Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Top 10 Homestead Goals for 2012

EWA, I think about that myself and I've got no...

2012-01-30T21:12:10.486-08:00

EWA, I think about that myself and I've got nothing to graze. I just want access to the sun and they dry.

Exciting developents. Good luck!

Love those goals! Our urban homestead goal is to ...

2012-01-23T13:25:35.113-08:00

Love those goals!

Our urban homestead goal is to actually get chickens (which will depend on my health) and expand our garden so we actually have enough to bring inside before the kids eat it all!

Plant the fruit and nut trees and bushes, install ...

2012-01-19T08:09:26.108-08:00

Plant the fruit and nut trees and bushes, install the water catchment system. Establishing an urban homestead is slow going to be sure but so rewarding.

Raccoons killed off all our chickens a few months ...

2012-01-12T13:25:59.106-08:00

Raccoons killed off all our chickens a few months ago so first on the list for me is to get several hens. I'll raise chicks if I have to but I've been-there-done-that enough times that I would be happy skip that stage.

Like Lisa, I am also hoping for more than a few tomatoes this year. Oklahoma suffered heat and drought conditions which rivaled the Great Depression so I'm hopeful for a much better gardening year.

Additionally, there are several skills I'm hoping to tackle this year, such as pressure canning (I've only done water bath before), making tortillas, making soap, making candles and making pasta.

Shear the llamas and alpacas that are on the pastu...

2012-01-11T11:36:42.830-08:00

Shear the llamas and alpacas that are on the pasture in Eastern Washington, get my son to move to the farm to help with the above and many other things, renew my share of farmer raised beef and hog, keep my chickens alive and laying, maybe raise some basil, green beans, tomatoes.

The pasture land sounds most interesting - keep us...

2012-01-11T01:56:28.322-08:00

The pasture land sounds most interesting - keep us updated!

I'm going to a bee class this Saturday and am ...

2012-01-10T21:50:42.230-08:00

I'm going to a bee class this Saturday and am planning on starting a bee hive this spring. Also I saw on the internet how to grow mushrooms, so I'm going to order some mushroom spawn this spring. They say white oak is good for growing the mushrooms on and I found someone who has the trees for it, so we can cut some logs from them! I'm really excited about both of those things. Wanting a small hoop house for spring, also will be planting a couple more fruit trees. Had a huge garden last year and will again this year. A huge garden is so much work, but really worth it, health wise!

Dispatching of chickens is pretty straightforward,...

2012-01-10T20:24:14.291-08:00

Dispatching of chickens is pretty straightforward, all you need is a sharp axe/cleaver and something too keep the chicken from moving too much. A chicken cone is the most human option but tying the legs and using a metal rake to hold its neck in place is a low-tech solution you probably have all the tools for already (don't forget a chopping block). Rabbits are a bit trickier, a .22 and a bucket with grass in it to keep them calm and unawares is one method (like shooting rabbits in a barrel har har). The more gruesome neck snapping is always an option but requires the rabbit to be very tame.

Grow more than 6 tomatoes in our front yard veggie...

2012-01-10T19:00:15.273-08:00

Grow more than 6 tomatoes in our front yard veggie garden. That's 6 tomatoes not plants.

We need to murder the roosters we've already g...

2012-01-10T18:11:02.107-08:00

We need to murder the roosters we've already got :)

Our goals are to get bees, and maybe turkeys, and continue to maintain the big garden even with the baby coming this spring...

Same as last year :( Convert front yard into Edibl...

2012-01-10T16:22:54.111-08:00

Same as last year :(
Convert front yard into Edible landscaping; Build a new permanent green house on the porch; rid my yard of the himalayan black berries... sigh

Hey, I'll be happy to teach you to murder chic...

2012-01-10T13:20:09.192-08:00

Hey, I'll be happy to teach you to murder chickens when you come visit this summer, on your Little House quest. It does take some learning.

I wonder if they still sing that verse to the song in Kindergarten? "We will kill the old red rooster, when she comes! When she comes!"

I doubt it. But we did have chicken and dumplings from one of our free-range orchard guard chickens last summer (I got there 10 minutes after it had been killed by a male Cooper's hawk; he was smaller than the hen, and had spent the entire time dragging it into a bush to hide...) - and it was pretty astonishing. "Oh! THAT'S what chicken is supposed to taste like!!"

I do have an old speckled rooster we need to, um, "de-select".

There's a pig share in my future as well, and ...

2012-01-10T13:12:56.218-08:00

There's a pig share in my future as well, and hopefully some beefalo as well. My big excitement is moving away from the city, looking for a new house with a couple of acres not to far away from the urban centers.

For me this is a chance to actually use all the knowledge I've gained. To find a house that has the potential for sustainability is exciting!

Big Plans! Chicken show up in March. Seeds are ...

2012-01-10T10:40:35.969-08:00

Big Plans!

Chicken show up in March.
Seeds are ordered for our tomato, cucumber, basil, potato and parsnip centric garden.

Mason Bees to help with all of the above.

I would love to go in on a hog share and am increasingly interested in ripping out my front yard. Hmmmm...

And maybe learn How to turn off spellcheck on my p...

2012-01-10T09:57:22.957-08:00

And maybe learn
How to turn off spellcheck on my phone

My goals re. Actually to pare back - I've over...

2012-01-10T09:56:37.079-08:00

My goals re. Actually to pare back - I've overdone it in te animals and am
RealiIng that I've midlife from a homesteader into a goat breeder, which was
Not the plan. Want to decrease from 5 does down to two, and from about thirty chickens sown to a dozen. Also seal the greenhouse and get the compost pile under control.

Hmmm...working on improving my soil, wish I could ...

2012-01-10T08:53:45.981-08:00

Hmmm...working on improving my soil, wish I could add more chickens, putting up more jars of yummy things, bees have been on the lists for a while maybe this will be the year! I'm going to learn about goats.

Wow, this years' goals for you are lifetime go...

2012-01-10T08:00:39.669-08:00

Wow, this years' goals for you are lifetime goals for me, lol! Your energy must be thru the roof, if not your determination... I hope to see it all happen!
Thanks for sharing your ambitions, it makes me feel a little less crazy with my own (like it's really something possibly doable).

Among other things, build a greenhouse, build perm...

2012-01-10T07:11:29.068-08:00

Among other things, build a greenhouse, build permanent raised beds on fenceline where in-ground beds have been until now, learn more about plants we're having trouble growing, sell pop-up camper to make more room in backyard for other things, install irrigation system to raised beds that can be fed by either rain catchment or city water, and continue to plan and prep for chickens that won't happen this year, but maybe next.

Mine is to actually get milk from the lovely pair ...

2012-01-09T22:15:40.881-08:00

Mine is to actually get milk from the lovely pair of does I've been feeding for almost 2 years now. I am a goat cheese fanatic, and I am itching to get cheese-making. Also, I am to maintain more order in the vegetable garden which tends to get away from me by August. After a few losses to predators, I am hoping to maintain my flock by adding 3 new polish hens and 6 of a yet-unchosen-heritage breed and raise another 12 turkeys.

Oh dear. Well, since I just took my first bee clas...

2012-01-09T22:09:18.200-08:00

Oh dear. Well, since I just took my first bee class...want to bet if I can make it 6 months before bees live on our roof?

Buy some pasture land!?! I love that goal. Hmm, ...

2012-01-09T21:38:26.004-08:00

Buy some pasture land!?! I love that goal. Hmm, off to convince my own husband that we need to do that - though obviously closer to home.