SS Goals for 2010 and beyond . . .

[DrakeMaiden]

I'll have to try to keep this short enough to not take three days to compile......

Build a good fence around the garden.
Buy a great tiller(Mom lost hers in the recent episode.)
Build topbar hives from barrels and try to capture local swarms.
Reconfigure garden plans to allow for optimal spacing and growing of more produce.
Finally make all the things and ideas for my roadside stand and implement them.
Work extra hard to preserve every piece of food I produce on this place.
Reseed the orchard and yard, scatter lime also.
Build better broody setup to encourage replenishing of flock.
Build greenhouse from scavenged glass and materials.
Have my first crop of lambs.
Butcher Two Bites and tan her hide.
Build fencing across the orchard and slowly purchase poultry netting for use in rotational grazing system.
Make my front yard into a parking lot(heavy black plastic and gravel)
Build some wide steps down the front of the house, a ramp up the existing side steps.
Grow more perennials and herbs for fresh cut selling and for drying.
Lose 100 lbs.
Go on our first family vacation ever.


I think I better stop....

Well, Bee, if you do all those things, I suspect you will lose the 100 lbs without even trying. However, on the vacation . . . . I guess I better not say what I'm thinking.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Don't ever worry about people laughing at you. Just remember- Small minds are easily amused.

I totally agree. Can you believe some silly man once lauged at me because I wanted garden soil in the fall. Ya know, because he had no concept that you can grow a fall/winter garden.

You never know unless you ask. Sometimes you get lucky.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

yea I really want the outdoor oven and grill
I want to build it brick by brick with my own hands


the rest of the work can go to H***
hahahaha


I don't know what it is, but I am getting so burned out on farming and the hard work.
I am turning and trying to run as fast as I can in the other direction..LOL

If you don't love what you are doing, you've got to change what you're doing. I think your brick oven and grill project is the perfect project for mixing things up and learning something new. I bet at this point you know how to make the most profit from your farm with the least labor . . . sounds like the way to go!

 

[farmerlor]

Still trying to convince myself that we can keep a dairy goat and learn to make cheese. The rest of my goals would just be to improve and finish the projects we currently have going, the turkeys, chickens, and greenhouse.

 

[big brown horse]

Oh a greenhouse!!! Add that to my list!

 

[Augustmomx2]

Fun thread On my 3/4 of an urban acre I want to:

*Increase my flock and start selling eggs
*Make my veggie garden bigger, simpler and more tomatoes
*Make my herb garden bigger
*Plant a few fruit tress
*In Spring/Summer air-dry all of my laundry, have dh build me a mega outdoor dryer...the other store-bought one broke
*Better my canning skills

Man, I sure would love to have some of your guys' goals...I want a cow!

 

[FarmerChick]

yea I really want the outdoor oven and grill
I want to build it brick by brick with my own hands


the rest of the work can go to H***
hahahaha


I don't know what it is, but I am getting so burned out on farming and the hard work.
I am turning and trying to run as fast as I can in the other direction..LOL

If you don't love what you are doing, you've got to change what you're doing. I think your brick oven and grill project is the perfect project for mixing things up and learning something new. I bet at this point you know how to make the most profit from your farm with the least labor . . . sounds like the way to go!

You know it went from fun to business. business that had to make money to sustain...while hyped on that, now I have lost interest after 12 years of this.

yes I have streamlined the farm to a great profit. I know farming tricks and shortcuts to make it easy. I learned alot. But the love of it is not there anymore. The love of fun and happy easy living is coming into play now for me, the love of travel and vacations. I proved to myself it can sustain and be profitable, that was my goal. Do I want to continue hard work for money. Nope..LOL

back to basics for me. live off the farm for the family eats, etc., fun that comes from a FEW animals, get my horses back and ride and slow the heck down...LOL

yea the grill/oven is something I have wanted to do but never had the time. I don't have time to commit to anything....well, I will be finding that time now!

Yippee!!
Yahoo
time for a big change and time to find new adventures.

 

[Wifezilla]

Still want to make a ROCKET STOVE for outside.

That's on my list too. We get a lot of sticks that fall on the lawn from the maple trees. May as well put them to good use.

1. rocket stove
2.organize shed
3. gates/entry ways for the aviary (tired of getting tangled in the netting )
4. increase pond garden system
5. get duckweed to grow!!! (Shelley got in to it again. Ate almost all of it. Duck is too smart for her own good)
6. learn more about bees. I have room in the aviary for a hive or two I think.

 

[Lady Henevere]

Wow, we have some ambitious folks here! My goals are:

1. Re-landscape the backyard to accommodate the 11 fruit trees I have coming in January. (The plan is less grass, more edibles.)
2. Research what other edible plants I want to include in the new landscape plan. Plant them.
3. Have the existing trees trimmed; rent a chipper/shredder to make my own mulch for the garden with the trimmings. (Or find a tree service that will do this for me...?)
4. Convince DH to make me two compost tumblers - one to put stuff in while the other is composting. (I can't effectively turn the compost in my existing bin, so I need a tumbler.) Well, this could happen this year since I've asked for these for Christmas, but we'll see.
5. Figure out some kind of work/life balance. This is going to be the hard one, since my job is very time-consuming, and this year's focus on ss has been detrimental to my work. I guess I just need to figure out what I can do in the little time I have, what I can do more quickly, and what ss things are simply not realistic for me. My research from #2 needs to specifically include low-maintenance plants. And I need to figure out some cooking-from-scratch shortcuts (make-ahead things, etc.).

 

[Ldychef2k]

Are you talking about a more permanent rocket stove? I made one last summer and taught some kids to do it. But it was made with like 16 bricks or something like that. Cost about $4. Small, but you could use larger bricks or make your own. I still use mine, actually.

Here's a picture of it before I built the base out of cement blocks and got it up to waist level. I assume your idea is different and probably more permanent.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/Ldychef2k/?action=view&current=Picture101.jpg

Still want to make a ROCKET STOVE for outside.

That's on my list too. We get a lot of sticks that fall on the lawn from the maple trees. May as well put them to good use.

1. rocket stove
2.organize shed
3. gates/entry ways for the aviary (tired of getting tangled in the netting )
4. increase pond garden system
5. get duckweed to grow!!! (Shelley got in to it again. Ate almost all of it. Duck is too smart for her own good)
6. learn more about bees. I have room in the aviary for a hive or two I think.