Apocalyptic Homesteading (Day 1-5)

Hello Everyone!

A brief introduction: Hi I am Jacob.

TL;DR: There is no tl;dr because you should have more patience and attention span than a gnat on a high wind.

[End Introduction]

Apocalyptic Homesteading Day 1-5!

Moving To A New Location, Base Camp Setup & Apocalyptic Homesteading

Well now, this is a whole new phase of my life and I have no idea what I should call it but I will assuredly need to come up with some sort of name just so that I can differentiate its daily musings from my previously written ones. I am of course still fond of doing the 'daily' motif and think that it suits me well especially because of how it makes each day a 'new day' for me and since it has worked well in the past I may as well keep doing it.

Let me see here... I should probably avoid writing about how my last journey ended altogether just to avoid opening that particular can of worms but hell worms sure are some handy critters and if I am going to open the damn can then I may as well do some fishing with what is inside or at the very least bury them in the dirt so that they can till the earth.

Things at Fantastica (the last place that I lived) went sideways because I confronted someone over what I believe was predatory behavior on their part towards one of my fellow homesteaders. I also wound up confronting the person who was enabling said behavior because they put themselves between me and the other person that I was calling out on the bad behavior. To be blunt I will never tolerate a grown ass man treating a child like their girlfriend and grooming them whilst burdening them with a bunch of emotional/mental neediness. Me calling them out on that behavior was met with a sort of slinking denial that was so veneer that it is amazing that I was capable of restraining myself from kicking his fucking teeth in just on general purpose but hell I did not even come close to striking the guy or anything like that.

Admittedly I had not intended on confronting the guy that day and had hiked down to the homestead proper just to check the volume on the loud music that I was playing at the time. What happened was I saw the guy alone and although I intended to say something like 'Hey. How is it going?' what actually came out of my mouth at a loud volume was 'Hey, Shitheel!' and yeah it was said in such a tone that the fellow could not misinterpret it as a joke. I recall thinking something like 'well I have already opened my mouth and may as well keep going' and of course I did. I next asked the guy 'Are you ever going to do more with your life than whine about heroin and fixate on a little girl?' and his only response was to get a 'cornered animal' look in his eyes and slouch further into the chair he was sitting in with a sullen pouting look on his face. I would not call it all my 'finest moment' but I was pretty damn fed up with the guy's bad behavior at that point.

The other party for their part was even more problematic because they were encouraging this behavior and 'relationship' between their child and the adult and going so far as allowing them to spend long unsupervised hours together and also leaving that child (and other children) in the person's sole care. At this point folks might be like 'whoa that is the parents decision yada yada yada' but it is important to note the the predatory person is a known fugitive, a life-long heroin addict and career criminal that was fresh out of prison. Since I also lived on the property I felt an obligation as an adult to say something not just because I do not want to be part or party to harboring a fugitive but also since I wanted no part in children being left in the care of such an individual especially one with a keen interest in isolating themselves with the girl.

So, I forced the issue by opening my mouth knowing full well that the parent would rise up in defense of the ne'er-do-well and more than likely ask me to move instead of dealing with or even acknowledging the problem. Things got loud of course and a lot of ugly things were said towards me when I forced the scenario but I was not looking for a fight nor even trying to provoke any sort of physical confrontation and thankfully one did not occur. Basically the majority of the other folks at the homestead turned on me in that instance, defended the other party, ignored or dismissed everything that I was saying and made the leap from me pointing out the grooming to turning it into me saying that sexual abuse was occurring. To be clear I was concerned that the latter was perhaps going to eventually occur but I was more focused on the mental and emotional abuse that I saw happening with the child.

Like I said shit got ugly and the mother even drug the daughter into it to tell me that no one was sexually abusing her which was horrific for a number of reasons especially since the girl could have been under threat or duress and putting her in such a position could have caused her harm. Me being me of course is not going to listen to what a child tells me in that sort of scenario because the parent could obviously be pressuring them on what to say and especially so since the parent is the one accommodating the predatory person in the situation. I also refused to listen to her because the moment that I did I would be legally bound to tell the first law enforcement officer that I saw or contact them and tell them which would of course gotten the guy arrested on the spot (for his outstanding felony warrant) and made me getting moved out peacefully very unlikely.

