If you follow my page on Facebook, you might remember that I LOVE going to Mother Earth News Fair every year. I love sitting in classes and workshops all day learning about these hobbies that fascinate me.
Every year I use it as a time to evaluate what I’m doing gardening and sustainability-wise and what I’d like to attempt for the coming year. At the 2018 fair I decided that I would be getting bees and chickens. Keep in mind that I had nowhere to put them at the time, but I resolved that I would indeed be getting bees and chickens. And I did. I also started seed starting with soil blocking which I had never done before at all. That was a LOT for one year. So what about 2019? What new endeavors am I undertaking this year?
Well, this year is largely about improving what I’m already doing.
Bees: I seem to have gotten through the winter with two thriving hives. We aren’t quite in the clear quite yet, but so far so good. I really want to actually have a honey harvest this summer. If I’m able to harvest honey, I will consider that a success.
Chickens: I’m going to add three hens to my flock and start to sell eggs.
Financial: I sat in an extended workshop led by Joel Salatin about homesteading and he touched on the need to keep specific financial records about your farm and it got an idea stirring around in my head that my endeavors should be at least somewhat self sustaining. I did some quick math and if I get three more hens and I sell my extra eggs, at least my chickens would be self sustaining. I also want to find somewhere to sell the honey I am hoping to harvest in July.
Cheese: I have been interested in making cheese for a while and this is on my list 19 things I want to do in 2019. I want to make mozzarella and I want to make a hard cheese.
Kombucha: I went to a hands on workshop on brewing kombucha and currently have some brewing in my pantry.
Seed Starting: I really want to up my game on seed starting. I’d love to really minimize the number of plants I buy at the garden center, both flowers and veggies. Home gardening struggles to break even anyway, and then if you’re buying plants for about as much as you could purchase the food at the store anyway then it really doesn’t make sense. (Except for the love of doing it, of course.) So far I’ve been really happy with how things have been turning out. The main challenge for me in seed starting is thinking enough in advance to get them started before it’s too late. It’s all a matter of planning.
What about you? What’re you planning in 2019 for your garden? How will you kick up your game a notch?
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