Thinking of taking a step back...

[Deberosa]

This is the time of year I think about what I want to accomplish in the new year. I am thinking of scaling back.

My dilema might be what some of you encounter - I have too many projects! I made my typical list of what I want to grow in the garden this year and it's huge as usual! Then there is the fencing I want to get in for the cows and meat chickens and putting in thornless blackberries and blue berries and finally getting the barn squared away... I haven't been getting to my crafts and preserving projects as I would like.

So I am thinking I am only growing a few things that I can do well and easily - tomatoes and basil in the hoop house that we need to rebuid. Purple bush snap beans because they are easy and we actually get them into the freezer. Squash and pumpkins because we do get those eaten also and I have this black landscape cloth that I have reused many years to control weeds, and greens in a new straw bale garden in the back yard.
I already have leeks and onions and garlic growing.

For the rest of my areas I am thinking to put into various cover crops and mow them for compost, mulch and some animal feed, and till them in the following spring and maybe then expand gardening gradually, continuing to build soil where I don't garden...

Then I would have time to get the fences in and finish up other projects around here.

Anyone else thinking about what is in store for next year?

So going by the wayside are the following:

Peas (never did get them to grow!)
Peppers
beets (kurt won't eat them anyhow!)
Cucumbers (made pickles that are not getting eaten!)
Dill (see above!)
corn! (I was a total failure at this - I need to improve the soil first)
Bulb fennel, cilantro and other small crops - I can get them at the farmer's market this year.

I am thinking just those crops were taking up alot of my time and not much benefit at this point.

Anyhow - could change my mind but that's what I am thinking...

[Faye]

I am thinking along the same lines. I am not planting peas this year except english peas if the garden gets dry in time. We have finally gotten a lot of rain and my garden is WET. I don't see the need in planting cucumbers to pickle if they aren't eaten. I make pickles because everyone wants me to and then no one eats them. I will plant a couple hills because we like to eat them. I plan to plant tomatoes, snap beans, butterbeans and a couple other things but not things like bell pepper that usually goes to waste. I like fresh yellow squash so I'll plant that. Not sure what else but trying to cut down on stuff that is not necessary.

[MadTripper]

I can understand that line of thought however I would rather have too much to do around the house than too little. Since our house is new, there is already a ton to get working on this spring and summer however we are still moving forward with the garden, orchard, and pigs. Hopefully, I'll have the fencing planned out among other layouts by spring time. This is in addition to the other items I plan on doing. Here is a short list:

Trim in the house (haven't started but will wait for warm weather so I can seal it properly)
Front entrance - Need to pull the pavers and level everything for steps, possibly add some flowers and shrubs
Set up my "lab" in the basement - I want to take this opportunity to pour a concrete countertop and set up two or three sinks and a burner or two for canning, cleaning fish and game, harvesting garden, and brewing beer/cider/wine.

There are others of course.

Tripper

[gardenfay]

Dear MadTripper; i think women are so used to having too much to do around the house that it just doesn't sound all that fun to me.
hehehe ;D just joking.
I wish i had your energy.

Deberosa and Faye; i so agree with you guys. On this year in particular what i am hoping most is that our old place sells in the next few months so that i can spend Lots of time making beds; especially raised beds over here.
But more to the point of this thread; I really like to garden and I am so guilty of going nuts on my gardening plans. i am sure one of my problems is there are so many wonderful sounding seeds and plants to try!
But anyway, i Try more and more to concentrate my efforts on these things. The things we really like. Things that we really like that are either really high in the store or really awful in the store. Things that are very nutritrious. Things that don't take more time or space than is really suitable for us.
Corn, we love; and the Lord allowed me to grow a crop of sweet corn here in zone 3 about 3 years ago that people still brag about and i'm not kidding. but every other year it has frozen on me and frankly it is alot of time, space, little nutrition and cheap in the store. And i can get good frozen corn in the store.

