Happy new year, everyone! Although 2017 was a very memorable year, now that it’s officially in the rearview mirror, I’m excited to look ahead to 2018. The start of a new year, fresh with opportunity and potential, is a great time to make plans for the coming seasons, particularly if you live in an area with significant winter snowfall and you can hardly wait for spring to arrive. Here are some of my farming-related new year’s resolutions for 2018. Perhaps they’ll give you ideas for some new year’s resolutions of your own.
1. Mow, Mow, Mow!
It goes without saying that it can take a lot to keep a farm looking tidy and manicured, because the grass never seems to stop growing and there are lots of buildings, fences, and other obstacles to mow around and otherwise navigate.
One of my new year’s resolutions for 2018 is to stay on top of the ever-growing grass better than ever. It will involve a lot of tools—a riding mower, a couple of string trimmers and a large tractor-mounted mower—but this year, the grass will meet its match.
2. Build More Brick Walkways
In a series of Hobby Farms articles throughout 2017, I described how I located a pile of old bricks hidden in the dirt and debris beside a pine tree on my farm. I used the bricks for a couple of projects this year, including a simple brick walkway leading to a garden, but there are still plenty of bricks left and I recently found another stash next to a different tree. I plan to use the bricks to build a couple of more walkways in 2018 … now I just have to decide where they should lead.
3. Remove Rocks From Fields
Over the years I’ve removed a fair number of rocks from the fields of my farm, but I plan to remove many more in 2018. A few of them, while not overly noticeable, stick up just far enough that they can get in the way of mowers and other farm machines. Armed with appropriate tools (and plenty of dirt to fill in the holes), I will make sure these rocks find new homes this summer.
4. Keep Exploring
Earlier this year, I stumbled across a vintage cattle water dispenser while looking through some old rusty items tucked away on a rock pile by the previous owners of my farm. Although in the past I’ve not taken too close a look at the other items on the pile (it’s not exactly the most productive of projects), I suspect I could uncover some of the farm’s history by examining the other long-forgotten items. I intend to set aside some time in 2018 for this pursuit.
Again, happy new year!