Everything that I had to say about it all (especially about the behaviors I was seeing) was summarily dismissed out of hand and met with a thinly veiled threat that since I had spent a lot of time alone with the kids that 'something' could be said of me as well which in all honesty left me feeling indignant as fuck and fighting mad. That kind of shit coupled with being told I had to move (because I confronted the person) along with the hostility getting screamed at me lead me to calling the law into the situation to calm me down, put an end to the row of yelling and to assure that I could get moved without any further incidence. That last bit was accomplished by me and the mother shaking hands in front of the officer and agreeing to keep things civil along with a pledge from me that I would would not 'bother' anyone else at the homestead and just focus on getting moved.

Of course there are a heck of a lot of details that I am glossing over because just roughly sketching out the scenario is a lengthy enough endeavor on its own and I would prefer not to write a small novel about just how sideways shit went and all the turmoil that it caused me along the way. At the end of the day I will always stand up to abusive folks, will never keep my mouth shut and never compromise my personal integrity by being 'okay' with things that can (or will) bring harm to other folks and especially to children or animals. I am not merely taking some moral high ground here and it is just a part of my character to stand up against those who would do harm in the world which I learned quite a long time ago in life that doing so often alienates folks, causes strife and creates resentment from those who lack the basic courage to do the same. In my ever not-so-humble opinion those who enable harmful folks are they themselves just as guilty through complicity and nothing will ever change my mind in that regard.

Maybe that wraps all that up enough for now and I hope that folks understand the need that I felt to spell it all out and get it off my chest so that I can draw that chapter of my life to a close in a transparent way not just for my own 'documenting of my life' but also so that my readers understand the fullness of the scenario that I found myself in and my compulsion to take action even if it meant that I would have to find a new home for me, the dogs and the chickens. Although I already had one option lined up (for a place to move to) the night before I forced the confrontation I got another offer for a place to caretake at which included plenty of paid work and a nice 'raw land' scenario where I could document my projects and create yet another small homestead area of my own. In other words I had my bases covered before I got asked to move and went into it all knowing that I would be asked to move because it is often easier for folks to get rid of the person pointing out the problem than actually dealing with the problem.

The scenario at Fantasitca had been stressing me out for months and I had actually packed down the bulk of my possessions nearly ninety days prior to the little shitshow of a 'showdown' and had even gone so far as to have plans that if the shit hit the proverbial fan that I could easily bug out and leave the other folks behind because honestly ever since this damned pandemic started I felt that they were liabilities and as far as post-apocalyptic hardiness goes... well lets just say they failed to measure up which may or may not be fair to say on my part due to my own stringent standards in such regards. I am not trying to be arrogant or anything but my own 'post-apocalyptic hardiness' is well documented and speaks for itself.

Anyway, with all the stress I was facing I called on a friend to basically run point for me with moving and help me to coordinate all the folks involved which was in total five people. My friend did an awesome job and even talked me through some incredibly emotional moments and I have nothing but respect, gratitude and love for them for their part in things. Of course I talked to everyone involved also and the person that I called to drive the moving truck was an old and dear friend that had not only helped me move before but I had also helped them move before. They (the driver) also knows me better than probably anyone else and we have worked together extensively in all kinds of stressful situations and somehow managed to still be really good friends so go figure! They even called off from other work they had lined up and devoted three days to help me get moved.

My friend arrived late in the day on the fifteenth of November with a twenty-something foot box truck and that first day we made a handful of trips carrying the heaviest stuff out of the woods. I actually thought that it was all the heavy stuff but it turned out I was wrong and had not accounted for a bunch of other gear that I had. My friend had also offered to bring a big dolly (hand-truck) with them but I had declined because I thought it would just damage the bottoms of all my plastic totes and not work that well on the uneven root and rock riddled trail that lead from the homestead proper (where the box truck was) three hundred odd feet to the shelter site. In hindsight the dolly would have been super handy for a number of other things but at the time I just did not see it which was probably more a stress response and not wanting my friend to have to bring anything more with them than their camping gear and some food for the trip.

