2. Build a stand-alone goat hut in the pasture. This one is more a chore for my husband. We currently have the goats in a huge plastic thing that used to be a vat of cooking oil or something. There's a door cut in it, and it's sitting under a covered lean-to, which is part of the shed. It's very possible the new pigs have taken this over. Or the flies have booted them all out (we have GOT to do something about them!) We saw some little goat houses on campus at Tuskegee University in March that Rocky thought he could duplicate here on our farm. They just look like someone took a wide sheet of metal and made an arch, then secured the ends in the dirt. It would definitely get a lot more air-flow, which, personally, I believe those little stinkers need. 3. Preserve the harvest by freezing, canning and drying (no waste). I've got more research to do. We did harvest and can some tomatoes & pickles in our first garden together a few years ago, so we are familiar with blanching and water baths. We upgraded Rocky to a pressure canner a couple of fathers' days ago, but last year was a total bust with a newborn and the move to the farm. The year before that was a bust--I was in my first trimester with the Ax Man and we were still trying to garden on our property nine miles from where we were living. We had to give up because our water source dried up early in the season. We did, however, manage to keep up a small raised garden at the townhouse, where we grew mesclun lettuce, some tomatoes, cucumbers, and so much basil! 4. Start some fall/winter crops With the summer crops in the ground, and the late ones going in by next weekend, we want to make sure to look forward a few months, so we can be prepared. (Can you tell I'm a planner? Yeah.) I've never planted any Fall or Winter crops, so I'm really excited to try this out. I really want to try something like planting my own pepper (the kind you grind over a finished meal) or asparagus, which both take multiple years to mature into anything that can be harvested. Maybe I never felt that much commitment to any one gardening space. No, you're right. This might be too ambitious for me right now, with two toddlers and two mortgages and all. Fall crops it is. I'm thinking definitely some acorn squash. Maybe brussels sprouts and broccoli. I'm not too ashamed to admit that I'd like an easy win to start out with, so I can punch myself up to try something more finicky. 5. Research how to build greenhouses. We are just in the dreaming stage for this, as we are digging ourselves out of a lot of debt. But if we can create a greenhouse inexpensively, and if I have demonstrated some proficiency in producing vegetables in our garden, then this may be a way to extend our growing season and produce more food, which would end up saving us money. So I'll be looking at construction and maintenance cost versus potential savings on this. My preference is to have the entire fall and winter for construction without haste, so that I could potentially start with early spring plantings. Pretty sure you haven't heard the last of me and my dream greenhouse. What are your garden goals?
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