One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is review my goals and check off ones I have completed. It's so satisfying to see everything- on my list of goals or not- that's been accomplished over the last year. I've added a few new skills to my repertoire and notches to my belt, and proud of it!

2015 Goals Completed:

1. Have a farmer's market stand. This was my one big mammoth goal completed this year. You can read about it here. It definitely pushed and stretched me in more ways than one and I learned a TON. I got to meet a whole new group of people that I look forward to seeing again next year.

2. Milk & breed goats. My first season EVER of goat milking began in January and ended in October. I absolutely loved it! After a year or two of buying milk, it was like a miracle to see a quart of milk in our fridge every single day. It meant doing chores twice a day, but I didn't mind the chores too much. I actually looked forward to doing chores with Hubs (it was kind of like a date), seeing how much milk I could get and checking up on our broody hen and her chicks.

In November we bought a buck and I got to learn how heat cycles work in goats. It was so entertaining to me to sit and watch the does and buck interact, him wagging his tongue and she wagging her tail in between "fighting" with each other. And yep, I got to experience the famed "goaty" smell from Mr. Buck.

3. Get chickens and feed sustainably. Though I'm still working on the sustainable part, we were able to get nine chickens over the course of the summer. Some of these chickens were a broody hen and her chicks, which were a joy for me to watch. I got to see mama hen calling her chicks, finding food for them and keeping them literally under her wing at night. We watched the chicks grow bigger and bigger until they got to be teenage chicks and mama kicked them out of her nest and actually started pecking on them when they got too close to her. What a funny analogy of how life really works.

Later in the year we were blessed with a whole coop of hens and also some free Craigslist roosters. This is when I got to try some of my sustainability experiments, including alternative animal feeds, co-habitation with goats and a sheep (the sheep didn't work out, by the way) and butchering the Craigslist roosters for meat. It took a while for us to butcher the roosters because we are novices, but the meat was excellent- not tough at all.   
4. Grow some of my own spices. My new gardening experiment this year was growing mustard seeds and chili peppers. Both were grown for free from seeds I already had (you can grow mustard from the store bought "mustard seed" spice). The mustard seeds were a lot of work, but I will definitely be growing chili peppers again next year.

I also learned about some other spices that grow wild here in Michigan- things like sumac and shepherd's purse.

5. Learn one new Spanish tense. In October and November I completed the Duolingo Spanish language tree, and in the process learned several new tenses.

Things not on my goal list:

1. Learn to drive a motorcycle. This was something that got pushed to 2015 from my 2014 goal list. This summer Hubs helped me drive his motorcycle around the yard and practice here and there... when I was feeling brave, which wasn't very often. As the summer drew to a close, I decided it was time to get down to business and take a class to get my endorsement. In the end, I went from being terrified and, at the best, NOT confident in my driving abilities to being able to hop on the motorcycle and make a run to the grocery store with (almost!) no fear. This was huge for me! 

2. Do an Ebay selling blitz. In May I found some Ebay-worthy sewing patterns at a garage sale. I have regretted not keeping track of Ebay earnings in the past, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to start. In addition, a blitz would tell me if it is really worth my time to be an Ebay seller. Finally in November my life slowed down enough to do it, with phenomenal results.

3. Make goat milk soap. This wasn't technically on my list for 2015, but I have always wanted to make soap successfully. Not only did the soap turn out, but I was able to sell some of it at the farmers market.

4. Try lasagna gardening and raised beds. This experiment actually started in the fall of 2014 after a horrible summer of weeding. Hubs made me three raised beds and I filled them with "lasagna" of kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, manure and compost. I put some newspaper on the top and left them over winter. In the spring I poked holes in the newspaper and transplanted a bunch of home-grown tomato and pepper seedlings into the beds.

