Hello! We are so excited to start our first official year of serious homesteading on what we are reffering to as, “The Leaf Homestead”.  It is actually quite weird to say and think about but I just keep calling it that and hope that eventually it won’t sound so strange anymore!

While we have done gardens in past years, this year we have several rather big projects we are hoping to accomplish.  I am writing them down here and sharing them so we will be held accountable for meeting those goals!

I am also hoping that being witness to our many struggles, challenges, and successes along the way will encourage and inspire you and your family to pursue a homesteading lifestyle also!

If we can do it so can you, we may be wingin’ it most of the way but in the end we are living a life that we love and will benefit our family greatly.

Fence in Play Area for Kids

The very first task we need to accomplish this year if we have any hope of successfully meeting our goals is to create a fenced-in play area for the kids.

Right now our property is pretty dangerous and we really do not have anywhere for the boys to safely play without us needing to be two steps from them.

Our property is made up of 45% wooded area, 25% blacktop, and 25% weird small tiered areas.

Basically, if the kid runs off they could fall off a ledge into the road or down a hill, it is just very dangerous and honestly, it is very stressful to have them outside.

All of this can easily be fixed by creating a fenced in area that will be their primary play spot.

Chickens!

I am so excited and kind of terrified to take on chickens this year.  I know that once we have the chicken coop and run constructed it will be done and then it will just require some maitenance every year.  That is veryencouraging.

Right now we are in the planning phases of this chicken business thing.

There are many things to consider so while there is still snow on the ground, we will be finishing up our chicken plans.  I hope to start working on it in March.

Several decisions we will be making:

• Location
• Coop and Run Design
• Types of Chickens

Location

When I first decided we should start raising chickens, Brian thought I was insane and was not really on board.   I am not sure he is completely on board yet but he is at least humoring me and we are moving forward.

The one compromise that we had to come to (I am sure there will be hundreds more) was the location.

The spot I initially thought was perfect is actually too close to the house.  We finally decided on a spot that would be far enough away from the house, but close enough that I could get to it easily, and this location will actually require less work to prepare for construction.

Chicken Coop and Run Plans

We are debating whether it is truly cheaper to build your own coop or if purchasing a coop would be worth the headache.

Brian is crunching numbers on the prices for fencing, lumber, paint, hardware, etc. There are so many companies that sell preassembled kits or require very little assembly.  While building one is not the problem, the amount of time and cost would determine which route we go. Chicken coops are so cute by the way!  I will share pictures of the process!

Types of Chickens

Since we virtually know nothing about chickens, I have been doing a lot of research on the topic so far this winter.  I have read articles, watched many videos, and have talked to several people I know who own chickens.  My biggest questions have been about what type of chickens should I get.

What I have gathered so far is that you have to have a good idea why you want to have chickens.  Some are great layers, some are good for meat, others are great around children and small enough for them to hold.

Our primary goal for our chickens is for eggs.  I also would like ones that are easy to care for and have a good temperament for children.

Vegetable Gardens

Last year we had two small gardens, one on each side of the house.  I know I have said before that last year was a disaster and it was mainly because of the deer.  Boy, once they found the garden, they were relentless.

This year we need to prevent the deer.  I really think that the only way to do so is to fence in the entire garden.  It might be a pain but it has several benefits.

1. It will keep deer, rabbits, and other animals out.
2. It will keep my children in when they are outside with me in the garden.

This really is a must have this year.  However, fencing in two small gardens is not a realistic plan. Talk about an eyesore.

Therefore, Brian and I have been discussing where to relocate the garden so that we only have one large garden we will need to fence in.

More on that to come.

Garden Planning

Garden planning is in full swing!  I am determined to have a more successful garden than last year.  I do feel like we are kind of starting over from scratch because we are completely changing locations.

We are still working on finalizing the particulars of location and timing.  I will post again when that is finalized.

Natural Privacy Borders

As I mentioned above, there are certain areas of our property that are pretty dangerous. Our front yard is one of those areas, and it really should be addressed this year.  I would love to plant some evergreens along the front of our yard.

I need to do some more research into what type of trees or bushes would be best.  I would be looking for something that grows quickly and provides thick coverage.  I also want something that doesn’t require any pruning or maintenance.  I am not sure if such a tree or bush exists but I will let you know when I find out.

Remove Juniper Bushes and make way for Herb/Tea Garden

This is a large project that will probably take us the entire summer to complete but in order to save my sanity, it is a must do this summer.

Right outside of our back door is a hill that comes down and meets our small back patio.  It has always been covered with juniper bushes and they have always been a pain in the ass.  I hate them.

They are mainly there as a retainment for all of the soil that is in that area.  It prevents the soil from washing out and flooding down to our back door.  I understand why it is there but it needs to go.

For one, it is starting to die anyway and it is largely brown in color, instead of the nice green color that juniper usually is, so it is not attractive.

For two, it is a snake den and weeding it out is scary. It attracts snakes because it provides such good coverage for them, but it is right outside our back door.  Over the last couple of years, I have seen 3 or 4 large black snakes in the juniper while trying to weed it.  It needs to be weeded frequently and I hate doing it.  So it doesn’t get done and then the overgrowth eyesore it is the first thing we see when we go outside. It is depressing.  No thank you, not anymore.

I would have ripped it out years ago but we need to have a plan for something else to do with the area. I would love to plant an herb/tea garden there, it really is the perfect spot.

Learning to Bake Bread

While I am hoping to spend the majority of our lives this spring and summer playing and working outside, there are some kitchen skills that I am hoping to develop this year.

This past year I was really started to focus on my cooking skills.  Instead of just throwing diner together, I really tried to learn some new techniques, use some tools that I have never used, and tried to expand our recipe collection.  It has been a lot of fun and I plan to continue that this next year.

My main focus this year is learning to bake bread!  I am hoping to try a few recipes each month and by the end of the year, hopefully, I will have a number of awesome bread recipes that I can make regularly.

I already tried this recipe from Lil Luna for white bread and it turned out awesome!  I made it alongside some chicken noodle soup and had it with some sandwiches.  I then used it the next morning to make some AWESOME french toast!  I could see making this each week as a substitute for store bought bread.

Organizing my Recipe Collection

I try really hard to meal plan, I really do and I usually do a really good job for 3-4 days at the beginning of the week.  However midweek I usually realize that I didn’t plan enough meals to get us to grocery shopping day and we have to make some meals out of the freezer and pantry.

Luckily we keep things on hand so that we can easily do this but being a little more organized would really help.

One of the main issues is that we have recipes that we make pretty regularly but we also have a lot of recipes that we use and then forget about.  I would love to have this more organized so that meal planning is easier.  When I plan our meals I am usually looking to make a different kind of meat each night so if I organize the recipes in that way, it could really be helpful.

This is something that in reality should not take me too long to accomplish but for some reason, I haven’t done it yet. Adding it to this list will keep me accountable this year.  Hopefully, it will save me a lot of headaches.

Do you have a system for organizing all of your recipes for meal planning? Leave a message, I would love to hear about your brilliant methods!