5 Goals for 2019!

I just LOVE Charli Wilson's thread 5 Goals for 2017 (& 2018) and there were also threads for 2014, 2015 and 2016. I thought we could start one for 2019, as well!

What are your five permaculture-related goals for 2019? Did you complete the ones for 2018?

This year I'm thinking these will be my goals:

(1) Make a garden bed for my daughter
(2) Mend the ducks' fence (note to self, always buy galvanized fencing! The non-galvanized chickenwire started failing after a year!)
(3) Make a garden bed and trellis for kiwi's/grapes
(4) Figure out exactly where I want to plant my Chestnut trees, and get them planted and protected!
(5) Slow down and enjoy my kids more, rather than frantically trying to do everything. They're old enough to help, and we can all enjoy working together!

Thanks for starting this Nicole! Here are my 5 goals (homesteading focused):

1 - Install a fence around my main zone 1 area to make it a safe area for my kidos to play in.
2 - Finish building a new zone 1 garden surrounding a gathering area just outside my backdoor.
3 - Plant fruit trees and berry bushes/vines.
4 - Build a new pond and expand my existing one.
5 - Get better at time management and don't take on too much.

Nicole,

Another vote for a great thread here, thanks for starting it.

1). Get my first Woodchip mushroom compost bed in planting condition so I can direct seed straight into mushroom compost with no amendments.

2). Get my mountains of woodchips decaying faster and spread & inoculated sooner with wine caps in order to add 2-3 more mushroom compost beds.

3). Replace the logs that are presently forming the sides of my compost beds with something that won’t decay (mushrooms are eating my logs quickly!)

4). Trim back my peach trees in my orchard that have become very difficult to mow around.  I want to shape these better.

5). Add woodchips/wine caps around my fruit trees and start planting comfrey In the orchard for chop&drop.

6 of 5). Really start using my now-established comfrey plants to chop&drop in the garden.

Eric

We've had about two consecutive weeks of +40C (104F) days with 70% humidity and that's in the shade, so there's not a lot happening outdoors at the moment other than watching the grass and weeds grow from inside an air conditioned house.

Five things on the Permaculture 'to do list' for 2019:

1. Clean out the neglected chook run and introduce the new hens to it.
2. Make a frame to hold a very heavy 1950's double basin concrete washtub so it can be given a new life as a herb and leafy greens bed outside the kitchen door
3. Prune and fertilise, with chook manure from cleaning the yard, the lime/tangelo and fig trees, and rose bushes.
4. Rebuild a 40 year old awning so it provides a more pleasant outdoor sitting area to admire the garden and provide cover to do potting, etc.
5. Clear out a significant infestation of weed vines before they fruit and spread gazillions of seeds.

1. Complete pig barn over winter (we are using wine bottles for insulation http://www.sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=1585
2. Plant enought beans, potatoes, corn and squash to feed pigs and us throughout the year.  (Heaps of broad beans already in, seed for everything else ready to go when weather arrives) using advice and varieties form Carol Deppe https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-resilient-gardener/
3. Organize pig killing locally and butchering, (us to learn see https://youtu.be/vrOOwOOJS9Q)
4. Learn to preserve pork (see https://youtu.be/qcwu6K4crHc, https://youtu.be/IqFrbXISZTY, https://youtu.be/dwlJV-Z5HFY)
5. Get fit enough to enjoy the year, like myself and achieve my goals. And eat pork!

1) Add culinary mushrooms to the main chip path in the forest garden.
2) Add culinary mushrooms to logs along the forest path from the forest garden to the stream (someone nearby just cut and left oak logs on the edge of the road, so those are now behind my house waiting to come in and be inoculated).
3) Finish building out the planting beds and paths on the west side of the forest garden and plant the goumi seedlings (Oikos) in them that are coming in the spring.  I had great luck with my goumi that is planted in the shady north edge of the small lawn behind my house and want to explore seedling genetics a bit....seems like there's some decent variability from what I've read.
4) Build a biochar hugel analogy.  I haven't tried a hiked up planting mound with biochar and would love to see how far biochar's water holding capacity will take it.  I'm interested in the idea that it won't subside down over time for applications where I want a long term wind block.
5) Build a small test array of masonry radiators to track how this works in practice over the seasons.  Probably will plant a fig in there as a test, but really also want to plant a yuzu....decisions, decisions.

