Happy 2017!

Oh my goodness it is a new year already. I have spent the last couple of months thinking, oh I need to post this amazing (insert whatever I just made, pie, cookie, etc.) recipe! Only to look down and there is nothing left to take a picture of. Optimistically I then think, oh I will make it again this weekend and write down my changes and take pictures... can you guess what happens? No? Seriously? Okay, I know you know. Anyway, the holidays flew by and now it's the start of the new year, again. So many little changes and big goals are racing around in my mind. It can be rather overwhelming to think about all the things I want to get done. A year is a long time and yet, it is only a year.

How do you start the year? It is funny, until I started this blog, I wasn't huge about goals. The year started with the school year or with a new job/role, new baby, etc. The last couple of years, it has been more about seasons. Sap season, planting, chicks and hatching, canning, tomato season, garden clean up, butchering, hunting, holidays, cold dark reading days. The cycle continues in an ever turning wheel.

I like the idea of goals more and more. When setting goals, if you want to achieve them, you must actually plan. Because really, "a goal without a plan is a wish." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) Typically I am more of a goal setter and a poor planner. I am also terrible about holding myself accountable. How about you? Do you ever say, oh I will (insert great idea here such as stop eating too much chocolate, get more rest, exercise, weed the garden) as soon as I get up tomorrow? Yeah, we all do it. (If you don't you totally rock!) My main goal this year is to do better planning. Better planning starts with clearer defined goals broken into manageable steps. Last year I kicked off the year with doing a happiness project. This year, I am kicking off the year with a No Spend project (more about that later this month).

So without further ado, here are my broad goals as I have defined them so far.

2017 Homestead Goals
Garden focus: tomatoes, dry beans, cucumbers
- Can enough tomatoes for an entire year without supplement
- Grow and dry enough dry beans for the winter, I am thinking 15 lbs but need to do a better calculation
- Grow enough cucumbers to eat and can 20 quarts
Orchard Focus: tend to current fruit plants to encourage growth
Animals and Livestock focus:
- Reduce rooster population
- Put chickens to work in the garden
- Minimize swarming and increase honey production
Overall Homestead Goal: Waste less, preserve more

2017 Personal Goals
- Read 50 books
- Do a 4 month No Spend (started today)
- Post at least once a week.
Stretch goal for this blog: one recipe, one goal/other post per week.
-Declutter and clean out all the stuff I don't need/want/use. Basically simplify my possessions.

Those are my starting goals. I hope to spend time shaping them more as the month unfolds. How about you? What are hopes dreams, goals and plans for this year?