Goals 2012

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Goals. . . I have never really sat and thought hard about them, or even written them down.  Goal planning has just never been one of my strong points - although working through the chaos that comes from not having a set course is not easy either.  So after reading a post from Quinn at On Just a Couple Acres, I decided it was time this year to put some goals on paper for our One Blessed Acre homestead.  Building a homestead isn't a quick process - it doesn't occur in one year, but over several and we are beginning our third year here, so I feel it's time.

Our goals for 2012 ~

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~At the beginning of the year we are planning and praying that our baby doe Nubian goats will be born and delivered to us.  We are anxious to begin the journey into raising goats for milk so that we can drink it foremost, but also to learn the process of making cheese, butter and soap.  The back area behind our chicken run will have to be enlarged and fenced in to house these new additions to our homestead. 

We enlarged our garden last year and while we were able to grow more vegetables this last year, we had a slow start.  If it wasn't the crows stealing the seeds or the gophers digging up the potatoes, it might have been the slugs that ate up the tender shoots.

~I hope to try my hand at winter sowing seeds.  I just might be able to get some early seed growth going while we are in our rainiest months April - May.  This just might actually beat those darn slugs.  With the mini-greenhouses, I might actually get some herbs to grow here on the North Coast.

~Our first order of business will be to make a scarecrow for the garden.   Perhaps something like this. .

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~Next, we'll need some row covers and the West Ladies are just my inspiration.  In their Homestead Blessings Gardening DVD they show exactly how to install row covers which will protect my early crops from a myriad of pesky pests.

~I also hope to expand my herb garden and fill our front garden beds with more perennial herbs, both medicinal and culinary.

~To our orchard - Next fall, my plans are to plant a few more fruit trees , such as another pear tree and perhaps a plum.  I'm not sure what will do well here. . . I'm hesistant to try figs (while they grow great here) because no one in the family is particularly fond of them.  Maybe another apple tree to replace the old one that only produced a handful of apples this year.

~We'll be adding some new layers to our flock in the spring so that we don't always have the "Sold Out" sign up on our egg stand.  We have been blessed with such a demand for our ladies' eggs, we rarely have enough to supply everyone that stops by.  Anne is also going to try her hand this year with some specialty breeds to show at the fair this summer. .  perhaps a Silkie.

~Our meat chicken production has been nil.   We'd like to try doing a set of 25 in the summer, but we are struggling with where to house them. .  we aren't sure if we can put them in with the other layers.  We know that the meat would be far superior than the meat we are buying at the grocery store, as well, we'd know how well the animals were treated while with us.

~Hannah would love to get new rabbits this year - she is still missing her two bunnies from last year that died unexpectedly.  My husband would love to get into raising meat rabbits, and we could easily build a few more rabbit hutches.

~I'm determined to finish a king-size quilt I began about 4 years ago for our bedroom.  This is just one of the many pieces I have completed.   I just need to piece it together and put a backing on it.

~I am going to keep better financial records of how much our garden costs and food storage amounts that we put up this year to get a better understanding of what it will take to be self-sustaining (well, at least 75% or so)

~And lastly, I hope to paint our master bedroom . . . . I'm envisioning this color

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So, while I've never done any formal goal planning, this seems like a good fit for us to accomplish this 2012.  Many blessings to you all.

Michelle