For the entire summer I did hardly any work (weeding, watering) on the beds. The tomatoes absolutely thrived, enough to choke out most of the peppers and overflow into my other plants. I made a few mistakes (planting vine-type tomatoes without supports, planting too many in one area, not pruning, etc.) but overall the experiment was a smashing success and this fall we were able put out and fill four more lasagna beds and two raised beds for strawberry transplants. Paths between the beds will be covered with plastic and mulch to almost entirely eliminate weeding.

5. Teach piano lessons. At the beginning of the year, one of my sisters-in-law asked if I could give her piano lessons. Specifically her request was to learn how to read sheet music. In the course of a few months she went from being able to read NOTHING to reading and playing music by classical composers like Mozart and Bach. I was super impressed that she did in a few months what it took me years to do as a kid taking lessons.

At the end of the year I was able to work with a few younger students aged 4-12. This was a completely different ball game! With a little bit of internet research I discovered many games and fun exercises to use with younger students in order to keep them motivated and having fun (which is the biggest challenge). Again I was absolutely blown away at how well the different teaching techniques worked. Some of my students have been able to learn a new piece every week. After this experience, I feel like I was ripped off as an elementary piano student. Why weren't MY teachers doing games and aural training?? Oh well, I guess they didn't have the internet back then. 

Cumulative Effect of Learning New Things
You'll notice that over the course of an entire year I only have only completed five of my official goals and five unofficial ones. However, even these ten things will have a massive effect over the course of a lifetime. Getting experience in something is so valuable, and I got a lot of it this year! I will never have to wonder if selling on Ebay or doing a farmers market booth is worth my time. I'll never have to look back and wish I would have learned to ride a motorcycle when I had the chance. How many hours of weeding have I prevented by discovering raised bed lasagna gardening? And I've helped five people learn to play an instrument and hopefully fueled their desire to become better musicians.

To some people, a year seems like forever. Others just see it as a small part of a lifetime. If a year is going to go by anyway, why not do something fun, exciting and rewarding with it? Certainly I can set aside less than 2% of my lifetime to learn a couple new skills and improve the remaining two-thirds (God-willing) of it.

These ten things will quite possibly become stepping stones for what I will accomplish next year. 2016 will bring (hopefully!) more profit and a better experience at the farmers market. It will bring more eggs, meat and veggies to the table. This next year will bring more new people into my life and new opportunities. The year hasn't even started yet and I've got some things planned that make me nervous. But it's good to stretch yourself.
 
Nobody's Perfect
I've talked up my ten goals and accomplishments from 2015, but even so there were just as many that didn't get done. I missed the deadline for some, forgot about some, and some of them were completely derailed by things that happened out of my control. However, I don't feel disappointed. Nobody is perfect, including me. There will always be things that don't get done (or done on time), but what's important is to be thankful for and proud of what you did accomplish with the time that you had.

Happy New Year!
-Bethany

Curly dock is a common weed found in fields, fence rows and ditches. In the buckwheat family, I've used the seeds before to make a coarse flour, and as I mentioned here, the plant can be used as alternative feed for goats and other animals.

Identification: In the winter, curly dock is easy to identify because of its dark brown stalks and seed pods. It grows 1 to 4 feet tall with leaves 6-10 inches long growing from the base of the plant. During the summer the plant's flowers are small and reddish or greenish. They eventually turn into small, brown, three-sided winged seeds. During the summer the plant is camouflaged a bit more, but you can still easily identify its long thin leaves with curly edges. There are other type of dock as well, but this variety is called Rumex crispus.
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Edible: Young leaves can be eaten raw, but older leaves will be bitter and must be boiled in several changes of water. The seeds can be dried, threshed and ground into flour. I use a Vitamix dry container to make flour out of the seeds. I would recommend mixing this homemade flour into a white or store-bought flour for best results.

Edible: Indians used to make a lemonade-like drink with sumac berries. Berries can be bruised and boiled (one book says "soaked in cold water"), strained to remove the fine hairs and berries, then add sugar to taste. The berries can be stored and dried for later use as well. 

