Making plans for a food forest

There are so many design ideas, growing methods, and outdoor/indoor homesteading projects I wish to implement on my little urban homestead.

Food forests, permaculture, guild planting, espalier, intercropping, succession planting, hugelkultur, raised beds, wicking beds, vertical gardening, container gardens, lasagna method,  forest gardening, and the list keeps growing…. Learning how to implement many design and gardening methods together is one that constantly has my gears spinning in my head.

These get broken down even further when you go into what materials to use for a raised bed, etc.

Add to all of that the various seed starting, transplanting, grafting, rooting methods and it gets more interesting.

There are just so many wonderful, inspired ideas out there; I want to use them all haha.

I have some older folded sod near the plum tree in my yard. I am considering using it to try my hand at hugelkultur. That one is a newer study subject for me. I think this method and the lasagna method are similar in the sense that you can do this on top of your lawn if you wanted *from what I have seen thus far at least* though the raised hugelkultur bed might be a better option depending on the materials at hand.

Recently we picked up a 100ft tape measure for $15 that is a bit more flexible and durable than others we have found.
Soon we will be getting the dimensions of yard and actually drawing it out on graphing paper.

I also picked up a Utilitech grow light at Lowes for about $15. I am sure it is not fantastic, but it was more affordable for the time being. I am going to test out this one, and if it does well, I will probably need 1-2 more before Spring.
We decided I would use the metal shelving unit I have outside in the garden for my grow station this year to save on buying a less than desirable one this year.

Today I have also been focused on organizing a list for a food forest. I have listed out things I want and have under different categories for the food forest; The categories are: Canopy, understory, vines, shrubs, herbs, groundcover, root crops, edge plants.

By putting the different plants under each category *some in more than one* it allows me to get a better mental layout by thinking in layers. From that I will then break it down further into seasons *for starting seeds indoors/outdoors/transplanting*, areas of the garden, growing methods, succession plantings, what is permanent and what needs replanting, etc.

I want to get a map out of what I would like my urban homestead to look like in the end, and then alter the plans for what I can do with it now, with what I have currently.

I know a food forest is not much of a “forest” on .18 of an acre, but I still think of it that way.

There is a lot I need to consider with my design. It is both fun and daunting. I am sure things will start moving more once the areas are measured and accounted for. This is probably a lot harder for me right now as this is my first time mapping out a food forest landscape without any experienced help aside from online blogs, videos, articles.. Once I get it down the first time it will be much easier, or so I hope.

Getting things in order for Spring

There is so much to do before Spring here on the homestead. I am hoping I get to everything on the ever growing list that needs to be done, not to mention in the right order for those that are more time sensitive.

Here is our urban homestead to do list for this years Winter going into Spring:

1. Make a seed starting station.
        What I mean by that is more than just my germination station containers I like to use. I want actual shelving with lights and heating.

2. Sort seeds.
      I need to sort seeds by season they are started, by whether they can be started indoors or out.
      I need to make a list of what I need to stagger for seed saving (As in I cannot plant more than one tomato at once unless I isolate the flowers or the seeds will not be pure)
   
3. Garden planning calendar.
  A list of seeds for each month with the space needed for each to go into the garden calendar and layout.
  Harvest dates need to go into the calendar.
     Expected harvest amount needs to go into the calendar so I can compare with the actual harvest amount.
   I need to put down dates for seed starting indoors & direct sewing. Dates for consecutive staggered sowings will also need to be dated.
    Which seeds will reseed themselves, and which need to be replanted.

4. Measure the garden area.
      The whole area needs to be measured and put onto graph paper for the garden design process.

5. Design the garden layout.
    This is more complicated, since I have to actually make 3 years of garden layouts *Modifiable of course* But this is needed so that I don’t plant something somewhere that will hinder me in the following year. My garden size will expand onto the present lawn eventually, so the plans will probably evolve as my usable garden space does.

6. Check the compost pile.
    This is my first year composting, and I am not sure the compost will be ready for use in the garden this year early on or not.

