The new year is nearly upon us, so it’s time to make sweeping life changes and hope they become habits by February! Yeah, yeah, we all know that doesn’t work. New Year’s Resolutions tempt us all and even those of us who have chosen a homesteader life. As Paul Tripp annually reminds us, it’s the 10,000 little moments and decisions that truly cause life change. Dramatic overhaul is enticing, but incremental progress is where the magic happens. It’s in those 1% shifts that can completely change the trajectory of a lifestyle given time. That being said, the slower pace of winter is a great time to make some homesteading resolutions and goals for the following year. Just consider choosing several baby steps or one minor shift in habit to ensure success well beyond February.
When we first begin homesteading, it can be overwhelming how many things we could make from scratch. Especially when we feel like we should be doing it all or you’re not a legit homesteader if you don’t do X, Y or Z. There’s always so much more to learn, so give yourself grace and time to master new skills. If you’re looking for some ideas to build your skill set this year, here are some homesteading resolutions ideas for minor shifts that can add up over the course of the year.
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Replace a store-bought item with something homemade
Consider picking one grocery store food that you want to learn how to make from scratch. Maybe meat stock or bone broth, tomato sauce, cheese, yogurt, salsa, pasta, bread, mayonnaise, and so on. Don’t worry that those buns aren’t homemade, celebrate that you’ve made your own BBQ sauce. Don’t fret over not being able to make bread every week, practice as often as you can until it becomes quick and easy. Start raising chickens so you don’t need to buy eggs.
This doesn’t have to be limited to just the kitchen. Knit or crochet yourself a new hat or scarf instead of buying one. Dust off your mother’s sewing machine and make some of your own clothes, curtains, napkins, or tablecloths. Learn how to make your own deodorant, lotions, or even laundry detergent. Endless options, but focus on just one or two until it becomes easy and habitual before moving on to the next store-bought item to replace.
Learn a new life skill or two
One of the best things about homesteading is that there is a never ending list of things to learn. Sure, it can be intimidating in the beginning, but you’ll never grow bored! Learning a new skill or two this year is a great way to add to your homesteading know-how and move your family one step closer to self-sufficiency.
There are so many skills a homesteader can learn, so I won’t be able to list them all here. Here are some suggestions that come to mind. How to tie different types of knots, canning, fermenting, butchering, knitting/sewing, soapmaking, cooking, baking, and the list goes on. Remember to take baby steps. Want to master fermenting this year? Start with one type of fermented vegetable and build from there. Want to learn how to can? Pick one type of jam or sauce you’d like to learn first. Celebrate the small victories along the way.
Add a new animal or plant
Maybe you’ve been homesteading for a while and want a little bit larger of a challenge this year. Feel like you’ve mastered raising chickens? Try a different type of poultry like ducks or quail. Maybe raise your own Thanksgiving turkey. Hatch your own chicks. Ready to make the leap to larger livestock? Start preparing for a pig or family cow. New additions take planning and infrastructure. Break down the process into manageable steps over the course of the year.
Got a handle on the basic annual vegetable garden? Start planting an orchard, food forest, or fruit bushes and canes. Try cultivating mushrooms or a completely new-to-you vegetable. Keep the addition a reasonable size, but start experimenting and expanding the range of food you’re able to raise.
Building projects
Maybe this is the year of expansion on your farmstead. Drawing up plans for your first chicken coop or barn, digging a root cellar or adding more shelves in the pantry. Building a greenhouse or high tunnel for season extension. Or just a simple bench for the garden to sit and enjoy the sunset. Break the large projects into stages to help prevention overwhelm and provide encouraging milestones along the way as bigger projects can be disheartening when things look unfinished and chaotic for months on end!
Getting organized
Homesteading has so many moving parts that it is hard to keep track of everything. This is the one area that stresses me out a bit. This is where yours truly will be focusing time this coming year. Maybe this is your year to develop organizational systems too?
Start tracking homestead expenses or learn how to create and stick to a budget. Develop a menu planning system to save you time in the kitchen. Or learn how to keep records of yield, planting dates, what we actually grew, did a variety perform well or not? Are the laying hens costing more to keep than buying eggs at the farmer’s market? How many green bean plants do we need to plant next year? I’d like answers, how about you? 🙂
Cottage Farmstead Homesteading Resolutions
2020 got way off the rails for obvious pandemic reasons, but around here I think homestead record keeping or at least exploring some systems to move us closer to organization around food production is on the docket for the Cottage Farmstead this year. We’d like to know exactly how much food we need to grow to get us to the next harvest. And on the flip side, how much not to grow. Like how two 25-foot rows of garlic is WAY too much for 2 people to realistically consume.
Obviously our guesstimating is not working out too well. To get to the next level of homesteading, we need real numbers to work with. How many tomato plants do we need precisely? What was that variety we liked 3 years ago? Yeah, I don’t remember either…It’s time to get our ducks in a metaphorical row.
Hope the ideas above jumpstart your own brainstorming to improve your skills, health, and lifestyle in the coming year. What other homesteading resolutions do you have for the coming year?