One variety of red Sumac is a common Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spice. It was widely used in Europe to give food a tart flavor before the Romans introduced lemons to the area.

Animals also love to eat sumac. As I mentioned in this post, my goats love to eat sumac fruits out of my hand. Poultry also enjoy sumac, as well as other animals like rabbits, moose, deer and mountain sheep.

You may notice some tiny brown worms in the sumac fruits. Though it's probably impossible to avoid the worms entirely, by harvesting early in the season (July) you can get the fruit before most of the worms do. While picking off berries with a fork, keep your eye out for worms or a lot of worm droppings (dark brown grainy bits). Wormy fruit clusters can go to the compost pile or animal feed. Chickens love worms!

Medicinal: A gargle for sore throats can be made with a strong hot tea from the sumac berries.
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Other: Sometimes the wood of this plant, greenish or orange in color, is used for napkin rings or picture frames. Sumac stems can also make effective hand drills after they have been dried, or blowtubes and pipestems by burning out the center pith. When green, they work well for weaving baskets.
 
Cautions: There is a poison variety of Sumac that has drooping white fruit clusters. If the fruit is white, don't eat it! Otherwise all red fruits are perfectly safe to eat and feed animals with. :) 

********
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print

Rose hips are easiest to find during the winter. Incidentally, they are a great source of vitamin C when other fruits are in short supply.

Identification: During the winter, wild rose hips are easy to find because of their bright red color. The fruits range in color from orange to dark red, and vary in size up to an inch in diameter. The ones I find are typically less than half of that size. Wild rose brambles can grow from several feet up to 12 feet tall, and will have prickly thorns as will any rose plant. The leaves are compound and saw-toothed, like garden roses.

Edible: Rose hips can be eaten whole, or they can be steeped in boiling water to make a tea very high in vitamin C. Even the leaves and roots, if washed well, can be steeped into tea. Some people make jelly, jam or syrup from rose hips, though my wild rose hips are far too small to make it worth my while.

Medicinal: Being high in vitamin C, rose hip tea is great for the immune system and preventing cataracts. During WWII the British government collected rose hips on a massive scale to be made into syrup and used as a source of vitamin C for children. The seeds are also a source of vitamin E, and the fruits traditionally have been set aside until the end of winter to use as a blood purifier. 

In animals, rose hips can be used to treat female ailments including leucorrhoea, metritis, and miscarriage. 

Other Uses: Rose stems can be used for making baskets.

*******
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print
Levy, Juliette de Bairacli. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Print.
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.

 Edible: Tender stems and leaves can be eaten raw, but tougher stems should be boiled. I've used chickweed before as a substitute for lettuce in tacos, because it has a nice, light flavor. It grows a large part of the year, and even now as late as December it is growing here in Michigan. A great source of fresh greens before or after the garden is producing.

The plant contains a lot of copper, good for all homestead animals except sheep.

Medicinal: The leaves can be mashed into a poultice to treat rashes and burns. It contains many of the soothing and tonic properties of slippery elm, and can be used as a tonic for the digestive system as well as external ointment for eye lotion, rheumatic inflammation and stiff joints.

Chickweed is an important tonic food for poultry, especially young chicks, and can be used to help treat coccidiosis in chickens.

Cautions: Do not let sheep (especially lambs) gorge themselves on this herb, as it has too much copper for their diet.

****
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print
Levy, Juliette de Bairacli. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Print.

I remember several years ago browsing the portfolio of a costume seamstress. On her order page, she put this warning: "Remember, wearing an Elizabeth Swan costume will not make you look like Kiera Knightley. You will still look like you, in an Elizabeth Swan costume." I think Pinterest should come with a similar warning. Decorating you home with Pinterest crafts will not make your home look like the one on Pinterest. It will just look like YOUR home with a bunch of Pinterest crafts.

