April 2018 Goals Update

Posted on May 3, 2018 by sdllewellyn

It is the crazy month of May! The school year is almost over, I have lots to do in the garden and projects that need finished!

And here’s how the goals are going:

1. Expand the garden– it’s finally happening!! The t posts are in, the garden door is hung and the fencing will go up this month! And the plants will go to live outside this month too!

2. Fix the camper– We have been fixing up our home away from home! It is finished, minus a few little cosmetic things that I’d like to do! We love how it turned out!

3.Travel out west- That camper is officially ready for adventure! We tried it out at the end of the month by going to a koa in Antietam and everything worked great! It’s cozy, watertight (yeppers, it rained!) and even the pups enjoyed themselves in it!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. All of the grass has been covered and new plants are slowly working their way in! So far we have raspberries, blueberries, black eyed Susan’s, echinacea and a ton of other things growing under the grow lights in here!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags this year. We are still working on filling bag 2! (Or actually not trying to fill it!) Still only 1 bag of trash! [/caption]

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- This month I spread some good! We really focused on cleaning up the Earth, since Earth Day is in April . We helped to organize a town clean up and about 20 bags of garbage were picked up!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- we reused some of the old garden fence to go around the trees and help to keep the deer away. We were also able to score an old kiddie pool for our new ducks and I love the way that the other garden door turned out! It’s beautiful!

8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! We finally have a seed sprouting. It may be the only one, but I’m hoping for at least 2, so that they can help pollinate each other!

9. Build a pizza oven– this is the Mr.’s idea! He built his own Blacksmithing forge, so I’m sure he can do it! I’m definitely looking forward to having a delicious, out of the oven pizza! No real updates yet

10. Grow different produce–

I will be starting a lot more seeds in the greenhouse this month! The grow lights are working hard and everything is getting so big and healthy! I love all the different varieties that are emerging!!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- The panels didn’t quite produce what they did last year, but it was still snowing all through April! At least we hit a Mwh!

12. Work on garden cart sales– I am hoping to be able to put a few seedlings for sale out there and the chickens are really producing eggs right now!

Last month helped me work on my patience! I kept wanting to do more outside, but the weather said no! This month is already helping us get caught up around the garden! How are your goals going? Keep blooming friends!

March Update 2018

Posted on April 2, 2018April 1, 2018 by sdllewellyn

It’s April!!! That means that we are getting so close to gardening season! March seemed like a blur, but I am always ready for it to pass by and warm weather to appear! So, he’s how the goals are going:

1. Expand the garden– it’s finally happening!! The garden has t posts around the perimeter and we fixed up the old screen door to make it rabbit proof!

D5793F52-99B6-47C9-AB26-696274F3C9C5 — View from the bottom up

57AA0708-556E-4EFD-990D-D703E3919CF3 — View from the top

2. Fix the camper– We have been fixing up our home away from home! The seats are recovered, shower storage door fixed, curtains all made and vent cover for the top!

3.Travel out west- That camper is pretty much ready for adventure! Before making the big trip, we have to take it on a trial run! The trial run is going to happen this month!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. The pathways have been created. We made our own birdbath from a log and pan. We put up the hanging basket hooks and the insect hotel is finished!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags this year. We have still only created one bag of garbage! But, I’m planning on doing a trash pickup everyday I can make it outside this month. So, that may increase our trash.

CB074CBD-1ACD-40A4-9514-47256F0E7EF4 — Still only 1 bag of trash!

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- This month I spread some good! I try my best to stay positive and share t too! I bought my bff teacher an awesome “teacher of the year” shirt because she was just named that! And I picked up another teacher friend a gift to remind her of how strong she is! But, my biggest good deed was shoveling our school playground so that the kids could go out to play the next day! This is about 2 hours if work!

07001A72-F659-475D-99FA-4A7FDBFCA1F0 — It was a lot of snow!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- At school we are reusing some juice cups for growing some plants that they want to grow! The Mr. turned a railroad spike into a new shovel for me. The pollinator hotel is finished and it is 100% upcycled! And the Mr. is turning some spoons into garden markers for me!

8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! The seeds were planted last month! I put some seeds outside and marks where I put them and put the rest inside. So far, nothing to show yet.

5B25D8DA-8248-429D-92F1-69123CCFE00E — All the seeds are planted!

