It’s already March, and as the winter is slowly coming to a close and the sight of daffodils greening up and getting ready to proud fully bloom in all their luster, I am getting our small homestead ready for the season ahead.
Since we homestead on a rental property of only 3 acres, we are, somewhat, limited in what we can do. However, we are still able to do MUCH more than before.
PERSONAL & FAMILY GOALS:
- Paleo Daddy is home full-time! Yes, he quit his job and came home to work with my blogging/essential oil business and we are so happy! So, our goals have evolved over the past 3 months, which makes it a perfect time to set some new ones.
- Continue homeschool with our 6 year old. We have already decided to move onto First Grade with her! We love this time spent with her being home…and she loves it too! You should see this girl’s social calendar: Mad Scientist Lab at a local museum, Art Class, Enrichment classes with a local homeschool co-op, and private Piano lessons.
- More travel as a family. Can I get an, “amen“, that the kids are finally old enough to just pick up and go more places!
- Purchase or grow all organic food. Since we became financially free (hallelujah!), we have more room in our budget and have decided to make this a priority. We do a weekly Farm Box that is in the Asheville area (tell them Jackie Ritz sent you!), purchase a half grass-fed cow at a time from a friend, get raw cow milk and cream from a local farm, raise our own chickens, and have our own dairy goats. Our goats are not in milk right now, which is why we are supplementing with local raw cow milk.
- Continue to save for the purchase of our future homestead! Since going through Financial Peace University and becoming debt-free, we have decided to be very patient in purchasing our home here in North Carolina. We are hoping to save enough for a 20-50% down payment and are considering purchasing land and then building our home.
FARM GOALS:
RABBITS: All of our meat rabbits have made their way to our freezer, urging me to hurry up and order a rabbit cookbook. I can roast a rabbit. The Paleo Daddy can smoke a rabbit on our Big Green Egg like nobody’s business…but that’s about it. So, I have nearly 30 rabbits that need to be eaten…and the first thing on my list is to make Rabbit Sausage!
LAYING HENS:
- Since we have a handsome rooster who is doing a great job at flirting with the ladies, we purchased a used incubator and are going to be incubating some of our eggs. We have 23 chickens, so we don’t *need* anymore chicks, but we want to show the kids how they grow from egg to chick.
- Muck out the chicken coop. We use the deep-litter method in the chicken coop and barn during the winter.
MEAT CHICKENS: We will be purchasing 40 meat chickens to raise for meat. We will keep them in the barn until they are big enough to go out and pasture during the day.
SHEEP: Because our land is only 3 acres, there is no way we could have a steer for meat. Thankfully, we have a friend who raises them and we purchase it in bulk from him. However, sheep meat is delicious, easy raise, 100% grass-fed (so no extra money on feed), and will fit right in with our 5 goats. We are looking to purchase 2 Katahdin sheep this spring and raise them till they are large enough to butcher.
BEES: We were hoping to purchase bees this year, but since we won’t be purchasing a home till the fall of 2015, we are probably going to have to wait on that one. We don’t want to have to relocate the bees and avoid problems with them getting lost.
LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOG: Our Great Pyrenees is *almost* ready to be let loose with the chickens and goats full-time! We have raised her the slow and hard way, training her the proper way, so she can give us a protected flock. She is 15 months now and is, nearly, finished with the annoying puppy stage. She still antagonizes the rooster, so we cannot leave her alone with the chickens just yet. She does great with our goats, which is the reason we purchased her. However, our goats and chickens are together, so we need to wait a few more months and continue our training with her before she can be trusted with the chickens full-time.
DAIRY GOATS:
- We are purchasing a Nubian doe-in-milk this month (March) or next! We have 4 other Alpine does, none of them are in milk anymore, and we are excited to add a new breed. Nubians are known for their floppy ears and their milk that is high in butterfat!
- Sell our castrated Alpine buck so someone can use him for pasture maintenance or meat. We do NOT like the taste of goat so we don’t plan on eating him…plus I just couldn’t. Just can’t.
- Purchase a registered Alpine buck for breeding in the fall and to breed our 4 Alpine does with.
- Breed our Nubian in the fall with a local Nubian buck. We will have to pay for stud service.
- Shave our goats in the spring. We buzz them at the end of the cold season to help prevent lice.
GARDEN
- Build 2 raised beds. Since we are on a rental and our soil is predominately clay, we will be growing our veggies in raised beds.
- Collect any needed heirloom seeds.
- Make more lacto-fermented foods with our produce.
- Preserve or can.
CHEESE-MAKING: Continue to make goat cheese, mozzarella, yogurt, kefir, creme fraiche, and other cheeses with our local raw cow milk and goat milk.
SOAP-MAKING: I enjoy making goat’s milk soap and am learning more about the art of soap-making. I am no expert, but making soap is cathartic to me and I plan on purchasing THIS BOOK as a resource to making different varieties of soap.
Well, now I’m exhausted thinking about all the work to be done! I’m praying for a beautiful harvest this year and the effort I put into our homestead is 100% worth it. My children are learning the most valuable lessons on our little farm and I wouldn’t trade that for more time.
May you have a blessed year!
Eucharisteo!
Melinda says
Hi There! Love this post. .do you have a live link you could share for the soap making book?
Lindsay says
Just found your blog today (while following someone on Twitter if I recall correctly) and I LOVE it so far. You’ve definitely have a new reader here.
My hope is to, in the future, do much of the same as you have minus the children. Just from reading a few posts, you’re an incredibly inspiring person.
I look forward to getting to know you more and reading about your daily life and the changes around the farm (and hopefully the purchase of your OWN place soon!).
Lindsay 🙂
Kevin says
Great blog! You guys rocket! Much love from Tahoe!
Sharyn says
I am so thrilled to hear that you are in a position to have your husband work from home with you. This really is an amazing opportunity for us all to put our family as top priority. That’s one of my main motivators – to be home for my son when he needs me.
Congratulations on all your hard work and all the best for the future.
Janis Cox says
Just love what you are doing – particularly being debt free through Financial Peace University. I am going to plant a garden – raised bed, this year. However, we have deer, rabbits, skunks and gophers. Any ideas?
Blessings,
janis
Jane says
Well Mrs. Jackie, looks like to me you have your ducks (or should I say chickens and goats in a row). Growing up on a farm myself was a hard life and we made the msot of it I’m sure you will as well. From reading your posts, you are an INSPIRATION to me! You have overcome so much and with your peppy upbeat attitude you will attain your goals and strive for even more! Having a supportive hubby makes life much more easier. I stumbled upon this post and already admire you! I don’t believe in considences, I think everything happens for a reason in God’s time not our own and he crossed our paths this day for his purpose in his perfect timing! My life verse is Phil 4:13-I can Do all things through Christ’s Who strengthens me and I certainly will with people like you in my life! I wish you much success and look forward to us being “friends”and communicating in the very near future! Much love to you and God bless ya hun! ^y^ O:) Angels on your pillow my new friend! <3
Grace says
Well I found your newsletter in my SPAM so I marked it not SPAM! In my search for more paleo ideas to cook I found you and joined the newsletter list. Today I have enjoyed reading all the posts and this one really resonates with me … I would love to plant some herbs and vegetables in my yard instead of lawn. Alas, we are older and it is not an easy task. Since you are in NC maybe you can come over the mountain and walk on the Tweetsie Trail with me. Have a great day.