In addition to my annual Christmas wreath (plus one for Hubs' office door!) and centerpiece, this year I thought I'd try making some decorations for our mailbox. This was my latest Pinterest adventure, not without difficulties.

The total cost for all of my Christmas arrangements was about $5.50.

The Fight for Frugal Christmas Decorations
I'll admit, it's not easy to find cheap Christmas decorations in nice working condition.Hubs and I have found the used market (garage sales, thrift stores) for Christmas decorations to be really poor. Traditional decorations like lights and ornaments are hard to find for less than 75% of retail price. I don't think it's worth buying scratched up mismatching decorations for such a small discount. And it's not like people grow out of their Christmas decorations or give away hand-me-downs. We had a particularly bad experience this year with our used tree stand.

We found a thrift store tree stand for $1.50. However, it was missing parts and buying the special screws needed cost us $4.00. At home, we spent an hour adjusting and readjusting the tree in the stand. Finally we got it only-a-little crooked and decided that was good enough. We strung up the lights and did something else. About 30 minutes later, we were watching TV and all of a sudden the whole tree fell over. What a nightmare! Thankfully there were no ornaments on the tree yet. Once again, we tried to readjust the tree and I realized that the stand was made to use clamps, not single screws. Hubs went out to the shop and got some more screws to drill directly into the tree. It worked, and the tree has stayed up since.

I wonder if it was really worth it to buy a used tree stand. We only saved $5-$10 and it took us an hour or two and a falling tree to get it to work. A tree stand is something we will use for the next 20 or 30 years, and it might be worth it to buy one that works. 

Realities of Being Frugal
Despite what Pinterest and frugal blogs may imply, it can be difficult to make something cheap look expensive. 
One of my favorite bloggers has one of the most beautiful homes and backyard/garden I've ever seen. The photos she takes of her projects makes frugal living (making gifts, having an extremely small food budget, etc)- look absolutely glamorous. Some people would read this lady's blog and think that she has such a beautiful home because she is creative and frugal. The reality is that she and her husband paid dearly (and are still paying for) the home, and almost lost it in the years after 2008 when her husband was out of work.

Frugal people seem to have this idea that we can LOOK like a million dollars without paying for it. Because you know, we are so creative and have lots of skills to use. We think we can make something out of nothing. One time I was at a potluck and someone wanted me to try their soup. "Oh, you would like it- it's so frugal- there's like, nothing in it!" I tried the soup, and sure enough it tasted like nothing. If you put nothing in a soup, that's what you get... nothing. If you put a Christmas decoration on an unattractive mailbox, you still have an unattractive mailbox. Being creative and skillful can improve the situation, but it can't work magic.

That being said, I think Pinterest results will vary depending on how hardcore frugal you are. Personally I would not recommend doing a comparison photo... mine was just for the blog. :) I still think our mailbox looks more Christmas-y with the arrangement than without it, though. 

Have you tried making Pinterest projects? Do they ever turn out as good as the photo?

In September I read about Duolingo in a blog post from the Prudent Homemaker. Duolingo is a free language learning program/phone app- almost like a game- that users can learn new languages or brush up on old ones with. I had planned to start studying Spanish again anyway, using the same great book as I had last year. However, I decided to give Duolingo a shot instead.

With its immersion format, levels and prizes, I found Duolingo absolutely addictive. Because I already knew the basic grammar and some vocabulary, I climbed the "language tree" rather quickly. Even practicing concepts that I already knew, I still managed to pick up new vocabulary words and reinforce verb conjugations, articles, etc. 

The rubber met the road when I started learning new verb tenses like present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, the use of the verb haber, modal verbs, things like that. While Duolingo offers very little if any grammatical explanation for these concepts, I "got the idea" pretty quick. I still plan on reading about these concepts before we leave for Central America, just so I can understand them better. But I will have to look elsewhere for information because Duolingo just doesn't have it. This being said, it is a great tool to have and very possible to learn new information and vocabulary with in a fun way.