7. Check into natural bug elimination.
   I will be using all natural home made pest control options, as well as I was told diatomaceous earth is wonderful for getting rid of those pesky bugs.

8. To till or not to till?
   I need to decide what actually needs tilling and what can be no till zones.

9. Treat the soil.
    Our soil has either not enough nutrients, or it may just be the bug problem, but I plan on livening up the soil at least some this year, with progress on it every year until it is to my liking.

9. Slope steps.
   There are areas on the slope that are not easy to walk around either due to steepness or the cheat grass not giving much footing. I have slid down it a couple of times due to this. We need to build steps and possibly level out certain areas for gardening.

10. Move new strawberry plants.
      Last year when my strawberry plants put off runners I let those runners take root in pots. I need to cut the runners from the mother plant (Oh how alien sounding) and put them in their final location. I literally had strawberries developing on the new little plants into November. I just did not have enough sunlight for them to turn that vibrant red.

11. Get a hose.
      Since my last hose burst, I will need to purchase a new one and seriously consider how water will be moved to various areas of the garden that are not easily gotten to.

12. Seed germination tests.
      I have some seeds I am not sure of the viability for. I need to run some germination tests to see if they will be going into the garden or not.

13. Plan out other months of my calendar year.

14. Think about upgrading the freezer.
     I like to freeze, as well as can, and dry, so having a non working chest freezer is not good. When looking into it, it seems that a freezer that gets power to the light, but is not getting cold, is going to be a more expensive fix than just buying one. I am putting this here because it is something I have to think about during Winter/Spring, but may not get right away. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-run-freezer-per-month-67647.html This website explains how much power a freezer uses. I am hoping for a energy efficient freezer. I may consider turning the old one into a makeshift root cellar, but I am not sure yet.

15. Gas furnace.
     We have to see if once we renew our health insurance, and account for all other expenses, if financing a new gas furnace is possible. Having all electric heat has posed some issues this Winter, and we would need to start planning ahead for it now, if we plan to do it before next Winter. Basically we need to see if realistically we can do it this year or if we have to wait.

16. Plan for alternative cooling options.
     While we use our AC during the warm months, we would like to use it less, and utilize other means of keeping the house cool.

17. Clean the house.
    This will be during both Winter and Spring.

18. Clean up the spent plants.
   There are plants that did not make it into the compost pile that need to be removed from their spots. The strawberry patch needs to be de-weeded as best we can.

19. Harvest roots.
   Any roots I did not get to, or happen to be useful as I clean up the garden, will be cleaned and dried for later use.

20. Make garden markers
  I really have to decide what kind of garden markers I will make this year.

Reflection of this year

It is amazing how much can change during the course of a year. This past year has been full of major changes for my family.

We got completely out of debt during the first part of the year (Earlier than expected I might add)

We both bought used cars that were a much better upgrade from the ones that needed a whole lot of work. One of which I managed to get for half what it was worth, because I am awesome like that ^_^

We bought our first house

I had my first garden that was not confined to just container gardening

We learned how to remodel aspects of our kitchen and paint large rooms

We learned what happens when the drywall is too thin (Kitchen cabinet falls down.. Though it would have whether we had moved them or not due to the walls)

My husband learned more about electrical wiring

We got to experience our first winter in our new home, and also learn what it is like to have all electrical heating (We will most likely be getting a gas line run to the house eventually to help solve that little problem)

We learned what weather stripping is and why windows need to be covered during the winter

We both got tablets this year, which has helped with a lot of other aspects of our lives.

Things with both of our jobs changed a lot. My husband used to be sent home a lot due to various reasons, which was not exactly wanted. His position has slightly changed and now they do not furlough him as often.
I went part time at my job at the end of this year.


My brother who lives with us has become fully independent, and it is interesting to watch how each individual starts their adult life with all the responsibilities it comes with.

We decided to make an Urban Homestead a reality when we were searching for a home this year, which was a major decision, since we passed up a lot of places due to most not having any yard space to speak of.

I started seeing someone for my anxiety and depression.

Had my first wisdom tooth extraction.

