Questions for Effective Homesteading Goals

Welcome to 2019!

You are going to hear so much today about resolutions, renewal, and the new you.

I won't go quite that far. But I am going to mention that for every goal we set this year, there are 4 other questions that will help you ensure you reach that goal.

What skills will you need in order to meet your goal?
What equipment will help you reach your goal?
What habits will you need to develop?
What relationships will you require?

This year I have the goal of collecting and preserving 365 lbs of fruit. I'll actually end up preserving more than that (I usually collect and preserve about 600 lbs). In order to help make that goal happen this you I would answer those 4 questions with...

In order to collect and preserve 365 lbs of fruit (from within Alberta!), I will need...

To increase my identification repertoire for local wild fruits. (I know there is more here that we could be eating but I've been in a rut of sticking to what I know, I would like to add even more diversity)

Although I got a berry rake last year, I need better harvesting containers. My basket has a hole in it :( I would also like to make an apple picker so I can get apples that are higher up.

I will need to continue to develop the habit of harvesting at least once a week, and more than likely 2-3 times per week when fruits are in season. I'd also like to develop the habit of tracking my harvests every season and listing where I harvested from.

I need to develop relationships with people from outside my region so I can add diversity to our fruit diet. I am blessed to have relationships close to home for harvesting as much as I could ever want of blueberries, raspberries, saskatoons, and apples.

From answering these questions I actually have an actionable list of things to do to help me meet my goal! I need...

To make or buy containers
To make an apple picker
To make a list of other fruit I'd like to learn to identify in the wild
To make or buy a harvesting tracker
To build relationships with people out of my region for harvesting with

Consider communicating the things you will need to meet your homesteading goal here! I bet you'll meet people who can help you with those things!

From my home fire your yours, hai hai.