Time Commitment
In the account settings, you can set a daily progress goal anywhere from "casual" (10 XP per day- takes 5-10 minutes) to "insane" (50 XP per day- takes 20-30 minutes). At first my goal was automatically set at 20 XP per day, but I did more than that because it was so addictive. In October when I stopped gardening and farmers market, I reset the goal to "insane". For the most part I was able to complete the daily goal, sometimes more, except on the weekends. Obviously as I leveled up the lessons took longer, but it was still very doable. I was able to complete the language tree (that is, work through the entire program) in three months. The way Duolingo works is that as time goes by, words or concepts will need to be re-practiced. Even though I technically completed the program, I can still log in and practice new concepts.

How much can you learn with Duolingo?
While Duolingo can teach new concepts, as was my experience, it can't bring you anywhere near fluency. Even after completing the language tree, Duolingo still says I am only 56% fluent. Honestly, I don't think any program or practicing system can bring you anywhere near fluent. Unless you've actually tried to have a REAL conversation in Spanish (not pre-scripted "hi, how are you? My name is Bethany" conversations), you won't understand how little ability you have. I remember asking Hubs (who really can have a Spanish conversation) what the intelligence level is of someone who had taken, say, Spanish I or II in high school. "Well, you could probably talk with a three-year-old." he answered thoughtfully. I thought this was an insult to students who had spent hours and hours completing assignments, but Hubs was being serious.

Last year we were sitting at a coffee shop in Antigua when a five- or six-year-old boy came and asked Hubs for some money. Amused, my husband carried on a short conversation with him. How old are you? Do you have brothers and sisters? Where are your parents? What do you like to do? I understood some of it, like when the boy said his older brother was fat. But I missed the part about his parents working at the coffee shop, and some other things. Though he didn't succeed in getting any money from us, Hubs let him look at the pictures on our phone and offered the little guy some of his cheesecake. 

This was my final week of Ebay selling out of my vintage pattern treasure/garage sale box. There were only a few patterns and transfers left, so I did "cheat" and add some other patterns I had lying around to make my last lot a little more appealing.

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Like last week, I had the buyer pay shipping. This lot got two bids and ended up selling for $20.50.

The Bottom Line

Income:
1 lot patterns & transfers- $20.50

Expenses:
Ebay fees- $2.05
Paypal fees- $0.92
Total: $2.97

Net Profit: $17.53

This last profit was just enough to push me over the hundred dollar mark ($102.64, to be exact!) for my little treasure box.

Hourly Wage
I spent about a half hour finding extra patterns, photographing and listing these patterns. It will take another half hour to package and ship them out at the local post office. The one downside to selling lots is that you often have to ship them from the post office, which means coordinating with a trip to town or making a separate one (in which case, knock off a couple dollars for gas). Even so, it is still worth it to sell in lots.

$17.53 divided by 1 hour = $17.53 per hour

Ebay as a Side Hustle
In my opinion, selling things on Ebay is a fun, easy way to make money working a couple hours per week. In the past six weeks, it's earned me $5-$17 per hour, as we've seen. But this is only with vintage sewing patterns. There are many other things you can sell on Ebay.

This week I also sold a vintage card game I found at a thrift store for $0.50. It took 15-20 minutes to count the cards, take some pictures and list. I started the game at $11.00, and to my delight it kept getting bids all week until eventually it sold at $43. The net profit on this is $36.71. It was well worth the effort. The return on my $0.50 investment was over 7000%, and I earned over $36 per hour for my time.

Because I want homemakers to be successful and win at life, I've chosen to write this article to expose MLM as an official waste of time and money. I cannot, in good conscience, watch my friends continue to be sucked into these things without saying something. 

A couple weeks ago I was contacted via Facebook by someone I had recently became friends with. The message started with, "Bethany, I've been thinking about you...". That's all I could see of it, so I clicked on it excitedly. Someone had been thinking about me!

