My Little Homestead!

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens we have 3/4 and acre just chickens, dogs, cats and three people here but garden also

 

[lazy gardener]

Love all the tales of what you are doing with your space. Good stuff going on. If every one who can- does! We would see a huge change in our culture. We would raise up a crop of self sufficient folks who are not sitting around waiting for the government to take care of them! We would see many more debt free folks who are not living from one pay check to an other, living in fear of immediate calamity if their income were to take a sudden hit. We would see a government that is fearful of what a nation of independent thinking and self supporting individuals is capable of.

To OP: regarding the PT wood you found. Are you sure it's PT? That's the first step, be sure you know what you are working with. In my yard, it would not be used to grow anything for human or animal consumption. I might use it to build a bed for ornamentals. Other folks are not as paranoid about using PT. You could wrap the interior of the bed with plastic to keep the soil from direct contact with the wood. Your choice regarding how "green" you intend to be.

 

[RUNuts]

We are on 2/3 acre. Dogs, kids, chickens and garden try #2. New job and a LOT more time at home. Happiness!
One zucchini is thriving. I have hopes for #2, high hopes. Sunflowers are 6' tall. Cherry tomatoes have fruit. Cucumbers (package #3) have sprouted. Peppers are struggling. Cabbage and mustard going to seed. Butternut squash doing well in a couple of spots. The chickens planted tomatoes and butternut and they are doing better than my attempts. Must be the fertilizer... One of us will get fruit.

Dog dug up the moringa tree, so it is struggling on a come back. Banana doing well. I'm looking for some other tree options and for maypop vines.

Pace yourself is all I can say. This is better than going to the gym!

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Love all the tales of what you are doing with your space. Good stuff going on. If every one who can- does! We would see a huge change in our culture. We would raise up a crop of self sufficient folks who are not sitting around waiting for the government to take care of them! We would see many more debt free folks who are not living from one pay check to an other, living in fear of immediate calamity if their income were to take a sudden hit. We would see a government that is fearful of what a nation of independent thinking and self supporting individuals is capable of.

To OP: regarding the PT wood you found. Are you sure it's PT? That's the first step, be sure you know what you are working with. In my yard, it would not be used to grow anything for human or animal consumption. I might use it to build a bed for ornamentals. Other folks are not as paranoid about using PT. You could wrap the interior of the bed with plastic to keep the soil from direct contact with the wood. Your choice regarding how "green" you intend to be.

I agree!

 

[deepbluesea]

Ooh, I like this thread! Homestead is a stretch for what I'm doing, so maybe homestead-ish. I have a half acre in a small town, and have ten chickens, four raised beds for a total of 216 sq, plus two 5x10 berry patches and a mongo shed that is getting part of it renovated into a bigger coop. A bunch of grow bags and pots on the deck and the driveway. A boy, a dog, two cats, and a big orange bearded dragon.

I'm growing snow and snap peas, asparagus, a couple kinds of pole beans, bush beans, cukes, zukes, watermelons, three kinds of tomatoes, four kinds of sweet peppers, four kinds of hot peppers, eggplant, edamame, chard, tatsoi (bolting), lettuce, purslane, kale, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries (<so far not that successfully), blackberries, dewberries in the hedges and new for this year, mulberries. Also more herbs than you can shake a stick at.

I sell my eggs and start seeds for friends and family and I'm going to try selling plant starts at TSC for the first time on Saturday.

Your set-ups all sound wonderful! I would love to get goats when my SO and I cohabitate in a couple of years. We'll see...

 

[Treerooted]

Winter barely ended here so I'm pretty envious of all the plants you guys have already started! I've got peas growing...about an inch high
It's my second year on the property, and I have big plans but progress is slow! Haven't gotten fruit trees yet but it is a must for this fall.
I do have a bunch of plants started though, so I know everything will pick up soon. Unfortunately our soil is clay. So it's going to years to improve it, but I'm up to the challenge!
I've got 60 acres (half wooded/wetland) so room isn't an issue, but managing everything is I have a flock of chickens that continues to grow, hoping to get bees next year. And then in a couple more hoping be getting a larger animal (goats, or family cow).

 

[oregonkat]

I love my 'country' life. We live in a strawbale house that we built, totally off grid.. we have a 2/3 acre garden in which I grow 120 tomatoes every year, 50 peppers, cucs., zucs, beans, peas, kale, chard, potatoes, lots and lots of garlic, onions (badly for some reason) raspberries, blackberries, and many, many different flowers. I can my produce for a years supply for my family. Sauces, salsas, soups and anything else. We have an orchard with 21 trees and I have 16 current layers, 8 pullets, and another 6 chicks now. I sell my eggs and flowers and some produce if specially requested otherwise all the produce goes into my kitchen and the waste goes back out to the chickens. I bake my own bread and make my own butter (from store bought cream but I'm working on that). My friends tell me that in the event of an apocalypse, they are all coming to live up here. Ha, that's assuming I let them in

 

[oregonkat]

Winter barely ended here so I'm pretty envious of all the plants you guys have already started! I've got peas growing...about an inch high
It's my second year on the property, and I have big plans but progress is slow! Haven't gotten fruit trees yet but it is a must for this fall.
I do have a bunch of plants started though, so I know everything will pick up soon. Unfortunately our soil is clay. So it's going to years to improve it, but I'm up to the challenge!
I've got 60 acres (half wooded/wetland) so room isn't an issue, but managing everything is I have a flock of chickens that continues to grow, hoping to get bees next year. And then in a couple more hoping be getting a larger animal (goats, or family cow).

We have 60 wooded acres also but ours is 90% hill side, some very steep so most of it is left alone other than thinning for fire abatement. It can be very overwhelming dealing with such acreage, the only piece of advice I can offer you is to keep your cultivated areas small. We also now own my parents in law's farm not too far from here which my husband has taken over and the big mistake that my wonderful mother in law made was deciding to have numerous areas under some kind of cultivation whether that was flower gardens, a play space for the grandkids, a huge vegetable garden, planted berms all along the roadway, orchard trees etc. etc. All very beautiful until the maintenance schedule became apparent. Huge undertaking that eventually led to frustration and sadness. This is all IMHO of course but just a heads up. Good luck with your property and please post pics if you feel like it.

 

[Treerooted]

Thanks @oregonkat ! Your gardening and preserving sounds amazing

The 30 acres that are not wooded contains house, barn, shop, yard and pasture. The pasture is being maintained by another farmer; he gets the hay and we get a tax break.
Yes, the flower beds around the house get pretty neglected, but I'm slowly converting them to manageable perennials as my main focus is the veggie gardens. Was only a small one established by the previous owners so I do have a lot of ground to open up (hence the pure clay soil). I have a gazillion projects to do, and it is very overwhelming, but I'm just thankful I even have the opportunity to live here and work on them
I found this from a month after we moved in

 

[oregonkat]

It looks lovely. What a beautiful place to live. Enjoy the heck out of it, even the back breaking part. It's all worth it if you can wake up in the morning, look out your window and be delighted to be in that place. I spend a lot of time in awe of my garden, not because of my own achievements but because Nature continues to amaze me.