Our Top 10 First Year Homesteading Goals

Sometimes I still can’t believe that we are finally on our homestead. Our future homestead that we have hoped and prayed for for so many years! I have researched and planned so many parts of our homestead over the years. And now that we are finally here, we can start our actual first year homesteading goals for what we want to accomplish in our first year.

Our First Year Started in the Late Summer

We didn’t really pick out when to move. It really just fell into our laps with the timing. But I am so glad that we moved when we did. The late summer was a great time to move onto our homestead for several reasons.

Unfortunately, I did have to leave a nicely producing summer garden to move. We arrived when it was too late for me to plant another, and I was forced to wait and observe. I am so glad for that because if had been spring, I would have felt rushed to get something in the ground asap. When we first got to the property, I wasn’t even sure where a garden would fit. That sounds a bit crazy with over 12 acres, but things were so overgrown. I could not even see so much of the property that was near the house due to the weeds being almost as tall as me in many areas.

Time to Observe

This gave my husband and I time to walk around and observe the land. We did this when it was warm (so humid here) and raining and then when it dried up. Finding out how the land held water and then drained was really important for us to observe.

Autumn

So far we have been able to observe several seasons. The fall brought on cooler weather and with that we were able to work on getting some of the pastures cleared with our tractor. What we found is that this land is covered with large rocks and boulders. We should be rock farmers for what we found. Weeds also began dying back and we could see the land better. We found cement pads, old hidden water troughs, and even fences and barbed wire hiding in the grasses. And these weren’t just grasses, but stinging nettle, burdock, and other thistles.

This season was so fun to explore our property in. We found an old apple tree and an entire garden area on a part of the property not too far from the house. Prior to the weeds dying back, we could not access this area. I had no idea that this was going to be the perfect setting for our crop garden and orchard. I had already started the kitchen garden at this point closer to the house. But now I will have more room to fit in larger crops for storage.

Winter

As the winter cold set in, we found out where the ice formed and where all the trees are that need to come down due to prior damage.

We have also seen where the snow melts quickly and where it lingers. There are areas that do not get as much sun and will not be as good for growing some of our perennial fruiting bushes and trees.

During the winter we were also able to talk to some of our neighbors who gave us insight to some of the trees, invasive species, and when to plant a garden (surprise – about 2 weeks later than our predicted last frost according to the internet!)

Now Let’s be Realistic

If it were up to me, we would have already had a milk cow, several feeder pigs, and a small beef herd! Oh and the couple dozen orchard trees ordered.

Yet, those things are not realistic all right away.

Budget

Since the budget is pretty dismal after the big move, we do not have the ability to do all the things we want to do right away. I guess that is a good thing because it has held me back and made me really think through the needs and wants for this first year.

Thinking through the materials that we already have or can get for cheap/free, helped us with a bit of prioritizing.

Compromise with Husband

As we looked at our needs versus our wants, we had to compromise a bit. I wanted most things to fit into a need category when we knew that was not the case. My husband tends to bring me back to reality, but he also is my number one supporter when it comes to what we truly do need.

We ended up using a Homestead Planning sheet from Beth Declercq over on Instagram to help us talk through the main things we both wanted for the various areas of the the homestead knowing we could only do so much this first year.

Time Restraints

Time restraints are a major factor when it comes to what we can do this first year on the homestead. My husband works an off farm job that has him away from home for about 12 hours a day, five days a week.

So that leaves me to do projects I can do myself, with the help of the kids, or with the little time my husband has home.

Needs

As we thought through our main ideas of what we really need to get done this year versus what we want to get done this year, the list really got smaller.

The number one need we agreed on was getting the garden space ready. Yet as it came down to the plants – all the annuals I could start from seeds is what I was going to be able to do this year. Versus all the perennials I want to get started right away this year. Those costs were going to be too much to put in plants like asparagus, strawberries, and replace all our raspberries we left behind. Hopefully next year.

Wants

This list would go on and on. Both my husband and I have wants that differ from each other plus the ones we agree on. There are also some wants to consider for the kids.

This is where the budget part comes in and we had to prioritize the most.

Some of my wants that did not make it to the first year need list were: getting pigs, cows, and putting in an orchard.

Our Reasons for Homesteading and Buying this Old Farm Property

So as we went through our goals for this property and the next few years of what we hope to accomplish, we had to go back to the reasons that we moved here. We picked up and moved across the country to live here. Why did we even do that? What are the big reasons we are here? What are the main goals?

1. To have land to grow food to be more self sufficient
2. A place for our children to have room to run and play
3. More privacy to live how we want vs being in a neighborhood
4. Rural living – more slow, purposeful
5. Want to be able to make an income from the property in the future

We knew our first year goals should go along with our main reasons for moving here.

So What Are Our Goals for the First Year?

Like I said above, we used a simple paper planner to sit and talk together and have it laid out. It is flexible to move with our budget and time restraints. We hope to accomplish most of the goals, but they can move onto the next year if need be.

Goal 1: Be Prepared for Winter

As we looked around in the fall, we realized how quick winter was coming and we needed to be prepared. Most of our time and money in the fall was centered around this homesteading goal.

This included making a plan for snow removal (we decided to go with a 4-wheeler with a plow attachment). We also knew that in order to heat with wood we would need to get wood already split and chopped instead of trying to do it ourselves. We then spent some time figuring out the best place for storing the wood for it to easily get into the house through the snow.

