One of the things I like most about Darrell Frey's (one of my permaculture teachers) book is the emphasis on routine annual tasks like taking an inventory of tools, fixing them, checking essential hardware around the farm once a year, and so-on. The more I work on our little piece of land, the more I envy guys like Darrell who've spent years learning all the basic habits that go into making a small farm work. I say "habit" and not "lesson", because knowing that you need to do something is different from actually having a mind to do it. Kristen and I are half-decent planners, but when it comes to habitually doing things the right way, we're still as green as they come.
"Taking care of your stuff" and "being organized" seems sort of obvious until you get where we are right now. Cold weather is approaching and our land is covered in a year's worth of unorganized building materials, buckets, planting pots, trays, tools, hoses, irrigation fittings, etc. It's easy to lose sight of the basics of good organization when you're planning your next move, dreaming up the next project, or working hard to get the next batch of trees in the ground. Do that for a year, and you've a mess on your hands.
The only answer is to make time for it, treat it as work, and think about it beforehand.
"Taking care of your stuff" and "being organized" seems sort of obvious until you get where we are right now. Cold weather is approaching and our land is covered in a year's worth of unorganized building materials, buckets, planting pots, trays, tools, hoses, irrigation fittings, etc. It's easy to lose sight of the basics of good organization when you're planning your next move, dreaming up the next project, or working hard to get the next batch of trees in the ground. Do that for a year, and you've a mess on your hands.
The only answer is to make time for it, treat it as work, and think about it beforehand.
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