Comments on: Getting Back on Track: Spring Goals

By: dog food containers

dog food containers — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:26:31 +0000

Well, the article is really the freshest on that notable topic. I agree with your conclusions and can thirstily look forward to your approaching updates. Saying thanks definitely will not just be enough, for the significant clarity in your writing. I can immediately grab your rss feed to stay privy of any kind of updates. Pleasant work and much success in your business efforts!

By: harder erection

harder erection — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:06:27 +0000

Loved your examination of this fascinating idea. Saved and visit again for more good reading.

By: homebrewlibrarian

homebrewlibrarian — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:30:04 +0000

I always have post-winter plans but this year I’ll be headed to England for a year of volunteer mission work. That this will take place on something like a small farm in the southern agricultural area of the UK means that I won’t be completely removed from getting my hands dirty. My plans are to learn as much about everything I haven’t done before to develop up my “toolkit” of skills. They have a few chickens, ducks and geese, a couple of ewes from heritage breeds they have bred yearly, three pigs they raise for fall slaughtering, a couple of unheated but good sized greenhouses where they grow grapes, and ample garden bed space. They also have a stream running through the property and various fruit trees. All sorts of things I haven’t done before!

Kerri in AK

By: curiousalexa

curiousalexa — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:42:22 +0000

1. Deconstruct a carriage house and use the materials to build my cabin!

2. Improve garden structures and skills. Last years ‘raised bed’ simply turned into a raised lake. The hills of beans and squashes did fine however. (I think the raised bed ought to be more hill and less plateau like!) The tomatoes didn’t stand a chance with the wet late start last year; I’m seriously considering moving to container gardening this year, which seems ironic given I live on 60 acres…

3. The chicken flock is slowly expanding with other people’s (free!) old layers. I believe my farm-mate has arranged to take some chicks that will be hatched and grown for a school project.

4. Plans include using 2-3 piglets for tilling future garden spots, then sharing the pork with friends and neighbors come fall.

5. Market angora rabbit fiber and tanned satin rabbit hides.

6. Organize the canning/drying tools to make them easily accessible whenever something becomes available for preserving. I’d like to move away from throwing everything into a freezer.

By: SinDee

SinDee — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:25:08 +0000

This is really our (my husband and I) first attempt at growing food, with a long term goal of urban homesteading. That seems like a pretty lofty goal, but I have set things out in my head so it’s a gradual process. So the goals for this year…. get the raised bed in place mid-april, so it’s well before the last frost date and then other things can go in immediately. we started sprouting some seeds today, so we are learning how to grow seedlings, so I hope to keep on with that and nurse them into being strong. No bees this year as I had hoped, but I think we’ll investigate them. really, the raised beds and getting into the habit of having the vegetables/weather dictate our actions (NOT when we feel like it) is a goal for me. If there is a lot of food to preserve, it will be time to do it, not later when I’m interested in doing it.

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:16:07 +0000

Finish waterproofing the new root cellar so we can use it!

Try growing quinoa and amaranth this year.

Get new chicks to add to the flock.

Reclaim the raspberries, blueberries and asparagus from the weeds.

Grow more greens this year and freeze some of them.

Get an old, affordable small tractor.

Get new windows for the cold frames.

Broadfork the potato and pea beds as soon as it dries out some.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:56:49 +0000

My goals have changed this year. I am glad to talk about it because it has been weighing on me and I need to air it out. I am continuing the gardening in the city plot with more focused intention of producing a crop… so using a row cover to protect from insects, more careful watering, etc. I am doing all the other food preservation stuff. And I would like to volunteer at a non profit that sells bee queens in the mid atlantic region so I can practice beekeeping again.
I am now really looking at going back to school. I wasn’t even thinking about this two months ago but it is all barreling at me that I need to develop a skill for health insurance. I am looking at a 2 year degree in lab tech or Sonography Tech… something like that. I am 46 and nervous but excited at the same time. I feel smarter than ever but also unsure of myself because I am so far from math in high school. I will have to do it all again and I am not sure what I am capable of. I can develop all the homesteading in my spare time but one of us (my husband and I ) need a basic skill that people will need no matter what. I never thought I would be doing this but it feels right.
Karen
HI Sharon!!!

By: Evey

Evey — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:48:18 +0000

North Carolina:
continue seed starting for WV family farm (5 hours away until June)

sell unit/share in Asheville NC cohousing community

get in shape for farm work

pack or donate remaining “stuff”

get teaching position in WV for next school year.

root service berry cuttings to take to WV

At WV farm:
clean-up kitchen garden for spring planting of earist crops

plant peas, green, potatoes & some onions first week of April

dig 6 more raised beds in fenced garden area

get bee yard built and electifried (for bear protection)

be more organized in succession planting as 6 people will be living/eating at farm full time from now on.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:49:54 +0000

Get things in order to move when our lease runs out in August! This will, I hope, involve re-evaluating whether I need the stuff that’s slowly been developing its own tiny civilization in the back of my closet. Maybe this time we’ll find a place with sunny windows and/or yard? And with a landlord that won’t weedwhack our tiny garden? We won’t be moving far; we just need more space, or more accurately better divided space.

We’re also switching CSAs to sign up with the one our synagogue is partnering with. They have pickups through December and “deep winter” pickups through early spring…getting winter shares in easier-to-manage sections would avoid the problem of the pile of carrots moldering in the pantry.

By: Susan in NJ

Susan in NJ — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:26:51 +0000

- Income replacement
- Revisit the household budget while waiting for first item
- Get personal paperwork in better order
- Repair/rebuild the compost bins and re-layer the pile that is still working
- Rake all the leaves that didn’t get raked last fall, trim the raggedy dead perenials, and deal with the early spring weeds
- Clean the garage gutters
- Plant peas and fava beans
- Start seeds
- New raised beds
- Really clean the kitchen and food storage areas
- Make lots of different japanese pickles
- Brine (corn) a beef brisket (alas not in time for St. Patrick’s day, due to demands of first three times)