An Outdoorsman's Journal

   The Total Plan

Hello friends,

   This week and ever since 1982, I am fishing and escaping from the real world with friends and family at a fly in fishing lake in Ontario, Canada. I am going to write my annual independent way of living, way of life story and I hope that you enjoy it.
   On a good day, my truck is not started and I do not have to go town.
   I have enough garden planted to feed myself and probably 5 other people with sweet corn - 5 crops, potatoes - 400 hills, tomatoes - 27 plants and a whole bunch of veggies from onions to squash. Last year I put up five Nescro's of chili which I bag and freeze and makes an excellent meal.
   I no longer raise cattle as the calf price has become too high which in the past, I was breaking even but had manure, now I would lose about $800 per animal. My guess would be when my soil/sand becomes worthless due to a lack of nutrients I will get back into the cattle business.
   My woodshed is stocked for the 2026/27 winter with split and drying oak.
   Over the years I have planted 11 apple trees, my life has become so busy that the last few years I neglected them and did not make apple sauce. This year I have been on top of pruning and spraying and hope to make 40 to 60 quarts of applesauce this fall. When my apple trees were blossoming in late April, there was a hard frost, I put my Mr. Buddy propane heaters next to them as well as some electric heaters and it helped but I still lost some potential apples. Necedah has cold overnight lows.
   I have been working on the financial end of a retirement plan for 26 years, for a self-employed person that has a low income that has been a challenge but a few years down the road and if Social Security still works I should be fine when the time comes to slow down.
   My time in the garden is a total addiction for me. The brown to green to brown phase of spring, summer and fall for a garden and the at least 1500 pounds of food I will harvest is like catching a really nice stringer of walleye every day.
   Speaking of walleye, there used to be a yard in front of my house, now there is Lake Matilda which is named after Michelle Chiaro who was the coolest lady I have ever known. Michelle passed away on 6/15/22 and I will never stop honoring her.
   Lake Matilda is my getaway, whether I am looking out my window, working on it, sitting next to a fire by it or like yesterday, swimming in it. So far I have planted bluegill, perch, crappie and last fall I planted twenty, 5 to 8-inch walleye in it.
   The perch have spawned the last two springs, the bluegill the last three, the crappie are too young, the walleye will not spawn but I will add 20 each fall and after 3 years harvest maybe 15 a year.
   My entire life and I swear this is the truth, I have had a dream where I have tip-ups in my backyard, and I am fishing on the lawn where I grew up in Poynette. In a few years I think that dream will come true as I will have a shack on Matilda and the thrill of catching a walleye will become reality, while the panfish will become a staple of my diet.
   To feed the panfish and walleye I have been stocking 3 gallons of fathead minnows each spring and fall. Fatheads are very prolific and spawn up to five times each warm season.
   Most importantly is the newspaper staff and owners that run this column so I can live like I do since I was 27, thirty-seven years as of this past May. If you get a chance, tell them thank you, it makes a difference.
   The truck pulls out of the driveway for Red Lake, Ontario in a few hours.

   Time to hang with The Canada Gang!

   Sunset