Well, it's a new year and a new decade. Did you make some resolutions? What new projects are you planning for your farm this year? New crops, new livestock, or increasing the number of your farm animals? Or are you scaling back a bit this year, doing less instead of more, consolidating and taking stock?
For us, we've realized just how much work is needed to properly prepare our rocky mountain soil for growing. So this year we'll pull back on growing food a bit, focusing on soil improvement instead. We'll plant a cover crop (buckwheat, I think) in the main food plot and dig a drainage swale and terrace it so that it's more level. Of course I can't go without growing veggies entirely, so I plan to build more raised beds (have just one lonely one for strawberries right now!) and raise our kitchen garden in those. I'm looking forward to scaling back a little bit and focusing my efforts on something that will give greater yields and more satisfaction than watching the plants struggle to grow despite subpar soil.
We're hoping to do some sugaring this year; with at least fifty maples running along the edge of our property, it's more than tempting. Also going to prune the apple orchard in a couple of months with the hopes of improving yield. I'm very interested in learning more about beekeeping, but not sure we're ready to do our own hive this year. We'll definitely raise meat chickens in addition to our laying flock, as well.
I think I just tired myself out planning everything! I thought I was scaling back this year, but that list looks pretty full to me. If we decide to travel a bit this summer, an idea we've been kicking around, we'll push the meat birds to late spring or early fall, and the same with the veggies.
What are your goals for your farm for 2010? Come share in the Small Farm Forums.
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