up, flew onto our siding, and rested for a bit, then flew away.

The Garden

We got a rich soil delivery to top off each of our eight raised beds before adding a layer of woodchip mulch and planting. A garden bed that's too shaded needs to move, and we need to add some potato towers, trellises, and pumpkin and wildflower patches. This year's initial garden layout:

I'll likely be doing mixing of plants here and there for more variation, and some of this may get switched around.

I started seeds indoors. At the time of this writing on May 1st:

• Celery

• Onions

• Snapdragons

• Heirloom tomatoes

• Vining cherry tomatoes
  

Coming up next indoors:

• Cauliflower

• Cucumber

• Dahlia

• Pumpkins

• Some others I'm forgetting

We're building a makeshift, removable cold frame against the house with old window panes and blocks we have laying around. I also made a simple low tunnel in a raised bed with the wind-break plastic taken down from the chicken run, some growing baskets, PVC we had on hand, and hay for insulation. It isn't the most aesthetically pleasing, but it's temporary and seems to work. The practice of using what we have has come into play heavily recently.

Makeshift low tunnel

The onion seedlings weren't looking too great at the end of April (and came up a week and a half earlier than expected), so I made the decision to try putting them out in the new tunnel as soon as it hit 60° one day. Time will tell if putting them out that early will work but so far, they don't look any worse than they did inside. Snapdragons are leaning toward the window and will be the next to go outside under plastic.

Every growing season, some things fail to work, and many things work really well. I enjoy experimenting in and learning from the dirt and plants.

The Chickens After nearly a year, Scout seems to have just discovered that we have chickens and that she is supposed to watch over them as a livestock guardian dog.

We lost one chicken over the winter. RIP Margaret (not pictured). Egg production has amped up a bit, we're getting between five and six eggs a day. We've let them out of their backyard area to eat ticks from the front yard and behind the garden and are getting the hang of moving the portable fence around so they have fresh greens and bugs.

The House Over the winter, the kitchen was mostly finished. Inside the house, we have a couple of smaller projects to complete—replacing a few windows, finishing up some painting, and adding a proper dryer vent and storage in the mudroom. After that, the interior is as done as it's ever going to get. I'll put together a whole-house post with more pictures once renovations are complete.

Kitchen Stove Area Before & After

Outside the house, we've got our work cut out for us. We'll be rebuilding and screening in the front porch, repairing and staining the siding, and building a fence for Scout. Dog fence materials have been acquired!

Duck watching is Scout's new favorite hobby

Spring has begun with a flurry of activity, a sure sign of a productive and full summer ahead!