Saturday, December 31, 2022

What are your goals for 2023?

Happy New Year, dear readers!

I won't ask about New Year's resolutions, since I think they're kinda dumb. However what I'd like to know is, what are your goals for 2023?

Don and I have been talking about projects we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. The biggest one is getting the garden installed. An advantage of waiting two years (since we moved here) is we have a better understanding of the "traffic patterns" on our land and where we want to put things.

Initially we figured the only place we could put the garden is in the driveway, since it's the widest and flattest spot on our weird pie-wedge-shaped property. In fact, that's where we already put our (nuclear) strawberry beds.

But now we're reconsidering putting the rest of the garden there and instead will be fencing a spot above the yard and putting the garden there. It's on a shallow slope, but it has easy access from the yard and is nearby not just one, but two existing water taps.

We also want to hold a massive yard sale and offload a lot of things we no longer need (another advantage of our two-year moving anniversary; we've sorted what we need vs. what is superfluous).

Once we have the yard sale, that will clear the barn enough that we can construct cattle infrastructure (feed boxes, calf pen, milking stall, etc.) and consider getting a couple of Jerseys.

And of course, there's the chicken coop and yard. So much to do!

So here's where I'd like to open things up for discussion. What are your goals for 2023? What do you hope to accomplish (as the saying goes) "God willing and the creek don't rise"? What ambitions do you have for the new year?

Meanwhile, I wish everything the very happiest New Year!

21 comments:

  1. Patrice, I'm curious how your strawberries overwinter in the raised boxes? I like the idea of getting the strawberries up off the ground to make them easier to pick. But in my zone 5 garden, I've had mixed luck in overwintering plants in pots. Maybe your beds are large enough to be less likely to freeze solid and kill the plants?

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    1. Our last home was in ag zone 6A (got to about -15F once or twice a winter), and all our strawberries were in either raised beds or tractor tires (also "raised beds"). I never did anything to prep them for winter such a mulching, but neither did I have any problems with them freezing, at least not to the point where they didn't make a comeback in spring. I think you're right, pots might be too small and the size of the beds may make a difference.

      - Patrice

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  2. I'm with you all, Miss Patrice. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions either, but I do have some goals, however modest they may be: 1) Get a chicken coop built over these winter months; 2) Get back into decent physical shape (harder at 62!); 3) Increase my dependence on MY OWN garden for our food.

    I could likely add others, but these will do to get started with.

    Gratitude and blessings,
    David Smith

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  3. I plan to study herbal medicine so my family is less dependent on the increasingly wacky medical community. I’ve dabbled and what I’ve seen works great. Oh, it’s not like taking a pill; it takes a little longer. But it actually feeds and nourishes the body rather than strip mining the system that I spend so much energy and money on to cultivate. Great gut flora is no small thing and should be protected and not held lightly. I also plan to really bare down on teaching the heart of a great work ethic to my typically reluctant homeschooled 5th grader. Maybe demonstrating diligence in my own herbal studies will help.

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  4. To survive the coming bad times and possibly WW III.

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  5. My goals seem to shift with the tides. Whatever I Was thinking before the big freeze is changing.
    The cover for my pump is well insulated, yet the spigot inside it froze. I had it all turned off because of plumbing issues and was using stored water. ( The pipes didn't burst thank God) Now, between that and other issues with my house, plans are really turning into a to-do list. And right now, first priority is figuring out ways to prepare to withstand really cold weather.
    The tank is about to get wrapped with insulation which it has never needed before. And the outside cover is going to be wrapped in black plastic. In spite of the cold and wind, the sun was out a lot. I think the black will help warm it all up during the day.
    I'm also thinking of something for the vehicles. And maybe spare batteries for them.
    All the winter veggies turned to mush and so that has to be re-thought and planned for next time.
    Frankly, there's a lot more and I simply don't want to dwell on it now.
    There may be more cold weather coming. Yes, it's winter, but snow and ice is at least more normal up north and I think ya'll prep for it. I do somewhat with propane and a gas stove and so forth, but after several days of below freezing weather, and the Wind, it was getting hard to keep the house warm. Not warm warm, 60ish warm.
    So my first New Year goal is to get better prepared for the rest of This winter. What an eye opener toward the future.

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  6. Chickens. Hardening up the homestead. Building upon our self reliance to keep .gov out of my life. Dependency = Submission, dontcha know...

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  7. I'm looking forward to getting my heart valve fixed. Maybe then I'll have the energy and endurance I used to have.

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  8. Finish replacing the fence around the big garden.
    Taking down trees to give us more room to push snow when we plow.
    Gardening of course.
    Tearing down and rebuilding our shed to the size of the wood we already have so as to not purchase as much.

