I am not a New Years Resolution person, but I am a “plan ahead” person. Looking back on 2019, I cannot get over how much our little homestead has changed. Working on the house or clearing our land aside, we made some pretty big decisions in regards to our animals while going through some pretty significant learning experiences. We got rid of all of our laying hens in lieu of ducks and added our first lambs Bonnie and Clyde to the homestead. We went through the heartbreak that was Big Marie’s first farrowing, her successful second farrowing, made the decision to retire her, and THEN changed our minds and decided to rebreed her again after she turned the corner after those first critical few days. 2019 was full of baby animals, lessons learned, heartbreak, and growth.
So, what does 2020 bring for us? This year we plan to proceed very much like we did in 2019. Focusing on what we really want/need to do, cutting out the “extra” while focusing on continuing to clear our land and restore our house.
While we very much enjoyed raising lamb this year, my growing interest in tanning hides and fiber projects made me look into other breeds as our sustainable meat source besides Katahdins. After much research, we added a beautiful pair of bred Icelandic ewes at the end of 2019, Reykja and Stimpla. They will lamb in April, and the lambs will be raised through spring, summer, and fall where we will then butcher them for grass fed lamb. Their hides will be brain tanned by me, and their mother’s bi-annual shearings will provide me with fleece for felting projects and potentially to be spun into yarn.
2020 will prove to be a big year for pigs, as we begin to ramp up our breeding with the addition of Red Jamie and Claire, our new gilts. They will be bred in the spring for a fall litter and we have high hopes for them. While we will always have a couple of pigs each year we retain to raise for meat, we have decided we want to focus on selling piglets/feeders, versus finished pigs. We enjoy keeping sows and farrowing, and there is a very big market for us to easily sell them whether they are a spring or fall litter. Eventually I could see us running anywhere between 3-5 sows at a time. We truly love breeding pigs, and are anxious to expand in this area on our homestead.
With the expansion of our farrowing program, we need a larger scale and better farrowing area. The summer of 2020 we plan to convert the existing barn foundation the pigs have cleared out into our new farrowing area that can accommodate our sows. While we are still in the initial planning and design stage, it will be an overhang type design running the entire length of the foundation. It will be an “open” design interior with the ability to easily section off into individual farrowing pens should we need to. The goal is to get it done in the summer when all of the females are spending their summer in the woods, and will be ready by fall for when Red Jamie and Claire are ready to farrow.
2020 will also be a big year for us in terms of fencing. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pasture we began to establish last year will be ready this spring to fence in its entire perimeter. This is a project I am extremely anxious to get started on as it has been years in the making. This fencing project as well as fencing in a new section of woods for the sows and feeder pigs to clear are projects that we hope to tackle early this spring as the weather breaks.
So, with all these plans and changes for expansion, what will you see less of? With a focus on breeding/raising our own meat, the garden will be pared down even more than last year. By focusing heavily on pork and lamb, we will still raise meat chickens but are happy to be able to cut down the numbers into the 30’s as opposed to the 70’s. This also very well may be the last year that I breed Audrey, as Rosie will be able to be bred next fall, and we want to focus on Nubians moving forward as our source of goats milk. 2020 will surely be an exciting year, and I’m sure there are many projects that will present themselves unexpectedly that we will take on and tackle. Thanks for tagging along for the ride!
I think those are such great goals! I’m curious if you will keep Audrey as a pet then? You’re such an inspiring person. I use your blog and Instagram as an information source. You’re so informative, even on things your trying new. I can tell you put so much time and energy into researching. I can’t wait to see your projects and goals come into fruition.
Thank you! We are finally at the point where we are able to “fine tune” and aren’t being pulled in a million directions – which is such a relief! Audrey and Alison will definitely be kept here. We have a lot of brushy areas we still need to clear and rotating the Nubians (especially when in milk twice a day) is a HUGE pain in the butt. Audrey and Alison are great about being moved around and with them not being milked, we can just put them somewhere that needs their attention and leave them there until we move them to the next spot. It will be ideal!
I love following along the blog and on your instagram site! Informative, fun, honest, gorgeous pictures.
Thank you so much for the support! It is truly appreciated!