This year, I've done well following my resolutions. I'm down ten pounds after the holidays. We're eating better as a family and I'm leading that charge. We bought a home and are working on homeateading it. We're killing our debt. And that was the first year I've ever stuck with them, so it feels super good.

Fungi! Lots of fungal pics in this post because I'm in love with fungi.

In 2019 I'm trying to build on these small successes.

My personal goals for 2019 are going to focus on the garden. Of course, that's a pivotal idea that function stacks into many areas of our lives here on the homestead. It will play into our family goals very well.

1. Health. Eating what we grow is incredibly healthy. The microbiome in our bodies is a reflection of the microbiome in our food, and I have a feeling that's going to be extremely beneficial for my family.
2. Sustainability. Of course, fewer outside inputs continues to serve the purpose of having a more sustainable life.
3. Finances. It's cheaper to eat cucumbers all summer from a $3 seed packet than it is to spend $5 a week on cucumbers from the store. Common sense, and that's the goal here. Nate loves saving a buck. It also helps this property we're on to pay for itself a bit.
4. Enjoyment. I love being outside with all this stuff! It helps me enjoy my life more and helps give me a sense of contentment that I've not been able to experience a lot in my life.

Just to name a few benefits. So that said, here's what I'm going to focus on in the garden:

Herbs.

Flavorful, medicinal, beautiful, what's not to like about an herb bed? With guidance from the likes of @riverflows, @porters, @goldenoakfarm, @belleamie, and @walkerland (hmm, all women folk and all very in tune with this natural stuff... I'm sensing a pattern here), I feel I can manage to set up a well rounded herb garden. This is going to be a really big focus this year in the food forest, as it is a starting point of such an endeavor. The herbaceous layer is an early layer in forest growth along with leguminous shrubbery. And Melissa is on board with it(!!!!) which is a really big deal, as she's usually tolerating my projects instead of encouraging them. Big difference. Anticipate a post about herb plans shortly as I get my bearings about me.

Fruit trees.

What the heck kind of homestead food production operation would I be running if I didn't plant fruit trees? We'll likely only get fruit from our mature plum tree this year, but this spring I desperately need to get some fruit trees in the ground. Peaches will be first because they do so well here. Outside that, I don't know if I'll do other fruits. A half dozen peach trees will be really great though. Combined with the blackberries I ordered from @mountainjewel, that'll give us a great start on home fruit production, and I intend to set it up for easy sharing too.

Annuals.

My family and I love our annuals. Cucumbers, beans, and okra are going to be the big ones, but this year we plan to try corn and some awesome sounding exotics (like African horned melon) from @papa-pepper. We've got a good bunch of seeds already, and will be ordering more very soon, as we just budgeted for it this pay period. I'll make a post about it for sure.

Food forest.

Of course, I'm not forgetting the perennial food forest. In addition to the herbs and fruit trees, we'll be planting strawberries and a bunch of other perennials geared towards long term sustainability without any further influence from us. Meaning that this project will not require much more from us besides gratitude and love.

Food preservation.

Even if it's just drying some herbs on the dehydrator, I'd like to learn and work on saving some food from the garden. Another big step for us, that would do a lot in closing our loop.

I keep using that phrase. Closing the loop, closing the cycle. I mean our input/output cycle here. Basically, our waste stream. Everything in our modern lives is compartmentalized. Our food comes to our home from one place. It leaves our home to the landfill and the sewer. The less I can support those habits, the better. It's not a very sustainable process to live that way, so I am doing what I can to close that loop. Small progressive changes.

Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.

That is going to be the theme of 2019 for our little homestead. As we close our cycle a bit more, I expect a wholeness that I've never experienced before. I anticipate a connection here like I haven't ever felt with a piece of earth. I've already started feeling it, but it's like wading in a lake. It's deep already, but you know that the farther you go, the deeper you'll be able to experience it.

2019 is going to be a year of going deeper. Of bigger and more frequent paradigm shifts. Of learning and making progress. Call me a serial optimist, but 2019 is lining up to be huge.

I hope it's the same for you, and I'd love to help and encourage you as much as I can along the way! What are your goals, plans, and feelings for 2019?

Be blessed.
Be fruitful.
Stay relevant.

Nate.

Side note: it's cool being able to put all this on chain where I can look back on it and be accountable. :)

---

Purchase sustainably produced seeds, textiles, medicines, and more for SBD from @homesteaderscoop at The Homesteader's Co-op Online Marketplace!

Follow @naturalmedicine and join the Natural Medicine discord channel today and come grow and learn with us!

Join us on the GHSC Discord and follow @ghscollective to become part of a global network of homesteaders!