We put up our first painting. Previously we did not decorate much. It did not feel permanent enough to hang anything. I leaned a painting against the mantle of our old place but that was it. This year is the first year we actually felt something was ours and we should decorate it. That sounds like a small thing, but really it was a bigger deal than you might imagine.

We are both constantly learning new things and creating new projects. This is just some of the more prominent things that happened this year. I think life needs balance. I do not ever expect my year to be only filled with good things. We learn from both our successes and our failures. It will be interesting to see how many things we shall learn and accomplish in the coming year.

Garden planning, soil, and compost

I am fearing the garden planning and layout process. In the past I was the typical gardener that would plant wherever it felt right, and sometimes come home with more plants than I could find space for.

While I will not be planting every type of seed I have this year, I will need to actually go through and make a list of what I will plant, when, what to plant after that, and make sure not to plant the wrong combination of plants at one time that would cross pollinate to plan for proper seed saving.

My brother and husband have offered to help me measure the yard space, and then help sketch out the layout. Numbers and I have a love hate relationship… I am sure it is something I could not do so easily on my own and I am happy for the help.

This will be the first time I have designed a garden layout as well. I will most likely map out the full yard, and then start planting on just the slope area to start.

Worst case scenario, I have to stick to just the slope, and plan out as best I can as I go.

My biggest concern is making some kind of stair steps for the slope in certain areas where the ground is quite steep. I have slid down the slope many times due to poor footing or loose dirt.

Another thing I am trying to do is make a list of all the garden projects I am considering. That way if I end up with the right materials at random, I can reference my list, and know what project it should go to.

I will have to narrow down the list of projects, such as if I want a fire pit, solar oven/dehydrator, rocket stove, pizza oven, outdoor canning stove, etc.. Because having all of those is unneeded and would take up a lot of space. I could also combine some ideas into one unique one.

One project I am working out is my seed starting shelves. Part of my urban homesteading quest is to try and find ways to do things for little to no cost. I feel a garden should not cost an arm and a leg. Even if I had a lot of money, which I do not, but if I did, I would still go about it this way.

Right now I am trying to see if building the shelves would be more cost efficient or if I could find low cost or free shelving that would work for that purpose. I am also looking into where to find good lights that don’t cost an arm and a leg. So far Aquarium lights seem to be the best option with the lowest price. I am still researching though.

This is the first time I have lived in a home with all electric heat. Our heating bill last month was $81, and this month was just shy of $200… I am used to a much lower bill due to having gas heat. This unexpected rise in our electric bill does mean the budget for the garden will be tighter unless something changes.

We are looking into what it would take to get gas ran up to the house and convert to gas heating. We have a wood burning stove out in the shop that used to be in our house, but we aren’t sure what it would take to hook it back up, costs involved, and if our insurance would be ok with it. Previously our insurance company had made a remark about the stove. I don’t think we could have gone through them had it been hooked up, but I do plan to ask them. Downside of course is if we did go with a wood stove, we would have to store a large amount of wood… Using up garden space, and I do hear there are some pretty poor suppliers for wood here locally. Still, we are looking into various options, since even with level budget pay becoming an option around April, the bill will still be quite high due to Winter usage.  Next month they expect the bill to be $225. I only mention this all because this is apart of starting a urban homestead. You have to account for unexpected rising bills and change plans accordingly.

I think we will also be trying the bubble wrap trick with the windows to help with the escaping heat in the house. I hear it works quite well.

Other things I will need to tackle are the bug and soil issue. Pill bugs, earwigs, box elder bugs, and ants are a big problem I hope to naturally get rid of before it becomes as big of an issue. I was not able to harvest one ear of corn this year due to infestation.

The soil needs a lot of nutrients added. I am sure the soil and bug combination made for slow growing plants. I am not sure if my compost will be ready in time but I will at least have mulch, coffee grounds, egg shells, and I will most likely pick up some compost tea. If I can get my hands on some manure from friends who have cows, horses, or chickens, I will add that to the compost pile to age. I really do hope to turn my soil into something people tend to call black gold.