We actually had a nice evening together catching up on lost time and swapping stories about the current goings on in our lives (and to some degree the world) which is always something that gets us to laughing about stuff and more or less providing some insight into each others lives in such a way that we give each other advice and/or congratulations on some sort of perceived growth. A good friend is a good friend and aside from needing a driver for the trip... it was awesome just getting a chance to spend time with a friend and especially that particular friend. Another friend actually rented the moving truck and yet another pair of friends paid for the truck on the premise that once relocated that I would be working the debt off in full which was fine by me because I was basically getting paid up front to relocate so that I could start working at a new land steward and caretaking gig. It is now actually the morning of my fifth day here (not counting Day Zero which was the night that I arrived) and I have already gotten in a few hours of working off that debt and have been shown numerous projects that will accommodate the time that it will take to make the debt 'even' so that is pretty cool in my opinion.

Alright, I will try not to skip ahead here too much so that I can re-play the last few days without getting overly sidetracked. The drive out of the mountains and into the flat lands (way further south) was not all that bad besides being cramped with four dogs in the front of a truck that was not quite large enough to do so in. The dogs were a bit restless at first trying to find a place where they could be comfortable but they eventually settled down with two on my lap, one on the floorboard and one riding in the middle seat. Thankfully someone had given me a cage for the chickens and I was able to secure them in the back of the truck under my writing table in such a way that if anything shifted around that they would be fine. It was a hell of a feat getting everything out of the woods, into the truck and getting on the road but we pulled it off.

I did have to leave a good bit of building materials behind but between the space that I had available and the time that I had to do things in... it just worked out that way. I also did not take much time on tidying the old shelter site up because honestly I just did not feel inclined to after the treatment that I had received. That said, I had found a friend in the area that was willing to come in after I had moved and scavenge whatever they wanted so I was planning on a good bit of what I left behind getting put to good use by them on another property. I am sure that leaving a bit of a mess behind will haunt me somehow but given the situation I do not give enough of a damn to care and probably should not even if I did. I am pretty 'meh' on that one even though I would much rather have cleaned the site up well and taken everything (including my cabin, greenhouse and chicken coop) with me to the new place.

So, the folks at the 'new place' made for me an incredibly gentle landing by setting up a really big canvas tent for me to live in short-term as well as a four-walled storage tent that we were able to back the truck up to and unload all my gear into. There was/is also power and water at the site where the tents are and I have affectionately been calling it 'Base Camp' because that is pretty much what it is acting as for me. Lets just say that the sleeping tent has indoor/outdoor carpet, is large enough to accommodate a full size bed, my writing table, a big dog crate, a fifty gallon feed barrel, all my food supplies, miscellaneous gear, my propane heater and still has more open room in it than my previous cabin had! It is fucking absolute luxury and the dogs are quite content with it. Being further south the nights (and days) are much warmer but there was one night that got so damn cold that I had to ask my friends to bring me extra blankets because after all it is just a tent!

Overall the temporary base camp setup is pretty nice and eliminated a bunch of work that I normally have to do to get myself setup at a new place and for the first time everything was sort of just plug and play! With that free time I was able to extensively walk the property the first few days with the land owners and get to see the immediate options available for me to build a more permanent place featuring a small cabin and a large dog yard. There were a lot of options and factors and since their are other dogs in the equation a big part of the decision making on a new site had to take that into consideration. The other major factor was convenience (and ease) because hell it is after all the beginning of winter and I need to get into something with four insulated walls rapidly unless I want to struggle with the cold whilst living in a tent. We did locate a good site though as well as a site for later that is in a very secluded portion of the property but lacks anything in the way of access besides some game trails that lead to it.

The temporary site we selected will work well enough for now and is basically two terraces on the side of a gentle slope with an access road beside it and water and power a mere few hundred feet away which can easily be ran to the site itself and the folks have already ordered the wire to run the electricity to it. Honestly it is the best site that I have ever had to work with and it is predominantly a hardwood forest which is really awesome especially considering the number of yellow pine forests that are in the area. It is hard to sum up the land itself because it is elevated, circular in shape (especially the terrain) and has several micro-environments inside of it. The places features are actually pretty damned epic as far as sites go but I do not want to get side-tracked with detailing all that jazz so suffice it to say that the place could accommodate a heck of a lot especially with the infrastructure that the owners have already put into place.

