Another episode for Grounded in Simplicity!
This time we discussed about Goal Setting for Homesteader.
Goal setting help you start your homestead and keep it going without being overwhelmed, regardless of where you live. Because if you just have an open ended goal, then you're going to find a lot of time passed without you actually accomplishing anything. And that's also when you're going to see yourself take on a lot of things that are not relevant. And you end up kind of all over the place.
It is important to FIND YOUR WHY. The reason why you need to have a why is it helps you have purpose. You'll never always motivated. There are some points in your life that you feel exhausted by the things you're doing in your life. Having a 'why' helps you focus more and keeps your drive.
You should also always START SMALL. Because we want to make sure that we're starting small, and not trying to take on too much, especially the first year of homesteading. Keep everything small and manageable instead of jumping in with both feet and trying to do all the things. Starting small will not get you overwhelmed. And that's what we are trying to avoid.
We also talked about the SMART acronym which stands for SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT and TIME BOUND. Listen to the full podcast episode to know more about this acronym and why it is helpful in goal setting.
Links mentioned in the episode:
streamyard,com/facebook
https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates
https://therusticelk.com/challenge
Kitchen Botanicals
The Not So Modern Housewife Youtube Channel
The Not So Modern Housewife
The Self Sufficient Life
Another episode for Grounded in Simplicity!
This time we discussed about Goal Setting for Homesteader.
Goal setting help you start your homestead and keep it going without being overwhelmed, regardless of where you live. Because if you just have an open ended goal, then you're going to find a lot of time passed without you actually accomplishing anything. And that's also when you're going to see yourself take on a lot of things that are not relevant. And you end up kind of all over the place.
It is important to FIND YOUR WHY. The reason why you need to have a why is it helps you have purpose. You'll never always motivated. There are some points in your life that you feel exhausted by the things you're doing in your life. Having a 'why' helps you focus more and keeps your drive.
You should also always START SMALL. Because we want to make sure that we're starting small, and not trying to take on too much, especially the first year of homesteading. Keep everything small and manageable instead of jumping in with both feet and trying to do all the things. Starting small will not get you overwhelmed. And that's what we are trying to avoid.
We also talked about the SMART acronym which stands for SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT and TIME BOUND. Listen to the full podcast episode to know more about this acronym and why it is helpful in goal setting.
Links mentioned in the episode:
streamyard,com/facebook
https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates
https://therusticelk.com/challenge
Kitchen Botanicals
The Not So Modern Housewife Youtube Channel
The Not So Modern Housewife
The Self Sufficient Life
Welcome to a special live episode of the Grounded in Simplicity podcast where we are helping moms get back to basics and learn to find joy and being less busy. I'm Danielle from the Rustic Elk, joined by my good friend Bonnie of the Not So Modern Housewife. And today we are joining my hosts at anywhere challenge and talking a little more about goal setting and creating visions for your homestead.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yay. So goal setting.
Danielle McCoy:Yeah, so I went live earlier. For those of you in my group who didn't know, I have actually never gone live other than with Bonnie a few times. So that was nerve racking. So do it scared including homesteading. And so we're going to talk about finding your why. Bonnie, you want to lead a little bit on..
Bonnie Von Dohre:Find my why, um, we were kind of joking about like setting, having mission statements, which we'll talk more about mission statements. I can't decide if mine is don't kill the animals, or like, retain as much of my sanity as possible. But no, I would say my biggest why is when I first started this journey, and I was still working full time, I actually had someone, one of my co workers, that when I was talking about gardening and having chickens, he was like people still do that. And, and I think this is around the same time that that study came out that showed that like the majority of Americans think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. So I was just like, there is there is no way that I'm going to raise my children not knowing where their food comes from. Right. And so they are really, my biggest Why is, you know, wanting to, to have them connected to their food supply. But also just, you know, raising kids around animals, is so beneficial for them, you know, teaches them responsibility teaches them empathy. And, and plus, like it's, it really I feel contributes to reducing food waste. Because you know, when, when it had a face when you saw it, when you raised it, when you put in all of that work, you don't want to just throw that away, because now you're wasting all of that time and effort. Plus, you know, that animal's life that contributed towards that meal.
Danielle McCoy:Right, I talked about my why. So earlier, when we we moved to the city for the first time we grew up in the city, but our entire marriage, we lived in the country. And then we moved to the suburbs when my middle daughter was just barely a year old. And it was like a culture shock. And which was kind of strange since I'd grown up in the city, but realized very quickly that that was a huge, huge mistake. Probably shouldn't have done it. But you know, it took a while for us to get back in the country. And when we were only able to get an acre but my why was you know, trying to get back to that. That grounded and purposeful feeling that we had when I lived in the country, even though we weren't really homesteading at that time. It was just, I don't know, the life is life is different when you live in the country, and when you live in the city. And I guess I didn't realize the transition that I made when we moved to the country. But I definitely realized it when we moved back to the city. And it made me I don't know, it's a whole you know, you don't know what you've got to let's go on type of thing, I guess. And so my why was definitely trying to find that that purpose and that that grounded feeling that I had when I lived in the country. And of course, like you letting my kids know where their food came from was incredibly important. And now with the you know, the pandemic and everything going on the world, it's definitely you know, food security, and making sure that we know how to do things so that we have that security.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, well, and plus, you know, you mentioned you grew up in the city, I actually I grew up in the country, I grew up in farm country, and we were surrounded by cornfields and commercial pig farms. And a lot of my memories growing up revolved around the garden. And so I wanted to give my kids those same memories. But also there was such a huge part of it, realizing once I started you know, doing it on my own, that there was a big difference between how I wanted to do things and how I felt was I don't know more eco friendly or you know, really kind of focusing on like taking care of the earth versus what I grew up around with commercial practices and large scale farming and I will say I've I've butted heads with my family members quite a bit, because I, you know, I've decided that I don't want to do things the same way that I grew up doing them and You know, they they see that kind of as a, I don't know, almost like an insult, like their way isn't good enough. But I also I think that you know, we're a little more educated. I mean, here we are 30 odd years later because I'm not going to reveal too much about my age. And so, you know, a lot of things we grew up doing and grew up around, we're realizing, you know, maybe Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms for breakfast isn't the best option.
Danielle McCoy:Yeah, maybe not. Maybe not. But sometimes Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, yeah. I'm not saying that my kids don't eat sugar, because we all know that's a lie.