I am very new to composting and I find I am not always able to turn the pile by hand every day. If I had a tumbler (Which I am considering making at some point) It might be easier to do before work. I like the idea of layering it and leaving it, but I don’t always have enough of one thing to make each layer. I am still trying to understand how that would work. Maybe I will get lucky and having neglected my compost pile will be fine.. One can hope.

Thankfully with the big silver maple tree I have, leaf mulch will not be a problem. I didn’t rake the yard this year either.

Being that the snow hit us randomly with over 7inches, I also didn’t get a chance to cover my grape vines in time, so I am hoping they will be ok. I do plan to plant those in the ground in the coming year.

Seed packing party

So I have been finding ways to find seeds without spending copious amounts of money (as I so very easily could if I were not careful) and I happened upon a seed packing event for a local seed company.

At first I did not think I would make the event with the times listed, but then realized they had a afternoon and night time event for the three days the event was taking place.

I loved the concept of being paid in seeds to pack seeds.

The event was 4 hours long. I would have gone to the others but I had to work those days. Still, so very happy I was able to make the last night event.

SO many seeds! Oh dear I have never seen so many seeds in one place before. It is pretty awesome. We packed up so many different seed packets I lost count.

Someone brought pie, another person brought soup, and so we got to have some wonderful treats in between seed packing.

The deal was that we would be paid 5-8 seed packets per hour worked, roughly $15-$24/hr when you account for the retail price of the seed packets.

I had an absolutely lovely time, and managed to come out with 32 seed packets. Only one of which I got 2 packs of. I got to pick what seeds I wanted from I think it was something like 175 varieties? I honestly cannot recall the number she said it was.

 
The seeds I ended up taking home with me.

The wonderful thing about these seeds, is all of them are grown locally, all do well here, and I can save seed from all of these.

I hope to get good at saving seeds from any variety I plant that allows for it, so my seed bank will grow, and make up for any bad planting years to come.

I also got a chance to talk with the lady running it about a part time apprenticeship on the farm. I explained a bit about my situation, she explained a bit about the apprenticeship, and how I might apply. It is no for sure thing, but it would be nice to get some experience from someone who knows much more about farming than I, not to mention make some friends who love the same things I do.

If nothing else, they will probably have this seed packing party going on again, and I certainly don’t mind the work.

The funny thing is, only a few of these were on my wanted list. Sometimes it is hard to know what you want until you have a bunch of varieties in front of you. I got things that were on my list first, then added other packets from there. I think I came out with a really good variety if I do say so myself.

Here is what I ended up with:

Armenian Cucumber
Watermelon “blacktail mountain”
Green nutmeg melon
Popcorn “Glass Gem”
Zucchini “Black Beauty”
Soybean “Beer fried”
Aunt Mollys Ground Cherry
Parsnip
French Breakfast Radish
Waltham Butternut Squash
Scallion/Bunching onion
Tuxana Sweet Corn
San Marzano Tomato
Dr Carolyn Cherry Tomato
Red Zebra Tomato
Garden Breadseed Poppy
Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflower
Blue Flax
Shungiku Edible Chrysanthemum
Motherwort
2pks of Broadleaf Tobacco
Purple Orach/Mountain Spinach
Winter Giant Spinach
Wrinkled Crinkled Crumpled Cress
French Sorrel
Heirloom Lettuce Mix
Smokin Hot Basil Mix
Dwarf Scottish Blue Curled Kale
Salad Party
Arugula
Cilantro


Here is a list of things I still want, minus what I have gained thus far:

 

Fruits:
Thornless raspberry
Wineberry
Salmonberry
Plum
Rainier Cherry
Golden Delicious Apple
Another apple type (Something like honeycrisp)
Muskmelon (Like cantaloupe)
*Other melons I have yet to discover** working on that
More grape varieties. I have 3 now, I want a few more types possibly.
Orange
Lemon
Dew berry
Salal
Porcelain gem vine *Edibility still questionable*
Peach
Nectarine
Asian Pear
Huckleberry
Blueberry (3 varieties)
Elderberry
Honeyberry
Wonderberry aka sunberry
Jostaberry
Mouse melons aka Mexican Gherkins
Lingonberry
PawPaw *Possibly*
Persimmon *Possibly*

