July 2022 a new month. How exciting! I have always love the first of the month. I view it as a time to set new goals and to achieve new milestones, even as a kid. What a quirky kid I was!
As I have mentioned in the past few posts that I have a goal of having a productive farm. To me a productive farm means three things:
1. It means that I have fruits, vegetables, herbs, and meat year round that was produced on this farm that I can use to feed my family.
2. In my mind a productive farm also means that I can basically eat for free or almost free the food we produce for our family.
3. Lastly, a productive farm would be one that I can automatize or create systems to decrease the labor that we have to do to run the farm.
Well, I've been watching a lot of videos about achieving goals and my current favorites are those from Benjamin Hardy. He says to take time to reflect and set new goals at the beginning of every month by answering 5 questions, so here goes:
1. Where am I right now?
Right now I am spending time daily in our garden and in the farmyard with the animals. It is taking me about 2 to 3 hours daily to do my daily routine on the farm. My garden routine includes weeding the garden, planting new seeds, mulching, harvesting crops, and watering. My farm animal routine includes feeding chickens, dogs, cat, goats, and pigs. I also move the cows almost daily into pasture 3 to eat for a few hours before moving them back into pasture 1. I ensure that all animals have access to clean fresh water daily. Since it has been in the triple digits I have been spraying the pigs a few times daily with water to help them combat this relentless heat.
2. What are my wins from the last 30 days?
To help cut the cost of hay in early June we bought last year's hay at $35 a roll. We also bought a pallet of cattle cubes at a 10% discount. This will go a long way into helping us feed the farm animals.
We had many delicious meals with spinach, squash, red potatoes, onions, and okra.
We developed a watering schedule, got the water pump, sprinklers, and hoses in working condition, and fenced off the garden to create access to pasture 3.
We sold 8 piglets at $100 a piece.
We built a farm tour fence area, so that farm guests can walk through a self-guided tour to see the gardens and farm animals.
3. What are the 3 most important things to accomplish in the next 30 days?
1. Plant seeds for continual harvest.
2. Sale at least 1 steer.
3. Create a system to decrease farm labor.
4. What are my goals for the next 12 months?
1. Slaughter farm animals to put meat in the freezer.
2. Keep garden going as long as possible into early winter.
3. Develop a farm income/ expense plan that allows us to make a profit.
5. Where do I want to be in 3 years?
In 3 years I would like to be providing 80% of my family's food. I would like to have a farm that makes a profit. I would like to be providing homesteading workshops. I would like to apply strategies to reduce my daily routine of taking care of the homestead, so that I have more time for homesteading projects that I am interested in.
If you would like to learn how to use these 5 questions to help you set your own goals in any area of your life, watch the video from Benjamin Hardy below.
May you accomplish all your goals in life!
Comments
Post a Comment