What exactly are our homestead goals in 2018? That’s a great question. I know from experience that we can make plans and set homestead goals and sometimes it all works out but sometimes it doesn’t. And that’s ok.

I try not to get hung up and set on a plan or goals because if/when it changes, I want to be able to adapt without it causing too much frustration. With that being said, I do think it is a great idea to set goals and make plans.

We have found that our homestead goals and plan for 2018 look very much like the ones for 2017. Last year threw us so many kinks and curveballs that not much we had planned went like it was supposed to.

We did get a few homestead goals accomplished and even some bonuses that we didn’t plan like getting a free pole barn and adding horses to the homestead.

We have some goals for 2018 that we need to accomplish on our homestead. We like to write them down so that we can think them through, plan for them, and most importantly, pray over them.

Our Homestead Goals in 2018

A chicken plucker- This was on the agenda for last year but with the truck expenses, we just couldn’t make it happen. We could hand pluck but with the volume we want to produce, that would be A LOT of hand plucking.  A chicken plucker is essential to us for 2 reasons.

1- We need to be able to raise our own meat birds again. We just cannot afford to buy organic chicken from the store so raising our own is really our only option. We also want to raise some turkeys for next Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as a few to eat throughout the year.

2- We also really need to make our homestead profitable. One of the ways we plan to do so is by selling farm raised non-gmo/soy-free pastured meat birds. A plucker is vital to this operation.

A Flourishing Garden- Last year, we planted a ton of seeds and were so excited about our garden. It was nothing but a battle and frustration with very little to show for all of our hard work. This had a lot to do with the soil being so insufficient and depleted. While we did try to enrich it before planting, it was just such a large area and we had such little resources that it wasn’t enough.

We are building our soil throughout the winter by feeding our livestock organic round bales of hay in our garden area. They are pooping everywhere and also spreading the hay around. We are killing 2 birds with one stone, fertilizing and ,mulching. It’s actually so much more because as the hay breaks down, it ads rich, organic matter to the soil as well.

We also plan to start most of our seeds in containers and then transplant because we had an issue with some sort of bug eating the insides of the seeds we planted before they could sprout.

We generally grow an heirloom garden so that we can preserve vegetable varieties as well as save seeds for the future.

The end goal is to be able to can and preserve enough produce for the entire year and save most of the seeds we need for the next year. I say most because I don’t think I could NOT buy any seeds at all. 😉

Filling the freezer with homegrown meats- This is a very essential part of what we do. The whole goal is to grow as much of our own food as possible. By the end of the spring, we should have all home grown grass fed beef, pastured pork, and pastured poultry in the freezers. I am definitely looking forward to having all home raised, pastured meats for my family!

Building another pole barn- Our first pole barn was given to us, all we had to do was take it down from the location it was at and rebuild it here on our homestead. We did just that. Well, we have been given the trusses and supports for a new pole barn and have bartered for the main posts. We will just have to buy the roofing materials (unless we can get a barter on that too) and we will have us a second pole barn up.

We think that we will just make it extend off the back of the existing pole barn. This will enable us to build a couple of stalls as well as a feed/tack room. I’m really looking forward to having a real feed room because right now we are using our horse trailer’s tack room as a feed room. I’m also REALLY looking forward to not having saddles on the back of my couch.

You can watch our YouTube video all about it here.

Growing our blog and Youtube channel– This is another factor in building an at home income stream. I have been blogging as a hobby for the most part up until the fall of 2017. I have really been putting forth a lot of effort to make my blog profitable for our family. I can’t invest my time and effort into something that doesn’t benefit my family.

We have had some videos out on our YouTube but haven’t done a lot with it in the past several years. We have started adding videos almost daily now. This is something that we really enjoy doing and we do as a family. We are very excited to share our lives and build another income stream by doing so.

Both of these avenues take a lot of work, time, and patience. It’s definitely not a get rich over night (or even at all) scheme. Over the course of time, as we build it, we should be ale to make a decent income to help support our family and farm.

Spending more time together- This is the most important item on the list. We are of a very family oriented mindset. We just love being together and working together as a family. This past year has been a lot busier than we like for life to be. Derek has had to spend a lot of time working extra side jobs on top of his 40 hour a week job to make ends meet.

This brings us back to the chicken plucker, selling poultry will enable us to earn more money from home. Building the blog and YouTube is also another factoring a home based income stream. We will be able to spend a lot more time together. That thought just makes me happy!

The things listed above are the homestead goals that we really need to do and accomplish. That brings us to the things we want to do or accomplish but may not happen. We can always dream, right?

Check out our 2018 wish list!

 

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