Feb 21, 2011:  In just over 2 months we will begin our goal of producing our own food.  All of our seeds have arrived and they are now organized so they will be planted at the proper time.  We practiced a bit this winter on growing some crops and have successfully grown spinach and lettuce in a few small cold frames.  It is amazing to see fresh spinach when the temperatures aren't above freezing.  Next, its time to get the cooler weather veggies started in the greenhouse.  Things such as broccoli, lettuce, radishes, etc.  And, in a week or so, our Nubian goats will start having their babies so we'll have our fresh milk.  We can't wait to make some cheese! 

   Stay tuned!

Jan. 6, 2011:   As we enter the new year, we are getting very exicted about our project.  We will start officially on May 1, 2011 but are getting prepared now.  Ordering our seeds, practicing our bread-making skills, reading up on raising pigs, and trying to remember everything that we need to consider for our project to be successful!  (You can read below about this project)  My next order of business is to find a pasta maker.  We eat a lot of pasta and love it so we really must have a way of creating our own.  And, we will be purchasing the components to set up our Aquaponics system.  It will be small to start but if successful, it is easy to add onto.  So much to do and as always, too little time!

FEED OURSELF PROJECT

Our goal in 2011 is to feed ourselves for 1 year through producing as much as possible ourselves, bartering with other producers, or purchasing locally. We will begin the project in May 2011 and run until the end of April 2012.  Let's face it, the prices continue to rise in the grocery store and we all know that a large part of what is sold is produced in other countries and shipped to us.  We set this challenge for ourselves to see if we could actually do it.  We do produce a lot of what we eat now, but still travel to the grocery store on a weekly basis.  So we thought, "is it possible to actually stay out of Krogers or Walmart?" 

We are able to produce our own:

• Poultry:  We raise our own Chicken & Turkey
• Eggs
• Fresh goat's milk (which means butter, cheese, yogart, and all of the dairy we need.
• Veggies: We think we can grow everything we love including staples like potatoes, carrots, garlic, and all of our leafy-greens.
• Fruits:  This will be a challenge for us.  We grow strawberries, melons, and raspberries but we do not have an established orchard so we will attempt to barter apples, peaches, plums, pears, etc.  Citrus will be another challenge since we are NOT in an area where oranges, lemons, etc are grown. 
• Meat:  We will have vension and this year will raise a few piglets for our pork. 

We hope to barter for:

• Beef
• Fruit
• Addition veggies when needed
• Honey

We plan to purchase locally

• Wheat (for making our flour for bread, pasta, etc)
• Grains

There will be some things that have to be purchased (at least until we figure out HOW to do it ourselves) such as:

• yeast
• cooking oils
• Sugar; although we will use honey as a replacement as often as possible
• Coffee
• And, probably some other items that we just haven't thought about yet....

We will spend this winter preparing and planning.  And, probably testing our skills on making fresh bread, learning to make homemade pasta, and fine-tuning our cheese making skills.  This will be a challenge BUT we think we are up to it!