Springtime here?

So, I just noticed today that I have ONE follower for this blog! I suppose that means I should start promoting it a bit better, but I haven't got much time for it.
Whoever you are, thanks, hopefully I'll have more followers in time.

Really, really good news a few days ago. I was stressing about the mortgage, and how we're two months behind, and after a few phone calls to Canada Revenue, I (erroneously) concluded that they had lost my tax return. I called my mortgage girl, who is an awesome person by the way, and told them the stark truth.
She casually suggested that I defer my payments for some time...and I responded with "What, how does that work??"
Farm credit, being a government agency, apparently is not as bloodthirsty as most banking institutions. They can suspend your account for up to 12 months (adding the interest onto the balance) and you can pick up a year later where you left off. For me, that will mean that I can blast my way through about $15 grand of unsecured, high interest credit card debt, put up some solar panels, landscape a bit, build some fences, and plant Phase 1 of my orchard!
Why didn't I know about this sooner???
Plus, it turns out the Canada Robbery Agency did get my tax return, and they're putting it through right now! Cool.

After many notebook pages of drawings, here is what I'm going to attempt for the next couple of years.
2010 - I want to earn about $2000 this year, through whatever means possible. I don't think it's an overly lofty goal, I just want to show a bit of revenue. That will probably mean annual veg like peas, beans, cukes, and whatever melons I can produce, plus maybe a few berries or jam from the 50 or so 3 year old Saskatoon plants that I plan to purchase. Getting a basic website setup would be nice too, but that might wait for winter. Oh, and planting a whole mess of trees, some free, and some cherry/apples that I've been fancying. I also need to do a BIG water project and build a pond. It turns out we have an excellent low spot that is now full of water, and just needs some digging/forming and pipe laying to the house.

2011 - Planting more trees, and lots more Saskatoons (like 500). Getting some cattle might be a project for this year, if money permits. I hope to make about 7-10k this year, but it's not extremely vital. All the money I make will be reinvested in infrastructure and debt.

2012 - Probably the first year I might actually have a profit, but that's stretching it. Some of the Saskatoons planted in 2010 will be in full production, and some of the fruit trees will start producing this year. Income should be about $20 grand, hopefully the cattle thing will work out well.

2013 - Things should be really cooking by this year, with a 70% producing orchard/U-pick and all of my major projects done, including hopefully a new house. Income of 30-40k this year.

2014 - Orchard will continue to mature, and I will have been at my job for 6 years, making probably 90,000/year. All of my overtime and banked time will be devoted to the summer months. I will be hiring various church people to work in the orchard from time to time, providing a benefit for them, and taking less of my time as well. This will be the tipping point, where the business could become profitable enough to support me if I needed it to.

2015 and beyond - At some point, the debt we've incurred will be paid, and our expenses will be very low, thanks to renewable energy, our food production, and hopefully a large fuelwood forest. My major tasks will be planting a large enough garden to keep my family in food (I'm not going to be selling too many veggies) and streamlining my orchard and cattle/livestock production. Also in here you can insert my personal passion for teaching, where I start doing tours of our land for others, and teaching them to be self-sufficient.

Will these things work out? Probably not exactly the way I've listed them here, but these are general guidelines, and they say that writing your goals down is pretty important to achieving them. We've already come so far, learned so much so quickly, and yet there is much more to come!

Here are some photos of the land and my garden stuff.

A mountain of fertility - Llama manure! Unfortunately, the llamas are no longer present. 7 were taken away, and I had to shoot the one left behind after she jumped the fence and started roaming the countryside. Llama manure can be added to the garden right away, and does not need to be composted like cattle manure. I have about 2-3 yards of it, more than enough for this year.

A seasonal creek that cuts across our property. My plan is to put some trees along here, willows and poplars to soak up some of the water, and produce some wind shelter, and improve the scenery.
A picture from work. The van and the flashing lights should give you an idea of what I do for a job.

PostScript - My wife is at 37 weeks as of tomorrow. That means we could have a new baby ANY TIME NOW!!!!!