Danielle McCoy:I talked about it a little bit in my live in my challenge group. About why you need to have a why it helps you have purpose. And you know, when you think that you're ready to throw in the towel, you're not so likely to throw in the towel when you can go back and say, Oh, but I'm doing this because because I found in homesteading, you will often ask yourself why you were so good. Why you can go back to that sheet of paper that you pulled out and you wrote your why on, right? And remind yourself over and over and over there is a method to the madness. And there's definitely a reason. So I think if you don't, if you don't figure out why you're doing what you're doing, then you're going to ask yourself, why you're doing what you're doing. And if you don't know that reason, then you're likely to you know, throw in the towel, because it's a lot easier to give up when you don't have a purpose, or something that you're trying to fulfill.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, and I know, like, I've experienced that. And really, with any type of goal setting, or really pushing yourself to be a better person or improve whatever. A lot of times, we're like, oh, well, you got to follow your heart and you got to do do what motivates you what drives you. The problem is you're gonna wake up one day, and you're not going to be motivated, and it's gonna be like, this sucks. And that's, that's when you need that. Why? Because if you just let those downer moments and those times when you're not feeling motivated, tell you that oh, well, it's just not meant to be or oh, this door is closed, then that's when you're going to give up. And that just because it's crappy sometimes and it's going to be crappy a lot of the time, especially in the spring when everything is mud. But
Danielle McCoy:I don't want to go outside right now.
Bonnie Von Dohre:But if you know why you're doing this, if you're in you're gonna have to remind yourself and be like, oh, yeah, that's why I decided to take this on.
Danielle McCoy:Sometimes by the minute.
Bonnie Von Dohre:When I'm getting text messages from Danielle, like I'm selling everything or moving back to the city. Yeah, my husband's the one that he's like, that's it. I'm done. I'm moving to a condo. I'm like let me know when the traffic makes you nuts. Anyway. Yeah, and so that's when you really have to pull out that why and remind yourself why this is important why you decided to do this. And And honestly, like write it down and have it somewhere visible. So that you can remind yourself whenever you need to
Danielle McCoy:Get on your phone. Somebody said take pictures on your phone in my homes in my group but put it on your phone you know make yourself a little banner and make it your your screensaver or whatever block screen thing whatever they call it.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Write a post it note and stick it on your bathroom window or bathroom window bathroom mirror. So when you wake up in the morning, and you see that and you know trust me I am not a morning person. But if I wake up and I look in the mirror and I'm half asleep and I haven't had coffee yet and I see like those words of affirmation, you know the that hey, this is what's driving you even though it doesn't feel like it right now. It helps it really does.
Danielle McCoy:Right. You could put it you know on your visor in your car you know put it everywhere put it anywhere that you think you're gonna be put it in a chicken coop.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Your chickens are gonna eat it, but you
Danielle McCoy:Okay, put it on the outside of the chicken. Laminate it.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Don't put it anywhere near the goats.
Danielle McCoy:Anywhere near the goats. I'm just saying you know, you're gonna want to remind yourself quite often when you're, you know, especially trekking through mud or having to get up you know, in the middle of the morning because your goat is kidding or, you know, whatever it may be. You're you're going to have to remind yourself quite often why you're doing what you're doing.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yes, because animals do not give birthed during daylight hours.
Danielle McCoy:My rabbits did.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, well, actually, yeah, I guess my rabbits have been pretty good. I'm thinking more so like, when I've had to stay up until four o'clock in the morning because my pig is furrowing and all that happens, right, right. Like my goats are usually like 10 10:11pm. So it's not quite as bad. But it's still.
Danielle McCoy:And you know, like when you have to if you have a milk animal and you have to go milk your cow, you know, when it's cold and you're having to trek through snow to get there, you need to remind yourself why you're doing it.
Bonnie Von Dohre:You have to remind yourself why you live in Indiana and you have to track your snow
Danielle McCoy:Because we need seasons in our life.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I have seasons. I have warm warmer.
Danielle McCoy:Hell store stuff.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I almost I almost needed long sleeves when I went out this morning. I doubt it was a little chilly. I would have needed to take them off.
Danielle McCoy:What was the temperature body?
Bonnie Von Dohre:It was probably 731
Danielle McCoy:Today it's a heatwave.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Florida has made me soft. But my tomato seedlings look great. So there's that.
Danielle McCoy:I've got onions and peppers are just inside.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, I have leaks coming up. Peppers are finally coming up still waiting. I've one eggplant that sprouted. And then I've got some like Egyptians spinach. No, you need the right kind of eggplant. Okay, do not base your opinion of eggplant on the black beauty variety that you're from the grocery store. Yeah, you know,
Danielle McCoy:I grew up well, but I was the black beauty one. And it was like,
Bonnie Von Dohre:You need the Asian varieties that are long and skinny. Because even like a lot of the Italian varieties, there's my sister in law who's from Turkey told me that the black beauties are really only made for stuffing, like doing stuffed eggplant, they're not meant to be grilled and, and eaten. Like we eat them. The ones that you want that are get super tender when you saute them or the like skinny varieties to see. Okay, we're talking about the difference between a why and a mission statement, a mission statement is really just taking your why. And like condensing it down to one powerful sentence. So I'd say I mean, this is why you'll see a lot of businesses that will probably have two or three mission statements. So obviously, my primary one is to raise my children, you know, knowing where their food supply comes from, and just knowing how to have control of their food supply. But then also, I have a kind of a mission statement of teaching the local community and getting them back in touch with agriculture, and really helping them to take control of their food. So you know, we get a lot of people that are like, well, I, I want to eat a certain way. Or I don't, you know, I don't want to support the commercial meat industry because I don't, you know, agree with the way the animals are raised, whatever. It's like, okay, well, then, you know, you have the ability, if you can't afford to buy the grass fed, organic, yada, yada, yada, you have the ability to do that yourself. I mean, a lot of people do not I realized not everyone does. But if you have the resources available to be able to do it yourself. Here's how you can do it. And so just hoping, hoping to facilitate that.
