It has officially been one year since I realized my lifelong dream to purchase a farm of my own. My goal is to build this property into a semi-self sufficient homestead, and along the way I’ve been posting weekly progress updates. For week 52, it seemed only right to recap my first 52 weeks as a solo female homesteader.
Food Production
The closing date was in late June, leaving me insufficient time to establish a permanent garden space for 2025. In the meantime, I constructed three small garden beds for a few annuals, most of which were eaten by the local woodchuck. Currently, one bed holds over a hundred bulbs of garlic that are nearing their harvest date, and another holds 20 crowns of asparagus.
I rehabilitated the existing cold frame and used reclaimed materials to build a second one to extend the growing season, producing tons of greens over the course of the winter. A well-established rhubarb patch grows next to the original cold frame.
In the fall, I established my orchard with 6 fruit trees: apple, pear, and mulberry. In the spring, I expanded with 6 more: apple, peach, and plum. A few extra trees (two dwarf mulberry, two paw-paw, and a Bonanza peach) remain in pots on the patio, awaiting further decisions. I also planted three blueberry bushes, and tucked blackberries and raspberries in various corners of the property.
I made great use of the small grove of maple trees by the barn by producing over a gallon of maple syrup – a lifelong dream come true that I never expected to be able to accomplish on this property! I made many mistakes along the way, including wasting 80 gallons of sap (which would have translated to 2 more gallons of syrup), but learned a lot in the process.
Food Production: What’s Next?
My new garden fencing was just installed this week – a fitting one-year anniversary gift from me to myself. I considered putting up temporary fencing for a few years, but the woodchuck incident made me realize that I was going to struggle to get a harvest unless I buried the fencing. At that point, I figured it would be best to do it right the first time by hiring professionals and installing the large garden of my dreams.
There is now plenty of work to do in setting up the garden – I’ll line the interior edges with raised beds, install trellises, and build the soil. This year will be a bit disorganized because I’ll be establishing beds and planting as I go, but hopefully I can set myself up for years of success.
With the permanent garden area established, I can now establish permanent berry patches and grape trellises. I intend to install these outside of the garden, to the left of what is shown in the photo.
I also intend to expand my maple syrup production capabilities by increasing the number of taps and investing in a more substantial evaporator.
Resource Acquisition & Preparedness
In an effort to reduce my negative impact on the Earth (and on my wallet), I have explored various ways to make do with what is available to me. I have been purchasing staples in bulk and storing them in half gallon mason jars and 5 gallon buckets. I’ve utilized the chest freezer left by the previous owner to store homemade sourdough, miscellaneous leftovers, and excess produce – including some foraging excess, as I’ve foraged numerous species of wild edibles.
I have also benefited from the rural tendency to put useful stuff on the side of the road. I reclaimed gardening tools and pots, chairs, saw horses, holiday decorations, a small patio table, and more.
By far the most useful Acquired Resource has been a John Deere Gator Utility Vehicle. I had reached out to the dealership to get a quote, but found that even the base model with minimal bells and whistles was a bit beyond what I felt comfortable paying. A couple months later, in a show of fate, the salesperson reached out to tell me that they were getting a used Gator in on consignment and, although it was larger and had more features than what I had originally been shopping for, he thought I might be interested. It had every amenity: power steering, powerlift dump bed, all-terrain tires, roof, doors, lights, and a six-foot straight blade snowplow. It was expensive, but at 3 years old and only 70 hours on the engine, it was worth more than the $24,000 asking price. This was the first expense that was truly outside of my budget, but I haven’t regretted it for a second.
Resource Acquisition & Preparedness: What’s Next?
The basement is a disorganized mess. There are a few shelves of stored goods, but it has the potential to be a truly functional storage space. By investing in infrastructure like additional shelves and gamma seal buckets – and investing the time to organize the space for more efficient use – I should be able to have a great pseudo-root cellar ready by the time my garden is producing enough to can.