Mine is all related to go full circle, yet each is its own challenge::

1.Build a rocket griddle/hotplate

2.Unplug stove for 2 weeks. Use rocket only.

3.Make lye solution using rocket and ash from rocket

4.Make bar soap from above, using rocket as heat source.

5.Make liquid soap from above.

I like making goals too. It helps me focus

1. Learn how to use Permies website, reply, account, navigate, etc. Finally learned how to register for an account so now I can reply.  Little steps.
2. Make new permaculture diagram for my back yard area.
3. Design, build axillary garden structures...drying rack, cold frame or green house, get electric fence.
4. Complete chicken tractor
5. Accomplish paint removal on one more side of house. (Hopefully paint it too, but it's a huge job so I'm trying to be realistic.

BTW. I ordered a brick of Permaculture Playing Cards and they did arrive in time for Christmas. Love them but do wish the body copy lettering was larger since i'm at the retirement end of the spectrum. Still fun to give away and many of my friends already have reading helpers. A great way to start a discussion about permaculture.

Jan

Amanda Launchbury-Rainey wrote:1. Complete pig barn over winter (we are using wine bottles for insulation http://www.sparklingadventures.com/index.php?id=1585

Very interesting...any concern about the sand entering the bottles and causing the floor support to weaken a bit, or do you think the sand is just there to support the concrete while it sets and the bottles will support the floor well even if some of the sand slips into the bottles over time?  Maybe it's just a bottle placement issue and if you push them tight up against each other the opening will not be available?

5. Get fit enough to enjoy the year, like myself and achieve my goals. And eat pork!  

 
I need to add this one onto my list!

Ive seen this method used in historical documents as well as the link I give. The shape of the bottles mean they fit together very well. Check out the link and see if you agree. I will try to find the other link, where the bottles are actually used in a pig pen, and will post pics as we do ours. All the best with your no. 5, Greg!

I met you all this automn, you are my goal, using your method to get  more autonomous, I am using permaculture (for the last 3 years) and I will do more of that, I want to built a rochet mass heater. I have started to pick things, like barel and clay, and I am studing with your book and videos. I have make the drawing for my greenhouse and I am learning about chikchens. I intend to do all of this, and enjoy it this summer and keep doing. I am 65 and you are helping me in my goal. Thanks to you all.   france.

Usually by new year I have loads of goals and aims, but I haven't given it all much thought this year!
2019 goals
1. Finish the ultimate greenhouse- the structure is all built, it just needs cladding, an electricity supply running to it, then the inside raised beds building and various computery-sensor things hooking up. Once the water has receded after our epic rains.
2. Be fitter- which translates to getting out more into the countryside and nature. I have a lovely 10km open water swim event booked later this year, but I need some practice to be able to enjoy it! Also running and cycling- I live in an area called the Peak District- I should go out and explore it!
3. Do more of the crafts I enjoy- I used to do glass lampworking and loved it, but have done very little the past 6 years or so (during which I built the studio for it instead of actually doing the craft). There's a competition in June, maybe I shall make something and enter that.
4. Do some allotment jobs- these include setting up water collection, a bit of fencing and building a greenhouse up there (a standard aluminium one this time!)
5. Keep better records of produce and inputs. What did I grow where, how much did i grow, how many eggs did I actually get, etc.

Checking out my 2018 goals I didn't do too badly either. Completed 2/5, and half did another 3/5- in that I completed half of it but perhaps not the full goal.

Hooray for goals!

Some of mine for 2019:

1. More brush-damming https://permies.com/t/51421/Creek-repair-brush-dams

2. More rock-damming https://permies.com/t/53556/Creek-repair-rock-dams

3. Another Pollinator Habitat  https://permies.com/t/94376/permaculture-projects/Pollinator-Habitat-Project

4. Finish fencing the cemetery  https://permies.com/t/87862/ungarbage/Green-Family-Cemetery

5. Clean and replant frog pond

I am still a novice gardener and have struggled with a few key crops over the last two years. This year I hope to use what I learned and do much better with regard to timing, pest protection, etc...