10. Grow different produce–  I will be starting a lot of different seeds this month! So far I have 5 varieties of sweet peppers. I also bought a hardy kiwi plant and I’m hoping to get that growing!

F56836DB-4CFC-4D54-9332-42421F93A215 — We’re growing red, green, orange, purple and brown peppers this year!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- this month we created almost an identical amount of power as last year!

C0A2576E-7E3A-474C-A9E8-5E9D61A365B7 — 1.18 mwh!

12. Work on garden cart sales– We will be doing some upcoming craft shows this month! I’m hoping to have some extra seedlings to share, along with my lip balm and the Mr.’s blacksmithed items!

Last month rejuvenated my love of growing anything and everything!! Did you set any goals?! We are hoping to have checks next to them all at the end of the year! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

February update 2018

Posted on March 2, 2018 by sdllewellyn

Hello March!! It definitely came in with crazy winds and some snow today! I am proud to say that we are getting a lot accomplished here!

1. Expand the garden- With the warm days last week, I was able to start taking down the fencing around the garden. It was a lot of work and I still have a lot more! But, that new area is going to looks great! (I hope!)

2. Fix the camper- The Mr.’s installed converter is working great! He also installed a new smoke detector and replaced the bulbs with leds. I made new curtains and he made a stove cover from some upcycked wood.

3.Travel out west- That camper is going to be making some trips this year! We have officially started reserving spots! We will be stopping at many Koa sites as well as mostly national parks!!

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat- There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. I am stratifying 3 varieties of milkweed and gathered a bunch of my echinacea seeds. It’s going to be a mix of native plants and some non-native!

5. Reduce garbage- Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags. Just on March first, we had to take out our first bag! So, we are off to a good start!

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month- Last month I learned how to crochet knitted knockers. They are a pillowy prosthesis for women who have had a mastectomy. And I attended a master gardener meeting and will be finishing my 40 hours to become official!

A8437E4F-CA73-458A-A9D4-164FDBA66A4C — Crocheted knitted knockers!

And I signed up at the “be the match” program that matches you to patients that need marrow.

7. Repurpose, remake, mend, repair- For Valentine’s Day, my Mr. upcycled some old decking boards into a pollinator house! Now to add some bamboo and drilled wood!

B58E4CEB-C3F2-4E70-BCB7-CCE8BC189FD5 — Pollinator house! 🐝🐞🐛🦋

8. Paw Paw trees- These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! I can’t wait to give it a try to grow them this year, and eventually (maybe) eat one!! The seeds were pulled from being cold stratified and now are in soil!

9. Build a pizza oven- this is the Mr.’s idea! He built his own Blacksmithing forge, so I’m sure he can do it! I’m definitely looking forward to having a delicious, out of the oven pizza! No real updates yet!

10. Grow different produce- I was able to pick up a majority of the seeds that I wanted online last month. And, I participated in a seed swap and got some Interesting varieties!!

2F41C6E8-7297-4E94-902B-1F0C1E31D307 — Dragon tongue beans, mayflower beans, flowering tobacco and so many more!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels- It was a mixture of cold and warmer weather last month, but our electric bill was a whopping $0!

12. Work on garden cart sales- We will be doing some upcoming craft shows, but we won’t have any produce for sale for quite a while! However, we were able to harvest some honey (due to losing a hive) and will be using the money from the honey for some new bees!

Did you set any goals?! We are hoping to have checks next to them all at the end of the year! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

January Update 2018 Goals

Posted on February 1, 2018January 31, 2018 by sdllewellyn

Welcome to February everyone!! January was a whirlwind of crazy cold temperatures, lots of working on the camper and seed organizing! And, of course, we have been working on those goals that we set!

1. Expand the garden– Not too much to talk about so far with the garden. We did measure it off for planning the layout!

F9082B41-0EA7-48CC-93CB-6D0F15C590BE — Garden planning!

2. Fix the camper– The Mr. has been out in the garage most nights working on it! He has starting recaulking all of it, installed a new hot water tank, blacksmithed a hook rack for a cabinet, fixed the table so that it’s easy to lower and raise and started to replace the converter. I was able to get some fabric on extreme clearance and I have all of the cushions pulled out!

The adjustable table

72A84F9E-7379-46F4-8BE4-4519CB94744A — That old hot water tank definitely needed replaced!

30711E1C-728D-441A-A8A6-F7983C18132D — Such pretty hooks!

