What a year it was! Around this time of year, I review the goals that I set way back on January 1st, 2012.
So what were the goals? Here are the three that I talked about at start of the year;
1. Reduce our meat intake by 80%. PASS!
Well, I am pleased to say that we met this goal easily. In fact, vegetarian meals are now our default setting and roughly 90% of our meals are meat-free. I still have bacon every second weekend, and we occasionally have MSC certified fish on the odd occasion, but the vast majority of our meals are veg.
2. Increase vertical growing space. FAIL!
This goal, however, was not achieved. The only additional vertical space as been when I plant climbing beans a month after sweet corn so that it grows up the corn stalks. Lets put this goal in the ‘must do better’ category.
3. Less projects, more maintenance. PASS!
Projects. I can’t seem to stay away from them. If it is not teaching a workshop at least once a month, or presenting about sustainable living as a guest speaker to a community group somewhere, it is the media attention that one gets when winning the Renew Sustainable Blogger of 2012! If that wasn’t enough, I built a small solar power system in March/April, and then got a bee in my bonnet about being a real author and wrote three eBooks which I self-published via Smashwords and Amazon. A fourth is currently in editing mode.
- Downshift day started in early January. Took a pay cut to enable this action.
- The blog reached its 4th birthday in February!
- Awarded ReNew Magazine Blog of the Year 2012 in March. Ecstatic.
- Built a small solar power system in April.
- Published a Mozzarella video tutorial in May.
- Added more capacity to the small solar power system.
- Published the first of three sustainable living eBooks in June.
- Three of the most popular posts of the year were written in July – The Earth IS Full Of Our Stuff, How To Remove Scaly Leg Mites, and The Seven Stages Of Change. If this blog is anything, it is diverse in topics.
- Published second sustainable living eBook – The Way Of The Chicken.
- Visited Waubra Wind Farm in August. It was simply majestic to see this source of renewable energy in action.
- Celebrated One Million Page Views for the blog in September.
- Hosted Sustainable House Day for the third year running.
- Participated in Buy Nothing New Month during October.
- Published third sustainable living eBook – Build Your Own Small Solar Power System in November.
- Harvested the best bloody crop of Potatoes and Onions ever! Very pleased.