What is the final goal?

The property I am currently on has both pros and cons. I chose it for several reasons, even though it is not what I would consider my 'dream' property. Reason #1 is convenience - I am already here and working on the land. #2 - the current owners are awesome - they are truly like my new, supportive family. (my 'real' family thinks I am crazy, and they really can't understand why I want to be a farmer so bad). #3 - the greenhouses. There are 6 commercial greenhouses on this property (30' x 144' each). My eventual goal is to grow fresh, organically grown produce year round, and do it as sustainably as possible. I do not want to have to heat the greenhouses, so am working on methods to keep them above freezing in the winter without using any type of fossil fuels. Those greenhouses are like gold to me, and I will be able to make more money faster than on another property where I have to start from the beginning (again!)


A few of my eventual goals:
1. Food Forest - I have already started this, and will add to it every year. I want to surround the entire property with fruit, berry and nut trees. So far, I have planted 2 apples, a pecan, a butternut, a hazelnut, a few grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, an elderberry, and a pine nut. Over the next year or two, I plan on adding more of all of these, plus cherries, kiwis, pears, plums, figs, and anything else I can find that sounds yummy and interesting. I am also starting to propagate some semi-hardy stuff like lemons, pomegranate, olive, and orange trees. By next year, I hope to dedicate an entire greenhouse to these - I want to be the first farm in the Cowichan Valley to have locally grown, fresh, organic citrus.


2. Water catchment - I want to get a few HUGE rain catchment systems. I would love to harvest 100% of the water I use on the farm instead of taking from the aquifer/well that is on the property. I think with the way the weather is changing, we will all have to start doing similar - we have more and more summers with longer and longer drought periods.


3. Grow at least 90% of my own food - I am currently growing all my own veg, and will have all my own fruit and berries in a year or two, but also want to raise my own meat. Chickens and turkeys for sure, and I may try either/or pigs and rabbits. The rabbits I mostly want to do for dogfood. (currently have 4 dogs, and I feed them a raw diet).


4. Get as off the grid as possible - this property is 'on the grid' with electricity. I would like to eventually get solar installed. I will most likely get it connected to the grid, so I can sell excess electricity to BC Hydro in the summer, and buy what I need extra in the winter.


5. While I LOVE growing things (obsessed, if you want to be honest), I HATE kitchen stuff. I want to 'homestead', and become as self sufficient as possible, I would like to find someone I can find a partnership with - someone who likes to do 'kitchen stuff'. Some sort of deal like I grow and harvest the veggies, then they do something with it - canning, making preserves, pies, etc, and we split the take. Or something like that. This may be someone I buy the property with, or someone who lives separate, and does his/her own thing. I have decided the universe will let me know when the time is right :-)


This is an earlier pic of my 'lasagna' beds planted with 3500 garlic- I think this was taken in March of this year. We are now harvesting the garlic (the best I have ever grown!). It is June - this is a month earlier than a 'normal' year.