3.Travel out west– That camper is going to be making some trips this year! Our boy is 13 and I want him to see more than I have.  *If you all have suggestions on what to see and do for around the Great Lakes, through Yellowstone, let us know! *

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat– There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. So, that’s what the plan is! The Mr. Put the bat box together and I have seeds all picked out!

1B55E05F-DB75-44EB-9112-33465E27F8FD — Of course the bat box needs a Batman symbol!

6DDFEBB7-497E-47E5-85A4-E32A38A0BDDD — My basic idea so far!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage and we want to make less than 6 bags. So far we have not filled one, and I’m going to try bokashi composting for meat leftovers and molded food.

51E2E769-2BCF-44D1-8247-2BE1F04EAF0C — I’m attempting to make my own bokashi sawdust.

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month– I just blogged about what we were able to do last month! We started a local free trade Facebook page and sold lipbalm to raise money for the local shelter. We were able to donate lots of food!

F1B09965-EB38-4F9B-8372-6BD165071C30 — Our homemade beeswax lipbalm!

DF1E3637-9D2E-4F90-ACD1-AAF0F65ADA3E — Our contribution to the shelter!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend or reuse– My husband repurposed a satellite dish bracket into a flag holder!

9EEEC3C7-DAE6-403F-A36D-C949669B56CD — Yeah, he’s pretty awesome!

 8. Paw Paw trees– These native trees have grown near here for such a long time! I can’t wait to give it a try to grow them this year, and eventually (maybe) eat one!! The seeds will be finished stratifying in the fridge at the end of the month!

A63FAE25-AA30-46D5-A966-7AE7A77C589E — Stratification is still happening!

5E6E6449-6370-4B9F-9F41-8699E97DB0B6 — I can’t wait to use my yummy dough recipe in his pizza oven!

10. Grow different produce– I was able to pick up a majority of the seeds that I wanted online. I will have quite an assortment of gourds, slicing tomatoes, melons and a few of my favorites from last year!

77A16202-0EA8-4E20-9E22-037690858DE8 — So stinking exciting!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels– It was so incredibly cold out, but our electric bill was still less than $6. We are living off of the summer surplus still!

2A2E3C0E-4D47-42FB-A1CA-10BBD03F4F04 — What a difference from last year! (It wasn’t hooked up until the middle of the month 2017!)

12. Work on garden cart sales– We are hoping to do some upcoming craft shows, but we won’t have any produce for sale for quite a while!

19C1D65C-EBD5-49A0-B9AA-9FBB26C18065 — Out pretty garden cart!

Did you set any goals?! We are hoping to have checks next to them all at the end of the year! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

Spreading the good (January)

Posted on January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 by sdllewellyn

If you have been following me for a bit, you’ll know that I set goals! Actually this is my third year documenting those goals! One goal this year is to spread good. I mainly want to because there is so much good in this world, but good news isn’t as much fun for most to read.

So, for the month of January, we trailblazed a path! It started off with buying ice cream for an awesome neighbor that shares a Birthday with the boy:

1F075547-432E-400E-8CB5-5A58CD47E6F1 — Birthday ice cream

The next idea slowly fell into place when I saw that the local Union Rescue Mission was having a food drive. I had ordered lip balm containers to make our own beeswax lip balm, but they were lost in transit. After weeks of waiting, we were refunded for them only for them to eventually show up. So, we turned those containers into lip balm, sold them all and put all of that money towards food for that charity!

7D81775A-658C-4CE1-A612-93239BFA16D7 — Our lip balm containers

Our blessing turned into their blessing.

I grew up in a home where we were definitely not rich. I can remember when people blessed us with what we needed. So now that I’m in a place where I can help others, I plan on it!

D22177AF-7A09-42F5-8ACA-9A28B95886B4 — I tell my own kid and all the ones I teach this!

I have no clue what we will do to spread goodness in February, but I’m sure that something will come up! Keep blooming friends! 🌱💚

2018 New Year Goals!

Posted on January 5, 2018January 5, 2018 by sdllewellyn

All year long I keep a list of things that I would like to accomplish in the future. Last year we accomplished a good bit! But, as long as I’m able, I will continue to work on accomplishing more. Here’s how last year went:

https://littlellewellynhomestead.com/2017/12/30/2017-goals-update/amp/

This year we have set 12 more goals:

1. Expand the garden– We need more fencing put around the larger garden. I’m looking forward to having a more permanent fence and growing more food!

