Reflection & Anticipation

At the end of each year I like to take some time to look back and reflect on what we lost, what we gained, what we accomplished, and where there is room for improvement. As I look back on 2025, we had our share of losses and challenges to overcome, but overall, this was a pretty good year.

I wish I could say we didn’t have any losses this year, especially with the animals, but we did. Two of our chickens passed, one of old age and one from a predator attack. My cat Sawyer also passed at the ripe old age of sixteen.

Thankfully, our losses this year were few and we can consider 2025 a year of additions. We added Daisy to our goat herd in the early spring, and she gave us two healthy babies in August. Five ducks, three chickens, and two alpacas joined us as well.

Apart from the animals, we decided to let go of the CSA program as it was just too much for one person to handle, but we traded it for a farmstand, which was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to doing more with that in 2026. As a result, we downsized our gardens, but I got to enjoy eating and canning more of what I grew and that is exactly what I wanted.

I started offering soap classes, which will continue in 2026, but most of the classes will be moved to other locations in Ogden and Ogden Valley. I’m hoping I’ll be able to announce the first few class dates in the next couple of weeks.

As far as projects go this year, we fixed and replaced a LOT of fences, thanks to our buck, Caspian. We did a DIY cement sidewalk in our backyard, worked on replanting our field, remodeled our downstairs bathroom, and started remodeling Craig’s office, which will hopefully be completed before the end of January. Its been slow going, first with Craig catching a cold and then me pulling a muscle in my leg that had me laid on the couch for a full day and moving slowly for a couple days after.

I participated in the Earth Day Birthday event at the Ogden Botanical Gardens, the July 4^th Mountain Arts and Music Festival, the Monastery Farmer’s Market, the Millcreek Common Holiday Shoppes market, and the Christmas Market at the Hearthside. All of which we hope to participate in again in 2026. And we continue to sell some of my items at Eden Coffee on consignment.

Speaking of the skincare business, I saw a sales increase of 17% over last year. I’m so thankful to everyone who has supported our business and helped us get to where we are. The main goal I have with this business is to help make extra payments on our house so Craig can retire when he wants to and so that when he does retire, we won’t have to rely entirely on his retirement income.

Last year I was able to make 2 extra payment on the house, and this I haven’t made any extra payments from the ranch income, but that is because I am trying to get the animals to pay for themselves and I've been attempting to use only my skincare income to make purchases for the ranch. We did, however, make three extra house payments this year plus a large lump sum payment because Craig is excellent at what he does and had a great year.

And in case you're wondering, the chickens have been paying their way for a couple of years now with the sale of their eggs. I use goat milk in several of my products, but I haven’t yet calculated if the sale of those products is enough to cover the cost of taking care of the goats, so I can’t say where they’re at yet, but I suspect they aren’t quite paying their way, although they may be close. It may very well come down to the cost of the fences we had to replace this year, but their minerals are also a hefty cost, so that may be a factor as well.

I very much doubt the ducks will ever pay for themselves since we only have three females and I don’t get very many eggs from them, but we will see. I am thinking about offering a half dozen duck eggs for sale starting in 2026.

And as for the alpacas, well, they’re new, but I have some ideas brewing for how they can earn their keep.

And because of the lack of snow we’ve had we’re jumping into 2026 with some BIG changes! We are finally going to build a barn and we have already started the process to get the permits and paperwork done. If the weather continues to be mild, then we should be able to begin construction as soon as the permit is approved. (Hopefully that will only take a week or so) And for the first time, we’re not doing it ourselves.

We’re pretty excited about the barn and plan to have 4 stalls for the animals. It’s likely we’ll keep at least one of the animal sheds we have currently, but we may get rid of or repurpose the other. And along with these changes, we may have to move some of the fences I spent all summer fixing and replacing. Oh well.

The field will continue to be a priority in 2026 as we replant one section with wheat so we can replant alfalfa in the fall there in the fall, and then replant the other sections with wheat next spring. We will probably have to look for an opportunity to get hay from a local source next summer to get us through next winter.

Honey was bred to Caspian mid-December. It’s still too soon to do a pregnancy test, but if she took, then we will be expecting babies the week after Mother’s Day.

Looking ahead, I’m feeling both grateful and excited for all the changes and opportunities 2026 will bring. From new classes and markets to building our barn and improving the ranch, there’s so much to look forward to. Thank you for following along, supporting our journey, and being a part of everything we’re building here. Here’s to another year of growth, hard work, and new beginnings!