Homestead Garden Goals for 2015

2014…what a year! I got full-time work and we bought a new house on 2.22 acres in May. This is hopefully our ‘forever home’, or at least a home we live in for the next 10 years. Establishing a garden and homesteading was very difficult in the past, since we have moved 7 times in the last 8 years(!!!). I did whatever gardening I could wherever we lived, mainly growing vegetables and a few herbs. However, 2015 is going to be the beginning of grand things at our homestead! 

I am mainly writing this post for myself; this is a great way for me to keep pushing toward my rather ambitious homestead and gardening goals. However, I thought that I should share my goals with my readers, so you know what type of posts to expect this year. Let’s get started!

1. Build more raised beds…have a total of at least 8 raised beds by the end of 2015.

**When we moved here in May 2014, our land was a disaster. I am still trying to get used to South Carolina’s “interesting” bright red clay soil. Our land was completely bare OR taken over by wild honeysuckle, poison ivy, and mystery thorns. Seriously: it was bare clay soil (no grass!) or evil overgrowth. Obviously, the only way we are going to get gardening done is with raised beds. We’ve cleared out some evil overgrowth and so far we have 2 raised beds in, with the resources for one more raised bed ready to go. I’m hoping to have 5 raised beds done by spring. *fingers crossed!*

**Hopefully, I write a post on raised beds soon for you too!

2. Plant some fruit trees and shrubs.

**I’ve been dreaming of the day we would live in one place long enough to enjoy homegrown fruit! I am so excited that I want to grow it all. However, I am trying to be realistic. I hope to plant an elder tree (for elderberries!), a sweet cherry tree and sour cherry tree, strawberries, blueberries, and some random unique fruit (maybe gooseberries or huckleberries…what do you think I should try?).

3. Plant a beautiful medicinal and culinary herb garden.

**I’ve been obsessed with the idea of having a HUGE herb garden for years. Ever since I learned to relieve my headaches with herbs, I have started a rather large list of herbs that I want to grow. Last summer, I won a packet of echinacea seeds, so those are going to be planted right along the forest edge. I hope to grow lemon balm and lemongrass along the home to keep away mosquitoes, and from there, I will grow as many herbs that I can with my budget.

**Expect some great posts on more herbs this year, especially comfrey, dill, licorice root, and hops!

4. Raise meat rabbits!

**Yes, we are super excited to raise rabbits soon! We almost have their home ready to go, and then it’s rabbit time! We are hoping to have 2 females and 1 male, which should give us plenty of meat for the year (we are a family of only 2). Stay tuned for some great posts about raising meat rabbits!

5. Raise ducks!

**Hopefully, we can afford making a duck house and pen this year as well as having rabbits. Why ducks instead of chickens? My husband hates chickens….don’t ask. We are hoping to get Muscovies, a mainly “quackless” duck, which should provide us with eggs and meat. The plan is to let them out for supervised foraging of our gardens and yard for bugs and then put them back into a fenced pen when we aren’t around. 

**Stay tuned for some excellent posts on duck raising!

6. We are hoping to grow mushrooms.

**We took a mushroom-growing seminar this past fall and we are super excited to grow mushrooms! Since a large portion of our yard is forest, it should work well to place the mushroom logs throughout the woods and grow the mushrooms with ease. 

**Stay tuned for posts on growing mushrooms!

7. Eat healthier and more homemade Real Food items.

**I have some ambitious goals for our eating habits this year. I hope to start fermenting foods (read more about the benefits of fermented foods here), I plan to start making my own cheese (partly for the whey, which will be used to ferment foods), I want to make my own yogurt, I want to dabble in making homemade sourdough bread, and I’m getting pretty serious about making water kefir. 

**Stay tuned for many posts on homemade, healthy foods.

There you go. We have plenty of ambitious dreams and goals for the year 2015 at our little homestead. Of course, we have long-term goals as well, but I’m trying to be reasonable. 🙂

Please, tell me: what are your goals this year?

**Feel free to add links to your own posts if you have a similar type post about goals for your farm/garden/homestead/home.

**Also, just add something in the comment section about what’s up at your farm/garden/homestead/home this year!

**Get ready for gardening this year by reading this Ultimate Gardening Guide!