As 2012 comes to an end, I guess it is time for me to take a look at the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year. It is only through reflecting on our goals that we know if we are progressing.
Grow my tomatoes from seed - This was the first goal that I met. I decided that I wanted to actually get some tomato plants from seed instead of the spindly little plants that I usually grew. I started out with a good soil mix and planted into soil cubes made from this. My tomatoes this year did very well. They had well developed stems and roots when I transplanted them into the garden. The soil cubes ensured there was little transplant shock. In the end they provided many tomatoes. I canned the majority of the fruit.
Plant fruit - This is another goal that I accomplished. In the Spring, I planted raspberries and grapes. I fell behind on these and didn’t build a trellis. I need to do this next year. This fall I planted sweet and tart cherries, apples and almonds. The fall plantings were bare root plants, so I won’t know until Spring how they transplanted. This is a goal that I will put on next year’s list of goals, to expand the orchard.
Expand the garden - Well, this is a judgement call on if I achieved this goal. I still have 20 garden beds like I had at the beginning of the year. However, I doubled the depth of a bunch of these beds. This allows the plants to set their roots deeper into my added soil. I feel that this fits into expanding the garden.
Build my shed - I still don’t have a shed, but I’m calling this partially completed. I build the box that will hold the stone base of the shed. However, I’m at a stand still right now because the ground is too soft to bring in big trucks. I need to haul a lot of stone and I decided to buy the shed instead of building it. So that truck will need to drive through the yard. I’m to the point where I am waiting for the ground to freeze so the trucks don’t do a lot of damage to the ground.
Grow and preserve more food - I don’t have numbers for 2011, but I know that I preserved a lot more food this year than I did in 2011. In 2011, I only preserved salsa, zucchini and green beans. But in 2012, I preserved a lot more items. Here’s my final totals, I’m very happy with what I preserved.
- 24 bags of frozen peas
- 3 pints of pickled garlic scapes
- 4 quarts crushed tomatoes
- 31 half pints tomato paste
- 23 pints salsa
- 4 pints bread & butter pickles
- 6 bags frozen zucchini
- 38 quarts canned green beans
- 22 bags of frozen corn
- 4 half-pints corn cob jelly
- 4 half-pints watermelon jelly
- 5 pints dill pickles
- 3 pints dilly beans
Garden better - I made the vague goal with the intention of keeping up on the garden chores. I really didn’t keep up on the weeding or mowing between the beds. So this is a fail.
Build a rain water catchment system - I did not create a water catchment system. I tracked down a local source for the materials, but that is where it ended. Hopefully I’ll accomplish that next year.
Get livestock - I did not get any livestock. I was hoping to get bees or chickens. Neither happened. For anyone following my 13 skills list, they know that beekeeping is on my list for 2013. So hopefully I’ll have bees this year.
Carry a notepad - Goal accomplished. I’ve been carrying that Memo Mate Notebook the entire year. I have taken notes on ideas that I have while at work or anyplace else. Just recently I started carrying a Maxpedition Micro Pocket Organizer and in there I have a “Rite in the rain” notepad, so this is my new notepad that I carry everywhere.
Make the blog mobile friendly - I failed on this. I kind of lost interest in this. The main reason is even if this is more mobile friendly, my phone is still not a smart phone and I know I won’t update the blog from my phone.
That’s where I stand on my 2012 goals. Some of these will make their way into my 2013 goals, others will just drop off the radar. In a couple of days I’ll put out my list of 2013 goals.
Reviewing goals is as important as making them! In 2012 you definitely moved forward in your overall preparations for your family, and that is what’s important. Can’t believe how much food you were able to preserve, we’re way behind in that category.
Thanks, Trace. I’m working on my goals for 2013. I doubt I’ll have them out tomorrow, but should be soon. As for the preserving, I’m just concentrating on a different end of the spectrum than you are. We all eventually cover the same ground.
Thanks for sharing your goals and progress! It seems like such a simple thing to do, but its surprising how much of us actually put pen to paper and set goals and hen follow up on them like you have. It seems like blogging is an easier way for us to set goals and make sure we follow through on them. I will need to take a page from you and set some goals for 2013.
One suggestion I would have for you to “make your blog mobile” is to consider getting an iPad. The wife’s computer was due for a replacement so we finally bit the bullet and got her an iPad for Christmas. I must admit I have been using it a lot to review my blog and start to make updates. With its photo capability I can definitely seeing us using this to keep our blog updated as she can take photos and I can follow up with the writing component.
As I mentioned earlier I can’t wait for your foray into beekeeping in 2013. Thanks for a great blog.
Someone advised me to write up goals to be accountable.for following through. Last year was the first time I’ve ever done that and I think it really helped keep me on track.
As for the iPad, I don’t do Apple products. However, I’ve ordered a Samsung Galaxy Player, that’s basically a smart phone without the phone. I will likely make some updates that way, so it will be an incentive to make it mobile.
Thanks for the comment.