Veggies:
Artichoke
Miners lettuce
Snap Peas
Brussels
Asparagus
Mushrooms
Potatoes- fingerling, red, gold, yams/sweet potatoes
Garlic (Has to come from a certified nursery here or it could cause white mold soil rot)
Cabbage
Celery
Banana peppers
Jalapeno
More winter squash varieties
Rhubarb
Horseradish
Sweet onions
Turnip
Sweet yellow onion

Herbs/Plants/Flowers:
Cleavers
Pineapple weed
Lemongrass
Bee balm aka bergamot
Red clover
Aloe Vera
Burdock
Ginseng
Comfrey
Wood Betony
Goldenrod
Vervain
Tea, Camellia sinensis
Passionflower
Damiana
Gardenia
Goldenseal
Jasmine
Day lily
Watercress
Goldenseal
Starry False Solomons Seal

Changes in trends over time

Change is inevitable, though sometimes even though we expect change, the change is still hard to comprehend.

Sitting here drinking my creamy pumpkin nutmeg tea, and watching The Dutchess (I like movies based on other time periods), I cannot help but be in awe at just how much we have changed since those times.

So very much has changed not just in fashion, but also in the way of life, of living, of how one is raised. I would say both for better and for worse.

To me it is a very sad thing that once upon a time (given various time periods and ranking in class) a woman was to learn many skills as she grew up; sewing, cooking, voice lessons, riding, languages, posture, etiquette, dancing, writing (in terms of how to write a proper letter, not just grammar) and more… and it seems more and more as time goes on that less of these things are taught.

Men usually were taught things like language, politics, etiquette, dueling, riding, hunting (recreational or survival), economics, public speaking (if noble or royal) sometimes they were also taught nautical means, such as navigation or astronomy, and in some cases war or military leadership.
A common man usually learned only the trade his father performed. Occasionally that was not the case, but rarely.

I can probably count off the top of my head just how many people I have met that can actually cook a proper meal with more than two food groups from scratch. I cannot possibly count how many people I know or have met that could not possibly boil water.

Sewing is even less, though I am fortunate enough to have met some talented spirits who know how to sew.

These things were necessary skills for life, for your future husband, for being accepted into society.

I am happy that people marry for love now rather than for the myriad of other reasons, usually involving wealth and ranking in class, as they used to. I won’t go into arranged marriages.

I am also happy that while women still have a hard time in the work place, being that we are still very much in transition into being equals, we actually have made so much progress and continue to do so.

I am, however, very sad to see so many women taking this for granted and not doing anything with their freedom.

I am sorry but I have a problem with someone who has no desire to learn any skill of use, who would rather eat out or use a microwave than ever learn to cook at least a handful of meals on their own, and cannot spell most words properly. Text speech is not really speech. It is fast, and helpful when one is in a very big hurry, but honestly  it just makes people sound uneducated. To me that is VERY unattractive.

I do not feel anyone is perfect, but I also think effort should be made. It is easier to forgive someone sounding dumb unintentionally, than it is when they do it on purpose, or make no effort to learn how. Spelling being a prime example here. 

I may not have been taught everything a young girl should learn based on previous time periods standards, but I am lucky enough to have been taught most of them. The ones I did not learn are on my list of things to learn. As you all may know that list is rather large and will take some time to go through with everything else I have on my plate, but I still feel they are important.

One of the things I learned growing up was good manners, proper etiquette, empathy, sympathy, to be polite, and how to be respectful (even if I was very stubborn at times)

I didn’t realize how *odd* of a thing this was for me to have these life skills until I was repeatedly asked if I had ever been raised in a military family…. As if there had to be some reason other than being raised properly for my reactions to certain situations, such as being good at empathy at my current customer service job. You would be amazed at how many people either do not care to give empathy or simply cannot grasp the concept as it was not explained to them growing up. For me it is second nature to provide it.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the people who do not know how to provide empathy, or any of the skills I have mentioned, I just can’t understand how some of those have nearly become obsolete, when I feel some are still very much needed.

