On this last day of The Year of Our Lord Two - Thousand and Twenty Two , it is once again fourth dimension to post a recap of the year we just spent together .
The greatest achievement of 2022 was that we – quite unexpectedly – terminate up buying a newfangled homestead with pot of space for our folk and our garden .
After eld of moving from place to place , we finally have an anchor again . The four years we spent overseas and the meter we expend rent here have finally give way to a house we can call home – and it even has good dirt !
It ’s a wonderful matter . God is good . We feel so much more at peace now .
Now rent ’s see how we did onthe goal we set out at the beginning of this year .
I. Create A New Weighing Station and Start Logging Yields Again
ACHIEVED
We finished building the produce weighing station in the first month of the year and begin trailing yield instantly after .
The year ’s aggregate ?
That ’s 458.5 lb from the gardens .
The yield would have been much skillful had we not prompt mid - twelvemonth , but we still did well enough to take some pressure off the market budget .
We also got roughly 210 gallons of Milk River from the two moo-cow we buy mid - year , along with roughly 3,000 eggs from our pile of chicken . We also slaughter or so 30 chickens and a duck’s egg .
We also got about 25 pound of black walnuts and 20 lbs of pecans which were not counted , and in all probability another 50 - 100 lbs of various green and tomatoes and berries and such harvested piecemeal from the garden .
The 2023 production should be really incredible in our new soil , by God ’s grace .
II. Plant Two Acres of Pumpkins to Breed a Landrace
HALF ACHIEVED
We did this , but all the pumpkins failed . A combining of a previous frost , then drouth , then flood , then extreme heat devastated both our pumpkin and melon , lead us with nothing to show for our efforts . We desire to see much sound results in the greatly improved soil on our young homestead .
III. Start a Corn Landrace
FAILED
We plant a great mix , but in the unearthly weather and atrocious soil our corn did quite badly . Much of it rotted in the ear or was eaten by worms . In the move , the source we saved were further destroyed by weevils . No luck this year . We ’ll attempt again this yr .
IV. Make a Second Chicken Coop in the Garden
This happened , though not how we think it would . We merely set up our cattle panel chicken coop in the garden area and we drag it around as needed .
It ’s inviolable , but way too heavy .
predator are much less of an take here and it ’s worked well as a mostly stationary coop . We only have a dozen chickens now and that ’s been almost enough to keep us in bollock .
V. Hit 250,000 Subscribers on YouTube
VI: Release Four New Books
My composition for the year was massively derailed by our move . I write quite a bit on a tobacco Good Book I ’m project out , as well as onMinimalist horticulture , and I planned out another Word of God and a Kickstarter campaign for that , but they did n’t get finished .
However , this class consider the dismissal of the massively expanded and revised second version ofCreate Your Own Florida Food Forest , as well asThe South Florida Gardening Survival Guide .
We also discharge Steve Solomon ’s booksWater - Wise GardeningandEasy compost for Organic Gardenersfrom Good Books Publishing . I wanted to polish off four books of my own , but I ’m take this as a winnings .
VII: Put in (at least) Two More Grocery Row Gardens
We blew this one away , though not how we expected In the former summer and hang we re - build the integral Grocery Row Garden at the young prop . We ’ve also begin a new nutrient timberland and have an orchard planned as well .
VIII: Post Every Weekday on This Blog
FAILED ( BUT NOT BY MUCH )
Yet we did fairly good here . There were 260 weekday in 2022 and there were 224 posts .
The stats are :
January : 24February : 21March : 22April : 20May : 15June : 14July : 15August : 14September : 21October : 15November : 18December : 25
We had some crazy day this year and could n’t quite hit it , but we did handle to easily get 2021 ’s sorry year of only 156 posts . It ’s not technically an “ achieve , ” but it sense like one .
And 4.5 out of 8 goals is n’t bad .
The 2022 Reading List
2022 was the twelvemonth I got rid of my smart telephone set and replaced it with a Light Phone II . Then , in November , I take the SIM card out of that telephone in parliamentary law to gear up my modem , so I ’m operate without any phone at all .
It ’s amazing . I highly recommend it .
Not having a smart phone mean that I had much more time to read , as I was no longer distracting myself with checking YouTube stats and reading headlines or scanning societal media .
I start posting my reading list in the sidebar here for my own records and so you all can see what I ’m reading .
As of today , this is how the list bear .
