Thursday, January 1, 2009

Goals for 2009

I have never been good at new years resolutions.  In fact, I once joked that the only time I kept a resolution was when I resolved to never make resolutions again! I think part of my problem with them is, if you want to make a change in your life- do it- you don't need to wait until the beginning of a new year.  That being said, I do think the new year is a good opportunity to reflect on the old and plan for the future.
2008 was tough on us:  Job stress, changes and loss, illness, floods. I don't want to try this one again.  But it has also been a year of growth.  We started looking for an acreage last year in February but didn't have much luck finding one we could afford or that we liked.  One the land was perfect but the house needed a bulldozer, another was too far away, another had a great house but not much useable land.  Another for sale by owner house we wanted to go look at, the guy just never called us back.  But I have managed to bring V on board with the whole thing.  He was very interestedly looking through the root cellar book since that is something we decided we wanted even before we got the book.  I have been working on my food preservation skills and we made much more of a concerted effort to be sure where our food came from.
Yeah, the good and the bad.  But 2009 is a fresh start.  So much of what I want to accomplish this year is dependent of V's ability to find a new job.  That said, here are the goals for 2009:
1. Food production-  Plan, plant, weed and harvest garden.  Last year with all the flooding the weeds got out of control in a large section of the garden so we'll have to try extra hard to keep on top of it this year.  I need to make getting out to the garden more of a priority.  The biggest problem is that I have to drive a few miles to get to the garden so it turns into an expedition rather than being able to take advantage of little bits of time that I may have.
2. Food security- By the end of the year, I would like to have at least 50% of our food be either grown ourselves or locally produced.  I hope for a higher percentage but I'm going to keep it realistic.  Even 50% is better than the average person.
3. Home front-  Find and purchase our homestead acreage.  This one really depends on V's job situation.  This also entails getting our house ready to sell so V has a list of projects that he is going to work on while off work.
4.  Health-  I want to get into better physical shape.  Some of that involves shedding a few of the extra pounds I have acquired over the years but also just getting back into shape.  I do walk back and forth to work but it's easy to use that as my exercise and ignore all the other components. Being able to spend more time in the garden will help but I need to come up with an exercise plan I can stick with.
5. Learn something new-  I want to learn to knit.  I haven't been making time for it lately and I am determined that I'll figure it out.
6.  The 3 R's- I want to reduce more waste at home- both of stuff and money.  We need to be more deliberate about our purchases and decide if we REALLY need something before purchasing.
I hope these are all things I can manage in the year ahead.  They don't seem unreasonable to me.  Granted, finding the homestead will be the biggest challenge.  I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about planting my garden and then moving since we don't garden at our house anyway.

8 comments:

  1. Geez Judy--stealing my resolutions! Mine are a little different because this is the first garden of my own--I've been planting/weeding/harvesting from my Dad's market garden the past two years. Happy 2009. Kris

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  2. I wish you lots of joy and abundance for the year. I hope your hubby's job prospects/security improves greatly.

    I'm learning to knit! let me know when you've started.

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  3. Hickchick- I guess great minds think alike!!
    Kris and Mon- Thanks.
    Happy 2009 to all!

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  4. Best wishes in the New Year, and with your goals!

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  5. Resolutions are a mixed bag for me too - as you said, a commitment to making a change or goal in life can come at any time, and is often most "stick-to-it" when the inspiration hits hardest, not at the start of the year. Plus the pressure of "following the plan" sometimes takes the joy out of the process for me.

    But yes, reflection is good. And your goals are great! Totally do-able, especially having local food - 50% or more is something I'm sure you'll meet and exceed. If its anything like around here, the farmers are thrilled to have the support of community members like you and the more they see, the more they will make possible. The root cellar idea too makes total sense. I like that all your goals fit together, supporting each other to make a cohesive whole. Good luck and happy 2009!

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  6. LisaZ- thanks for stopping by- Happy New Year to you as well!
    Localzone- I'm so impressed by your eating 100% local. I will aspire to that someday but we're breaking lots of old habits. I really hope to be able to produce 50% of our food but I'm not sure how realistic that is. I'll really need to ramp up production and storage although the pressure canner should be a help. I love green beans in the summer but have never been happy with home frozen ones. I grew up with my Mom canning beans and always liked them (SO much better than store bought canned ones!!). We'll see how it goes. I'm not sure how to accurately measure it but I'm thinking if I look at how much at a given meal or day is local or home produced it should be fairly accurate.
    Judy

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  7. Have you ever thought of buying a secondhand bike to get to the garden? I love walking places, but bikes are fun to zoom around on, and a few miles can be a 10-30 minute ride. You could even make it flashy with a big basket attached for produce.

    Exercise, money saver, and a fun way to get to the garden.

    I bought an Old schwinn road bike a few years ago and rode to school and work, it was great fun. Unfortunately, I'm out near gravel roads now and the road bike tires aren't so helpful. Don't know what I'll do with it.

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Glad you stopped in. I would love to hear from you.