I can only imagine what it might be like 100 years from now. What direction society as a whole will take. What will become acceptable and what will not.

History and trends tend to repeat themselves.. I am sure we will just move into another version of our past as we have been doing for so many generations.
Things go out of style and back in style time and time again.

Things change yet we cling to the past, for better or worse. Now if only we could learn from our mistakes a little more.

I know my husband and I, whenever we do have children, will be raised the way we were… Which apparently can be considered old fashioned, but we both feel there are certain skills and knowledge a child must have before entering adulthood.

Yes, it might seem odd that my mother made me walk with a book on my head every day until my posture was perfect, but I got a lot of compliments on it all throughout the years… My posture is not what it used to be as of late.. I need to work on that, but when I walk into a room everyone knows it. That is not to sound pompous, or be self inflating, but to give credit to the simple lesson having made a big impact on how people perceive me. All the other lessons I learned added to this, but the way a person holds themselves speaks volumes about someone.

So yes, my future daughter will learn those same skills for how to be a proper lady, and my future son will learn how to be a proper gentleman.  Maybe it will not be completely by this time periods standards, but I feel this will give them more enriching experiences and open up more opportunities in life.
It certainly did for me….

Just wait, this will become popular at some point again.. Histories trends do repeat themselves, it is just a matter of when that cycle comes around.

Pagans and Poverty

Something I have noticed in general about the pagan culture has gotten me thinking today.

Have you ever noticed how many spells, rituals, and chants there are for money, bringing wealth (in the monetary sense), or otherwise filling your wallet; yet the pagan culture as a general whole, witches, wiccans, etc, are poor or just barely making it by?

I thought to myself why is that? Why out of all the cultures, religions, are pagans almost always short on cash, barely able to pay the bills, and scrambling to find a way to make it by?

This came up because I have been considering writing some short books for kindle. I was discussing with my husband about how much I love to write about witchy topics, yet I doubt they would sell as most pagans would go to a library rather than buy a kindle book for a few bucks. They just don’t always have it.

The realization, one which I have always known about but didn’t really think too hard on it until now kind of shook me.

So my husband and I started talking about why this might be.

I would like to note that my husband, while fully supporting and encouraging my beliefs as a witch, is not actually pagan.

**Please be forewarned that this is not meant to offend and does use a lot of generalizations to get a theory across. This does not apply to every pagan, but only  used as a generalization from what we personally have noticed and experienced.**

In general pagans tend to be more solitary in their practice. (When I say pagans I am referring more to witches, wiccans, and the like)
Even within a coven, covens do not always communicate with other covens on a regular basis, so I still count that as solitary as most covens are not overly large.

There are up sides and downsides to being solitary or in a coven. For this example they will be both one and the same.

When you are solitary, you get to connect with nature, your surroundings, and get all the benefits of doing things your own way.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this can be verses a mass religion type, partly because I can quite be anti-social myself, while other times I like a little social interaction, for the most part I am content being outside of large crowds.

Here is one major downside and part of a good reason why pagans tend to not end up better off money wise. Networking.

I will use Christians as an example, mostly because I was raised Christian originally so I have first hand experience for comparison.

Christians network like crazy. The smaller churches that do not network you will easily tell as they do not do as well as the ones that do.

Churches range in size but still tend to be larger than most covens. Covens in my experience range between 6 and 40 people I’d say, and even less than that show up for regular coven gatherings. Even if the coven breaks 150 people, nowhere near that many are usually active within the coven gatherings.

Christians on the other hand usually go to church, whether a true Christian or one that just goes for appearances does not matter, they go or are usually judged, feel guilty, etc for not going. For some it is highly looked down upon not to go to church unless you are quite ill or have a damn good reason not to.

So not only do you have a whole church full of people, who network with each other, you also should note that most churches communicate with other churches in the area, or even in other states across the nation.

