A Year in Review: How 2025 Reshaped Our Farm

This year started with overgrown weeds and uncertain plans, but ended with thriving gardens, new livestock, and lessons we’ll carry forward.

Highlights & Accomplishments

This year, we finally reclaimed the garden and got our beds in place. This was a huge win for us, allowing us to expand our planting areas and establish a layout that works for what we want to accomplish. Finishing this project felt monumental, and now we are more encouraged than ever to grow our food. This year, we had the best round of seed starting that we have ever had, with huge beautiful seedlings. 

2025 seed starting, featuring the cucumber and summer squash rack of seedlings.

We were able to successfully establish a flock of ducks, raised two flocks of 40 red broilers, and established a heritage flock of Orpingtons. Of course, setbacks come with the territory. We lost five of our ducks this year - one duckling, one to a neurological deficit, and three to what was suspected to be botulism. But we have reached a point of resiliency that allows for the push through. Going into 2026, we will be doubling our ducks and adding a second Orpington flock. Along the way, we learned valuable lessons about compost safety, water source safety, and illness. 

Our compost bins, which had sat empty for years, are now thriving. About six months after reigniting the system, our first 4x4 pile is filled to the brim, and a second is underway. We avoid most fertilizers—organic or synthetic—but can’t wait to spread this compost across the garden to nourish the soil and, in turn, our plants. 

Perhaps most exciting, we took a leap of faith and officially established our hobby farm as a market farm this year. We don’t yet know exactly what it will become, but it felt like the right time to dive in fully and see how far we can go. 

Challenges & Lessons Learned

Jumping back into farming after a year away definitely had some challenges. We lost almost all our food crops to the deer, but that just made the remaining harvest sweeter and pushed us to set a plan in place for 2026. We learned a lot about the need for rotational grazing, even with our chickens, and that establishing a forage-based feeding system is actually pretty complicated on a small farm. But we head into the next season knowing that challenges don’t mean defeat – they just mean we will have to work intentionally to reach our goals of self-sufficiency. 

These challenges also pushed us to keep learning. We improved our deer protection, and while it isn’t fully implemented yet, it will be by the time our cool weather crops in the coming weeks. We also explored what forage systems look like, how we can use the forest to our advantage, and how to effectively manage pastures.

Personal Reflection

Getting back into farming has reshaped me in so many ways. I really struggled with returning to work after my daughter was born. That, coupled with the loss of our garden and livestock that year, meant that we took a year off from everything – farming, candle making, soap making, gardening, project completion… everything. What I didn’t realize was that challenges aren’t failures—they’re opportunities to learn. As farmers, we accept that mistakes happen, but we keep moving forward. While this year has taught me resiliency, patience, and the value of self-sufficiency, it has also taught me just how connected to this land I truly am. 

Looking Ahead

We are kicking 2026 off with a round of cool season crops: broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, lettuce, spinach, and kale, with the goal of a harvest before the weather turns hot and our plants lose their natural sweetness. 

We will also finish the perimeter fencing and bring in new livestock to the farm, to further diversify our farm. The goal is to have this done by the beginning of summer, to be ready for some new babies coming later in the year. 

Lastly, we will begin selling our handcrafted goods through our website! A fresh batch of candles and soap is curing at the time of this post, and I am excited to release our “Hearth & Hollow Collection,” coming soon! Make sure you join our newsletter to stay up to date on when new items drop in the store and exclusive subscriber discounts. 

A batch of candles for the Hearth & Hollow Collection drop is curing.

We are continuously grateful for this life we are getting to lead and the paths that we are beginning to follow. Trying something new and unconventional leaves a sense of uncertainty. But if there is any lesson to take away from 2025, it is the reminder to just get back up and go for it. To every supporter of our farm - Thank you. Supporting small agriculture, including Forestside Farm & Garden, strengthens the local community. I cannot wait to share where 2026 takes us.