Strawberries, on the other hand. we also love; but they grow great here. don't take that much time or space. wonderful nutrition and not only expensive in the store; but usually not that great bought from the store.
Parsley. i have to start new every year up here so far; but nutritious and i think adds nutrition that may not be in store bought stuff as much these days due to chemical fertilizers; etc.
I say these are important questions and now is the time of year to discuss them.

[Deberosa]

It's good to know others are thinking along the lines I have been. What was happening to me is that working my homestead started to become a chore rather than a joy and I had to look at what I was doing!

Maybe this is what hits you after several years and year after year the same projects remain unfinished, not sure. Or then also maybe it's the darn dark short soggy days here and not getting out other than quick trips to feed animals! At least today we made a bit of headway between pouring rain mixed with snow before I've got to leave for my job this week!

[WileyCoyote]

I wish I could downscale... LOL

Actually, this is the year we will buy our homestead - our real one. We have lived in this one for the past 23 years; a small lot with a small house in a small village that is about to boom in growth. I have over 125 species of daylilies (my stepfather was a breeder and I got the "culls"), peach trees, sand cherry trees, spearmint, peppermint, thyme, roses of all types, Daffodils and narcissus - there is no place else to plant except in my constantly rotating vegie yard that currently has collards, cabbage, and broccoli kickin butt, or in the greenhouse where the orange trees live.

I want more, not less. So we are retiring (hubby had to medically retire last year) this year and moving to a bigger place. I want my chickens back (the town passed ordinances against them eight years ago), I want horses, I want cows. I want a biiiig greenhouse that I can operate year-round. I want snow and seasons. Mostly I want a place where I can do as I please and not be bothered. Large deer cross my path every morning and evening when I walk the dogs, but I'm in "town" (2000 pop) and am not allowed to shoot them - not even allowed to hang them and process them in the back yard any more!

So this year will be my busiest yet; finding our new home, buying our new home, moving to our new home, and setting up our new home. Then once I set up the greenhouse, I'll have to determine what I want and can grow in there for the coming year - depending on how much time I have in the actual yard and garden before the cold and snow hits again.

Corn never did well for me and I can't eat it anyway. Sigh. I'll be sticking with beans, cukes (everyone loves my pickles, especially the relish; I use them as Christmas presents!) sauce tomatoes, peas, carrots, potatoes, and as many greens as I can get to grow like spinach, collards, maybe even turnips. Then there's all my herbs; I use them in everything. I'll have to get a new pressure canner as this one's shot and too durned small.

Instead of doing daily work that I HAVE to do to keep money coming in, I will be busy doing the work that I love to do, that I never have time to do, when I'm off working and being busy for other people. I am about to become selfish. And I am going to enjoy not having the phone ringing at all hours and having to take off to go solve someone else's problems any more. THAT's what I'm cutting back on.

And Debbie, I always wondered how those purple bush beans would do; I've always only planted what I had room for and knew everyone would eat. I will finally have the time and the room to experiment!

[Deberosa]

The purple bush beans grow great! And they are very prolific too.

I'll probably add more once I take a year to build soil and get things set up better. It's just that I've reached the point that it takes more time than I've got to keep things going plus fix up the rest of the place. Then it's just frustrating because everything only gets done half way. I want to actually use whatever I plant and spend time taking care of!

Good luck in your search, there should be some bargains out there this year if you don't have to sell your current place right away.

Place next to me is for sale again - $368,000!!!!!! I can't imagine anyone affording that will appreciate my chickens and cows and peacocks so it may be a battle. I got really lucky when they bought the place - they were friendly, dang.

[Deberosa]

The other thing playing into this for me is that I was trying to set up a garden business in short order, not just growing for myself because I disliked my job so much. Turns out I got a different job this year that is actually not bad!!! That's been a long time coming. ANyhow, now I can grow for us and enjoy the place rather than try to do two jobs at once!

[WileyCoyote]

Thanks, I've been looking for 6 months and have pretty much settled on a minimum of three places to"gosee" - plus I have two RE agents in two different states looking for me. Problem is that we will be moving about 3000 miles away; it's hard to do long distance. There are a lot of bargains out there with what we want, or close to what we want. According to the folks on RE blogs, there will be a LOT more shortly as people go into foreclosure.