They get involved, for better or worse, but the point is they DO communicate often. Not that pagans don’t communicate, but the way we socialize is a little different and tends to be at festivals, small gatherings, and not quite on the scale that Christians would. Even if we meet regularly, it is usually with the same small group.

Point being is that we miss out on a lot of opportunities we could get by being content to be alone and not network with each other.

Ever heard the saying that it isn’t about what your resume looks like, it is more about who you know when it comes to landing a good job or a great opportunity? Well, that is largely true when it comes to networking.

I was originally raised Christian, and while at times we had money, and other times we did not. We almost always had lots of great opportunities through church members, and help when we needed it from the churches themselves. I can honestly say that the times we did not have money was not for lack of opportunity, but more for poor choices of my parents, but that is a whole other topic.

Heck people were there to help, even if they were just there to teach you how they budget, how to write a resume, where to find good deals, anything was helpful and they were happy to help the community grow by sharing knowledge.

The point is there was always room for growth with the networking system we had.

While paganism is becoming more and more of a choice, and less judged, it is still judged a lot. I am sure part of our networking issues has to do with the fact that Christians have simply been doing it longer and been more open with their lifestyle than we have.


Another bad cycle I tend to see is what I would like to call “trailer park pagans” without being overly offensive, hear me out.

Poverty breeds poverty. Once you are in it, your mindset changes, and one rarely ever gets out of it simply because they become content. No matter how often they complain they wish things would change, they simply do not change, or put forth the amount of effort needed to change. In other words less effort appears to be a lot more than it really is when you feel tired often mentally.

Sometimes people who live in poverty situations tend to become pagan because of the solitary practice, the act of rebellion, the connection we have with living with less as pagans used to. The big difference of course being that pagans used to live with less because they did not need more…

Pagans were ‘Poor’ by monetary definitions because they got all they needed from the land and had no need to work outside of their own stewardships.  They were not poor in every other way. Poor only referred to money, and when money is not needed, and your needs are met, it is hard to see them as being in poverty.

Nowadays there are simply things we must pay for and it is almost impossible to live without some expense. Because of this our mindset has to change a little to evolve with the current times in the ways we must.

Now that is not to say that I don’t agree with simplistic living and getting back to our roots. I am creating an urban homestead for petes sake, though that does not mean that I am ok with barely getting by either. I would very much like to have a constant amount of savings in the bank that I could use when needed, and I know things need to be done to keep that there, or create that savings for that matter.  I am working hard to make that happen, and it will happen.

Now I am not saying that people are horrible trash if they live in a trailer. What I am saying is that once you move to an area that is filled with sorrow, guilt, regret, poverty, illness, sluggishness,  etc, that it is very hard to not have that energy pull your own down and drown you in it. A sinking ship if you will and misery does love company.

Sometimes people get out and end up right back in that situation. Most of the time though those people are just not wise with the way they spend their money. Fast food and spending sprees anytime they see a little extra, as if to reward themselves for that little extra they got.

I understand the need for having nice things or going out. I am not saying not to do those things. But seeing my parents, when times were tougher, going out and spending anything extra they got immediately on useless things… Rather than saving the money and making better use of it. That is how you get stuck.

You get so excited that you have $20 extra, $200 extra that is normally not there… and you decide to do something special because you can for once, and you feel you deserve to go out or get something you normally couldn’t have.

People who usually have a little extra at the end of the month do not think this way and tend to save more in the end. Because they save a little more each time they have a little more they end up being able to do more. I am not meaning they can do more spending, I mean they can make actual full lifestyle changes if they do things the right way. It is literally just another thought process and way of doing things.

Changing your lifestyle is a lot better than staying in a bad lifestyle and only having a nice thing every once in awhile. You want to actually like the life you live in.
I think it is very possible to change that. It is hard work, but if you do it right anything is possible.

I have changed a lot in my life and the way I think and do things. I still have a lot more to go, but it has greatly impacted the way I view my life. I have gotten so far ahead of where I thought I would be now. It is just proof that you can change your situation entirely and not just for the short term.

Another difference is mindset in general.
Now I am speaking in general terms for things we have both observed on a mass scale, so don’t take any of this as “fact” but more as our personal opinions and observations.