Danielle McCoy:Right, I guess, you know, my, my mission kind of it's, I don't really have a statement. I probably should, but it's definitely to help my kids, you know, know where their food comes from. I think that's incredibly important. I love when, you know, my daughter, my youngest daughter says, oh, did that come from the deer that you got Mommy, you know, like that. I mean, it really it means a lot to me that she realizes that that was an animal it wasn't you know, it's not just some slab of meat that I bought in a styrofoam container from the grocery store. You know, it was the she watched the whole process other than actually, you know, shooting the deer but you know, actually butchering it and breaking it down into pieces, cuts of meat and all those things. You know, we try to make sure that our kids are a part of all of that and a part of you know, they think that the little seedlings up on the shelf that I got is cool. And they'll help me plant them in the garden and they know that all of us stuff is food. My dad made a joke last year I had onions grow and he's he asked my daughter he's like that grass looks really good and she's like that's not grass grandpa. So that's that's definitely a big part of my why and then the rest of It was probably lumped more into my business of, you know, helping other people realize that you don't have to have tons and tons of acreage and knowledge and money and time, all those things to homestead it's it has really has nothing to do with any of those things. It's more of a mindset and a lifestyle choice. And there are ways to do it, right where you're
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right? And, honestly, there's, there's so many resources available nowadays to be able to automate, simplify, you know, and, and really make this way of living assessable for more people than it was, you know, when we were kids, because yeah, back when we were kids, then based off the knowledge we had at the time, yes, you probably needed to have a lot of acreage to be able to do it. But with, you know, hydroponics and tower growing, becoming more popular. And you know, a lot a lot more people learning about raising quail and rabbits and things like that, there's a lot more ways to do it on the smaller acreage, right. At a point I'm sorry, I know you're good at this. I'm really I am, I am excellent at thinking of things and then forgetting them instantaneously.
Danielle McCoy:So the point is, I think, you know, like I said, I don't have like an actual mission statement. I know, some people are really fancy with, you know, our mission is and they have this big, huge, you know, right now, mission statement. I don't have all that. But you know, it does link back into your why. So as long as you have that, why, and you know, you know, you have a place that you've written it down at least one place, at least at least one so that you can remind yourself why you're trudging through the snow, because you live in Indiana, and not Florida. But if you have a way to remind yourself, I think, you know, creating mission statements is great and knowing you know, what your purpose is supposed to be and what you're trying to fulfill, but also it just links into your why if you know why you're doing it, then, you know, that's the big part of the battle.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right. Now, in terms of getting started, like I know, we've got actually I want to bring Tara's comment up here. Hi, Tara. Hope you're still on. She is moving to her homestead this evening. Is that?
Danielle McCoy:I actually I actually I actually know Tara. So okay. Yeah, they bought land right before the pandemic. So didn't work out real well. After. So they have been planning to move onto their homestead for a while like this is that's exciting, Tara it really is.
Bonnie Von Dohre:That is that's a lot of I hate moving like, yeah, if I never have to move, I will be perfectly happy.
Danielle McCoy:So there so they're building their, their homestead, I hope I'm not giving away too much information. But they, they've been planning this for a while. So that's exciting that they finally get to go move on to their homestead.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, so but reason I want to bring herself as she mentioned, the first goal is getting the garden going this year. And that's important, I think, because we want to really, like make sure that we're starting small, and not trying to take on too much, especially the first year. But you know, a lot of times, especially that first year on your homestead, you're going to spend so much time just learning your, your your land, you know, and especially talking about gardening and really this can apply to animals too. You have a microclimate within your property. And you may even have multiple microclimates within your property. So you may you know, your plan may be that you're going to put your garden over here and chickens over here or whatever, and you think you have it all laid out but then once you actually start executing it, you realize like the plants hate growing over there, or there's something about the soil over there that nothing thrives. Right and or you know, maybe it's there's too much wind, there's too much sun, there's, you know, whatever it is. And so you know, it's been in that first year, just getting acclimated to all of the different moving parts. And then just learning one skill and getting really good at that skill I think is really the key to avoiding burnout on your homestead.
Danielle McCoy:Right and making sure that you keep everything small and manageable. Instead of you know jumping in with both feet and trying to do all the things the first year and things like like you said you know keep an eye on your property that first year son mapping so that you know you know where where the sun hits best on your property when it hits that type of thing so you know where to put your gardens or what plants to put in what beds or anything like that. I think those things are important I did mention because someone asked about it earlier. I do think that getting any fruit bearing trees and shrubs in US You know, within the first year or so, is should be a goal. If that is a goal of yours, if you want to grow some of your own free or all of your own fruit, because it takes so long for them produce, I really wish that we had started sooner, like we have elderberry now, but this will be the first year that it might produce a little bit. And, you know, we've been here for six years. So it would have been nice, we would already have, you know, have established that, but I just planted a few years ago. So I think if you're gonna you know, if you want a goal for planting, I definitely think that that is a goal to have. Now, of course, you still have to kind of map out your property, you know, our water sets, and you know, all those things, like we have a lot of areas on our property that unfortunately have standing water in them after it snows and all those things. So I'm glad that we didn't point out like try to plant things there. And you know, very loves wet, right? Well, where it is does fine. But I like I said we didn't plan it until after the ranch. So we already knew, you know where the water was standing. When we had a big snow and it started to melt, we had heavy rains, we know where our septic field is, we know where our well is and how you know where all these things run is all that stuff's important. So if you don't know where those things are, then that should definitely be at the top of your, you know, priority list.
Bonnie Von Dohre:And yeah, for us, we were 10 years in before we actually started planting any fruit trees. And I definitely agree that we should have started sooner, our biggest hold our bass pulled back, that's not really the word I'm looking for. But I think that's a word. But anyway, is, you know, trees are expensive. And so it was kind of one of those things where it's like, well, I don't really have the money in the budget, or I can't do it right. So I don't want to do it at all. And it's the wrong mindset to have. And, one, once I started really exploring local nurseries and seeing what was available around me, I found a lot of places that have pretty affordable fruit trees, especially if you can buy them small. I mean, we're talking 1015 $20 for a tree that, once it gets established is going to provide, you know that much more fruit for you every year. And so even if we had just bought one or two trees a year, it would have built up over time it would have accumulated, because I think the biggest thing, you know, a garden is a lot of work, right? You know, if you're, if you're just relying on annuals, you've got to start those seeds every year, get the seedlings transplanted, you've got to monitor them, because they're really just baby plants. And so they're going to be, you know, very susceptible to pests and disease. And you have to really monitor that closely because it can get out of control very quickly. Whereas perennials, once you have them established, they're I mean, aside from like maybe spraying for worms or whatever, they're pretty much immune to most things. And they're gonna be a lot less labor intensive for you over the long term, but they're going to be that steady food source for you.
