I just read @brimwoodfarm's list of Five Homesteading Goals of 2018. He's got some great ideas in there! I thought I'd try to come up with some goals for our little homestead here in the Ozarks.

1. Expanding the Greenhouse

Our greenhouse isn't very big. It is built out of the frame of a small stock trailer that was basically a flat-bed trailer with a removable enclosure. After it finished its life as a stock frame, we placed it in a sunny area, covered it in greenhouse plastic and filled it with half barrels. It worked great last summer. No weeding required, no stooping, rock-free soil...I love it. I want to grow more in there and utilize every bit of space I can. We can add at least two more halves of barrel along the sides. I also want to grow some things in hanging containers so to use as much vertical space as possible.

Now it is time to remember that I can still have an in-ground vegetable garden as well as using the greenhouse. Not only are we going to add more containers to the greenhouse, we plan on growing a few things in the eastern end of the property in the area I have made a garden with our used tires. This area is where our strawberries grow as well as where I usually grow sunflowers.

2. Rainwater Collection

The only down I can see to growing more than a few sunflowers and strawberries in the east garden is that our water spigot is on the other side of the yard. It would take several hoses, or several trips with a watering can, to water the area. What I propose is this: We put guttering up along the edge of the front porch, direct the flow of rainwater into a couple of raised barrels, and use the collected water during times when the rain isn't forthcoming.

3. Poultry Butchering

This is a skill it has taken me some time to want to learn. We have 5 roosters and 11 hens. The roosters are getting older and beginning to fight more and more aggressively. I'd like to cull a few of them. I think we could do with two roosters. (The husband had said we should butcher all but one, but I think I've convinced him we need to keep Lloyd and Cluck Norris.)

I've never butchered an animal before so this will be a huge learning experience for me. I plan on not only asking my farm-girl mother for help and scouring YouTube, but also checking out Steemit for any advice I can get. If you have a post about chicken butchering and how to do it, please PLEASE leave a link to it in my comments here. I'll take any and all advice I can get.

4. Herb Garden

Last year was my first attempt at growing my own herbs. Hell, it was my first year actually USING herbs. I was raised that a little bit of salt and MAYBE pepper was enough for most foods. Sad. I know. Now I know how to use herbs, both fresh and dehydrated and boy have things changed. I love the different tastes and dishes I can make.

Anyway, last year I grew rosemary, thyme, sage, lavender, and lemongrass. This year I would like to expand that. I plan on another batch of thyme (my previous one died from underwatering), cilantro, more sage, and oregano. These will be placed with the rosemary, sage, and lavender that are planted next to my southern perennial flower garden. It receives lots of sunshine and is close to a water spigot so it gets watered regularly.

5. Animals

We currently have my father-in-law's small herd of Katahdin sheep in our field and our lot. They are being bred so he can sell the lambs. They are a breed of hair sheep, raised for their meat. We hope to add a few ewes of our own to the herd and maybe have a few lambs of our own to sell or raise.

I would also like to add quail to our collection of egg layers. Seeing everyone's amazing posts about them and looking at those beautiful, pint-sized eggs just makes me happy. This is really more of a long-term goal because I just don't see it happening this year. That is unless I pester the shit out of the husband. We will need a whole other coop and enclosure and that's gonna cost some dollars. I could always make that a SteemIt goal...Hmm...

I hope you all enjoyed learning what our goals for this year are. I'd really love to read about yours as well!!! Thanks for stopping by!