Northern Utah is blessed to be able to experience all four seasons every year. Granted, spring and autumn can be quite short, but we still have them. Likewise, we humans go through seasons. Seasons of hardship, joy, loss, grief, happiness, abundance, and so much more.
For us, 2024 was definitely a year of seasons. For the first three months the ranch was full of life and possibilities. Here are some highlights from January, February, & March:
Craig and I got away from the winter weather for a few days at the end of January and took a much-needed vacation.
We bought a new tractor that we had grown enough to need and it has been a huge blessing this year.
We brought home a baby goat, Caspian, who is destined to be our herd sire.
The memberships for our second year of CSA sold out.
I created a series of summer workshops for kids and they had a fairly good reception.
I started the USU Master Gardener course.
And I released a children’s picture book about goats that has done exceptionally well.
April brought us three months of loss and hardships.
First, we lost our sweet dog Trigger unexpectedly from a ruptured tumor.
One of Honey's kids had some neurological issues that we could not fix and had to have him put down.
Our oldest hen, Rosemary, started having trouble walking.
Our cat Sawyer, who turned 15 this year, was diagnosed with early-stage kidney failure.
One of our mouser cats, Cash, suffered fatal internal injuries after being rammed by one of the goats.
Some kind of bug was eating our alfalfa field.
Grasshoppers were eating our gardens.
We had unseasonable freezes that took out a lot of our garden despite the protective covers we had.
But we also had some good things happen in April, May, & June.
6 baby chicks arrived in the mail.
A broody hen hatched out 2 baby chicks and both survived.
I finished my 40 hours of volunteer work for the Master Gardener Program and finished the classes as well.
We were blessed with being able to cut, bale, and keep 8 acres of hay that made up for the loss of our hay.
In June the CSA began and despite the setbacks I had enough produce each week.
July through December were just flat out busy.
In July we celebrated Finnick's first birthday.
I participated in the Mountain Arts & Music 4th of July festival selling my skincare products.
The end of July brought the start of the Monastery Farmer's market
I wrapped up the children's workshops in July.
In August, the three baby goats got castrated, vaccinated, and put up for sale.
the two chicks our broody hen hatched out were roosters and since the rooster we had was kind of mean, we decided two of the three needed to go and one of the young roosters was deemed the nicest of the bunch and got to stay.
In September I was accepted to two big winter markets and realized I needed to make more soap ASAP so I would have enough for both markets.
We spent a lot of time and effort on getting our field healthier this year. From applying compost tea, to reseeding, to spreading compost and topsoil, we put a lot of work into it and are hoping we’ll see the beginning of good things in 2025.
Craig cut down the two huge cottonwood trees in our backyard that were dying.
Our cat Tango had a run-in with a skunk.
In October I decided to do some minor changes on some of the product labels, and add greeting cards and some services.
Prep and pack for the Millcreek Common market that started on November 1st and ran through Christmas Eve.
Making enough product to keep Millcreek Common stocked.
In November I graduated from the USU Master Gardener Program.
Participated in the Craft Lake City Holiday Market.
We spent Thanksgiving in Washington DC with my mom.
Three days after we got home from DC, we brought our new puppy, Milo, home.
I also decided to try breeding Reba one more time to Caspian. We have to wait until the end of January before we can do a blood test to find out if she’s pregnant.
Unfortunately, we ended the year with another loss. Craig's dad passed away on Christmas morning. He spent the last week of 2024 in Illinois taking care of his dad's estate.
I set a goal at the beginning of 2024 to be able to make 2 extra house payments with the income we made from the ranch and I’m happy to report we were able to do that.
So, what’s in store for 2025?
Amazingly we don’t have any new projects lined up for 2025 at the moment.
I would like to bring home another female goat, but I have to sell the three boys first and I’d like to see how our hay field does this spring as well, so any plans I have for the goats are on hold for the moment.
We have no plans to add any more chickens in 2025 as our coop is currently at capacity and I’m not sure I want to expand beyond what we already have anyway.
I probably will not do anymore children’s workshops, and if I do, they won’t be in the summer. There is too much going on during the summer already.
The CSA has some changes in how it’s organized, but we’ll still be offering fresh, organic produce through the summer.
I am planning on renewing my Master Gardener certificate next year, which means volunteering at the Ogden Botanical Garden’s for 20 hours over the course of the year.
I want to experiment with some new soaps and other skincare items, so there could be some new things coming on that front.
Craig and I have been contemplating doing some remodeling projects in the house, but we have not totally committed to doing them yet and are still considering if we really want to do them, if we can afford them, and the timing.
It will be interesting to see how the year goes with no major projects on the schedule. I for one am looking forward to being able to enjoy what we’ve built over the past five years and see what seasons we get to experience. Thank you for being with us and supporting us on our journey.
Comments