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Here we are finding ourselves in a brand new year. It seems like a great time to evaluate the homestead and make plans for the year ahead of us. We took some time to reflect on last year’s accomplishments already. Now it is time to get serious about planning out the future.
We have lots of aspirations for our homestead. Some will happen, some might happen, and some might not happen. That’s ok. Part of this homestead life is trying new things and enjoying the ride. A lot of this life is trial and error, figuring out what works and what does not. I am really looking forward to the potential that this year holds for us.
There is much planning that goes into homesteading especially when you are trying to raise and grow as much of your own food as possible. I have been working on figuring out exactly how we need to work the garden to preserve enough produce to last through the year. This is really something that takes several years to hone down. We are getting closer to having it figured out but still need to refine it a bit more.
We also need to raise more meat birds this year. We did two batches last year and are down to our last two birds in the freezer. We won’t be raising more until this spring. I’m a bit sad that we will be out of chicken for a while but we will be putting our pigs in the freezer very soon so we will have plenty of pork to sustain us. We are also trying to find a good (not super expensive) source for grass fed/ grass finished beef. We would love to raise our own beef but until then we need a great place to get ours.
We are learning each year what we need to do on our homestead to accommodate the needs of our family. What a wonderful feeling it is to be able to provide your family with rich, nutrient dense, non-gmo, organically raised/grown foods. It is also a wonderful way to raise our children, teaching them the importance of eating right, taking care of their health, and knowing how to provide for themselves. All of our efforts not only bless us in the now but will continue to bless our family for generations to come. That right there makes it all more than worth it.
Without farther ado, our big plans for 2015:
- Butcher our pigs
- Cure our own meat (from said pigs)
- Raise more pigs
- Raise more meat chickens
- Raise a few turkeys
- Purchase grass fed/grass finished beef in bulk
- Refine our garden to produce enough to get us through the whole year
- Save more of our seeds from the garden
- Refine my home dairy skills (learn to make a variety of cheeses and other dairy products)
- Breed Gertie for a calf next year
- Finish our barn
- Learn to make soap
- Get our own homestead property (with ample amount of acreage)
There you have it. That is the list as of right now. I am sure much will be added to it throughout the year. The last item on the list is the biggest for the year. We are really hoping to finally find our own place. I know it will be quite a challenge to fit our needs within our budget but I do believe it will happen.
As humans, we make all these plans and set goals according to what we want to accomplish. Let us not forget to bring our requests before the Lord but also to seek out His Will as we make our plans. We are excited for this year and doing these things but most importantly we are excited to see what God has planned for us and will continue with an open heart and mind for what He has in store.
What homestead goals do you have for 2015?
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What a great list! And you are right, it does take time and there is always something to learn. Have fun!
Angi @ SchneiderPeeps recently posted…30+ Organic Techniques In the Garden
Thanks so much! 🙂
I would love to hear more about gardening to sustain a family through the year!!! What each year looked like in trying to accomplish that for you, how you changed your plans year to year to get to that goal, what resources you used, how you planed, etc! 🙂 my hubby and I would love to homestead one day (right now we live in an apartment amd we consider ourselves apartment homesteaders) and I have never tired to grow anything in my life… im gonna try this spring to grow somethings on our deck just to see what happens and to just start somewhere!! Good luck on your cheese adventures!! I would love to hear about that too as you get going!! I just started making colby cheese a few months ago- preparing for a dairy animal one day! 🙂 My first cheese became ready last week and it was a success! 🙂 it is so fullfilling using cheese you made yourself! I hope you enjoy thethe learning process! 😀