Last year I made three gardening/food-making goals for myself. In this post I’ll be sharing my 2017 goals and also my new goals for 2018. And I’ll be throwing in some pictures from my 2017 garden (because who doesn’t love pretty pictures?!)

One of my 2017 goals was to grow my first-ever winter garden. I’m proud to say I did that and, so far, it’s proving to be quite successful.

 

My second goal was to make my own yogurt. I spent some time in 2017 researching how to make yogurt but I never actually did it. Until now. For Christmas my in-laws bought me a yogurt maker! I will surely be posting about my adventures in yogurt-making very soon.

My third goal was to post on my blog more consistently. I did so-so on this but considering I had a baby this year I’m gonna cut myself some slack.

So now we are in a new year and it’s a perfect time for me to make some new goals.

My first goal is I want to get into composting. I tried vermicomposting but it did not work. Every time I went to check on my worms they were gone. Not dead. But not there. I’ve attempted to start up vermicomposting three times now with the same results every time. I’ve talked with other people about my dilemma and most don’t seem surprised. Apparently vermicomposting is quite difficult to get started. And considering how hot it is where I live, the worms most likely got too warm and abandoned ship. So I’ve moved on. I’m over vermicomposting and now want to compost with a tumbler. I already have a tumbler picked out in fact. More on that to come.

My second goal is to make progress on changing my yard to edible landscaping. A well-manicured lawn does nothing for me. It’s unsustainable and a waste of resources. Living in a drought-stricken area, many of our neighbors are converting their lawns to stoned landscaping. I want to convert our lawn to an edible garden. Yes this still would require water but the water would be used to feed me and my family. I am also looking at drought-tolerant plants and perennials (with the thought that perennials, being around for more than one season, would have a chance to establish themselves and a deep root system, thus requiring less watering.) I’ve already placed an order for two kiwi trees and one olive tree. They are set to arrive in February. My goal is to keep them alive. (That’s not asking for too much is it?!)

And finally my third goal is to explore cheese-making. I frequently make ricotta and have the process down well. I made mozzarella once and it tasted good but it didn’t have the right texture. At the very least I want to get mozzarella-making down. And if that goes well, I want to look into making other cheeses.

I hope that this post has inspired you to come up with your own gardening/cooking/homesteading goals. My favorite podcast, Living Homegrown with Theresa Loe, has had two episodes on making your own gardening goals (or just goals in general). I’d highly recommend giving it a listen. You can find these particular episodes here and here.