The Lord blessed us in so many countless ways this year! It is so fun to look back at all my homesteading updates (linked individually below) and remember everything we did and accomplished.
One of our biggest blessings of course was the birth of our second daughter, who was born at home in March, perfectly healthy and happy. And wow is she a happy baby! We love her so dearly and are so grateful that God blessed us with a home birth. My first was a c-section, so we weren’t sure it would end up working out, but we trusted God’s plan and He provided!
As we look forward to the future, we certainly hope to have more children. Maybe one will come in 2023, but we will have to wait and see about that!
We had so many learning curves this year that we had to master. Some worked out extraordinarily while others did not so much.
Let’s check them out…
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The Things That Didn’t Go To Plan
For the things that didn’t go to plan let’s start with our plan to prep for sheep. We wanted to put up sheep fencing this year so that next year we could start raising a flock. For several reasons, including financial and time commitment, along with having enough meat in the freezer already, we have decided to wait.
We will still have sheep one day, but instead of rushing into a full flock we will probably get two lambs and raise them to butcher weight first. We also might raise a pig as well before committing to the flock. I am not sure exactly when it will happen but probably in a year or two.
Related Post: Our Homesteading Journey – Reflections On 2021
Another thing that didn’t go according to plan was our wood-burning stove. We were so excited about it and all last winter tried to get it to work but it just kept smoking up the house. The chimney situation was also difficult. We decided to resell it and buy an electric tiny stove instead and we love it. For heat, we do have a wood-burning fireplace and burn wood all winter.
We also realized we don’t like preserving eggs in the freezer and that a gluten-free sourdough starter would just not start and thrive in our house, after a couple of attempts.
And lastly, after keeping the deer out of my garden all summer, right before my last garden harvest the deer cleaned up shop. Landon had built a doghouse for our dogs at that point, and they didn’t take their guarding job as seriously. Next year we know to wait to give them their winter doghouse until the garden is finished.
The Things That Did Go To Plan
This year I finally nailed down a rabbit system that works wonderfully for us. We breed and butcher rabbits in four rounds each year, which provides us with enough rabbit meat for the entire year!
Speaking of meat, we also raised meat chickens for the first time! Despite losing four of them, we had almost 60 that made it to the freezer to feed our family for an entire year as well. Landon also hunted for the first time and shot his first buck, a 4-pointer, and with a roadkill deer as well, we have enough venison in the freezer too!
And, Landon did a bit more fishing in the area and caught his first local walleye! Plus he’s learning how to navigate the rivers more. We also found a steal of a deal and picked up two large deep freezers for free and have enough room to store all this meat!
And speaking of storing and preserving food, we finally took the step to stock up on lots of dry goods in bulk and order a freeze dryer as well! We preserved our garden harvest all summer long in the freeze dryer and are now eating all that fresh produce this winter. While they are an expensive investment, I recommend that everyone have one because of the versatility they offer!
I also taught myself how to water bath can for the first time in my life! I made jams, pickles, salsa, relish, and more. It wasn’t as scary or intimidating as I thought it would be and I enjoy it. Although my favorite form of preservation remains the freeze dryer.
We planted our first garden on our homestead this summer and it thrived! We did a mix of basic vegetables. Even though we couldn’t start seeds indoors because that was when my baby was born, we still had a lot of delicious produce we enjoyed eating. We also planted a berry patch and harvested a huge bounty from our apple trees.
In the summertime we had our egg stand out and sold out almost every day! We raised even more chickens this summer to have even more eggs to sell. We also sold eggs and freeze-dried skittles at the farmer’s market. It was our second time doing a market but the first time at this one. It was a wonderful experience, and we hope to do it again next year.
We also purchased a tractor dozer this year. It was used by a local and unfortunately, it isn’t currently running. We used it for a short time and now we have to get it fixed.
Other two large purchases that pertain to Landon were his mill and disc golf baskets. Now he can mill wood from our own land to complete projects faster and cheaper! It is such a blessing. Also, he set up a disc golf course on our land so he can play more often and prepare for his tournaments. We all enjoy walking the course with him!
And lastly, another learning curve was making our own household products. I now make our own shampoo, laundry, toothpaste, lotion, and more! I actually quite enjoy it and it’s so much cheaper and easier to use.
Reflections on 2022
Our Homesteading Journey – January 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – February 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – March 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – April 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – May 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – June 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – July 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – August 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – September 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – October 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – November 2022 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – December 2022 Update
Looking Forward To Next Year
Some goals for this new year include more shelter space for our machinery and equipment, cleaning up our pond more, selling meat chickens, putting in a driveway, and perhaps putting in a cabin. And of course, just keep doing what we are doing – garden, fishing, preserving, meat rabbits, egg stand, chickens, hunting, parenting, etc., and having fun too!
This was certainly a year of firsts! We learned so many new skills, did so many new things, and not to mention have a whole new family dynamic with two kiddos under two! It has certainly been challenging at times, but boy has it been rewarding, fulfilling, and oh-so-wonderful. And it is all to the glory of God!
I hope you keep reading my homesteading updates each month and leave me a comment below! Happy New Year!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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