Danielle McCoy:All right. And as far as starting your garden, like a couple raised beds, your first year, I think, or a couple of you know, large containers, or a few large containers, I think those are achievable goals that probably aren't going to overwhelm most people. And by using raised beds or containers, you get to choose the soil that goes in it. So you're not going to have to worry about, you know, well, we have like here we have crappy clay soil. So, you know, it makes it It boosts your confidence because you're more likely to be successful, you're not going to get overwhelmed because you don't have too much at once, and you're not trying to figure out you know, your soil health and all those different things all at one time. So starting small and finding sources for those things that you can't start small with, I think is an achievable first year goal.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, I know a lot of people will look at raised beds and think oh, it's way too expensive, but they're thinking of if they were producing all of the food for their family, and you know how many raised beds they would need to get and you can certainly add like a couple of raised beds every year and it will help you to budget out but if there's nothing saying you can't, you know, put in a couple raised beds and even if you're just building out of pine pine or at least last a couple years, maybe not if you're in Florida, but my raised beds are built out of Cypress because it is more pests and disease resistant and like less likely to rot but anyway okay, so using Florida as an example, most of Florida is crappy sandy soil, there is no organic matter in it. So even if you're fertilizing, it's just it runs straight through and so you need to feed that soil and build it up. The problem is like I really like hobo culture and using like the back to Eden gardening method and things like that, where you're layering like the compost and the woodchips and You're building that soil up year after year, so that it is continues to enrich it and feed it. But when you're first getting started, you're looking at like two years before it's really getting productive, you can still grow in it that first year, but it's not going to be as productive as two years down the road, when all the nutrients have started to balance out, all those microorganisms are really in the soil, I've got all the earthworms, like everything starting to come together, you're really looking at two years. So in those two years, you can have a couple of raised beds, or you know, I like grow bags, you can do different containers, whatever grow in that for the interim. And then you can, you know, a couple years down the road, you can start planting in the soil.
Danielle McCoy:I would say you can repurpose, like wood off your property, or when the sun is getting rid of and just build, you know, out of branches and stuff. You don't have to be like, super nice, yeah, it doesn't have to be fancy. And you don't have to fill the whole thing with soil. Like don't fill the whole thing with soil, you can use other things and then just put your soil on top of it. You know, you don't you don't want to fill the whole thing with soil. You can use, you know, the soil, down branches, things like that.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, yeah, we did like a modified hobo culture. So we have I mean, we live in the woods. So we always have branches and logs and things like that. So we filled it probably like three quarters of the way full, because our raised beds are about 12 inches high. And then put like the compost and soil and stuff on top of that. And yeah, it breaks down as it breaks down, it does tend to settle so we end up we end up needing to top it off every year. Plus, I'll put more wood chips and, and leaves and stuff on top. But yeah, if you're trying to just fill it with soil, especially if you're needing to buy soil, it's going to that's where it's really going to get expensive. Soils almost always going to be your biggest expense.
Danielle McCoy:It's worth the expense, but not to fill the whole bed.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Not to fill the whole bed. Now it's this is like driving me nuts is I'm not seeing like I can't scroll all the way down to the bottom of the comments. So Kim Kimber actually made a comment that her cows like to calve in the freezing shell. Oh, and of course, this comment was 20 minutes ago.
Danielle McCoy:Of course it was. And yes, she also did say palates work well to build rice gardens. Yes.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I think that's good on the gardening. But even if a garden is not your first year goal, start small. You know you like with with the food supply being so funky last couple of years. Yeah. That's the word for it. Right? I keep seeing all these people that are like, Oh, I'm going to get like 200 Meat birds or, you know, 500, laying hens, whatever. And I'm going to turn this into a business. But they've never raised meat birds, or they've never like they've never done anything on that scale before. Right? So don't don't yeah, don't do that.
Danielle McCoy:Get burnout. And you're gonna be like, right?
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, hey, you know what, like, raising those. I mean, even even if it's 50 Meat birds, raising the 50 meat birds is not the problem. It's when all of the meat birds need to be processed this weekend. And you are I have not done 50.
Danielle McCoy:Okay.
Bonnie Von Dohre:But this is storytime. All of our members eat processed. And I'm like, okay, no big deal. Will process some will sell them whatever, right? I don't have for frigerator space for more than like four chickens. So I'm in freezer space is iffy, it's getting better. We've eaten a lot of we've been like going through the freezer and trying to eat all the old stuff. But I don't have anywhere to put all these chickens once you process them. So I went to a friend's house to process because she's got like the sculptor and the plucker and all the fancy stuff. And I had someone who wanted to get five birds. I was literally dropping the five birds off at her house on the way home from my other friend's house. Because I don't have like I wouldn't have had room for the five birds once I got back home. Right? I had to go straight in the freezer. And I still have meat birds running around my property a year later, because I ran out of freezer space to process any more of them. So things to keep in mind.
Danielle McCoy:Yeah, and another thing a little side note. I hope that your why is not so you can make or save a lot of money because that's probably not going to be the reality.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah. It's not to say that you can't make money. Oh yeah, definitely you can but it's going to be a learning process and you're going to lose money before you make money. And especially if you're getting live like large lifestyle involved. One emergency that call can totally screw up your budget for the entire year.
Danielle McCoy:Just throw them your wallet. The large lifestyle, just stare your wallet away.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, yeah, you got to keep that in mind and like, and you need to have that set aside ahead of time. Not like, yeah, right. As I had two horses go down within a month of each other good times. So anyway, I'm worried about our halfway point. So do we want to get into the the goals?
Danielle McCoy:Yes. Setting goals?
Bonnie Von Dohre:The Yeah, the SMART acronym? Yeah. Scale down what we were talking about. There we go. There we go.
