My one (almost) certainty is that I'll have does kidding in August or September. That means that I'll have kids to sell, and home raised raw milk for drinking, cheese and butter, or possibly making goats milk soap. This is probably what I'm most excited for. I think that I will primarily make cheese and soap with my goat milk, and continue to buy raw cow milk. Nigerian milk is perfect for cheese and butter because it has such a high butterfat content, and cow milk is the generally preferred taste for my family. Right now, I can't afford enough raw milk to make our own cheese, so we're still getting pasteurized cheese. Yuck!! I can't wait to be able to have 100% raw dairy products for myself and my family. Yum yum yum!
Also, I just ordered our tomato plants for this year! I'm very excited. I ordered about 40 plants from the Tomato Baby Company (http://www.tomatobabycompany.com). I also ordered a few sweet peppers and bell peppers, and plan on getting some jalapeños later. I'm hoping to have enough tomatoes this year to sell them, either in a road side stand or at a small farmer's market, or maybe just from my front yard. Goodness knows that we can't eat all of the tomatoes from 40 plants! My plan for any left overs that don't get eaten or sold is to can them. I would actually like to put back enough canned tomatoes to last for the year - then we would have home grown tomatoes for spaghetti, Rotel, lasagna, and whatever else we might make!
I'm really hoping - maybe foolishly, but maybe it will work out - to finally have a chicken coop and some chickens. What would that mean for Wonderland? Well, first of all, it would mean not buying any more eggs that come from caged, grain-fed, chickens that lead poor lives and produce nutritionally sub-par eggs. It would also mean having eggs to sell to the public! That would put a little bit of money in my pocket, and give more people the option of eating eggs from well cared for chickens that have access to all the yummy buggy and grassy goodies they can desire. It would also open up the possibilities of selling fertile hatching eggs or chicks, depending on what kind of chickens I buy, and how many. It would also open the door for supplying my family's chicken meat needs- that would most likely not be obtainable in the first year, though.
The last thing I'm hoping to achieve this year is related to my tomato goals. I also want to have other vegetables and melons to sell to people. I'm planning on having a booming garden this year! I just hope the weather cooperates with me this year, rather than turning our garden into a gigantic mud hole again, like it did last year.
So, those are my semi-short term goals. I do, of course, have more long term goals. Those will happen in steps; I want to start out with what I've listed here. The second step will be adding Muscovy or heritage ducks and heritage turkeys. The next step is very, very long term, and involves me graduating from college, buying more land, and expanding Wonderland in ways that it cannot expand while I live on only five acres. I also have non-farm related goals; those involve writing and a bakery, but you don't need to know about those. ;)
Okay, that book-length blog aside, I would like to remind everyone that I still have homemade Oatmeal Complexion Soap and Old Fashioned Lye Soap for sale, for $4.00 and $1.50, respectively. I also am selling some gently used women's clothing- if you're interested in that, you can follow this link for more info - http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=345901
That link will take you to a listing I posted on my favorite forum advertising the clothing, but you can email me about them. You don't have to contact me through the forum.
If you'd like to contact me about the soap, the clothes, or just because, you can email me at themuffinwoman@aol.com
Have a Happy Spring, everyone!
-Rachel in Wonderland
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