The death of the housing boom was the greatest boon for people looking to buy property, especially for those who have good credit and a decent down payment.

We don't have to sell current house - daughter will be renting it until we sell current property. It backs up to 300 acres of property that was zoned industrial/commercial. We bought it for $27,000 with a tree thru the roof - now we can sell it for $80,000. However, the ind/comm interests will buy it for more than that so we are going to hold onto it til we get an offer from them. I grew up with development so I knew where to buy this house. I knew it would come eventually. Sigh. But I sure liked my deer and coons and gators and panthers in the endless woods behind us while we were raising the kids!

I've thought about setting up (in our new place) a greenhouse business to provide spring starts for local consumers. I've done a little of it here; the folks want what Wal Mart doesn't sell - herbs that actually grow locally, not the generics; unusual plants, good solid organic and heirloom produce varieties, etc. It isn't hard to do if you can take the time to grow good quality plants that aren't starving, yellowed, and rootbound when you sell them.

But even failing that, I'll have plenty for my own use, and want to run a "Zomerhaus" - a year-round greenhouse.

[leera]

I am scaling back to the point that I am not planting anything this season.........

Too much going on right now.Hoping to be able to buy land,etc......wanting to have most of the house packed by the time we put a bid in on a place........and work is drving me insane right now........

[elh]

We are looking to increase our garden this year. Hope to put in a hoop house for the fall . Need to get the strawberry bed ready soon, trying to decide which fruit trees to plant this spring. We will plant tomatoes , green beans, english peas, water melons, cantalope, squash,greens, hot and sweet peppers, corn, black eyed peas, and others not yet known.

[pinetreefarm]

I can understand that feeling of being overwhelmed. When my illness occurred we felt we had to scale back because so much of the work fell to me while DH was getting the other business off the ground.

But what we found that we started making some good decisions and built in jobs by rearranging things. Now we feel underwhelmed and have decided to have a few chickens and get some rabbits for the grandson. With only one year left of homeschooling...I can envision that DH and I can accomplishing more.

Maybe we are all setting our priorities in better order. Not a bad thing.

Pine

[Txanne]

Rethinking my life also---as of now all I do is work--!!

One more year of it is all I can handle--as others have stated--it can be over-whelming with all the todo list and so very little time.

Re-organizing my [[stuff]]

This spring will bring a small garden--crowder peas[[my favorite]] and the sandy loamness of this soil will allow for potatos[[which growing them fascinates me]]--come next fall I hope to have in brocolli--cauliflower
and a huge egg producing chicken flock.[[eggs have become over-priced suddenly --here.]]

Txanne

[DM]

I think the number one thing that folks do when just starting out is, over plant!!

It's spring and your so excited to get started!! Also, it's so easy to get everything in the ground, and it just plain looks so cool sitting there in new ground in nice rows!!

Then the WORK starts! :o Weeds, watering and much more! Did i mention "weeding??" Soon the garden is over grown and neglected...

My new(er) neighbor down the road from me planted a bigger garden last spring... By early summer they gave up on the weeds, and i saw then pushing a "push mower" in the garden, mowing just the weeds down... lol

Once you are a "seasoned" gardener, it all comes easier and you learn what you can handle, and how to manage a bigger garden... And "really" it is all about management...

As for me, i've been makeing my gardens smaller and smaller each year... My dad went and got old on me, and left me to fend for myself in the garden!!! SO...i've down sized quite a bit... Maybe they need to invent a "viagara" for gardening?? ::)

Anyway, i'm down to two smaller gardens now, and planting less plants further apart... I still mulch heavily, because it's the best way to keep the weeds down, and to feed the garden. (for next year)

Personally, i would rather have a smaller well kept garden than a bigger over grown garden... I think everyone would, so start out smaller and increase the size of your garden as you learn what you need to know for "your" area and "your" climate...

DM