Whewww! 2021 was a roller coaster, wasn’t it? I don’t know about y’all, but I am so glad that it is over. 2022 has started off great here on the Homestead and I’m hoping that we can keep that momentum all year long.
We have lots of exciting things planned for this year. We had some personal issues in the Fall and that set a lot of things back and I’ve struggled to get back on schedule. Thankfully, things have started falling into place and we are finally on the other side of the hill.
We have had 4 successful litters of rabbits in the last few months and this has allowed us to expand the rabbitry. We started 2021 with just 4 does and 1 buck and we have grown to 12 does and 3 bucks. We will now be able to offer more rabbits for meat or pets this year. If you are interested in adding a rabbit to your home or freezer, be sure to check out our available rabbits on our Shop page.
We were contacted by an individual one day who had discovered 2 abandoned rabbits in the garage of their new house. We of course took them both in and nursed them back to health. They had been getting fed goat feed and were extremely overweight and unhealthy. With some TLC and a proper diet, they have both recovered very nicely. The white buck had been named Lionel (because he’s a lion head and looks like Lionel from Thundercats) and is now the herd sire for our rabbitry. The black doe, unfortunately, suffered an injury prior to coming to us and her back leg sticks out at a strange angle. This disqualifies her from joining our rabbitry but her amazing personality guarantees that she will be kept until a loving home can be found for her. If you are interested in Holly, reach out to us today!
We, unfortunately, lost a good number of our chickens this past fall due to a respiratory infection that ripped through the flock and was resistant to treatment. We did manage to save a few and are looking forward to being able to build our numbers back up once it gets warmer. Currently, we are getting roughly 1 to 2 dozen eggs a week between the 4 girls that are laying. We would love to increase the flock to the point of getting a dozen eggs a day or more. Be sure to check out our Facebook or Shop for available eggs.
While our chicken numbers decreased, our duck numbers increased and our females came into lay around the holidays. We are now getting roughly 2 to 3 duck eggs a day. Production should increase as the weather warms up. If you haven’t tried duck eggs before, you are missing out! These larger eggs are perfect for baking as they have a higher fat content than chicken eggs and make baked goods rise higher and taste richer. They also have more vitamins than chicken eggs, ounce per ounce, as well as more protein, Omega-3, and iron. You can find them in our shop as well.
After doing a lot of work on the property this fall, we were able to clear a larger spot for our garden and I can not wait to get started on planning it. I taught myself how to can over the holidays so I am hoping to get a large bounty this year to put up. I think my favorite thing to can so far has been potatoes. Although the apple sauce I made turned out really well and the apple pie filling was a huge hit with the kids. They would eat it right out of the jar like spiced apples!
This year I am planning on adding more variety in the garden as well as doing some edible landscaping with apple and peach trees, blueberry, blackberry, and black raspberry bushes, as well as trying my hand at some container gardening. Hoping to set up some kind of high tunnel this fall to extend the growing season as well. The ultimate goal is going to be setting up a system similar to Joel Salatin’s where we use the animals and plants in conjunction in order to better the environment and build the soil.
We often hear about how the world can not sustain the population that we currently have. But I don’t believe that this is true. I believe that the world is completely capable of sustaining the current population, however, our management practices are not. We as a country (USA) have become accustomed to the supersizing of our meals, the magic that is supermarket food (it just magically appears there!), and the general separation of where our food starts out. But if we would go back to being hands on in our management of our land and of our food, cut out the factory made foods with little to no nutritional value, cut down on the screen time and go back to living on the land, we would not only be able to sustain the population but would be able to correct a lot of the damage done by previous generations.
With this viewpoint in mind, I plan on making 2022 the year that I start giving back to the land instead of just taking from it. I want to leave not only better children for our planet by teaching them to care for the land, but also a better land for our children.
What are you doing with the year 2022?
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