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Friday, February 11, 2011

Homestead Planning

I have been thinking about what the homestead should look like this year.  How it will evolve.  And what we can realistically afford to do.  (That last one is a killer.)

I spent an entire night gleefully looking through the Murray McMurray hatchery catalog.  You have to order in sets of 25 so that the chicks have enough warmth, so my chicken planning grew exponentially.  So many chickens!  I got so involved in fantasy ordering that I dreamed about chickens that night.  Happy, clucking, fluffy chickens were in every scene of my dreams.  I woke up happy.

I still need to place our garden order.  I am making that a priority this weekend.  We need to narrow down our seed list - right now it is just too large to be realistic.  (And yes, dear, I know when I say "our", I mean "my."  Sheesh.)  I have to make sure to stick to our budget. (Update: 2/12 seeds are ordered.  Shipping almost sent me over budget, but I am so excited about what we have on order!)

This planning is fun, but I have to try to tone myself down.  I have a tendency towards immediate gratification.  I want to do it all now, now now, and then I get stressed out when it all falls apart.  I know this about myself and yet yesterday, I entered a contest to win a free Jersey heifer calf.  How could I resist?   Free Cow!  All I had to do was write an essay.

It is unlikely they will pick me (Jen does not have that type of luck), but I am having Contestant's Remorse.  I am freaked out about all that we would have to do, and what we would have to postpone should we suddenly have a calf enter our lives.  Hello fencing, hay, grain, barn.  Goodbye chickens.  Would that be a tragedy?  No.  Definitely not.  Cows are expensive to purchase and it would just mean adjusting the master plan.  But it would also require a major adjustment to the way we live, as well as the pace we seem to have set to get the homestead up and running.

That kind of change is hard.  I guess winning a cow would really test if we are going to truly jump into this new lifestyle.  Or are we all talk?

2 comments:

  1. Do you have a Tractor Feed Store down there? You should be able to buy chicks separately, just enough for eggs for you guys. We have a few stores here, and you can hand-pick them yourself.

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  2. We do have Tractor Supply, and that would be the logical choice. But you know me. I want very specific breeds of chickens. Last season they didn't have the ones we want. I know of a local breeder, though, so that is always an option.

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