2020 Homestead Plans

Yes, I may be overly-ambitious. My list of 2020 homestead plans is long. When I typed it up, my jaw dropped a little. My “short” list ended up being pretty long, and when I considered how much of a time investment some of it would be, I realized I just mentally committed to a lot.

Funny thing about me… once I come up with a plan, it’s awfully hard to talk me out of it. I mean, I set big goals, and if I don’t get everything done within my timeline, it doesn’t really bother me, because the goals were big and I accomplished a lot. This may or may not drive my husband a little crazy. He’d prefer we have simple goals (or at least, fewer goals), and know that we can accomplish those goals within our timeframe. If we complete anything else outside of that, well, it’s icing on the cake in his eyes. I totally get where he’s coming from, but it’s not the way I prefer to do things…

When I read off my list of 2020 homestead plans, he just looked at me like I was crazy, to which my reply was, “I know I’m probably not going to get it all done.” “Good,” he said. This really is my list for 2020, not his. His list consists of two items from this list… the one thing he really wants to get done this year, and the one thing I would really like to accomplish. We agreed that if we aren’t able to do anything else, we’ll both be satisfied, so long as we get those two things done. But I still have a long list for myself:

• Organize the pantry and the basement.
• Reduce the house clutter.
• Clean out the garage and granary, make them organized and fully functional.
• Plan out the gardens, orchard, and the pumpkin and sunflower patches.
• Plan the garden well enough to have food to store for a year, give away, and sell.
• Establish a fruit tree nursery and come up with the full business plan.
• Pray, pray, and pray some more. Work hard, and keep the kids involved.
• Make craft items during the winter to put into the produce stand during the warm months.
• Make a sign for the produce stand, and figure out advertising.
• Clean up the fenced garden, and plant it.
• Clean up the kids’ gardens, finish the fencing, and mulch.
• Maple syrup… tap more trees.
• Clean up more of the fire mess. Possibly rent a skid steer to finish the job. Work on building repairs.
• Raise a batch of meat birds, including some turkeys.
• Spruce up the granary… replace the sliding doors, put barn wood over the cinderblocks on the garage, possibly repair the roof?
• Have a solid financial plan.
• Make healthy eating and exercise a high priority, despite the busy schedule… it is the reason we do what we do, and it should show in the way we eat.
• Work on the Secret Garden. Maybe it’s just planting a few bulbs, but do something to take it one step closer to my vision for that garden area.

Well, my “overwhelming list” isn’t quite as overwhelming as it initially appeared. I was able to break it up into three categories: Plan, Indoors, Outdoors. A lot of the items on my list mentioned that I need to make plans for specific items on the list. The finances needed to be planned out if we want to do certain things this year, the garden needs some forethought, and we have some new business venture stuff we’d like to do this year that will require a lot more researching and planning.

The “Indoors” and “Outdoors” categories list specific tasks that are designated to a specific area. Anything on the “Indoors” list can be worked on during the winter months. And looking at the “Outdoors” list, I can see that a lot of the tasks are time-sensitive. Maple syrup making happens when the weather is right for the trees to produce sap. Plowing can only happen when the ground is just right. There is roughly a two-week window to plant the bulk of the gardens, and the grafting happens during a fairly specific time of the year.

This breakdown and the further breakdown I did after making this chart helped me feel a lot better about it all. There’s a lot of overlap between columns, and actually, if we can do the planning and the indoor stuff now, we’ll have laid really good groundwork for getting the outdoor stuff done. It’s going to be a busy year, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be spending a lot more time in the coming weeks working on the indoor tasks and doing my research and other work for the items on my “Plans” list. I’ve never been this on-top of things in my life!

I realize I am hoping to accomplish a lot, but I’m also not holding my breath about getting it all done. I’m all too well versed in the unexpected that life throws at you, and I’ve got a couple of years of homeschooling and homesteading under my belt, and I recognize what a time commitment each of those is. So we’ll work hard, do our best, and hope we make good progress!

What about you? Do you have big plans for 2020? Leave your comments below, we love hearing from you!

Love~Danielle