2. Fix the camper- My sister in law saw this beauty along the road this summer. The next day, it was in our driveway. It needs some work, but I know that we can do it!

3. Travel out west– That camper is going to be making some trips this year! Our boy is 13 and I want him to see more than I have.

4. Create a certified wildlife habitat– There’s a grass patch in front of the garage that is begging to be returned to nature. So, that’s what the plan is! Native flowers, insect homes, water source … it’s going to be great!

5. Reduce garbage– Last year we made 7 bags of garbage. This year, the plan is less than 6!

6. Volunteer/Donate/Do Good Every month– I teach 8/9 year olds. Of course it’s my job to teach curriculum, but I love to set an example of spreading good things! There are tons of good people in this world, I plan on being one!

7. Repurpose, remake, mend or reuse– It’s a No Spend year for us, so we will need to be creative! People are always offering me things that they don’t know what to do with, so maybe I’ll be able to save more things from the landfill.

8. Paw Paw trees– This native trees have grow near here for such a long time! I can’t wait to give it a try to grow them this year, and eventually (maybe) eat one!!

9. Build a pizza oven– this is the Mr.’s idea! He built his own Blacksmithing forge, so I’m looking forward to having a delicious out of the oven pizza!

10. Grow different produce– This year I’m going to grow: several different varieties of tomatoes, Apple melons, different gourds, cucumelons, luffas and so much more!

11. Continue tracking the solar panels– Last year was our first year of tracking our panels. Next year I’m hoping that they continue to produce well for us!

12. Work on garden cart sales– The Mr. made that beautiful cart for sales this summer!

Did you set any goals?! We are hoping to have checks next to them all al them next year! Let’s make 2018 a great one!

2017 Goals Update!

Posted on December 30, 2017December 30, 2017 by sdllewellyn

Last year was my first year setting and blogging about my goals. It was amazing to run into people and they would ask me questions about how I was doing with them! They went pretty well and here were the results: https://littlellewellynhomestead.com/2016/12/31/2016-goal-recap/

This year we are pretty proud of what we accomplished! Here’s our year in review:

✔️1. Zero waste our home! We are still working on creating less trash! We took inaround 130 pumpkins to compost or feed to the chickens! My hubby also made an awesome lockbox for our produce stand using old license plates! And, of course, we grew a lot of food and preserved it! Yard to table!

✔️2. Declutter 20 items per month. It might not have been exactly 20 per month, but we continued finding homes for things that we no longer needed!

✔️3. Create only 12 bags of garbage per year. We crushed this goal! I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s 7 bags for the year, because the one in the garbage can is pretty much full.

✔️4. Merge crafting and homestead business. Yep, we did it!! I’m so proud of my hubby for really doing great with his Blacksmithing! We got so many compliments on his metal creations! I’m still sewing and crocheting away, which is my love!

5. Create a summer kitchen. Ugh! This just didn’t happen. I’m ok with that!

✔️6. Expand the garden. The fence line garden provided us with a lot more produce! Plus, we cleared out a lot more space for the 2018 garden!

✔️7. Grow some different plants. The okra grew great this year. We harvested tons of cucamelons, popcorn, okra and luffa gourds!  Plus the mushrooms were delish and it turns out that I don’t like beets

8. Make a chicken viewing area. Yeah, um, we decided against this! We have some other ideas for 2018!

✔️9.Green up my school. Schools create an absurd amount of trash! The plastic bag recycling program has started, and we have recycled almost 200 pounds so far! I also convinced my principal to buy a zero waste glue stick recycling box and we are also recycling our cereal bowls and markers! My coworkers are now recycling their plastic in the lounge and I have been recycling their k cups. Oh, and my students (from last year) also planted a beautiful pollinator garden!

✔️10. Track our solar panels. We are loving the panels! This month’s bill was still only $5 and some odd change. This year we created a total of 14.26 mwh!

✔️11. Continue beekeeping. We are still loving our bees! We caught swarms, spun honey, sold honey and even made a nice watering hole for our bees! We are still going to enjoy our winged friends next year!

So much brood!

✔️12. Travel more with the family! This year we took a quick trip to an indoor water park with the boy and also visited Williamsburg. Next year we are planning on taking a nice trip out west and renovating this beast:

Accomplishing 10/12 goals is pretty great to us! We have some great ideas for next year too! How did your goals go? Did you check off something from your list? Just keep blooming friends! 🌱💚