After I opened the message, however, I saw that it was just a lady trying to sell a dietary supplement. I was disappointed. What made this otherwise rational and nice person randomly try to sell me something I didn't want? What made her "think of me"? I'm not sick, fat, or dissatisfied with life... the only thing that would make me a potential customer is that I'm a Christian homemaker, and we are incredible suckers for these products sold by our Christian homemaker friends.

Are MLM Products Worth Buying?
Before I tell you how I said "no" to my friend, let me tell you why I always say no to MLM products. Some of them are definitely good products, but they are almost always overpriced. This is because so much of the profit goes toward marketing costs and recruiter incentives- for example, the pink Cadillac.

Oftentimes, you can find a similar or identical product somewhere else for a better price. If I see a MLM product that strikes my fancy, I look up the main ingredients (if it is a dietary supplement) and find something with similar online or at Walmart. For a prime example of overpriced MLM products, see my price comparison for MLM and non-MLM essential oils.

Are You Helping Your Friend?
If you aren't doing yourself a favor by purchasing MLM products, at least you are doing your friend a favor by buying her jewelry/tupperware/bags/cleaners/pots/supplements, right? 95% of the time, you are NOT doing her a favor. 95% of the time, your friend is working for far less than minimum wage. You can find out exactly how much MLM members make by looking at the company's income disclosure statement. I have gone ahead and done the math for some of the most popular companies to give you an example.

Thirty-One Gifts- 91% of all members are consultants (lowest tier). On average, they work 7 hours per week and earn $598 per year. This works out to be $1.64 per hour. Senior Consultants (6.4% of all members) work 8 hours per week on average and earn $1876 per year. This would be $4.51 per hour. 
Melaleuca- 63% of customers don't start Melaleuca businesses and earn on average less than $100 per year. 11% of customers do start businesses, and most of these earn an average of $2123.00 per year.
Plexus- 83% earn $446 per year on average. 6% earn $2094 per year, and 7% earn $5065 per year.
Young Living- 92% of members don't make any money- they just "enjoy member pricing". 8% do sell products and make an average of $312 per year.

Keep in mind that the above figures are GROSS income, not net. Expenses- driving to meetings, hosting parties, buying inventory that doesn't sell, advertising, etc.- are not included in these numbers. For comparison, my net profit was only 42% of my gross profit at the farmers market this summer. So you can see that the companies' numbers can be deceiving, as dismal as they already are.

How To Respond To MLM Friends
If you have a friend selling MLM products that you don't want, it can be awkward. Hopefully this phase of their life will be over soon so you can be friends again without talking about XYZ product or how amazing their life is/will be because of XYZ product. In order to not be targeted as a potential customer, you must just give a plain and simple "no". Not a "maybe later". Don't sign up for their class or go to the party just to be nice. Here is what I replied to the Facebook lady:

Thank you for thinking of me. I am not interested in [your product], but if I meet someone who is I will give them your name. Thanks, Bethany.

That is all. When I see this lady at a social function, it won't be awkward or weird. She will not try to sell me again, but she won't feel rejected because I am still willing to help her. Is there any likelihood that someone would come to me wanting to buy a dietary supplement? Probably not, but at least I offered. 

I remember when I was 13 or 14, a lady from church was going to have a jewelry party. It would be held at the church- all of my church friends and their moms would be there, and they would have snacks and fellowship. It sounded like a fun thing. "You can go if you want to," my mom told me, "but everyone there will be buying jewelry. If you don't want to buy jewelry, you probably shouldn't go." Wise words. I didn't go, and sure enough everyone showed up Sunday morning with their new jewelry. It was pretty, but still just expensive costume jewelry. Later in the week I was able to see my friends without buying anything.