Great thread idea as just typing this out made me realize I need to start doing some of this right now!

1) Cut back wild vines that grow up./over the chicken coop fence and netting. Plant Trionfo Violetto (purple) pole beans to provide shade and hopefully have lots of easy to pick beans dangling through the netting all summer/fall.

2) Plant cucumber, pole beans, and other cut worm targets in pots with the bottom cut out so roots can expand. Use the yard fencing as a trellis for cucs, beans, indeterminate tomatoes, etc...to save space in the small fenced veggie garden.

3) Focus on the handful of crops that I really want and have had some success with, and resist the temptation to try new varieties/species or retry things that never do well.

Wow  check this out  
My 5 Goals are to do this

jim bledsoe wrote:Wow  check this out  
My 5 Goals are to do this

https://youtu.be/D0AIqyNuY_M

Love it!  Please do it!  Would love to see competitions of this technique.  Also, I really liked the background music, so double thank you Jim.

Would be great if you can get the prices down a bit :)  https://fullgrown.co.uk/

Goals for 2019

1. Keep a journal. Garden, projects, life

2.Harvest the evergreens on our south side that have grown and are blocking our south windows.

3. finish building and planting the hugel bed I started last year.

4. clear away sod to plant more helpful plants under fruit trees (guilds)

5. prune apple tree.

I shy away from making resolutions, even setting goals for a coming year. If for one reason or another I can't get it all done, I end up mentally beating myself up every December 31st. So now I call mine a list of hopes and dreams, so that I'm not under so much pressure.

1- My house. In 2019 I'm hoping to finish my house. It's been a work in progress for 13 years. Self building it, I've learned a lot and gotten deep satisfaction out of this project. I always wanted to build my own house, so here I am, just a bathroom away from completion.
2- Pig  pasture.  I'm already working on creating a 1+ acre enclosure for my two breeding pigs. The basic fencing is up, but the bottom needs to be secured to be pig-proof. I plan to build a couple shelters, feeders, and a wallow. The past few months time was devoted to clearing the fern underbrush (there was nothing much else growing under the trees) and I will be sowing oats shortly as a ground covering pasture. I still also need to cross fence it so the pigs can be moved from section to section, giving me the ability to sow edible crops for them to eat while the pasture is resting from their destructive habits. I figure it may take a few years before the pasture is established enough to be self maintaining.
3- Homegrown livestock feed. In 2018 I experimented with various homegrown feeds, looking beyond the idea of just pastures. Bananas, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, pipinolas all held great promise. So I plan to propagate a lot of these and incorporate them into my orchard "food forest", and margin areas.
4- Pastures. I need to improve my pastures. I've completed the cross fencing and am in the process of thinning out the poor quality trees, thus opening up the pastures to more sunlight. I'm removing the fern understory. This year I plan to continue the work, hoping to get several acres seeded in assorted grasses and forbs.
5- Expand the veggie production. I'd like to be growing enough excess on a regular basis so that I can have a presence at our local farmers market. Up till now it's been hit n miss....mostly miss.

A fun project I plan to do is raise snails and slugs. Not a serious project, but it should be interesting, educational, and at least I can feed them to the chickens if I'm successful. I like having a fun project to work on to remind me that life shouldn't be so serious.

jim bledsoe wrote:Wow  check this out  
My 5 Goals are to do this

YES!!!
I am growing willow at the moment and am soooooooo going to try this!

1. Better predator proof chicken run and expand their run. (They 🐓 tell me a quarter acre isnt enough even though they free range about 5 days a week😃) Wait is this two goals?
2. Use Dr. Redhawks's suggestions and improve my soil.
3. Use scavenged concrete cinder blocks and panls to build mini greenhouse to extend some plantings.
4. Grow squash as I am only person on planet who is totally beaten by squashbugs. One of my experiments HAS to work!
5. Start adding some perennial veg to the garden.

