This past year was an amazing one for our little enterprise. We had the best year yet in terms of return on investment. As we look back, we are able to observe how far we have come from our humble beginnings. In the past twelve months, we have been able to double our happy flock of chickens, our spunky herd of goats and our buzzing beehives. The past year also saw great growth in the orchard as we harvested our first plums, peaches and pears. In December we harvested a bumper crop of lemons out of our enlarged greenhouse. The heirloom veggie plant sales and production were a bit down, however, we can attribute that to the unusual weather we encountered.We attended more Farmer’s Markets and Craft Shows than in past years and made lots of new friends. We are seeing an increase in the online Farmer’s Markets sales as well.
As we look forward to and ponder our plans for 2012, we are looking at expansion. At the present time we are building on to the goat house. Our plans call for new triple section sink and to be able to meet the requirements for a Grade A Diary. This is the loftiest goal in front of us at the time. We are also enlarging the chicken yard and adding more nest boxes to the house. We are going for a condo effect.We have thirty little peeps arriving on March 12 to inspect the new digs. The heirloom veggie plant production will double this spring. We have added new heat mats, tables, lights, and of course a larger greenhouse. On the soap side of the business, we have made a shampoo bar and are in process of making a shaving bar as well. The lotion we introduced last year took off like gangbusters, so we are adding new spring and summer scents to that line. We are also ramping up our participation in the online markets.
So much to accomplish and still only twenty four hours in a day. The long range plan is to be out of day jobs and doing this full time in three more years! Whoo-hoo!