Better Ways to Make Money
For those of you who have thought about trying MLM because of the money or value promised, don't. There are plenty of ways to make FAR more than minimum wage without guilting people into buying product or ripping them off. Below are some alternatives to buying and/or selling network marketing products.

1. Handmade items. This summer I bought a beautiful hand-carved spoon at the farmers market. It was $15- more than I would normally pay, but it was one-of-a-kind and I wanted to use it for food photos. The spoon-carving guy got all 15 of the dollars and I was satisfied with the value I received for my money.

2. Used items. A couple months ago Hubs and I were at a friend's house playing a board game that we really liked. Unfortunately the game was too old to be available in stores. I don't regret paying $30.00 for the game on Ebay, even if the guy selling it only paid a dollar for it at a garage sale. It was a fair $29 that he earned without having to "sell" me on the purchase.

3. Services. On my birthday, Hubs took me to a spa and bought me a massage. It was very expensive, but worth every dollar. Every person who provides real value can be proud of what they sell, not just massage therapists. Music and art teachers, house cleaners, gardeners, seamstresses and hairstylists can all make money without ripping off their customers. 

Thank you for reading. 
-Bethany 

Today I'm going to share some of the alternative feeds I've been supplementing my goats with. Buying feed is the reason my hobby farm is a hobby farm and not a business farm, especially during the winter. At my current rate I'm going through two bales of hay per week. At $5 per bale, that is $10 per week or $40 per month- about $1.33 per day. For comparison, my chickens cost about $1 per day to keep... and they are laying eggs.

Currently we have enough hay and feed to get through December and January. That will leave February and March for us to buy hay. I'm hoping that Spring babies, fiber, and milk products will bring in enough to pay for winter hay, grain for does and the occasional mineral block, which are the only costs I have for keeping my goats. Already I can predict how much my goats will cost per year to keep ($55 hay + grain for 4 months, and $15 grain for 8 months = $340). 

Cost Cutting With Free Resources
My goal this winter is to stretch the hay as much as possible. In order to do this, I'm using some alternative feeds that I can get for free here on our property. You wouldn't believe how many different plants you can feed goats. They really do eat anything! Fias Co Farm has a list of poisonous plants to avoid feeding goats, and also a list of plants that goats will eat. I used this list as a guideline for feeding my goats.

Goats are actually one of the best animals to give alternative feeds to. They love brush, which is easily harvested by hand, as opposed to grass for cows and sheep. Really, goats end up wasting a lot of hay, and this is why I like giving them supplemental food. 

When To Harvest
I am still learning and experimenting with alternative animal feeds. There were several things I could have grown or harvested this summer, which I obviously missed. Many people feed pumpkins or winter squash, and there is something called "tree hay" which is basically tree branches that are harvested while still green and then dried like hay. I could have done this with willow and maple leaves, but I wasn't aware that it was an option.

Earlier this fall I walked our property and harvested the sumac and curly dock, but the corn stalks and pine branches were harvested after our first snow. The apples were harvested just before it snowed, so they wouldn't be all mushy. 

One thing I didn't mention in my video was feeding kitchen scraps and rotting garden produce. The chickens are really the ones who appreciate the scraps- potato peelings, veggie ends, loose leaf tea, egg shells, etc. However, the goats will also go for things like lettuce or even squash. While Hubs and I will be eating most of our winter squash, I had a lot of volunteer cushaw pumpkin this year that we will probably not eat. This, then, will probably be eaten by the animals.

A Caution
Whatever you do, don't give too much of something. I remember earlier this fall dumping a whole pile of apples in the pasture. My goats went crazy! Unfortunately the next day they had soft poop and my doe would not eat any of her grain. Thankfully it was just a tummy ache for my goats, but since then I've given treats more  sparingly.

To feed branches, stalks and other branches, I just put a armful in the hay feeder beside the flakes of hay. I feed the sumac fruits by hand, as a treat. This is helpful for winning a goat's love. :)

Have you experimented with alternative animal feed? What was the outcome?