First Actions

Because of the lack of utilities on the property we moved onto the Keesler AFB FamCamp where we became Hosts for a year. Prior to moving onto the property we had to go before the county board of commissioners to get a permit to live in our recreational vehicle on our property. Once we had water and electric utilities from the county installed we were able to move our RV onto the property. Rented a port-a-potty until we found a way to use the existing septic. Thus, began our journey to live on our land. We wanted to be self-sustaining so brain stormed different ways to have the land work for us: Hipcamping (www.hipcamp.com), an RV park, grow mangrove,graze cattle, and blueberry farming, five established farms within 10 miles of our location; none of these were doable without a lot of work, expense, and/or effort.

Why not Kiwis which we both love? We were able to purchase four females and one male Fuzzy Green Kiwi from a local hardware gardening store. At another branch of the store we were able to purchase another variety of Kiwi known as Japanese Gooseberries. Japanese Gooseberries are asexual: meaning there is not need for both male and female plants to pollinate and bare fruit.

Unfortunately, our lack of experience and knowledge caused some critical errors in planting both varieties. Although both varieties require adequate water, they do not like to “have their feet wet” or be in non-well drained soil. We lost one Fuzzy Green female and two of the Japanese Gooseberries. Another of the Japanese Gooseberries was not extremely healthy when we purchased it, so we lost that plant as well. Resulting in an overall 27% attrition rate.