12/07/2026
Five days. Seven trees. Countless wheelbarrows. Very stubborn Georgia clay. 🌱
People often picture homesteading as peaceful gardens and pretty sunsets. Those moments absolutely exist—but first comes the work.
This week at Lantern & Flock, we planted the first four trees in what will become our citrus orchard, along with three Ice Cream banana trees. Each hole was dug through dense Georgia clay with a pickaxe, then excavated nearly twice as deep as a typical planting hole.
Why?
Because our goal isn’t simply to plant trees. It’s to build healthy soil that will support them for decades.
Rather than leaving the roots trapped in hard, compacted clay, we blended the native soil with compost and organic in-ground garden soil. The native soil stays part of the equation—because we want the roots to gradually adapt to the land they’ll spend their lives in—but now they have a living, biologically active environment that encourages deeper rooting, better drainage, and stronger long-term growth.
Nothing on this property goes to waste if it can serve another purpose.
The extra soil from every planting hole was hauled, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, across the property to begin leveling the future barn site. Every load moved us one step closer to a home for the animals while making good use of a resource we already had.
The existing pine straw that once covered other areas of the property is getting a second life as well. Instead of buying new mulch, we’re reusing what’s already here to blanket the bases of each tree, helping conserve moisture, moderate soil temperatures, feed the soil as it breaks down, and protect young roots from the relentless Georgia summer sun.
That’s what regenerative stewardship looks like to us.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about working with the land instead of against it. Every shovel of compost, every wheelbarrow of soil, every handful of reused pine straw is a small investment in a healthier ecosystem for years to come.
Five days of work in heat and humidity that could probably steam vegetables on their own. 😅
The orchard has officially begun, the bananas are settling into their new home, and the foundation for Lantern & Flock is growing one tree, one wheelbarrow, and one intentional decision at a time.
This is just the beginning. 🌿
