Lets start 2014 with a bang, shall we?  Our goals for the year……

Personal and family goals are important, and certainly much better than New Years resolutions, which most people inevitably break within the first week or two.  That is of course if everyone agrees to them.

The goals I am about to announce have been discussed as a family group, and we are all on-board.  This initial agreement will go a long way to achieving them.

Now, to get everyone up to speed, I wrote about how to set goals in this post titled The Secret to Emptying the Too Hard Basket and Setting Goals, which will help as I work through our little list.

I proposed two goals, Kim proposed two, and Ben proposed one, so our list looks something like this;

1. Investigate Native Beehive placement.
2. Publish at least one podcast a month with Kim as co-host.
3. Teach my son Ben how to cook dinner at least once a week.
4. Perfect at least two mould ripened cheeses.
5. Install a third rainwater tank.

Lets break them down further and why we want to pursue these goals for 2014.

1.  Investigate Native Beehive placement

This was the first of Kim’s suggestions.  It really surprised me, as I have been dropping the hint of a bee hive around the yard for ages.  What prompted her into action was a documentary titled More Than Honey.  In fact, it was just the trailer that she saw (which you can view here; http://youtu.be/Wh_IRrBeu-0), and she did a bit of research about how bees are dying all over the world, and what it would mean to humanity.

However, I did reminder her that I was allergic to bee stings (blow up like a balloon), and that we would probably have to opt for native sting-less bees.  We may be out of luck as native bees like warmer climates, so Victoria may be too far south.  I will have to do some more research.

We want to have a hive up and running by June, and we do not want to manage the hive ourselves.  I did read somewhere that you can call an apiarist and they will place the hive on your property, check in on it once in a while, and perform all the hive maintenance in return for some honey for our family.  We have lots of pollination opportunities for the bees, so pollen will not be an issue.  There are lots of well established native eucalyptus trees as well on offer.

All I have to do now is find someone who will supply and maintain them for us.  If anyone knows details of such a service, I would be grateful of any details via comment.

2.  Publish at least one podcast a month with Kim as co-host

Since our first Greening of Gavin podcast together, which was Our Christmas Special in case you missed it, Kim has expressed a desire to co-host the show on a regular basis.  Now I am certainly not precious about hosting it alone, as I found the entire co-host experience uplifting and a whole lot of fun.  The podcast stats also show that many of you also enjoyed the last podcast.  So to that end, Kim has agreed to appear at least once a month, maybe more if we have something special we want to talk about.  That leaves three other podcasts a month for a solo act (yours truly) or a guest interview.  As it was my suggestion, I look forward to making sure this goal gets completed!  I may even have to change the podcast’s name.

3.  Teach Ben how to cook dinner at least once a week

Ben is now 14 and at that stage of his life that he wants to learn how to cook.  I suggested to him that he helps me out on weekends, when I give Kim a rest, and to my delight he agreed.  In fact, we want to get to the stage, where he can prepare the evening meal with a minimum of supervision.  Sounds like it will be great fun teaching the lad.

4.  Perfect at least two mould ripened cheeses

+Ian Treuer, my guest on the last cheesemaking podcast (Episode 18), has inspired me to take a step outside my cheese making comfort zone and try making some more mould ripened cheeses.  I particularly like the look of his Little Squirrel cheese, and the size of his Camembundy.  They both look delicious and are potential candidates.  Kim as also requested a milder form of Stilton, so I will work on a few blue varieties as well.  As mould ripened cheeses need low temperatures to mature, I will need to make them in the autumn.  Summer will be far too hot, with room temperature around 25° C most of the time, dropping a little at night.  The cheese fridge is not cool enough for the 7° C required to age these types of cheeses.

My Stilton cheese

5.  Install a third rainwater tank.

This one will be pretty easy.  I already have two rainwater tanks installed on the suburban food farm, so the only barrier to this goal is saving up the money.  I am looking at getting a 2000 litre tank, which is about $800.  I should have that saved up in about six months.  Installation will be a cinch, as I will locate it in the carport right next to the existing one.  The base concrete slab is already there, so I will simply interconnect the two tanks to extend the water storage.  Easy peasy.

Anyway, these are our goals that we are going to try our best to complete before years end.  Should be lots of fun, and we will keep you up to date on our progress.

Have any of you set goals for 2014?