Remember when it was summer and everyone was happy?
I was well prepared to launch directly into 2014, bright eyed and bushy tailed... but wouldn't you know that this was the one morning that my hubby got up before me and took the dogs out. So I didn't have my One Bark Woof Alarm to get me up. I was still in a heap when The Big Man got out of the shower. I barely made it out to open the gate for him. Despite my slow start... I'm looking forward to 2014.
I think this will be our best year yet. A couple things are at the top of my list...
Pork chops. It's all I can think about.
1. Pigz. I can't believe I'm saying this but I can't wait to get pigz. More accurately, I can't wait to butcher grown out pigz. Last nite we had some epic pork chops - bone in, at least 2 inches thick, and a nice layer of fat. They were so beautiful that I opened a special bottle of wine that I had been saving. Remind me of those chops when I'm cursing those filthy beasts.
This is Lil Buff - she was one of my favorite hens ever.
2. Chicks. We kind of messed up this last year and did not effectively manage the layers. We need to make sure that we get a clutch of new girls hatched. I love my old biddies but we need some young layers to keep the egg harvest rolling in.
3. Not for reasons that you might initially expect.... but we are gonna have a bang up harvest of baby goatlings! The new guy, Tommy Boy, has really been putting in extra effort to get his chores done, if you know what I mean.
Tommy is so splashy that all this babies should look like this.
If my calculations are correct (and all of the goats are bred) then we can expect goat babies on 4/10, 4/12, 4/19, 5/24, and 5/27! So if we get 2 perfect doelings from each momma then that is 10 little moneymakers which means... *OFG takes out abacus and performs calculations...* I'm gonna be rollin' in the dough! Am I looking forward to adorable baby goats? NO! All I can think of is hundred dollar bills... which I will use to wipe my tears of joy when I sell all them babies...
4. The clearing project. We've been making progress on the clearing project initially started by the goats. Wow am I excited! I can't wait to turn this into useable area. We can improve the drainage, use it for pasture, and even better still - set up our fencing so the dogs can patrol this area. While I wasn't able to shake the weasel last year... he won't stand a chance this time. Take a swing at my meat chickens this year, you rat bastard, you'll have no where to hide from the Dog Horde.
Kai and Zander. Stone cold killers. Can't wait to hunt varmints.
5. Better firewood management. This year we are going to do better with our firewood harvest. Once again we waited too long to get it under control. We've managed to eek out enough firewood from our clearing project but this next year we really need to get it in gear.
One of the best things we've been able to do is to use a bunch of felled small trees. These were taken out of the years-past hog lots, topped, then cut into useable sizes. You wouldn't think that a bunch of "posts" would amount to much but we got a nice little whack of wood from them. They dry quickly and make a nice hot fire in our wood burning stove. Unfortunately some of the bigger trees, downed from storms, were left too long. We had high hopes for a couple trees that were snagged by others and not on the ground.. but they started to rot and so a total waste.
Mostly I can't wait for it to be summer again!
6. I can't wait to "cook the M" again this year! I was not prepared for how much we loved our own maple syrup. At first it seemed like a silly project.. but actually it was a lot of fun despite the danger of being raided by the cops. We've loved having the syrup so this year we will go all out. You might want to get that bail money ready tho.. you know how much I want to be involved in a resisting arrest charge. I should probably get ahold of my attorney too...
7. And of course I can't wait to get the garden started. 2013 was the Year of the Tater and I hope to have just as much success....but maybe this time more moderate success and not so much insanity. Oh who am I fulling? If they have 50# sacks of seed potatoes on sale I'll probably get 2 or 3 and really go all out.
Happy New Year everyone! What are you looking forward to in 2014?
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4 comments:
We have lots going as well here, and looking forward to little goatlings soon, but really looking forward to the goats milk and goats cheese!
We slacked quite a bit last year as well. Not this year....2014 we WILL get it all together.I am pretty sure the goats are bred....so we should have little goaties too. Oh, and the pigs were making noises the other day, so we have bacon seeds growing. :) Hoping for 6 this time. Last time she had 4, and we didn't get to keep any of them, this year, they are all ours to butcher or sell. I already have eggs in the incubator...by june they should be laying. :) This year we are planning a few more fruit trees, getting them pigs out in the woods, and better firewood management for sure. We had to BUY firewood this winter! *hangs head* 2014 will be a better year...for sure!
Enlarging our garden space, getting more chicks, canning more. Now if we can just get past the cold! It's 30, what a heat wave. I kind of got used to the teens and below :( No snow any way....
I was so happy to say ta ta to 2013!!!!! It had some good points but mostly it just stunk! For 2014 I am dreaming of a better garden, meat birds that actually live and NOT loosing 13 all one shot in one heat wave :( trying our hand at meat rabbits, buying a boar goat in addition to our dairy goats (that I pray are bred!!) and a spring pig. I raised pigs when I was a kid and they were horrible little critters that did not resemble my dream of Wilbur from charlottes web but they were delicious lol!! But we are committing to raising our own meat and that means ham and pork. I think we just hafta do it. My husband and i are both familiar with how to raise pigs so we shall see how it goes. And the biggest goal of 2014 is to have laying hens WHO ACTUALLY LAY EGGS! It's been since may ... Mmm hmmm. They just stopped. Now it's middle of winter, 12 below 16 inches of snow ( I live in Maine) so I don't anticipate our own eggs for a looooong time longer :( anywho, I am dreaming about green grass and sunflowers, goat babies, a squealing piggy wasically wabbits and freshly laid eggs!! Oh and lots of veggies! Cheers to the new year in the barn yard!
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