Surprise!

No, not that surprise.

My hubby and I have a new home. Almost. We could have keys within the week if we lock in home insurance and get the utilities transferred into our name(s) and do one or two other things. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work out, but we’re so close I can almost touch it!

When we get our home, it won’t be perfect. And that’s okay. That means that we’ll be able to truly make it our own, with lots of painting and lots of sanding and a new bathtub. And there are a few other things (okay, more than a few) about which I’ve asked my hubby to indulge me. Things I may have referred to as “weird hippy sh*t.” Things like a grey water recycling system. Rainwater barrels. Energy efficient appliances. Solar panels. Chickens. And an indoor farm.

We’re going to be slightly (okay, more than slightly) in the middle of nowhere. Which means we have plenty of space to stretch out, and a half-hour trip to the nearest grocery store. We’re going to have to change the way we eat: no more spur-of-the-moment trips to the store or fast food for dinner. Which gives us a couple of options: we can either choose to eat more pre-packaged and processed foods, or we can choose to grow our own food. I would much prefer the latter. If we grow our own food, we’ll be eating food that is both tastier and healthier.

A caveat: our new home isn’t just in the middle of nowhere… it’s in the middle of nowhere near the top of a mountain, where it snows as early as October and as late as April. Not exactly ideal growing conditions for most food plants. Which is where the weird hippy sh*t comes in. Growing food indoors will allow my hubby and me to grow more food in a smaller space by employing (hopefully) a combination of vertical farming and hydroponics. There will be planters stacked on top of other planters (bonus: the room I’m going to use comes with loads of shelves), and high-efficiency LED lights to provide enough light for optimal growing even when it’s snowing. And I’ll be able to use less of our grey water or rain barrel water by employing hydroponic growing strategies (which use a lot less water than growing plants in soil). And I’ll power the whole thing with our upcoming solar panels.

This is the beginning of a whole new chapter of BonnieTakesThePlunge. We’ve survived the “wedding” plunge. Now, let’s journey into the “new home” plunge, which will have just as many crazy adventures!