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  9. Our three main goals for this coming year are to fence around our expanded garden and area for our dogs, start selling our chickens' eggs, and plant a successful garden.

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  10. My goals if you will for 2023 are health (personal, financial, & home/homestead). I want to lose weight which will help the BP. I also want to try to get away from the pharmaceutical industry. We are finally on a plan to pay off the home & vehicle loans. As for the home/homestead it is a whole combination of getting rooms finished, de-cluttering, etc. On the homestead getting fencing in and whatever else we want done for making things easier as we age. And of course enjoying the granddaughter & her sister that will arrive in February.
    Debbie in MA

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  11. my garden started out on a gentle slope. since the short run was up/down hill, that is the way i planted the rows. after 12 years, the high side is now about 6 inches lower, and the low side is about 6 inches higher, and the whole thing is about level. last year i started running the rows across the lot.
    this year, since i am retired, and the kids have moved out, i want to start taking excess produce to the farmers market. if i don't make a penny, that's fine as i will be sharing my home growns with those who can't produce their own.

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  12. Since both my wife and I are both 76 , our first goal is to reach 2024 so we can accomplish our other goals of fencing and planting a larger garden and adding a few more hens and a rooster or two to our flock .

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  13. 2 heifers, 2 steers get butchered this month (sharing with neighbors) which will give us more time away from the house for camping and driving trips. Restore the hen house and renew our stock of layers. Clean up the corral and lean-to. Started a new 8 acre field of grass hay last year so will be our first harvest year for it. Kill the clover in the other 6 acre field of orchard grass/alphalfa (takes too long to dry when baling). Look into solar for our well house. Look for a newer truck since both ours are over 12 years old. And I'd love to get an early 60's pickup for a project truck. And stay healthy.

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  14. Happy New Year! My 2023 goals involve the expansion of both the garden and chicken run, gathering firewood for next winter, and continuing to preserve food via a few different methods. Oh, and to make sure to take time to enjoy life!

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  15. Enjoy life doing the things that bring happiness. Take my dog on longer walks, work in my garden and build a chicken coop to withstand the colder weather and get chickens!

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  16. I raise rabbits now, and I'd like to build an additional hutch to increase my capacity--I might be completely off-base, but I think my friends might appreciate access to home-raised meat more in the coming year and beyond. I want to get the supplies for cages, lumber, hardware, etc. while they're still available and somewhat affordable. I also want to get the garden fenced in and otherwise improve my ability to withstand adversity.

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  17. I was thinking of getting a rooster (chick), among other things. So a month ago somebody must have heard, and put out a rooster, full grown, in my yard. They had gotten 2 full grown big guys, and the roosters were crowing back and forth to each other starting at about 1 AM. For hours.
    I think they were doing this from the sudden change of location. Reassuring each other.
    Well, this beautiful sweet big baby did the same to me for a little while. But he let me pick him up and love and sweet talk him from the get go. Hindsight says I was lucky since his feet look like serious weapons. But all I could see was a distressed animal at the time.
    Now he's a happy boy and my girls love him. They fight over who gets to sleep clsest to him at night. Since they roost on some steel shelves I outfitted with 4x4's an 4x6's, it works out pretty well for snuggling purposes.
    Hopefully other things I want to do will fall into place as easily.
    Can't imagine life without Baby.

    Rumor has it among women in a local church that one of somebody's two new roosters disappeared ! I asked that man who put him out at the time if his wife knew and he assured me she did ! That they both needed sleep.
    I think he told a whopper, but Baby's happy sleeping in with my girls now, so maybe that Was a different rooster that got lost!



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  18. 1-plant a garden and be better at keeping it weeded.
    2-plant some raspberry canes this year
    3-Start adding raised beds to the garden area. At 62 it is harder getting on the hands and knees to weed.
    4-Increase our food preservation-more canning and freezing and less purchasing at the grocery store
    5-finish residing our shed
    6-declutter each room of the house and get rid of the excess not needed.

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  19. Goals for 2023: #1) Enjoy all of God's Blessings and every day He allows me to stay here with my wife and family; 2) fence in the raised bed garden and get the plantings going; 3) stay fit and in shape; 4) get all the plants and trees we didn't get planted in 2022 that survive the winter planted; 5) continue to watch the clownworld kabuki theatre in the district of criminals.

    Note on Roosters: They may be loud and some are aggressive towards you, BUT, they provide a VITAL service: they keep your hens from fighting and killing each other.

    Note to All: if any of y'all that read Patrice's website are really interested in understanding what is actually going on with the "Deep State" these days, get a copy of "Area 51", by Annie Jacobsen. All you have to do is to read Chapter 2 and especially Chapter 4. After that get a copy of "Propaganda", a book published in 1928 and still available. This is NOT a joke.

    m

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