2019 Farm Plan

I despise getting groceries. I like to cook and bake, but the thought of maneuvering a cart around endless aisles packed to capacity with food sends me to the deep freeze to imagine up some wonderful dinner. This is one of the many reasons that our family strives to be self sufficient.

I grew up on a farm where we grew our own food. My parents farm was very self sufficient. We had eggs, meat, milk, butter, fruit, and veggies all from the farm. My mom even plucked and processed goose down for pillows that she still has. In the early 90s, it seemed weird that my parents had all that going on and their full time jobs. Now, it's finally catching on and it's trendy to grow your own food and be self sufficient.

I recently made our farm plan for 2019. I based it on what we eat for a year. For example, we eat a quart of applesauce a week. So I will need to can 52 quarts of applesauce in September. We eat half a beef, one and half pigs, and 30 chickens in a year. We like a head of lettuce every 2-3 weeks, and a fourth of a pound of cherry tomatoes every week. We would easily eat a dozen eggs a week. (If only our ladies would produce that much in the winter. More hens will arrive this year.) These numbers will only increase throughout the year as my baby giants grow. They eat everything.

Working backwards really let us see what and how much we are eating. With our plan mapped out on a 2019 calendar, I know when I need to plant, harvest, and re-crop to produce the amount of food that we need for a year. I know when we will have baby chicks and when they will be ready for harvest. Now I just need a little sign that mother nature will be ready for chickens outside in March.

Now I'm looking into how to preserve all this food. The meat goes into the freezer. The applesauce will be canned. The eggs will be gathered daily from the coop. But what about the lettuce? What about the tomatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots, radishes, and broccoli? Storage trays in the basement?

While I've been brainstorming storage ideas, I actually drew up plans for my window boxes and my vertical garden for the south side of the garage. If I can think it, we can build it...........well, maybe.

My 2019 farm plan doesn't include beef, which we purchase from family. It also doesn't include dairy. I don't think we are quite ready for that.

While I dream of the lush green grass outside with pigs, chickens, apple trees, and our abundant garden, all I can do now is plan. If you are sick of looking out the window to snow drifts, start planning your garden or your new tree plantings or your chicken tractor.