Danielle McCoy:So when we're talking about setting goals, we should always you should always set goals when you for anything, really. I mean, everybody should have goals in life, you know, but when you're talking specifically about homesteading, it makes specific homesteading goals. It helps you stay motivated, I think and see your purpose in long term like, okay, you know, this is a goal and seeing it come to fruition is you know, I mean, I see feel good, it's confidence booster, so, but when you make your goals, you should always, I always recommend making a one year goal, you can make a five year goal and a 10 year goal that you know, are going to definitely probably change over the years, and you can go back and modify them every year. But your one year goals don't ever make more than three. And you I think you should start at what your end goal is for the end of the year, and then work backwards and go back to six months at first, and then work back and monthly increments from that six months point like okay, in six months, I need to be at this point, if I want to be at that point by the end of the year, and then work back each month and have actionable steps you need to take each month and then you can even break it down even further and say okay, well, this month, I need to accomplish this. So this week, I need to accomplish this. And when you're making your goals, you should use the SMART acronym, which we're going to talk about means specific they all goal should be specific, measurable, achievable. What's the other one, relevant, relevant and time bound? Sorry, guys.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Well, and I also think like, this helps helps us stay focused. Because if you're just like, if you just have like an open ended goal, then you're going to find a lot of time passed without you actually accomplishing anything. And that's also when you're going to see yourself, like take on a lot of things that are not relevant. And you end up kind of all over the place. Right? And believe me, I say this from experience. Oh, yeah,
Danielle McCoy:me too, as I work on things at the 11th hour.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Anyway, that's how I always operate. What are you?
Danielle McCoy:So one of my examples that I shared in my group earlier was I want to produce all of are not really produced, but have all of our protein on our homestead, or from a local source? Nope, nope. No protein from the grocery store is my end goal for the year so that I work back to six months, like where do I need to be in six months? And then I work back to each month. Okay, well, this month, I need to make sure I breed rabbits and this month I need to make sure that I'm butchering chickens or buying chicks or hatching chicks or whatever it may be. And you just work through that goal one step at a time. And in October, I need to make sure that I'm out hunting. And I can work back and say okay, well I need to scout before I go hunt. And I need to practice before I go scout and all these different things. And so you end up with monthly and weekly goals.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, I mean, for us, like, in our minds, probably still too vague. But one big thing for me is I want us to get back to showing and breeding our rabbits and our chickens. And of course, I say this in the middle of a AI outbreak but what I mean is ironically, the thing that has kept us from showing rabbits last few years has been the that respiratory disease that's been going around forever. Well, right and and so I right now we're working on, like getting the breeding stock built back up and acquiring new new breeding stock from other breeders. And then I need to actually, like plan out when shows are which the shows can help me determine like my breeding schedule and and then making sure everyone stays groomed and, and graded and all that. So if we're talking about having something that's specific, so the big thing with that is like not for instance, an open ended goal would be like I'm we're gonna be debt free. We're gonna pay off all of our debt. Well, that's That's too broad. So it needs to be okay. Is it going to be a matter of saving or earning? X amount of dollars? What is that X amount of dollars? Like? Do you need to save? Or earn 5000? Or 50,000? And then, and what's the timeframe? And that you're going to? Well, actually, I guess this kind of gets into the, the time bound. But yeah, if we're just talking about specific, like, get into specific details as much as possible, I mean, even if it's like, okay, we want to have this many chickens in the freezer By October, or whatever it is,
Danielle McCoy:Right. Or we want you know, to be able to hatch our own chicks by and you know, then you can get into what breed you want to hatch. And, you know, what, you know, how, when do you need to get the chicks and to make sure that they're old enough to lay so that they can breed etc, etc, etc. And as far as like the financial thing, I think, you need to get really specific, you said that it was too broad to say you want to be debt free, I think you need to say, Okay, I want to pay off a certain thing, by the end of the year, instead of saying I want to be debt free by the end of the year, which would be great. But make it okay, well, or, or by the end of the month, or the end of six months, or whatever it is, in order to achieve that longer term goal.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right.
Danielle McCoy:I think it needs to be more specific, you know, like, I want to get all my credit cards paid off, by the end of the year, I want to pay my car off by the end of the year, I want to pay my mortgage off by the end of the year, you know, and work backwards from that goal, instead of just saying, I want to be debt free.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right. And, and having like having a specific dollar amount, because then that's going to go down into how much do you need to be setting aside every month? How much are you setting aside every every week every day? You know, however, you're doing that?
Danielle McCoy:Right. And then it needs to be measurable. I can measure Milan, I think,
Bonnie Von Dohre:yes, you did. Okay. So alright, so while again, this is going to kind of go into like that number. So is it? How many, you know, if say your goal is I want to I don't want to have to buy eggs from the grocery store anymore. Okay, well, how many eggs does your family eat a week? And then that means how many eggs do your birds need to be laying? And then even break that down further? Okay, well, in order to get that many eggs a day, for instance, how many hen? How many laying hens do I need to have? Right? And no, going into it know that even if you have four hens doesn't mean you're getting four eggs every day,
Danielle McCoy:You're not getting four eggs every day.
Bonnie Von Dohre:And then you're gonna have those days where you get five eggs. And you're like, what? come from so. So yeah, so figuring that out. And I mean, I realized there's gonna be some things where you can't get super granular, but break it down as much as you can. So that you really have numbers that you can, you know, strive towards.
Danielle McCoy:And if you're talking about chickens, and having enough eggs realized that part of the year, they're not necessarily going to be laying very well. So you might want a plan for how to preserve those eggs by water glassing or you know something else, or you're just going to eat seasonally and not eat eggs. While you're there, hens are laying very well, or whatever it may be, but you know, include that in your goal.
Bonnie Von Dohre:And you know, young hands are going to lay further into the season and start laying sooner in the season. So, you know, you may want to have a plan for like, I know, I have one friend of mine who she has like a basically a zero sum policy where when it comes to her laying flock, she's going to completely retire all of those hens, and she usually will sell them off to people who don't necessarily want a ton of eggs. And don't mind having older hens, and she will start over with new chicks every season. Right? She'll have out there.