The last part of being prepared for winter was to make sure we had housing for our animals that was safe and dry along with enough feed supplies for the winter months. This resulted in a bit of shuffling with the rabbits (that we now will be moving again since we figured out a better place this spring).

Goal 2: Get Canning Supplies and Food Storage Set

This house is set up very differently than any other we have had and I was having a hard time figuring out where to store all my canning supplies and canned goods we already had.

Once we figured out where we would store it, it took a few days to clean out the cellar and shelves on the steps leading down to the cellar. Then we put up our shelves and got the canned goods and empty canning jars set.

I knew I wanted to get this done before we had fresh produce to preserve the first summer. I am glad we got it done in the fall especially since I ended up canning a good deal in the fall and winter.

Goal 3: Garden

Since the garden was pretty much my main priority and I knew it was going to take a lot of work, I wanted to get started in the fall. We decided to put the kitchen garden in the front grass area not too far from the front door. There was not a sunny place in the back of the house to use. And we didn’t find the original garden plot until after the weeds died down on the west side of the property.

I have been reading a lot and watching videos on how to start a no-till garden. Plus I had a bi of experience with it in the last house. I knew that it was best to start in the fall if I could. This would involve lots of cardboard, which I had from the move. Other than that it was just work to get the cardboard laid out and some mulch and rocks put in place to hold it down until I could work more on it in the spring.

Since we found the old garden area, we hope to also get a crop garden in over there. But depends on what the spring looks like. Getting two large garden spaces in during the first year is a lot. This area would house bigger crops like melons, pumpkins, corn, and more tomatoes.

Goal 4: Clear Land

This was one of the first things we ended up doing. Clear all the eye level weeds and small trees so we could see the land. We had to wait on the tractor and brush hog to get this job done as it had been neglected for so long. It was so refreshing every time we cleared some more weeds/shrubs/small trees. We gained a lot of land we weren’t able to figure out with the weeds.

Goal 5: Clean Up

When it comes to our homesteading goals around cleaning up, we realized how much clean up there is to do on our property walk arounds. Fortunately there weren’t piles of garbage or barns stuffed with years of treasure.

But we do have a lot of barns and out building and each one of them needs to be cleaned up. We had to figure out which ones were going to the be the priority because there was no way we can get to them all this first year.

We started with the shop so we could use it as storage. Then we moved to the main dairy barn (where we need a new roof since it is leaking in many areas). We are just now getting to another small outbuilding we are using to move the chickens into.

Goal 6: Chickens – Laying Hens and Meat birds

We had to leave a brand new flock at our old house and so when we got settled, I wanted to get new chickens. It is hard to find laying hens already producing, but we were able to get about 10 and now have new chicks for a bigger flock. We didn’t need a lot for the first batch – just a small area in the dairy barn cleaned out and a few bales of hay. We mostly had everything we needed from before.

For the meat birds coming this month we needed to get a brooder and also a chicken tractor built. Those became our budget priority this spring over fencing for any larger animals.

Goal 7: Tree Clean Up

A big storm came through a few years ago. We have a lot of downed trees and broken branches from that. There is a lot of clean up to do. We also have a lot of box elder trees that are fast growing. According to our neighbors, they need to be removed sooner than later since they do grow so quick and are very invasive.

We also have trees to remove from our future orchard. We have walked around and marked which trees we want removed, but have not done too much yet.

Goal 8: Clean up and Level Area Behind Barn

This is the area where we could not walk around and really didn’t have any idea what we were working with. We were able to get a lot of it cleared with the tractor and box blade, but there are so many rocks/large boulders, a cement pad, hole from old silo, and lots of saplings to remove.

The job is quite a bit bigger than we thought it would be to get it all leveled out and ready for permanent fencing. As we get closer to spring, we are realizing it might be more of a two-year goal. But I keep going out there and picking the massive burdock plants and throwing them into a burn pile. I figure a little bit each time will add up and help us get closer to the goal of seeing this area!

Goal 9: Feeder Hogs

This is a goal we both really want for the year, but due to the land behind the barn being so much work to level and fence, we aren’t sure if we will get to it. There are a lot of ways that hogs can be raised. We would like to have them on pasture, ideally rotating them to new areas frequently.

This can be done with several types of fencing. The easiest way would be to get some electric fencing and be able to move them. But both of us feel a bit more comfortable with getting the permanent fencing down first and then moving on from there. This is where we are running into the issue of budget and time.

Goal 10: A Little Fun for the Kids

One of the first things we had promised the kids when we moved was that we would get a dog. And one of the first things we did was get two puppies! And a few kitties that people kept giving us for free. So we got fun for the kids and mice control taken care of.

There are 12 acres for the kids to explore here, which we love. The boys have already started a few forts in old trees. Using scrap pieces of wood and the nails they found around the hog barn.

I would also like to have an area a bit closer to the house where they have a swing set. We have a few big trees by the house to hang a swing too. I’ve been searching Facebook Marketplace to see if I can find a deal on a used swing set.

First Year Homestead Goals

So the list of our first year homesteading goals doesn’t include so many things I thought it would. I don’t have my orchard going in. Or a milk cow on the way. But if I’ve learned anything the 8 months we have been here, it is that homesteads are a lot of work. And the more that is piled on, the more potential you have for burnout. So due to budget and time restraints, I am happy to say that we cannot move much quicker than we are. And that’s just about where it feels right to be.

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