What are your SS goals for 2009?

[Beekissed]

Use rotational grazing on my orchard and yard, to improve the perennial growth and provide more nutritious grasses for my chickens.

Get two Dorper/Katahdin ewe lambs to graze my yard/orchard so I won't have to mow it and I can get it fertilized and improved~plus sell the offspring to pay for winter feed.

Get a flock of geese for grazing with the sheep and for harvesting down~to make some beautiful quilted, down throws to sell at my roadside stand.

Really develop my roadside stand/garage for maximum display of garden produce and value added products.

Get honey bees for the pollination of my garden and orchard, sale of the honey, and to use the wax in candles and lip balms to sell at my roadside stand.

Sell my vegetables, eggs and other items.

Build a lean-to onto my building in which to keep my hay and to feed sheep, lambing, penning of any animal for any purpose.

Can more veggies, grow more variety of veggies, further develop my soil in order to grow more veggies.

Find better ways to grow organically and still get rid of garden pests.

Market my apples at roadside.

Hope to get a hen going broody to replace my older flock with new chicks.

Make enough money with these ventures to buy a better utility wagon for hauling livestock, wood, building materials, etc.

That's the short list. I will add to it when I remember the rest!

 

[jackiedon]

I plan on getting a garden in this year and maybe a raised bed, plant some blackberry bushes and maybe some blueberry. Buy a pressurer cooker, raise more meat chickens, have dh put me up a clothes line, raise more turkeys.

jackie

 

[Zenbirder]

Well we have been without Internet service for three days, so I am catching up on reading posts this morning. Some of my goals sound very familiar to the ones I read here!

2009 Goals:
Double the size of my chicken flock to around 40. Learn the best ways to get the most from our greenhouse year around. Save more seed. Garden for Farmer's Market, and do crafts there that will bring in extra $. This means probably quadruple the garden work of last year, because I also want to can and freeze a tremendous amount more for our own food supply. De-clutter!!! Track money in and out, not casually but 100%. Exercise my core muscles more so I don't get problems like a bad back from all the physical labor.

 

[patandchickens]

Build an incubator and hopefully hatch some chicks out of my sussexes. Keep some; eat others.

Try some red (non CornishX) broilers; also probably a few turkeys if I can find a suitable source around here.

Veg garden is about 2x the size this year; goal is to keep it better weeded and staked than last year. (Of course this is my goal EVERY year. Progress is 'gradual' <g>).

Tear down back deck which is about to crumble on its own; rebuild smaller.

Sell more magazine articles.

Quit spending extra money on chickens except insofar as I *do* sell more magazine articles

Rebuild several paddock fences.


Pat

 

[enjoy the ride]

I want to keep on track- make some raised beds out of different material that is on my place rather than procrastinate then rush out to buy wood to make them as it is easier. Easy is not always the point- my mandra for this year.
Also no more purchasing seed with exotic names because it sounds fun. Try no more than one new thing each year.

 

[FarmerChick]

March is as far as I have planned. I was planning on goats this year but may have to wait one more year. Plus like Farmerchick - I really would like to make some time for play.

***Honestly 2dream
the older I get the more I realize life just ain't about cleaning and work....I need the fun more and more!

 

[poppycat]

For 2009 I am planning on being mostly in maintaining what I've already got going. It takes a certain amount of discipline for me to not enlarge my garden, raise a whole buncha new chickens, etc.

I'm going to replace the fig tree that froze to death with something hardier. Maybe a pie cherry?

I'm going to focus on using every speck of what I've got before buying something else.

I'm going to try to maintain our bare bones budget that we are on even though our money is a bit less tight than it was six months ago.

I've already gotten a start on selling off some superfluous stuff (musical instruments that nobody plays, spare fridge, etc.) and using the cash toward general debt reduction. Ideally I'd like to reduce the amount of "stuff" I've got by about 30%.

Need to get REALLY disciplined about meal planning. Menu for the week needs to be set by Sunday. Period.

And the there's the list of home repair items...

Last but not least, I'm going to be a good sport about the puppy that my DH has reserved from a friends upcoming litter. Sadly I'm NOT a dog person but he kindly puts up with my cats. Just not looking forward to the "accidents" and wanton destruction that goes along with a puppy

 

[onebuggirl]

For 2009 I am planning on being mostly in maintaining what I've already got going. It takes a certain amount of discipline for me to not enlarge my garden, raise a whole buncha new chickens, etc.

I'm going to replace the fig tree that froze to death with something hardier. Maybe a pie cherry?

I'm going to focus on using every speck of what I've got before buying something else.

I'm going to try to maintain our bare bones budget that we are on even though our money is a bit less tight than it was six months ago.

I've already gotten a start on selling off some superfluous stuff (musical instruments that nobody plays, spare fridge, etc.) and using the cash toward general debt reduction. Ideally I'd like to reduce the amount of "stuff" I've got by about 30%.

Need to get REALLY disciplined about meal planning. Menu for the week needs to be set by Sunday. Period.

And the there's the list of home repair items...

Last but not least, I'm going to be a good sport about the puppy that my DH has reserved from a friends upcoming litter. Sadly I'm NOT a dog person but he kindly puts up with my cats. Just not looking forward to the "accidents" and wanton destruction that goes along with a puppy

With some training your puppy should be fine..watch the dog whisperer!

 

[krjwaj]

Great ideas y'all!!

I don't have many, but I may be inspired at a later date....

Plant an herb garden
Plant a veggie garden (started my seeds yesterday)
Write an article for a magazine (topic unknown)
Frugally redecorate/replace our bathrooms/fixtures
Find a rewarding job using my newly acquired degree
Practice more yoga
Do less yelling (I don't yell much)

 

[patandchickens]

Also no more purchasing seed with exotic names because it sounds fun.

Aw, hey, it *is* fun. Go for it. Not, like, eleven different ones per year, but one or two, what can it hurt? And some things with exotic names *do* turn out well, how can you know which ones unless you try?




Pat