We have 1/3 acre so not much bigger than you and the driveway takes up one whole side of the property. We are allowed to have more animals than you though so that helps in some ways. We are also right in the middle of town. We turned half our garage into an animal coop (and right now the other half is brooder space for meat birds ... sigh). Not only do our chickens and turkeys live in the coop, so do our rabbits in raised hutches and our bantams in two large cages we built into one end. We also have a grow out pen at one end of the coop for the smaller birds to take refuge in at night. When we don't have meat birds, 8 months of the year, we park our car in the other half of the garage.
So far we haven't done anything with the front yard because it almost completely in shade due to trees in all the neighbors yards. We do have a couple of apple trees planted out there but they are still small so they aren't really producing yet.
Our backyard, on the other hand, we have built raised beds down one side. So far we have 7 beds 3 x 10 feet that we use a modified square foot gardening method to grow in. We also plant intensively and do succession planting throughout the year. In winter we build a greenhouse over these beds and continue growing through the winter. In the summer the framework remains in place and we cover it with shade cloth to help deflect some of the intense Oklahoma sun in July and August. We have more luck growing fall, winter and spring than in the middle of the hot summer weather. It just takes too much water at that point so only okra, eggplants, and sunflowers make it through usually. This year we have grown lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan squash, green beans, long beans, potatoes, asparagus, okra, quinoa, sorghum, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, 4 kinds of melons, 3 kinds of winter squash, strawberries, blueberries, currants, runner beans, sweet potatoes, kale, basil, marjoram, parsley, thyme, sage, and celery. We also started three grape vines over a trellis made from a cattle panel which forms and arch from our backyard to the driveway. The grapes are planted on one side and the other side has big pots under it that grew runner beans and long beans all summer long.
Right now, our greenhouse still has tomatoes actively growing and setting fruit, green beans blooming, broccoli putting on heads, cabbage starting to form, brussel sprouts, kale, parsnips, celery, ginger, an avocado tree, lettuce, potatoes, and rutabagas. Besides our raised beds we plant in large pots and tuck them in whereever we find space. The chickens have the back section of the yard to forage in where we also keep our compost pile and have a big thicket of currants growing. It's 22 x 40... our lot is 52 feet wide.
We also have a large pecan tree at the back of the property which provides great shade for the birds and an awesome pecan crop every fall as well as a cherry tree and a chestnut tree. Between the meat birds, rabbit, and the garden we eat pretty well and only rely on the grocery store for things like flour and sugar, although I'm hoping to grow more sorghum next year and actually crush the cane for syrup. We still buy most of our chicken feed but they get leaves from the brassicas and lettuce every day and we sprout grain for them as well as grow meal worms. When we kill a predator, we put it in a bucket and let fly maggots form on it and then dump them for the birds to eat too - kind of gross but they love it and it's great protein and free.
We've been lucky with fruit as our currant bushes are loaded every year and we love the jelly it makes more than grape. We also forage for wild plums and elderberries and have a free source for watercress at the well where we get spring water for free. And some friends of ours bought a property with apple and pear trees all over it and they don't pick them or eat them so we can pick at will. (we take them apple butter and pear honey every year in exchange)
Another way to gain growing space is to use hanging pots along the eaves of your roof where they will get sun. Cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, flowers, even lettuce can be grown in them.
A woman I work for has 10 acres of farm land and her cousin grows wheat on it (adjacent to some of his land) and she was complaining that it didn't make a lot of wheat or money for her. I commented I would love to have just 10 acres and she told me that knowing me I could probably be self sufficient on 10 acres ... I'd love to have the chance to see!! but guess we make do for now.
So far we haven't done anything with the front yard because it almost completely in shade due to trees in all the neighbors yards. We do have a couple of apple trees planted out there but they are still small so they aren't really producing yet.
Our backyard, on the other hand, we have built raised beds down one side. So far we have 7 beds 3 x 10 feet that we use a modified square foot gardening method to grow in. We also plant intensively and do succession planting throughout the year. In winter we build a greenhouse over these beds and continue growing through the winter. In the summer the framework remains in place and we cover it with shade cloth to help deflect some of the intense Oklahoma sun in July and August. We have more luck growing fall, winter and spring than in the middle of the hot summer weather. It just takes too much water at that point so only okra, eggplants, and sunflowers make it through usually. This year we have grown lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan squash, green beans, long beans, potatoes, asparagus, okra, quinoa, sorghum, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, 4 kinds of melons, 3 kinds of winter squash, strawberries, blueberries, currants, runner beans, sweet potatoes, kale, basil, marjoram, parsley, thyme, sage, and celery. We also started three grape vines over a trellis made from a cattle panel which forms and arch from our backyard to the driveway. The grapes are planted on one side and the other side has big pots under it that grew runner beans and long beans all summer long.
Right now, our greenhouse still has tomatoes actively growing and setting fruit, green beans blooming, broccoli putting on heads, cabbage starting to form, brussel sprouts, kale, parsnips, celery, ginger, an avocado tree, lettuce, potatoes, and rutabagas. Besides our raised beds we plant in large pots and tuck them in whereever we find space. The chickens have the back section of the yard to forage in where we also keep our compost pile and have a big thicket of currants growing. It's 22 x 40... our lot is 52 feet wide.
We also have a large pecan tree at the back of the property which provides great shade for the birds and an awesome pecan crop every fall as well as a cherry tree and a chestnut tree. Between the meat birds, rabbit, and the garden we eat pretty well and only rely on the grocery store for things like flour and sugar, although I'm hoping to grow more sorghum next year and actually crush the cane for syrup. We still buy most of our chicken feed but they get leaves from the brassicas and lettuce every day and we sprout grain for them as well as grow meal worms. When we kill a predator, we put it in a bucket and let fly maggots form on it and then dump them for the birds to eat too - kind of gross but they love it and it's great protein and free.
We've been lucky with fruit as our currant bushes are loaded every year and we love the jelly it makes more than grape. We also forage for wild plums and elderberries and have a free source for watercress at the well where we get spring water for free. And some friends of ours bought a property with apple and pear trees all over it and they don't pick them or eat them so we can pick at will. (we take them apple butter and pear honey every year in exchange)
Another way to gain growing space is to use hanging pots along the eaves of your roof where they will get sun. Cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, flowers, even lettuce can be grown in them.
A woman I work for has 10 acres of farm land and her cousin grows wheat on it (adjacent to some of his land) and she was complaining that it didn't make a lot of wheat or money for her. I commented I would love to have just 10 acres and she told me that knowing me I could probably be self sufficient on 10 acres ... I'd love to have the chance to see!! but guess we make do for now.
