Homestead Goals, 2020

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As a continuation of my last post, let’s discuss my homestead goals for the upcoming year.

Growing Things

The garden did moderately well in 2019. We harvested bumper crops of onions, did pretty well with peppers, and pulled a sizable number of tomatoes off the vines.  I also got a harvest of elderberries, and did well enough with mulberries and blackberries to satisfy. The tart cherries did well, also, even if they didn’t exceed last year’s haul.

For 2020, my goals include taking a few steps forward in some places, and a few steps back in others. I hope to propagate the elderberries from cuttings over this winter. I also want to grow some nettle along the edge of the woods, and I hope to “borrow” one of the garden beds for grains in the spring.

The rest of the beds will be fallow, this year, excepting the asparagus (as a perennial, it’ll just keep going). The tomatoes weren’t as happy as they could have been, the squash, melons, and cucumbers succumbed again to borers and disease, and the sweet potato slips were choked out by weeds. We’ve decided to let things “rest” for a year or two, mulching and weeding, just to see if conditions there can improve. Another project is beginning to switch from wooden raised beds to modular concrete beds.

Most of the trees will require a bit of pruning over the winter, as well; I hope to get an apple or two in the fall, and I’d like to see the plum trees begin to produce.

Animals

We’re looking at increasing the flock of chickens in the spring; after a hawk strike and some hungry raccoons in late summer, the flock is only about half layers, the rest being “retired” older birds, or soon to be “retired”. I believe we’re looking at a cross between White Leghorns and another breed–with the productivity of the Leghorns, but less flightiness. The goals there are to get back up to a dozen eggs per day, eventually–probably late fall, more likely spring of 2021.

I hope to have the beehives at full capacity, as well. As I’m writing this, in late December, one of the seven hives has collapsed; at least five of the others were active during a warm spell a few days ago. Barring misfortune, I should be able to finish the winter with four good hives, if not more. Considering that I’ve been calling “at least three” a success, I’m optimistic for the season.

Building Things

In addition to the near-endless work inside the house, my goals for the year include at least starting on the outdoor wood-fired oven, and laying the foundation for a smokehouse. The latter will go “upwind” of everything, near the barn; the former will be nearer the house, and will require converting the back patio to a deck, and extending it to the entirety of the pergola area.

When we go to put in the deck, an important aspect will be a ramp for the dogs. Bacchus, in particular, is old (as Pyrenees go), and his hips and knees aren’t working as well as they used to. Steps give him a bit of trouble; if we can get a decent ramp set up for him, he should be able to come and go much easier.

A Full Plate

That really covers our goals for the homestead for 2020.  The deck alone is probably as much as we can handle easily; at least having the foundations for the oven and smoker would be a start. The garden is always a handful; fortunately, the animals can fend for themselves, in large part.

Still, getting the list down where we can see it is a start. It will be interesting coming back to this in a year, and seeing what’s been accomplished.