On the second day that I was here I was able to get enough of the new shelter site cleared of brush to setup that PVC and kennel fencing portable dog yard of mine that I used at the last place. It worked out really well and I was able to get it all setup in under an hour by myself with just a few zip-ties. The first time that I used it for the dogs here I put the chickens in it with them to help control any ticks and so far so good because even in that confined space the dogs do not bother the chickens. My boy dog does keep 'cock blocking' the roosters though when they are trying to mate the hens because the hens squawk and my boy dog intervenes to 'protect' them which is kind of funny to witness because even the hens are like 'Yo you are interrupting!'

Besides working on developing the new shelter site I also cut out a nice path for the real fence to be built and although I was trying to keep it moderately sized I was implored (by the owners) to make it large so that the dogs would have plenty of room. Also since I will eventually be leaving that site the fence might accommodate other dogs (that need more room than mine) or livestock of some kind so going larger makes total sense. It will actually be the largest and most well built dog yard that I have ever had and I am already plotting a dog obstacle/training course inside of it just for the fun of it.

Since the site is comprised of lots of new growth (yeah the place was clear-cut logged probably 30-40 years ago) I have been doing a good bit of forestry management while I am clearing the site which basically just amounts to thinning out the smaller trees that never stand a chance of doing well due to all the competition and also cutting back the strangler vines that are growing on the larger trees. Aside from there being too dense of a canopy (and sparse undergrowth) the forest itself is not all that unhealthy and is well populated with wildlife. So far from what I can tell there are squirrels, owls, deer, small birds, rattlesnakes and what is either ground hogs or gopher tortoises living here.

I think that one night I heard coyotes in the distance but I am still unsure if it was not just the echo of some hunting dogs being run along an adjacent ridge. What I am getting at here is that there is a good variety of wildlife and hopefully I can help create more habitat for it by using the dogs to keep the predators at bay and creating more food supplies via the vegetation that grows here. I already found three fruit trees while clearing the new shelter site and although I cannot tell if they are pear or peach trees I think that they are one or the other of them and hopefully I will find more such trees as I continue exploring the property. One thing that I am quite thankful for is that there are no bears here and I can be much less cautious in that regard but hell I should keep an eye out for them just in case and not get out of the habit of living in bear country.

The day before yesterday I finally built a bar at the new shelter site, ran power to it with some extension cords and setup my full music rig so that I could have some tunes to work to. There is another fellow camping out here already and he plays music so it was kind of nice not having to play 'DJ' myself for the first few days. I have never really shared a site with someone else that enjoys playing loud music so it has been pretty neat exploring what that is like and having someone to talk to about music in general and the responsibilities that come with playing really loud music that carries over dozens of acres. The person does a good bit of production work and I am even thinking that in the future we can perhaps collaborate on some stuff and have fun making music together.

Alright, lets see if I can sum up the rest of things here. It is now the sixth morning of my stay here and I am continuing the writing of this in the wee hours of the morning before the sun comes up and I have to get to working on things outdoors. It is worth noting that (as the old saying goes) 'I hit the ground running' upon my arrival here and have yet to actually slow down and keep having this feeling that I am merely building momentum! To be clear I have not been hectic nor manic nor in a hurry or anything and have relaxed into my new routine in such a way that all my efforts are done with a good bit of grace, ease and a 'gentleness' that couples well with me pacing myself and being patient. The only real hectic thing that has happened was that my boy dog and a boy dog that already stays here got into a tussle after the other dog had harassed the chickens. They both walked away with minor injuries but hell it took me tossing a five gallon bucket of water in their faces to get them to stop fighting.

Anyway, yesterday (Day 5) I spent more time in the early part of the day filling in another trench and that one is rather big and houses the main electricity supply wire that leads from the power pole and transformer to the rest of the site. Each day I have done at least one thing for the land here and I often find it best to do that thing as soon as the sun comes up while I am still 'bright eyed and bushy tailed' and before I dive into doing more site prep at the new shelter site.

So far that has worked out well and I have even been able to use the time before starting work (either my own or land work) to walk around the site and jot down notes in a notebook while I do what I call a 'site assessment' which I will not detail everything involved in that but basically I write out the things I notice that need attention, what resources the place has, what I see can be done with the place as well as notes on ideas that have been told to me by the owners. I like giving a site assessment two weeks because I have found that is about what it takes for me to wrap my head around a new place and that initial two week window is when I have some of my best ideas for a place.

