As I review 2020 and my homestead experience, I can see areas of growth and progress. Other projects I see uncompleted and think, ‘Really, I still did not get this done?’ Do you relate?
Progress seems slow compared to my desired results, yet success is not always measured in concrete numbers. Investing into the lives of people you meet, friends and family, growing spiritually in a relationship with Jesus, all has no price tag.
Looking back at 2020 on CG Heartbeats Farm I do see progress in all areas pertaining to the homestead. A favorite project included 30 plus other homesteaders as we contributed to the Homestead Documentary headed up by Carrie from The Little Pallet Farmhouse. This project falls under the online part of the farm so you will read more about it further down in the post.
Table of Contents
Gardens and Food Preservation in 2020
My garden planning started in the fall of 2019. I reached out to Baker Creek Seeds requesting to become an affiliate of their company. Turned out they do not actually have an affiliate program, but they were supportive of working with me in a different way. I picked out 10 seeds packets to plant the following year (2020).
I have started sharing my experience with these different garden plants on the blog such as the post, Tokyo Green Cucumbers. Additional posts about other plants I grew from Baker Creek Seeds will continue to release in the coming months.
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I have slowing added additional garden space via the chicken’s pens strategically placed to kill off the sod. When I started this project, I felt discouraged. I only had one 10 x 10 pen. I recall thinking how long it would be until I finally had the garden space I wanted. A slow down is indeed a good thing as long as I can see progress. Now, I have 6 garden plots to plant in with more being planned.
I planted 2 new varieties of garlic, Majestic and Metechi. These bring their own variance to the palate.
Saving Seeds
I saved all of the seeds I could for 2021 as last year the supply exceeded the demand rather easy. I recently read, this is happening again.
Flowers
I am excited for the flowers to come up in the spring of 2021. In April during the stay at home mandate, I started work in the center of the drive. I was having a bit of an emotional breakdown. It led to me spending 3 hours working in the interior of the circle of our driveway. You can read about how my day turned from bad to great and set my attitude for the rest of 2020 by clicking the picture below.
In August I paid a visit to my aunt, who at 92, was moving out of state to live with her daughter. How I miss her, but I am happy she is now living once again on a farm. She allowed me to dig up several of her flowers and shrubs. I added many of them to the interior of the circle I had cleaned up in April. The available space prepped in the spring allowed me to quickly transplant the flowers.
I added a few of the flowers to other spots on the homestead too. In September, I planted Black Hollyhock seeds from Baker Creek and transplanted around 10 tulip bulbs who had multiplied in their current location.
I found mums on sale at Lowes. After enjoying them in pots around the farm, I planted them in three different locations. I have better info this year as for how to winter them, so I am hoping some of them will return in the spring.
Check out my accidental bonus
I did not get 2 of the mums transplanted from the pots into the ground. Instead they were a victim of Aneta’s playful puppy behavior. As I walked through the yard, I bent down to pick up the pot intending to dump the soil and save the pot for future use. What?! I seen a tiny bit of green, new growth.
I decided to take it in the house, water it and see what happened. The second pot showed no such growth, but I took it in the house also. I randomly watered both. The pictures tell the story taken on Jan 7th.
These potted mums had gone through several nights of temps below 32 degrees. Oh! I have hope the ones I transplanted will come back in the spring!
CG Heartbeats Farm Animals in 2020
I had a goal for 2020 to purchase a cow and a livestock guard dog. Aneta, a Great Pyrenees puppy, joined us in May of 2020. Her joyful attitude puts a smile on my heart and her ability to think for herself has me learning all I can about training her.
As for a cow, I shifted my goal to having my own milk. That was one half of my reason for wanting a cow. I think in a conversation with one of my sisters, I learned Nigeran Dwarf goal milk is not like other goat milk. I had to find out so I paid a visit to a farm and tasted it for myself. A.maz.ing! I began goat shopping as the year 2020 came to a close. No goats here yet, but….
Chickens
The Swedish Flower Hens continue to flourish here, but progress is again slow with the other breeds. I hatched a cross of Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner and Swedish Flower Hens several times this year. More on the process with pictures in a forthcoming blog post. I added Pen # 11.
What to learn more about Pawnee and his flock? Click below. A few days ago, I set their eggs in the incubator. I am excited to see their first chicks.
Two Lemon Cuckoo Niederrheiner hens died leaving me with only 1 hen and 2 roosters (Cisco and Clinch). I am hoping the one lone hen will produce fertile eggs in the spring.
I also lost 2 Dorking hens. In 2019 and in 2020, I raised one pullet from each year. The 2019 has started laying eggs again almost every day in the last week. I love this as it is the beginning of January with shortened daylight. Currently I have 2 pairs of Dorking birds to continue with and one more pullet about 2 -3 months old.
All of the these I lost were 4 plus years old and while some chickens live longer, not all of them do.
2020 Farmer’s Markets
In March I when picking up chicken feed, I noticed a thumping noise coming from the rear left wheel. Long story short the combination of rust and hitting 2 potholes resulted in the rear axle partially tearing away from the frame. It was deemed unrepairable. For the remainder of 2020 we were down to one car making it inconvenient to attend any farmer’s markets
Another reason was where I am at in planning and producing an income from products produced here at CG Heartbeats Farm. I have been able to use my website to sell garlic and so I had less of a need to attend the local market.
I miss the people and miss attending. Hopefully, I will be a part of local farmer’s markets in 2021.
Online Work in 2020
For the first time this year, I added the option to purchase garlic from this website. I reached my goals in the number of bulbs I wanted to sell. You can also purchase the Christmas CD: Justified ~ Once in a Manger Lowly.
I added backend features to the website, but you may not be aware of them by simply visiting. If you have been here before you may have noticed the website has a new look. Expect more changes in the coming weeks.
I worked behind the scenes on 2 projects forth coming early in 2021. One of which I have mentioned before, Chick Hatching Practices. The other one, I will be announcing in the coming months.
The Homestead Documentary
I was honored to be a contributor for the Homestead Documentary. Carrie from The Little Pallet Farmhouse headed the project. 30 plus homesteader contributed audio and video to share and encourage others interested in homesteading. Carrie edited and released the videos from her You tube Channel the Little Pallet Farmhouse. Click below to watch Episode 3 (CG Heartbeats is featured here), but be sure to watch them all!
The Flourish Writers Academy
I joined the Flourish Writers Academy in May. My desire was to connect with other Bible believing women who also wrote. I am especially drawn to the Christ centered, prayerful planning instructions for my writing life as modeled by the founders of the program.
In the monthly trainings I learned new writing skills and I continue to them put into practice. As a member of the 2021 academy, I have access to the past years trainings. I am grateful for the opportunity to refresh and grow.
In Summery
I worked behind the scenes on projects to be finished in 2021, I volunteered as a facilitator for short term blogging mastermind as a part of the Flourish Writers Academy, one mastermind I attended came to an end, but I had joined another. My year was full of continuing my education to further the growth of this journey I am on.
Leave a comment below how 2020 helped you grow.
