Our 2022 Farm Plans (Year 4)
As we are about to enter the spring on the farm, I decided to reflect on our growth up to this point and our year 4 homestead plans for 2022.
Winter Farm Life
Life slows down here on the farm in winter. It is a welcome break in many way but I also still struggle to enjoy this season.
The dark and cold and chapped hands are some of the struggles that come with the season. I really hate being cold. But, here are inching closer to a new season once again. My favorite season. Spring!
I can already feel the “to do” list growing in my head. There is so much anticipation and also a bit of dread that comes along with great and industrious plans.
When Growth Is Slow
I’ve watch on social media as other farm folks have purchased farms and plunged headlong into homesteading. Here, we have taken things at a much slower place.
At times this can feel discouraging and at times I feel so overwhelmed with all that is going on in our life, I can’t imagine being stretched more.
While dreams of milking my own cow are still almost a daily occurrence, I do recognize my limitations and am so thankful we don’t have a cow to milk right now.
Part of the reason we have had to move slow is not having the infrastructure to do all we hope to do. The other part is we are still in the throws of having young children and babies. I know as my children get older it will start to be easier and I can start to see that as my oldest is seven and mature in responsibility daily.
What We Have Done So Far
Since moving here almost four years ago, we have done some “major” farm projects though. Sometimes taking time to remember where we have come from is helpful so I wrote down a list.
2018 (year 0)
- Bought the farm
- Enjoyed walking the countryside and throughly enjoying our new little bit of land
- Prepped an area for a Back to Eden Garden
- Opened up the wall between the kitchen and the dining room
2019 (year 1)
- Planted the field in hay
- Built a chicken run and moved a chicken coop from a friends house and adopted her chickens
- Put in a first year Back to Eden Garden
- Buried our dear pup Ellie in our newly prepped garden space 🙁 and grief purchased a puppy a few weeks later (Penny)
- Installed a fence for the garden
- Adopted three adorable kittens
- Removed a lot of old gnarly pine trees to prepare space for future fence
- Did some painting projects around the house
2020 (year 2)
- Started kindergarten homeschool with my oldest
- Finally got a successful sourdough starter going after years of attempts (I kept forgetting about it) and started baking bread
- Stayed home and planted our huge garden with lots of perennials as well as seasonal crops all while I was pregnant with baby #3
- Had a baby at home in the July and let the garden go to weeds
- Raised baby chicks for the first time that autumn
2021 (year 3)
- Hired the bedrooms to be painted and put in new carpet
- Grew a lot of food and dipped my toes into preserving the harvest (freezing and storage vegetables)
- Started first grade homeschool / farm school
- Opened an Etsy Shop selling aprons
- Installed a perimeter fence around the farm after a long drawn out process with the township
Our 2022 Plans for the Farm (year 4)
The last two years, while we did do farm stuff, felt like they were slower years. Here as we gear up for this season, it feels like our plans are a bit bigger.
Not farm related, but something that feels necessary for our family is a new car. I hate spending the money on something non-farmy, but alas our 15-year-old Subaru in need of replacement.
This is the year of the sheep. We plan to get 5 lambs this spring to raise for meat. This will be a fun adventure and feels like a big step for our little farm. We aren’t planning to butcher them ourselves, but we will be selling meat to anyone local who is interested in pasture raised local lamb. If you are interested, be sure to reach out and let me know.
We are exploring the option of breeding our German Shepherd, Penny, and as of now plan to proceed as long as her health checks go well. I’ve wanted to breed dogs for years and have had this dream of laying in a bed of squirmy little puppies. So we will see if this little adventure works out.
Another thing we’ve talked about is building a garden shed out in our large garden. I would be so nice to be able to have all the garden tools close at hand, not to mention a cute little place to just be in the garden. This is a tentative project as the car is higher on our priority list this year.
Check all my inspiration garden shed ideas here.
We hope to plant a lot of trees around the property this year to create more shade and privacy and replace some old trees that will need to come down soon.
I also am planning to grow a lot more food and continue to improve and expand our garden. I want to learn how to can garden fresh tomatoes and jams with our own fresh fruit.
There is a chance a milk cow could be in our nearish future but if we did get one this year it would probably be later in the year or maybe next year.
Still Taking It Slow
While we are still taking the farm and homesteading things slower around here than many other homesteaders I know, we are making some big steps this year for us. It’s hard to balance wanting to do all the things and life as we know it now.
Ben works full time, I have the kids, homeschooling, normal meal preparations and housekeeping, plus farm work. Sometimes life feels too full and other times it feels like we need all the animals and farm projects now.
We are excited to see where this year will take us and what we will learn in the process to becoming producers here on our little piece of land.
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