Danielle McCoy:Yeah, or they'll have like they'll start some in the fall so that they have some layers, you know, first thing in the spring and start some of the spring and then they over you know they overlap each other where they're never really completely out of AIDS,
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right. So those are things to keep going to, if we're going back to like talking using the gardening example. You know, figuring out okay, and this is where like there's the the charts that tell you how much to plant for each person in your family. So this is where those come in really handy. Like if your plan or if your goal is to produce all of the broccoli your family is going to eat for the year. Because honestly saying you're going to like produce all of the vegetables your family's going to eat as little to prod but it's possible you can get there. You just probably are going to get there your first year. But figuring out like, how many broccoli plants do you actually need to sustain your family and then of course like and look at it when you're looking at vegetables, you really need to look at how much you would need for an entire year. Because then you're going to have to plan for either freezing or canning or you know some type of preserving. To get you through this off months. This episode was brought to you by kitchen botanicals, your sustainable gardening headquarters, stop by kitchen botanicals calm and get a look at our 2022 seed varieties as well as supplies and pest control products to help you with your organic garden 2022 is a great time to take care of yourself with our pampered gardener subscription box. Every month you'll receive all natural self care products, untreated heirloom seeds, high quality garden tools, organic garden amendments, cute and practical supplies and fun products that we know you'll love. This is your opportunity to take care of yourself in the garden, I started the pampered gardener subscription box, because I had gone through a time of not taking care of myself and dealing with the stress that it put onto my body I was ill I was tapped out and I felt like I couldn't possibly pour any more out of my empty cup. So I created the pamper gardener subscription box for women like me who wanted to get back to what they enjoy, but also wanted to love themselves. So we've put together this collection of gardening and self care products that are geared towards women who love to garden, you'll get things such as gloves, lotion, bags, hats, sunscreen, mosquito repellent, things that you can actually use, but also things that you'll enjoy. And don't worry, there will still be plenty of gardening tools, seeds, we've created a subscription box like no other buy gardeners for gardeners order your own box today. Next thing Alright, so we've kind of hinted at this is looking at goals and actions that are achievable. Like I said, if it's your first garden, and you're just getting started, and you're trying to set your goal to be that you're going to produce all the vegetables your family is going to eat for the entire year, that's probably not going to be an achievable goal for you that first year. And this is also why we recommend starting small because it's going to be a lot easier to bounce back from failures, and even adjust you know midstream if you're if something is going wrong, if you're on a smaller scale, and you're you're just figuring things out. So that's a, that's a big part of keeping things achievable is really keeping realistic expectations of what you will be able to accomplish. Within that year, within that time frame you've set for yourself, it's great to think that we're going to like make a ton of money, or have a ton of time, or you know, all of a sudden we're going to be a much more productive and disciplined person than we've ever been our entire lives. But the reality is, it doesn't usually work out that way. Right? Well, we end you know, set a smaller goal. And then if you over achieve, then that's a paddle back and a reason to celebrate, you know, right, you had a great year. But don't beat yourself up when you've set that goal that you set that bar too high. And then, you know, if you don't you're unable to meet, meet that expectation that you set for yourself.
Danielle McCoy:Alright, doesn't mean that you should, you know, set it so low that, you know, your five year old can do it. But at the same time, you don't you don't want to make it so unachievable that because then you're just going to be disappointed and it's, you know, it's gonna hurt your confidence, and you're not gonna want to do it. So yeah, it's better than just make it.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, and I do like to set a stretch goal, like just one stretch goal for myself, I'm not going to set like, I'm not going to make every single one of my goals a stretch goal, because I will make myself insane. But just like something that's just enough to push you out of your comfort zone, right, that's really where you're going to grow and you're going to, like, develop into a stronger person overall. But, like, at the same time, make it realistic, you know, like, I am not going to, like be competing with Elon Musk for the world's richest person this year. Like I would love to, probably not gonna happen. I mean, my 11 year old has a, you know, stretch goal that he's gonna own a Tesla. One, he's five years from the possibility of driving. And two, he has no income Aside from his allowance, so probably not an achievable goal.
Danielle McCoy:Well, maybe, you know, like a 10 or 15 year goal.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Maybe yeah, yeah, we'll go with that. Relevant, relevant. Yes.
Danielle McCoy:Okay. So we need to make our goals relevant to whatever we're making goals for you don't want to make a goal to drive a Tesla for your homestead. Well, maybe you do. But maybe it's not really relevant to homesteading, I
Bonnie Von Dohre:would rather have like, like a mule or a gator to help drive stuff around the farm, but I'm picturing an alligator
Danielle McCoy:I know you're talking about now. But
Bonnie Von Dohre:I know I started to say mule, and I'm like, someone is gonna think I mean, the equine. But that's not what I mean, I need an all terrain vehicle. There you go. That's a little back and help,
Danielle McCoy:specifically.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Now, I think going back to your why is, is a good one for this. I mean, and obviously your goal as well. But I think it will help keep you motivated. Well, I guess this is about setting your goal. Anyway, here I am going off topic. But looking at your why I need more coffee, my coffee is empty. I'm looking at your why, and really like looking at what your motivation is for doing this. Because that's, that is what's going to keep you like striving towards your goal, right? Because if it's if it's not relevant to your why and your mission statement, then you're going to, you're going to crap out, you're going to go you know what, nevermind, I set the bar too high. I don't want to, I don't want to accomplish this goal anymore. And you're going to quit and you're not going to actually, you know, achieve your, your goal.
Danielle McCoy:Alright, so if you're, you know, what, if your why is food security, then you know, make that your goal relevant to attaining that food security, or whatever it may be.
Bonnie Von Dohre:It's not doesn't mean that, like, you're not going to add missions or change your missions as you go. Oh, yeah,
Danielle McCoy:definitely. I mentioned that earlier, how you know, it's changed. I mean, it hasn't really changed just got added to because food security and knowing you know how to do stuff has become incredibly important the last couple of years. So,
Bonnie Von Dohre:I mean, you get your routines down and like getting your garden in the ground and keeping your garden productive becomes kind of a no brainer for you, then you can switch, you know to something else that's gonna again, stretch your stretch your knowledge and your talents and your abilities that much further.
Danielle McCoy:Right. And you can make your goals specific to you know, if you want to if one of your long term year long or whatever five year goals is to, you know, have a great garden, then, you know, you can set specific goals based off of your desire to have a big, huge productive garden.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Right. All right. Well, let's jump to our next one now.
Danielle McCoy:Yeah. There we go. Your next year, your goal needs high bound. Yeah, you need to have a time on it. Or you're gonna procrastinate and not vote for your meat chickens. And come up with excuses. No freezer space. I'm just kidding. I'm just picking on you.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Did you know that if you can keep your meat chickens alive long enough. They lay eggs. If you've got if you got pullets anyway.
Danielle McCoy:Well, that's good. I'm glad the roosters don't lay.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I had a meat hen that actually not only laid eggs but hashtag and like raised the chick so
Danielle McCoy:But yours are like their Cornish cross but they're just corn in line with our rocks.
