When I bought this suburban house, I didn't realize that I would want to instantly turn it into a #homestead but that is exactly what happened. There is no turning back. I installed raised veggie beds in the front yard where the dead "lawn" had been. I planted several fruit trees in the backyard. I also planted veggies and fruits and vines. I was about two months late starting it all (I started in May and should have began in March). But even with my late start, the northern California climate has been welcoming: warm, temperate, hot, then warm again, and finally cool...not cold, not really. There have been about four frosts where I am that I can count but not hard freezes.
My property is a hair shy of 1/10 acre. Some may laugh at that, especially because I call it my homestead. It's okay...I laugh too, but it's a satisfying laugh, a laugh that says I am doing right by my health by working outside in the yard (with several layers of sunscreen of course), planting healthy food in the earth, leveraging the gifts of nature to ensure I only put #organic, #nonGMO sustenance in my body, and share the same healthy foods with my friends and neighbors.
I've had #cancer ten times. Yep, ten times. That is a lot of times. A lot of ups and downs. A lot of surgeries and medication and radiating scans and chemicals and pokes and prods. I'm okay with it because I am still functioning, independent, strong, and self-sustaining (or on the way to being self-sustaining). My goal with this property, what I call my little #midcentury modern bohemian farm homestead (mid-mod-boho-farm), is to become fully self-sustaining with vegetables, fruits, trees, and egg layers by this time next year. No meat birds for a suburban homestead, that will come later. Along with bacon seeds because I love me some bacon. That will come later. Later...
"Later". I can't believe I am thinking more than one or two years in the future. Living with #LiFraumeni Syndrome creates a short term outlook in most people. I generally think in six month chunks because that is the time between my oncologist visits. If I have good scans and labs, I will look forward to another six months. I'm considered cured of cancer, my last bout was in July of 2019, however, one is never cured of Li Fraumeni Syndrome. It is a beast and it sucks.
So, you ask, why is the title of this post "my little cherry tree"? Well, it's because I bought a #Surinam #Cherry (Eugenia Uniflora) tree back in October, I planted it in the backyard, and it is still alive. That is a big deal to me. I have planted other trees that are also still alive and I will share those with all of y'all as well, but this morning, when I gazed on that little cherry tree I just got all giddy. "It's alive!", I proclaimed, in my best Dr. Frankenstein voiceover.
Surinam Cherry is also known as #Pitanga or Brazilian Cherry. It is a special little tree for me. I look forward to it growing and fruiting and from that fruit I will make preserves or jam. I bought it because the fruit is aesthetically interesting and it is a tree, and we all need to breathe.
Yeah, that's it. I just wanted to share my thoughts on my little cherry tree.