Currently Reading
The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy , Gentlemanby Laurence SternePractical Religionby J.C. RylePasture Perfect : How you may profit from Choosing heart , Eggs , and Dairy Products from Grass - Fed Animalsby Jo Robinson
Finished Reading
Born Again Dirtby Noah SandersAn Agricultural Testamentby Sir Albert HowardLandrace Gardeningby Joseph LofthouseThe Contagion Mythby Thomas S. Cowan and Sally Fallon MorrellThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Book 1 of 8) by Edward GibbonThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Book 2 of 8) by Edward GibbonThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Book 3 of 8) by Edward GibbonThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Book 4 of 8) by Edward GibbonA Soil Owner ’s Manualby Jon StikaComeback Farmsby Greg JudyDirt to Soilby Gabe BrownKeeping Bees with a Smileby Fedor Lazutin and Leo SharashkinBalanced Beekeeping I : build a Top Bar Hiveby Philip ChandlerBalanced Beekeeping II : manage the Top Bar Hiveby Philip ChandlerHandling Sinby Michael MaloneThe Rooted Lifeby Justin RhodesThe Complete Guide to Restoring Your Soilby Dale StricklerSoil Science for Gardenersby Robert PavlisThe Wheel of Health : The Sources of Long Life and Health Among the Hunzaby Dr. G. T. WrenchFor the Love of the Soilby Nicole MastersThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Book 5 of 8) by Edward GibbonThree Men in a Boat ( To Say Nothing of the Dog)by Jerome K. JeromeMetabolicalby Dr. Robert LustigSatyriconby Gaius PetroniusSkin in the Gameby Nassim TalebThe story of other Romeby LivyDissolving Illusionsby Suzanne Humphries and Roman BystrianykGoodbye , matter : The New Japanese Minimalismby Fumio SasakiLess : A Visual Guide to Minimalismby Rachel AustMinimalism : hold out a Meaningful Lifeby Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan NicodemusDe Agriculturaby CatoDon’t check the Carnivalby Herman WoukThe Art of Fermentationby Sandor KatzTom Jonesby Henry FieldingCoppice Agroforestryby Mark KrawczykThe More of Less : obtain the Life You Want Under Everything You Ownby Joshua BeckerEating on the Wild Sideby Jo RobinsonAeneidby VirgilBehold Your Mother : A scriptural and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrinesby Tim StaplesThe Holy Bible ( New King James Version)by GodBecoming Orthodoxby Peter Gilquist
Started then Ditched
Oliver Twistby Charles DickensThe Barefoot Beekeeperby Philip ChandlerHolistic Management , Third Edition : A Commonsense Revolution to Restore Our Environmentby Allan Savory
41 record is much good than I was doing when I had that stupid phone . To also deal record the full Bible in the year along with 39 other book really was n’t too forged .
I desire to place my thoughts on the various books soon .
10 Years of Blogging
This is alsomy TENTH year of writing this land site , and we now have over 2600 spot . I get going this web site so as to launch my garden penning career and to ram myself to be consistently originative on a docket . It work .
Events
In 2022 we attended the Keepers of the Old Ways event in Blountstown , Florida , plus did a tour down through the res publica , stopping at the Snyder Park Food Forest and ECHO .
after I got to mouth at the very effective Homesteading Life Conference with Doug and Stacy in Hannibal , Missouri , then at SCRUBFEST in North Florida , followed by the 2nd Annual Gulf Coast Homesteader ’s Meetup in Milton , Florida .
All great events with great mass , but SCRUBFEST was our respectable event – the energy was awful , and we got to meet lots of other Good Gardeners . We hope to do that again in 2023 .
Infrastructure
We buy a new homestead with two pastures and a pond and have been learning how to manage our own weed for the Bos taurus .
We created two milk areas and over - planted the large pasture with wintertime covering fire crop
We make a openhanded new garden area with an extra - marvellous deer fencing around it
We installed The International Shedquarters ( my 8 x 10 office shed ) at the newfangled homestead and hired a friend to help us run galvanizing to it
We put up a privacy fencing to harbor the view of the garden from the road
We put up a logic gate and a fence at the front of the property
A unexampled food forest was planted , sprawling over about a third of an Akka
We bought a used zero - turn mower
We buy a new Troybilt tiller
We bought a gamy - timbre scythe for making hay
We build a corridor through the woods connecting two pastures
… and quite a flake more , really . Moving to a Modern homestead have in mind we had lots of alteration to make
Final Thoughts
We started 2022 live in a rental star sign with a make - Modern babe and ended the twelvemonth with a young homestead and gardens in a unlike township . It was a class of monolithic alteration and blessings , battle and conquest .
If I shared the over story of our rental place and how it ended , you would really see the strain we were under – yet God pulled us through , as He always does .
May God bless and keep you in 2023 .
… and until then , may your thumbs always be dark-green .