Bonnie Von Dohre:No, well, they were selectively bred to be pastured poultry. So they're hardier and don't have like the issues that a lot of like the hatchery Cornish crosses have.
Danielle McCoy:Okay, but they don't Yeah, their selves.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I mean, they were they were able to free yourselves. No, they didn't breed true that the chick ended up turning it looks she looks more like a white rock.
Danielle McCoy:No, I mean, the Playstore bottom from do they? Oh, do they create the cross is whatsoever.
Bonnie Von Dohre:They create the cross like they have their own. Now I don't I don't know that they're necessarily crossing pure white rocks to pure white, Cornish or whatever. But they've whatever their bloodlines are that they're crossing like they keep the breeding flocks, and then they cross them for for the pasture poultry.
Danielle McCoy:Okay, so so yeah, back to back to a time bound.
Bonnie Von Dohre:So everyone that says has smack to talk about Cornish crosses, it really is about the breeding program. There are decent Cornish cross breeders out there. And I'm afraid to put their information out because they're in Georgia and I'm worried they're in the middle of this whole AI lockdown and they can't sell I need to call them I want to
Danielle McCoy:Share them and my challenge group a couple days ago, somebody asking and I mentioned that you had raised some from them here.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I will I will be nice. They are called Bob's biddies because I really do like to support them it is like the whole hatchery is run by that is obviously not the website
Danielle McCoy:I'm glad you're not screen sharing
Bonnie Von Dohre:I know the whole here we go bow hatchery is just run by this older couple I mean, they work their tails off, but I they have a great breeding program.
Danielle McCoy:Well, we might have our own breeding program since my husband bought Cornish. But
Bonnie Von Dohre:there you go. Okay, so alright, I shared I shared the link. Oh, you know what, though? I think it only shared to YouTube. I don't know that it shared to your No, it's on there. It is on there. Okay, cool.
Danielle McCoy:I was just not sure to my group. And I can add those two links when we get done here.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Okay, too. I can, but I can throw it up on a banner So cuz we're, yeah, we're on time bound now. Yep. All right. So there is the website for Bob's biddies. And they and they do laying hens as well. And they even have some purebreds that they raise. But I just I mainly use them for the Cornish crosses. Okay, well, real nice people.
Danielle McCoy:So as far as time bound, like we said, you know, it needs to have a time limit on it, or you're going to procrastinate, so you know, take that year end goal. And then make a six month goal off of that, and then do monthly goals. And then you know, make, you know, prioritize your weekly goals off of there.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, and I will say like, especially when it comes to gardening, those having those time bound goals and sticking to them are so important because such a large part of gardening is timing. So you know, if, like, you look at your frost, your last average frost date, and you look at how long it's going to take for those seedlings to grow. You need to count backwards to figure out when you're going to start those seats. And then also, especially if you live in a place that has very short seasons, like if you're really far north, you need to look at what your last average or average last frost date is. And look at varieties that are going to be mature and that you're going to be able to harvest off of before that average last frost date first. No last because they don't want
Danielle McCoy:Last and then you're going to have your first frost date and you only have that window to plant.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Oh, wait a second. Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm Florida and Florida. Okay, average first is average last. So the spring, yes,
Danielle McCoy:You only have that window of time. So you need to make sure that those varieties can grow in that time period. And realize that the time to maturity is once the plant is outside it is not once you proceed in your garden.
Bonnie Von Dohre:It starts when you transplant right. Now, if you're in Florida, we don't dwell I guess it kind of depends on what part of Florida and for Central Florida, we don't really have one long grow season. So if you try to do long season vegetables, you need to start them in the fall, but you're going to have to provide frost protection because more than likely we're going to get some freezes in there. midwinter, like our freezes and frost are usually like January February timeframe. Otherwise we plan for two short seasons. So most of the vegetables we we plant, we try to go for like a 90 to 120 day maturity. We cannot grow russet potatoes here because it just we don't have a long enough season for them. So like when it comes to potatoes, we're usually doing Yukon Golds Redskins, like the new potatoes because they don't need as long of a maturity time. The downside to that is they also don't have as long of a storage life. You have to kind of eat them fairly quickly.
Danielle McCoy:Somebody said all new to me. I came from San Diego California. I don't know who's said it. I'm assuming she's talking about gardening with the seasons the frost dates and stuff like that.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yes, San Diego doesn't have frost dates. Right exactly. So they're kind of on the same plane as as Florida.
Danielle McCoy:Alright, so I'm talking about that when you look at the back of your seed packet. You can see number one it kind of has like the What am I want to say here? I don't have a seed packet in front of me.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Honestly, I I will tell you right now for Florida and this probably goes for a lot of like zones nine and 10. We can't go by the seed packets. They're totally off. For what right?
Danielle McCoy:But I think this is a person that has moved out of there. Oh into is this girl that move? I think so. But it's from my group, I think so it just shows up as Facebook user and I know.
Bonnie Von Dohre:But yes, no for the future guys, please make sure you actually click go to that link, which I think we..
Danielle McCoy:Yeah, it's a it's the one that Sir the one that's in Kentucky now. So when you're looking at the back of your seed packet, since you're not used to that it'll have like, usually like when to start it indoors like how many weeks prior and if it's cold hardy or not. And so you're going to have to look at what your average last frost date is, which is going to be a website, and you can type in your zip code. And it will tell you when your average last frost date is and when your average first frost date is. And then you're going to take those two dates, and it'll help you figure out how long your growing season is. And then as far as starting seeds, the ones that need started indoors, usually on the back of the seat pack, it'll say, you know, start indoors, you know, eight weeks before average for last frost date. You just count backwards from that date. I recommend going about a week out from what the internet says is your average last frost date for anything like tomatoes and peppers, anything that's not cold. So you're
Bonnie Von Dohre:even to go on days. Yeah, right. Another thing you can do is you should have a local local extension office agricultural extension, that will usually have classes that can help you understand local growing conditions and kind of what the best practices are for your area. It's all in the fall Farmers Almanac website, all mac.com/gardening/frost dates.
