Spring has Sprung!! 2014 Goal Updates

The bees are buzzing.  The birds are chirping.  The trees and flowers are coming back to life and the sun is shining!  It's about freaking time!  Don't get me wrong, I love cool weather.  I definitely prefer it over hot, but if I had to see another news cast predicting freezing temperatures I was going to have to drop kick someone in the face.  That someone would have probably been my husband so he's lucky the forecast is looking up!

I have been on blogging hiatus over the last couple months or so.  I figured it was time for a homestead update!

I am happy to report that 3/4 of my 2014 goals are up and going!!  1). We have expanded the garden to include some of our essential veggies like onion, sweet potatoes, garlic and more!  The next goal is coming up with a place to stock pile these things for the winter.  We kick around the idea of digging a root cellar on the east side of our house, but that's still in the dreaming stage.  Maybe I can add that to my 2015 goals!  2). We are know raising meat birds.  We have 21 five week old meat birds.    They should be ready to butcher in 2-3 weeks as long as we can bulk them up fast enough.  The longer you wait the tougher the meat, so hopefully it's sooner than later.  3).  Meet Jenny the 8 year old Jack Russell!!  Isn't she adorable ?!?!  We adopted her from the humane society and she is just lovely!  She even treed a raccoon a couple days after we got her, which impressed my skeptical husband.

I feel like I have a million things to blog about with gardening season upon us!  I will try and blog a couple times a week so I can get everyone up to speed on what we're going around here.  I also have some exciting/super gross stories to share so stay tuned!!!

Wednesday Weigh in

My Weight is...

136

I was hoping to be at my goal weight by this time, since my beach vacation is coming up.  Although this weight is good, I'm definitely disappointed.  

My upcoming goals for this year include a new weight loss goal (130 lbs.), jump start my workout routine and I want to train to run the 2015 mini marathon.  I ran it back in 2011 and finished but at the expense of my knees.  I trained entirely too fast last time, so slow and steady is the key to get there in a year. 

Hello 2014!!

Homestead Goals/Ideas for 2014

1.  Expanding the chicken operation-  We have had such good luck with the chickens that we are considering expanding the egg operation as well as getting meat birds.  The plan would be to construct a movable pen for the meat birds.  They take approximately 6 weeks to mature so the time commitment is small.  We don't want to do the butchering ourselves so we would take them to a group of Amish the butcher and package the chicken.  It would end up being $6 per bird to butcher and package plus the cost of the bird and feed.  We figured that it would end up being $11-12 a bird, which may be more than the store bought, but they would be antibiotic free and raised humanely.  

2.  Expanding the variety of vegetables in the garden- I would like to plant more of the staple veggies we eat like garlic, onion, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes and cauliflower.  I also want to plant more herbs and dry them so we have them through the winter.  

3.  I would love to construct a green house that can be used for cold hardy veggies like spinach and lettuces (although I've done very little research to figure out the best way to grow these through the winter).  

4. Get a dog!!!  We have been looking for small breeds that can track deer blood and is good with children, chickens and kitties!!  We are hoping to find what we want before next Christmas.

These are just a few of the ideas we kick around.  We may only take on one of these tasks this year since taking it slow is the name of the game around here.