Garden and Kitchen Plans for 2014 and Kitchen Reorganization Series

In 2014: grow more flowers

Happy New Year! Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Making resolutions has never been a big motivator for me but I am definitely a planner. I am, as my family lovingly puts it, "freakishly organized" and a LOVE to plan. Lists are my life. I have separate To Do Lists for the month, the week and for the day, so it will come as no surprise going into a new year that I have plans.

What I am, though, is flexible. Life happens and changes in midstream are to be expected. Approaching my long term plans as goals, rather than carved in stone commandments, leaves a lot of room for inspiration and rethinking!

Here are some of my goals for 2014.




In the Garden

Irrigation
Watering is not my favorite chore and I have too many beds to hand water anymore. Installing an irrigation system will save me time, provide more efficient watering and help to keep water off the leaves of the plants, helping to reduce the spread of  soil borne diseases.





Creation of high hoop house/cold frame system to improve winter crop success
I was very disappointed with my winter crop performance in 2013. I need to do better if I want to improve on my food stores for the winter months. 



Container Herb Garden
To make more room in my beds, I will be moving more of my herbs into containers and creating a garden on my deck. Visit my Container Herb Garden Pinterest board to see some ideas for this garden.



More edible plants, especially fruit
Plans include the addition of elderberry bushes, lavender and dwarf fruit trees in the front of the house. I am researching the possibility of a grape vine in the back of the house as well as hardy kiwi. My Pinterest board has some great ideas.

Redesign of beds in front of the house
This is really tied to the more edible plants goal. Originally we had planned to lasagne mulch all the grass in the front of the house but changes in plans in the back of the house meant it wasn't necessary this year. I do need to improve the soil in the front, swap out some shrubs and add more edibles. My Edible Landscapes Pinterest board has some inspirational ideas.


In the Kitchen

Home Brewing with Computer Man
I am excited about this one. Simple living and self-sufficiency are not my husband's top priorities but he is on board with this project! Beer and wine, especially what I call country wines ( rhubarb, elderberry), as well as mead and fermented drinks like ginger beer are on the list of drinks to try.

Sour Dough Starter and Bread
I have a very fancy  bread machine. I used to use it a lot until I developed an intolerance to yeast. Sourdough bread is made using wild yeast and does not seem to affect me. I will be giving making my own sour dough a try in 2014.





More aggressive preserving plan, including new recipes
I hope to be very busy preserving this summer and to mix it up, I'll have some new recipes to try!

Kousa Dogwood Berry Muffins

Learn more about foraging and cooking foraged plants
I have so much more to learn about this subject and about local plants in general. It's going to be interesting!

Reorganize cabinets for efficiency
My kitchen is in need of some attention. It just isn't working well any more and I have some great ideas to make my work spaces and storage more efficient. Visit my Kitchen Pinterest board to see some ideas I'm thinking about.


In the Home

Improve sewing skills
If I could sew in a zipper, I'd be a better person.

It seems like a lot, but I have already been thinking about a lot of these ideas and am eager to get started. In fact I will be sharing many of these projects with you from start to finish.


Kitchen Reorganization Series 

Starting tomorrow I will begin an eight post series on my kitchen reorganization. Every Tuesday and Thursday in January I will focus on a different part of my kitchen and how I have reorganized to get the most out of every inch of storage I have!

I start tomorrow with the "before" photos. It'll be interesting and you know you want to see inside my drawers.

What are your goals for 2014?

Sue


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