Nakke Nakuttaja’s House
Haus of Nakke
Today, the sky is blue with puffy clouds. But it was only a couple days ago now, that I looked up to see the winter grey of unfallen snow, up above in the sky. I am a New Englander, we are like the Irish. Perhaps all coastal and or island people are like the Irish, at least in so far as it pertains to the importance of the sky. There isn’t a self respecting New Englander, alive who can’t read a sky. Of that I am convinced.
Thus far, we have had no snow, but the temperatures are starting to drop, and there are times when you look up and you can see the unfallen snow in the grey cloud cover up above your head…. It hangs up there like a weight in the clouds and you know it is only a matter of time before the clouds rip and the snow falls in flurries, causing a sheet of white and sometimes all manner of difficulty. There are times now, when I can feel winter coming in my bones.
We have prepared though so I am not worried. We have stacked our wood, done some emergency canning for the winter, we have even lit the wood stoves already, keeping the house comfortable and warm matters as the outside temperature dips. The hot spiced cider has come out and become a staple here again on the colder days we have had thus far. The birds, at least most of them, have fled to warmer climates.
Which brings me to our all too regular visitor, Nakke Nakuttaja, or for those who speak no Finnish, Woody Woodpecker. A downy wood pecker that has been visiting our house regularly. He has been doing his best to destroy the wood on the outside of the house. He visits often and goes to town. We hear him outside, banging away. Every time we try to take his picture, somehow he escapes before we can aim and hit the camera button on our phone. We like our little visitor Nakke, we don’t like what he is doing to our house.
We have erected a house for him out behind our place right on the cusp of the woods, and we have hung suet. It is best evidently not to put the house in hardwood trees, it should go no lower than 10 feet and as high as 20 feet for optimum appeal to the downy woodpecker community. The same is true of the suet as well, it should be hung near to the tree trunk to appeal to woodpeckers as that is where they eat. It is still unknown, weather he will continue to abuse the house…. We hope by paying off the Nakuttaja mafia, we will be able to protect our house from this feathered “hit man,” banging away at our home’s exterior. So that is why we have given him a lovely piece of real estate of his own, as well as a gift of suet. I am not sure what else we can do to prevent him from abusing our house. So if anyone has any other suggestions that do not harm Nakke, we would be interested in hearing them. We prefer not to harm Nakke, because we are the trespassers here living close to nature as we do. Our home is in his area. We merely seek a peaceful coexistence with neither us, or him being troublesome to either one of us. That is homesteading. looking for ways to coexist, and to work with and within nature when possible to have a comfortable life and to meet as many of our needs as possible.
Thank you for reading
Amand of Wildflower Farm
Tags: ag, agriculture, agro, airbnb, Animal issues on the homestead, B&B, coexisting with woodpeckers, downy wood peckers, farm, farm wife, farm wife blog, farmer, farming, farmstead, home protection against woodpeckers, homestead, homestead farm, Homestead pests, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, homesteading New England, housewife, housewife blog, inn keeper's blog, inn keeping, innkeeper, living close to nature, new england, new england homesteading, old fashioned housewife, old fashioned housewife blog, self sufficiency homesteading, self sufficiency living, self sufficient homestead, simple living, stay home wife, stay home wife blog, travel, wildflower farm, woodpecker problems
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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