New Years Resolutions 2008

While growing my own organic food is a wonderful way to become more self sufficient, there are some additional steps that I plan to take in the next couple years.
· Install an outdoor, solar heated shower and tub for summertime use in the garden.
· Install a clothesline for drying all of my laundry
June –September.
· Stop using plastic grocery bags. Make cloth bags out of my excess fabric supply.
· Compost and Recycle everything possible.
· Build a root cellar for storing veggies.
· Stop shopping at giant superstores. Support local farmers for all of the items I cannot grow myself. Buy local grass fed meats and local cheeses, butter and milk (organic). Switch to all organic beauty and health products.
· Shop for groceries only once per week and limit driving to conserve fuel.
· Clean out all excess clutter and stuff I don’t need out of my home and garage.
· Build a fire pit and a solar cooker in2008 and add a cob oven 2009.
· Can, freeze and preserve as much of the excess harvest for winter time consumption. Make homemade wine and vinegar.
· Use my dried gourds to build bird houses. Feed the birds year round.
· Install bat houses and an owl house
· Raise honey bees
· Build a water catchment system to harvest rain water from my garage and greenhouse. Use this water in the summer to cut down on the well use. I am hoping to harvest 500-750 gallons of water in 2009.
· Install Grey water system for bathroom sinks/shower and washer water conservation 2009.
· Install solar power panels, beginning with my water heater and by 2010 become completely solar powered.

Our Garden Goals

In order to achieve our dream of self sufficient living it is important to set some goals and put together a plan. We understand that in our lives things rarely go exactly as planned. What we want to accomplish is will take time. Mark and I have worked hard this summer to prepare for our backyard wedding. It was so wonderful to work together with our friends and family and everything turned out beautifully.

Goal 1 – Grow enough food to feed our household (2 people) with surplus to share with our friends and neighbors. Preserve as much of the harvest as possible for winter consumption. Whatever we cannot grow ourselves buy from local farmers and ranchers.

Goal 2 – Install water catchments and grey water reuse systems. Conserve as much water as possible.

Goal 3 – Decrease our waste by consuming less and recycling everything we possibly can.

Goal 4 – Install solar panels for electricity and heating (within 5 years)