We accomplished quite a bit in 2017, and we're looking forward to another productive year. Without further ado, these these are our GSD (gettn' stuff done) plans for 2018:
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| Heading home...and into a brand new year! |
1. Build an enclosure for the pump
This was already on our "stuff we need to do eventually" list, but there's nothing like having your pipes freeze (repeatedly) to move things up to the "sooner rather than later" list.
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2. Put down flooring in the attic
I'm proud to announce that we've already knocked this one out. Craig took care of it the first weekend in January, so it absolutely counts on our 2018 list. We've got plenty of room in the attic for storage, but we only had temporary flooring in there. Craig cut plywood to fit around the various supports, wires and other obstacles so we'd be able take advantage of all that storage space. Just in time to pack away the Christmas decorations!
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This is probably the least pretty "after" pic ever.
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3. Renovate the little barn
Okay, renovate might be overselling it, but now that we have electricity to the barn we are ready for the next phase of making the barn into a workshop. We plan to put up siding on the exterior, paint it, and put in windows and a new barn door.
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4. Double the wildflower meadow
This same goal will be on our list for the next several years, as we plan to keep extending the flowers until we run out of meadow. We've purchased seed from American Meadows for the last two years (and plan to continue), but I also save as many seeds as I can to add to the mix. I gather the seeds from our planted flowers, but also from any wildflowers I find in other areas of the farm.
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| Lulu is a so helpful when I'm collecting flower seeds |
5. Spruce up the cabin exterior (paint the foundation and landscape)
This is another holdover from last year; we've done some work already, but this year we're focusing on the aesthetics. We want to paint the concrete block foundation and put in gardens along the front. We've also promised Daddy that we'd finish planting azaleas all the way across the edge of the backyard.
6. Cut more trees and brush along the lane
This is a job that is best done when the weather is cooler, and we didn't have all that much cool weather last year. Of course now we've got the opposite problem and it is too cold to work outside! Hopefully we'll have sufficient cool-enough-but-not-too-cold weekends that we can get more done this spring, before the grass starts demanding all of Craig's free time. We'd like to eventually clear out the brush, scraggly saplings, and overcrowded trees along the lane.
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7. Clear the goat garden area and start new gardens
I'm planning to put in gardens in the area that used to be goat pasture, hence the Goat Gardens moniker. More recently it was planted pines, but since those were cut down last spring that area is a mess of tree debris and overgrown weeds. This area is the future home of fruit trees, grape arbors, the vine trellis, and more flowers, of course. The goat garden area is highlighted in yellow below (Hopefully Google will get a new aerial shot soon - this picture is from before the pines were cut).
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| Yellow - goat garden Blue - house |
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| Goat barn on the far right |
8. Expand the walking path around the farm
There are several "paths" that you can walk around the farm, and taking a stroll around the big pond is somewhat of a tradition when visiting. We want to clear more paths so we can walk around the entire edge of the property, and we also need to repair a couple of bridges that go over parts of the little pond (and probably put in at least one new one).
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| Red - property line (roughly) Green - current paths Orange - future paths Yellow - goat garden |
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| Still pretty solid, but with a definite tilt. |
You're never really finished with gardening, but we'll consider the island done once we cut down the last of the trees we want to clear out and plant something attractive that can compete with the blackberry brambles. The island is a large part of the view from the front porch, so while we don't plan to turn it into garden, making it a little more picturesque would be nice. The hill on the island has a pine tree on top that would be a nice focal point if it weren't mostly obscured by the smaller trees. We also planted a weeping cypress tree last year that is likewise obscured. But mother nature has to cooperate before we can finish clearing - the water levels in the pond have been too high to get at most of the trees we wish to remove.
10. Poll winner is: build a vine trellis!
In our 2017 goal wrap-up post, we asked you to vote on which one of three projects you'd like to see us take on, and the winner with 45% of the vote was building a vine trellis. So we plan to build something like this as an entrance into the new goat garden:
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| We do actually have the space for one this long...hmmm.... |
Of course ours won't be nearly this grandiose and it will take a while to grow in, but hopefully it will do us proud. I found what I think are roof trusses from an old hoop house in the big barn last year, and ever since I've wanted to use them to build a vine trellis. So thanks to everyone who voted for it! I'm researching what I want to plant on it - it has to be something that will grow in quickly and be attractive all year long, but not so aggressive that I have to fight to keep it contained. Hummingbird and/or pollinator attractiveness is a bonus. Suggestions are welcome!
So that's our plans for the coming year. There will be other projects that come up, plus problems to solve and hopefully some pleasant surprises, too. We're looking forward to another year of living the dream and sharing our stories with all of you.
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