Christians tend to pray for help but also act… They are told to pray but that God will not do all the work for them, and if you do not do all you know to do, you are tying his hands. While God may want to help, he cannot if you do not also act on what you know.

So in addition to praying, they are also doing everything they can to fix situations.

Pagans, for reasons unknown, tend to think doing a spell or a ritual is both the prayer and the action. It is not.

The spell, ritual, chant, etc, is there to put your intentions out there. Yes, you can call things to you, but it is an aid, not a “all I have to do is this and it will fix my problem”
Do you really think that the Gods are going to help a lazy witch who only ever complains about their life? No. You will get help, but only through action, and not just the action of doing a spell, prayer, ritual… No, I mean if you want a damn job you do a spell to find the job that best suits you and your needs, and then you do a job search for as long as it takes to find that job.
A job is not just going to land itself on your lap because you spelled it to. That is not how spells work.

Spells work through intentions, will, action, willpower, motivation, ambition. Do you get my point here?

They are aids to help sway things in our favor. To help open doors that we may have missed, to turn one opportunity that might be good into an even better one. or just to help guide people to us. None of this will happen if we don’t actually do anything other than the ritual and then complain when nothing happens, or complain when we do not continue to act upon things.

Yes, it takes awhile to find a job, but spells and rituals do not always have a “expiration date” and we do not always know when things will happen. Just because we think they should happen now and they do not, does not mean we should give up. It means we need to keep trying and trust things should happen when it is the right time, even if you yourself think the right time should have been yesterday with all the crap that is going on in your life. Things happen for a reason, be it good or bad.

I just think pagans should be taking more initiative and come out of the broom closet and start networking with each other more than just a few online forums or small gatherings.

What does it say for our path if most of our people are barely living paycheck to paycheck yet we have all these money spells that appear to not work? Why on earth would anyone want to be pagan if what it seems to offer is poverty and spells that obviously are not working?

Money isn’t everything, but it DOES mean something when it comes to living in a time where you have to have money to survive.

By the way there are many very effective money spells. They only don’t work if you don’t actually use them correctly and then take action after. No you will not get rich from them, but they are quite helpful when needed.  The fact that most people complain they do not work is a testament to just how many people do not understand the process of a spell and the actions after it is cast.

I have always been one to think that you have to do what you need to do to get where you want to be, whatever that means for the situation presented. I think things could greatly improve in the pagan community if we changed the way we do a few things to better suit the communities needs.  Am I wrong?

Could it really hurt to take more physical action? Could it hurt to network and be a little more social while still being non-social as a lot of us are? You don’t have to be a social butterfly, but just actually get involved with more than just a few people.

No one is going to help the pagan community. We have to help ourselves. There is absolutely no reason why we cannot be a thriving community who helps to build each other up like more mass religions do.

That is not saying we are conforming to be like a mass religion, that is saying that we can evolve to better help the needs of our people and better the way of a pagan life.

Outside of GoddessFest, and private or open coven meetings, how many events are there that are pointed towards the pagan religion vs events and holiday gatherings for Christian religions? Mind you, we have more holidays and sacred days to celebrate.

I think it is time for us to come out of the shadows, the broom closet, and actually be more of a community. Yes, we may get hate thrown towards us, but really it does not matter. You can be hated for the choice in the shirt you wear, but you will still wear that shirt if you like it will you not? Religion is a personal choice. One choice in which others opinions should never matter. Stop being afraid of ridicule and connect.

Not all pagans are broke all the time. Every person can learn something as well as has something to teach, even if they do not realize it.


Here is a simple way to see it. Take the show Lost for an example. If someone decided to be greedy and wanted to go out and survive on his own, maybe he could do it, but he could not do everything he needed to do in a day to survive without breaking his back.
By working together, each person has their own job, their own skill set they can teach others, and by becoming a community they get a amazing amount of work done in a fraction of the time because they decided it was better for survival to work together than alone. This is no different than coming together as a community.

We do have community, just not quite to where it needs to be. We have a lot of catching up to do.