I was thinking of the snails based on another thread, but will see what happens with Su Ba's trial!😄

Normally I do one big project per year, then a few little ones, but this year is another year of mere survival until I can get my health back.

1. Sell two of our houses
2. Sell a skidder I do not need
3. Extend a roadway further towards a field (a 600 foot extension)
4. Build a wrap around porch on our Tiny House
5. Start a new set of gardens and lawn at our new Tiny House

1) Practice saying NO! more - As a project manager who is interested in literally everything, I tend to overextend myself.
2) Practice dealing with conflict and having uncomfortable conversations AS THEY COME UP; no longer avoiding or delaying.
3) Improve my fluency in Minnesota/Midwest native plant species and their Latin names.
4) Focus more on growing and developing the relationships in my life, in order to strengthen my personal community.
5) Continue using my flip fone and boot up my raspberry pi so I can begin to use technology responsibly--as a specific tool to complete a specific task--and not waste as much time on social media or mindless scrolling.
#flipfonerevolution

Thanks for the inspiration to make a solid list. This year I hope to follow through with callings in 2018 to return to habits and hobbies I've found fulfilling:

1) Do more energy work, qi'gong type of stuff. Simple breathing exercises make me much more of a person I appreciate. Lots of sub-items to this one, like journaling and better conflict management (e.g. not delaying addressing conflict like Christian said).

2) Spend more time in forests. This goal is sort of threefold: spend more productive time in forests advancing forest farming efforts in use-zones 4/5, spend more aimless time in forests wandering toward wonder and goodness, and make progress in big life direction stuff to live closer to / embedded in forests.

3) Build a better world by learning and doing good things rather than being angry at bad guys. A big side-goal to this is to shift from being sad about all I'm doing wrong, to being glad about all I'm doing right. Day-to-day, without wanting to, we have devastating impacts on our environment and fellow creatures, human and others; I know I'd do much better to improve this if I focused more on, well, the improvements rather than all the inertia of systems I'm part of that degrade the world.

And some more tangible stuff:

4) Advance the farm/garden dream by growing and preserving and eating some filling foods (potatoes, corn, beans, hopefully hazelnuts this summer). So far my gardening is mostly summer snacks or add-ons to staple foods, but I think it'd be beautiful to really feel full from something I grew.

5) Building up a nearby off-site tree nursery that'll be able to support 3-7 year old trees growing for future bare root transplanting. And get better connected with other tree propagators in the area!

Good luck to us all. Step by step!

Thanks for starting this thread, it was something I hadn't considered at all this year but I appreciate having had a think about it now!

And good luck to use all!

My 2019 Goals

- Put 2K in my savings (Checked off)
- Complete SMU Digital Marketing Certification (2 of 6 courses done)
- Garden tasks
   - Succeed in another full year of NOT buying onions at the store
   - Succeed in a successful year of pepper harvests to be self-reliant
   - Plant and grow a successful crop of open pollination tomatoes in Texas heat, save seeds from the most prolific plant in our hot summers.
- Crafts
   - Make sure to complete 2019 xmas card fox drawing for holiday card mail-out
   - Finish crochet blanket for sister's new baby Due Aug (more than halfway done)
   - Make felt beaded and sequined xmas stocking for Sister's new baby (not started, pending baby gender)
- House tasks
   - Finish hot tub installation
   - Get chimney expert to help me locate and install new middle connection tube and crown/collar components.
   - Pour concrete garden border
   - Design and install removable greenhouse panes to protect my citrus trees

We've been here one year now, and I'm starting to get a good grasp of climate, soils, etc.  So, in no particular order:

1.  Get the frame-work trees planted (I've got some of them in, as of this morning).
2.  Plant around the pond (rhubarb, horseradish, elderberries, currants, gooseberries, etc.).
3.  Fence the kitchen garden area, which is in the front yard (where it gets the best sun).
4.  Get the former livestock pen between the two barns tilled up for a crops garden (squash, potatoes, sunflowers, etc.).
5.  Cut the young black locust grove for coppice.

Oh, and a bonus:  set up a rain catchment system with four barrels I already have.

Kathleen