Aesthetic Utility
In the first weeks after moving in, I painted and updated the living room and bedroom. With the focus on outdoor projects, most other spaces remain untouched. It took about six months to finally organize the bathroom closet, and gaps remain where furniture and art should be. I have been hesitant to buy new furniture because it’s so expensive, but I did splurge on key pieces like a high-quality couch and the kitchen table of my dreams, both constructed through a local company.
I bought a chicken coop and, as of last week, received a shipment of 8 baby chicks. There are actually 16, but half will go to my adopted mom’s house once they are ready to live outside. Chickens fit this category because they are joyful and fun – infusing life to the farm. It was important to me that the chicken coop be aesthetically pleasing, which is why I purchased it rather than building it myself.
I inherited beautiful landscaping, but as I’ve observed it over the year I’ve noticed bare spots, an overabundance of certain plants (irises, lilies), and a lack of some particular favorites (lavender, lilac). Food-producing projects take priority, but in the spare moments I’ve been pulling weeds and tucking plants into various blank spots. I’ve been lucky to acquire many landscaping plants for free – lilacs and lavender from cuttings, bleeding heart and hellebore that self-seeded in a family member’s yard.
Aesthetic Utility: What’s Next?
Well, a lot of things. I have several more rooms to update – I have dreams that the ‘main bedroom’ on the first floor will be a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and the second bedroom upstairs will be a craft room. The kitchen needs to be updated with wallpaper, paint, and a rug under the kitchen table – I’m not updating the cabinets any time soon due to the excessive cost. I will start with the kitchen updates this summer, and from there I’ll have to decide between the craft room (easier) or the library (more important to me).
I have accepted that in order to maintain the landscaping, I will need to get a delivery of mulch, or else I’ll be fighting weeds until the end of time. I also need to finish building the chicken run before the babies are ready to go outside – it’s essentially just posts with welded wire, but I have to set the posts 36 inches deep to avoid frost heaves, so it has turned into quite the production.
Energy Indepedence
This is the smallest category, but it is also the one I have nearly accomplished – and it’s also the one I had to spend the most money to achieve. I installed mini split heat pumps to serve as primary air conditioning and backup heat, as well as a 12-panel solar array to power them (and everything else). I replaced the 100-year-old antique wood stove with a new Blaze King as a primary heat source. I made it through the winter without turning on the oil-powered boiler, and I am producing enough solar to cover all of my electricity needs (at least, in the Spring and Summer). I also have one rain barrel by the garden, which I used to water the lettuces in my cold frame through late Fall and early Spring.
Energy Independence: What’s Next?
While the infrastructure is all in place, there is still a lot to be done regarding both firewood and water security. My firewood situation over the winter was hand-to-mouth; better preparedness over the summer will help ease the stress in the future. And though I am on well water, it would be beneficial to have backup water sources for instances like power outages, or to support locations that are far from the house. I plan to move my rain barrel into the new garden space and build a small structure with a metal roof to improve collection. If it all goes well, I will build similar structures in the orchard and near the chicken coop.
Moving Forward
Newly completed projects often result in daily maintenance added to the routine: firewood needs to be hauled, sap buckets need to be emptied, fruit trees need to be watered. There have been many days when I used the few after-work hours to complete a list of maintenance tasks, only to watch the sun go down and realize I had made no actual progress. But is that the truth? The trees must be watered if I will ever pick a peach.
A lot has happened in Year 1, and much more is on the horizon. By this time next year, I will have chickens that lay eggs. I’ll be well on my way to fruit-producing trees. I will have an enormous, overflowing garden. More rooms in my house will serve as a reflection of me.
Even today, I have moments where I abruptly realize that this farm is really mine. I stop what I’m doing and look around, trying to take it all in. I hope that a year from now, I’m still having those moments of amazement – that I never take this for granted.
I have been blown away by the kindness of the internet. Thank you so much for all the kind words! I will continue to share the process, including weekly (ish) progress updates and more, both here and on social media.
KC
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