The new shelter site clearing is rather tedious work but I keep plugging away at it and have made some excellent progress. Currently I have all the vines and unwanted small trees/vegetation cleared out of the way and of course I have been salvaging as many of the small trees as possible, de-limbing them and stacking them to the side for later use as garden stakes, building materials, bracing or whatever they might be useful for. If they do not come in handy for anything I will assuredly process them all down into firewood and get it stored away to start curing it for later use. I have also created several brush piles around the new shelter site for any wildlife that I displace (or are attracted to the area) and will later (around six months from now) turn all the piles into bio-char to help get my new dog poop compost mound started. As far as the compost mound goes I brought a five gallon bucket of dirt and worms from my other compost (at the old place) as 'starter' for my new compost.

Okay, I better get to wrapping this up so that I can get it posted before the sun comes up. I think that I have decided on 'Apocalyptic Homesteading' as the name of this new series of daily entries about my life. The main reason for that is because nearly two decades ago I heard the saying "We must live as if the apocalypse has already happened!" and for whatever reason that phrase has stuck in my mind and has often repeated itself when I question myself (wonder) about what the hell I am doing with my life. Honestly considering the current times that I find myself in I cannot find a better damn phrase to sort of sum things up and help keep me putting one foot in front of the other and plodding along. I did do a quick search online for the phrase 'Apocalyptic Homesteading' and did not find anything so mayhaps I can just roll with it and be absolutely fine in doing so.

Thanks for taking the time to give this a read and I hope that you are doing well and have a nice day/night.

IMG_20201121_100830.jpg

Talk about priorities! This is the first load of gear that I brought to the new shelter site!

Thanks for reading!

More about me: I have been doing property caretaking (land stewardship) for many years (decades) and live a rather simple life with my dogs doing what most folks would consider to be an 'alternative minimalist lifestyle' but what I often just think of as a low-impact lifestyle where I get to homestead and spend the majority of my time alone with my dogs in the woods doing projects in the warmer months and taking some downtime during the colder months.

Nearly four years ago I began sharing the adventures (misadventures) of my life via writing, videos, pictures and the occasional podcasts and although my intention was to simply share my life with some friends it undoubtedly grew into much more than that over the years and now I find myself doing what equates to a full-time job just 'sharing my life' which is not even all that glamorous or anything but hey folks seem to enjoy it so I just keep doing it!

The way that I look at it is that I give it all my best each day and while some stuff I write is better than others I think that for the most part I do a pretty good job at doing what I am doing which is simply 'sharing my life' as candidly as I possibly can and whatever folks get (or do not get) from it there is always the satisfaction of me doing what I set out to do... which is to simply share my life.

woodbanner.png

Please check out the Homesteading Community:
https://peakd.com/c/hive-114308/created

Hive Survival Guide Sixth Edition can be found here:
https://peakd.com/hive/@jacobpeacock/hive-survival-guide-sixth-edition

A playlist of my Jacob Goes Off Grid Videos can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8CsWYxlqp36dEFkg5mnlzgY41bE761oK

Please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon page!!!
https://www.patreon.com/jacobpeacock

Contribute via Paypal:
https://PayPal.me/jacobpeacock

woodbanner.png

That Is All For Now!

Cheers! & Hive On!



0
0
0.000
6 comments
avatar

wow man, what an intense read. It seems like the last couple weeks have been less than fantastica for you (hah) but all for the best in the end. this new space seems like a really great spot, I'm a bit jealous. I hope the new title doesn't turn out to be prophetic but...

I think your priorities are right on point by the way. music has been a bit absent from my life for a while and it's time I changed that. Good luck bruv.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Haha! I feel ya on the 'less than fantastica' but truthfully I have weathered the storm well enough!

I am fond of the song lyrics: When the music hits you... you feel no pain!

Thanks a bunch for your sentiments here and I wish you well with the music and with life in general!

0
0
0.000
avatar

oh yeah man, Trenchtown Rock right? I love the Bradley Noel acoustic version of that song...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah! The Bradley Noel version is the one that I was thinking of because it is the first time that I heard it.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hi jacobpeacock,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

Visit curiehive.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Congratulations @jacobpeacock! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You received more than 40000 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 45000 upvotes.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

0
0
0.000