Looking back

I am not sure where on the scale between success and failure we ended up at.

GOAL:6 roasters in freezer (#1 - 6.25 LBS, #2 - 7.25 LBS) - well we ended up with 2. I never did find more Cornish Cross chicks, but then I didn't look very hard.

GOAL:Lavender planted at clothesline (IN POT BY COOP) - I don't know if it will come back in the spring. I really should have put it in the ground.

GOAL:Side of beef or pork in freezer - we didn't really try to do this.

GOAL:wheelchair ramps CHECK

GOAL: try making bacon and ham - so I tried to get to the Asian market on Federal in Denver to get pork belly - but got lost and gave up.

GOAL: cord of wood split and seasoned - yeah, that didn't happen. But I did agree to trade some of my time helping a neighbor clean her basement for enough seasoned wood to fill our indoor rack, although the swap has not been made yet

GOAL:All landscaping weeded. Although we still need to do some heavy pruning - I consider this done. Having been so overgrown for so many years this will take vigilance.

GOAL: Top bar hive - move to this year's list

GOAL: Cherry tree, Rhubarb, and Raspberries planted CHECK

GOAL: acquire unwanted fruit from neighborhood - I did get tomatoes, squash, etc. But I meant actual fruit. The apple harvest was non-existent this last year, but we did not take advantage of the alley grapes at all.

GOAL: Successful garden = all canning jars used. - Last year's garden was mediocre. And I did not take advantage of all of the harvest we did have - a lot went to the chickens cause I just didn't feel like dealing with it. Need to get the rest of the family involved in preserving. I do think, sometimes, the more I want to be successful, the harder it is.

GOAL: Quail "tractor" (HUTCH CHECK) - the hutch I built turned out to be not right for the situation, but the free hutch is perfect.

GOAL: Attractive coop built. Not only did the coop never get finished - but we need a bigger and better designed one. This one will be a great duck shelter though.

But we learned things that I think were important:

Teaching the girls the difference between livestock and pets and that it is good to have both.

Learning how to grow more starts, earlier and indoors.

Learning not to plant the P-patch boxes so tightly - tomatoes and nasturtiums will take over!

All of the amending to the soil with the chickens, rabbits, etc.

That this makes us happy.

That in itself makes last year a success.

(I have no idea why this post ended up in caps. I did not look that way when I was writing it.)