Danielle McCoy:My kids are screaming, I noticed the beauty of live streaming, arguing with home great homeschooling. But you can type in and find your frost date for your local area. Another suggestion is to go to your local nursery, not like your Lowe's or any no big box stores like an actual local nursery. And usually, number one, our local nurseries, I think almost all of them will post what the average last frost date is because they don't want people to buy plants from them, go put them in the ground, and then come back and say my plant and then it's useful. Yeah, right. Right. So they do that. And another, they're also you know, you're gonna have people that grow in your climate, not necessarily in your soil. Some some of them do, some of them don't, but they grow in your climate. And they they've usually been doing it a while and you know, they're obviously fairly good at what they do or they wouldn't have a nursery. And a lot of times you can find employees that can help you, you know, understand your growing season, how long you have variety, even varieties that grow better in your area versus, you know, you can buy seeds that don't necessarily grow well in your area. So if you find a nursery usually they're gonna have stuff that grows well in your area, if you go to Lowe's and buy their plants from Bonnie's or whatever, doesn't necessarily do as well in our area. Different blowing, not you. Yeah, I mean, Bonnie's plants, not your plants.
Bonnie Von Dohre:I had someone asked me if I was the same Bonnie from Bonnie's, and I'm like, No, I wish not making nearly that much money. Right. Okay, well, and I will say that's a really good reason also to support your local nurseries. Because they're, they're going to be a lot more knowledgeable about the best varieties, the best times all of those things. You go to the big box stores, a lot of times the guy the person they have running the register is just a random person that was running the register inside the store the day before, like they really don't know that much about gardening. And like I know with Florida the big box stores are notorious for selling varieties that do not grow here. So it's really it's really good idea to you know, get with your local local gardening groups or talk to your local nurseries and help them point you in the right direction.
Danielle McCoy:Right.
Bonnie Von Dohre:And if you happen to be near Brooksville, Florida, you can check out kitchenbotanicals.com
Danielle McCoy:I will be you can also order seed seeds from her.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yes for seeds and supplies. I'm, I'm working on getting more stuff up on there.
Danielle McCoy:So are you going to shut plants?
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yes, that's what I'm working on right now is I'm going to they're growing right now. I'm going to start listing them on the website so that if you know especially, I'm probably just going to be shipping like tomatoes and tomatoes, peppers and maybe eggplants if I get good germination with my plants, but for this year, I got it. I've got a ton of Egyptian spinach growing so I might be shipping some Egyptian spinach to and I'm going to get those in the West. I've already got all the approval stuff, I need to actually be able to ship plants. There's just a few states I'm not allowed to ship to so because you know, California Sox, and as well as Arizona, and I don't know where else so.
Danielle McCoy:And another thing I wanted to mention, before we wrap up and mentioned my challenge one more time is that when you're your first year gardening, even if you've garden before, I highly recommend so that you don't get overwhelmed that you buy your seedlings from a local nursery, not the big box store, don't buy from the bookstore. It's just going to help you not feel so overwhelmed to make sure that you're gonna get you know the timing right for starting your seeds and all those things. And then after your first year, maybe next year, you can start a few seeds. But if you're in a completely new climate, then go buy your seeds from the nursery just to save yourself that headache and disappointment if it doesn't work out.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Now there are a few things that are super easy to grow from seed. So like, well, carrots, do not even try to transplant carrots you need they need to be started from seed. Although I will tell you carrots are not a great endeavor for first year. gardeners, I have a hard time with carrots.
Danielle McCoy:Ours are great because you put them in a raised bed. And so yeah, I'm in the soil and we get
Bonnie Von Dohre:I don't know if I just don't keep mine moist enough. But even the years that I've been able, yeah, and even the times that I've been able to get them to grow I end up like huge tops and no route. So go figure. Well, you're like Florida. Yeah, well, not anymore toads. Right. There's certain Yeah, like new Kuroda is, let's say new corrode is a good variety. And Scarlet Dante's is another one that I'm going to grow and see if they do better but yeah, what else? Oh, so anyway, but things that are going to grow really easily are going to be like lettuces, Swiss chard if you like to eat kale, kale is good if you don't like to eat kale don't waste any space. I mean it grows great. I can I can grow I think everybody but I can only I can only get my family to eat so much kale so zucchini does really well. I have a really hard time with zucchini.
Danielle McCoy:Really, we only person on the planet that I've
Bonnie Von Dohre:No, no, it's because we just have so many ever heard say, soil pests here. The bugs do not die in Florida. So it's like as soon as the plant starts to put out blooms, we've got bores. So there's, there's a lot of alternatives that grow really well that once when you cook them they cook a lot like zucchini, but they have a solid stem, so they're not as prone to the vine bores. Seminole pumpkin does really well and if you harvest it green, you can cook it like zucchini. A lot of people will eat loofa as a zucchini so yeah, there's some different options but zucchini itself unfortunately just has been one crappy harvest after another.
Danielle McCoy:So, um, to wrap up since we're over our time here,
Bonnie Von Dohre:Yeah, that's typical. Alright, so tell us about the challenge because I know we've got people here that are from your group, but we also have people that are not so
Danielle McCoy:um, so I am running a challenge it started today and it runs through Friday, which is March 4, if I'm I think the home homestead anywhere challenge and it's to help you try to like today we talked about goal setting help you start your homestead or you know, keep it going without being overwhelmed, regardless of where you live. So you can join it by going to the rustic elk.com/challenge and enter your information and it will enter you into the challenge. Anyway, if you haven't already joined the challenge, I invite you to come and join the challenge and it's there's no cost for it or anything. I have no idea what I'm doing so there is that. But I do have it all planned out to help you guys you know, build your homestead and set your goals and not get overwhelmed.
Bonnie Von Dohre:If you have not already subscribed go subscribe to the Grounded in Simplicity podcast on all major podcast channels and that way you can get all of our episodes. And if you have any watching from YouTube, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel The Not So Modern Housewife.
Danielle McCoy:Be my first video
Bonnie Von Dohre:There's a way to kick it off.
Danielle McCoy:Alright, so
Bonnie Von Dohre:Alright. But yes, thank you for everyone that joined us. If you've not already joined Danielle's challenge, go follow the link and get signed up. She's got lots of good stuff planned this week to help help you achieve your goals for your homestead this year? Alright, so that's it.
Danielle McCoy:All right, and you guys have a great one. Bye guys.
Bonnie Von Dohre:Thank you for listening to this episode of the grounded simplicity podcast. If we were able to help you in any way, please share this episode with a friend. And also leave us a review on Apple podcasts. You can also join us over on Patreon at grounded simplicity and help to support this podcast as well as become a patron and get a behind the scenes look at the creation of our podcast and even have some input on future episodes.