Oh, how I wish we could afford even a couple acres! But it's not in our foreseeable future. We have about .25 acre, about half of which is house. We took out the grass on our front yard a couple years ago (broke my dang hip unloading the machine, but that's another story, LOL) We mulched it heavily and have since been sort of "spot planting" various items. We figured we could make a nice looking (if different) yard that would put the water to much better use than grass which just has to be cut all the time.
We planted a plot of strawberries in the middle which seems only to produce...more strawberry plants, LOL. The plot has grown nicely in the last couple years though and I think in the next couple of months we'll be thinning it to encourage more berries. We won't be able to get a LOT of them in that space but it'll be enough for treats and a batch of jam or two. We also put in some flowers here and there and other ornamental plants. This spring I sowed 3 patches (about 2' x 4' each) of oats, and one patch of clover, and a couple comfrey plants. I'd intended to use them in my various herbal concoctions but have since discovered the chickens love the stuff, so it's mostly gone to them. Being in patches rather than regimented rows fits in with the overall scheme and the plants themselves are quite attractive.
In an effort to help reduce the cost of chicken feed, I plan on a few patches of winter wheat and rye and then in the spring, some alfalfa and more oats (I feed the tops to the chickens and when the stalks are all completely dry I'll cut them and use them for bedding in the coop). I'm really excited about the alfalfa since it grows extremely well in our alkaline soil, is perennial, can provide several cuttings over the season, is nutritious in the extreme and is also a nitrogen fixer. Does it get any better?? LOL
Also plan on putting in some sunflowers...regular and BOSS in the spring..for the chickens, of course
Thought I could make use of their stalks by planting some runner beans around them. I dry them and we can cook and eat them....and share with the chickens...of course.
We also took out quite a bit of sod in around the edges of the back yard and have the basic structure filling in nicely with perennials and a small raised bed garden. I'm thinking in the spring I'll use a lot of the "in between" space back there for various veggies and herbs. Thought we'd also sow a little alfalfa in with the lawn to let the chickens forage on it. We don't really have the space for a large permanent coop and run, so we made a portable one. The coop's about 4 x 5 and the run is square, 9 feet to a side. We move it to a new spot every 3 or 4 days so the girls always have fresh grass and it doesn't get wrecked by them being on it too long. By the time the rig gets around to a previously used spot, it's had time to renew itself.
We do compost...have a small tumbler and a larger pile that isn't quite so active. Once the veg season is done, we'll move the run onto the garden and let the girls start the cleaning, turning and fertilizing process for us. I'm looking forward to all the new compost we'll soon be getting...that should get the pile more active. Our soil is quite alkaline and contains a LOT of clay...when it's dry, digging is like trying to get through concrete, so it needs constant amending. We don't use any chemicals at all. When we put in our apple and plum trees they got pretty bugged up but a package of ladybugs cleared it right up for us.
We're also planning a cold frame up against the house on the south side so we can grow some cold hardy crops such as spinach, kale and chard through most of the winter...primarily for the birds, of course
Obviously on this small property we can't grow enough to sustain ourselves, although so far I feel we've cut the feed bill by about 25% by supplementing with what we already have on hand, and every little bit helps. We're technically in the county but still in a residential neighborhood, so we're not allowed any sort of livestock...6 hens is all...and no roos. So we went for layers...got 6 started red sexlinks and they've really done well for us. In the 7 weeks or so we've had them, we've given away 3 dozen, eaten a bunch and have 3 more dozen in the fridge. Woohoo! I'll be selling off some of the excess, but that won't amount to much income simply because we won't have that many.
So, in a HUGE nutshell, that's what we have. I'd really welcome any suggestions y'all might have about what more we might do to provide more with what we have.
We planted a plot of strawberries in the middle which seems only to produce...more strawberry plants, LOL. The plot has grown nicely in the last couple years though and I think in the next couple of months we'll be thinning it to encourage more berries. We won't be able to get a LOT of them in that space but it'll be enough for treats and a batch of jam or two. We also put in some flowers here and there and other ornamental plants. This spring I sowed 3 patches (about 2' x 4' each) of oats, and one patch of clover, and a couple comfrey plants. I'd intended to use them in my various herbal concoctions but have since discovered the chickens love the stuff, so it's mostly gone to them. Being in patches rather than regimented rows fits in with the overall scheme and the plants themselves are quite attractive.
In an effort to help reduce the cost of chicken feed, I plan on a few patches of winter wheat and rye and then in the spring, some alfalfa and more oats (I feed the tops to the chickens and when the stalks are all completely dry I'll cut them and use them for bedding in the coop). I'm really excited about the alfalfa since it grows extremely well in our alkaline soil, is perennial, can provide several cuttings over the season, is nutritious in the extreme and is also a nitrogen fixer. Does it get any better?? LOL
Also plan on putting in some sunflowers...regular and BOSS in the spring..for the chickens, of course
Thought I could make use of their stalks by planting some runner beans around them. I dry them and we can cook and eat them....and share with the chickens...of course. We also took out quite a bit of sod in around the edges of the back yard and have the basic structure filling in nicely with perennials and a small raised bed garden. I'm thinking in the spring I'll use a lot of the "in between" space back there for various veggies and herbs. Thought we'd also sow a little alfalfa in with the lawn to let the chickens forage on it. We don't really have the space for a large permanent coop and run, so we made a portable one. The coop's about 4 x 5 and the run is square, 9 feet to a side. We move it to a new spot every 3 or 4 days so the girls always have fresh grass and it doesn't get wrecked by them being on it too long. By the time the rig gets around to a previously used spot, it's had time to renew itself.
We do compost...have a small tumbler and a larger pile that isn't quite so active. Once the veg season is done, we'll move the run onto the garden and let the girls start the cleaning, turning and fertilizing process for us. I'm looking forward to all the new compost we'll soon be getting...that should get the pile more active. Our soil is quite alkaline and contains a LOT of clay...when it's dry, digging is like trying to get through concrete, so it needs constant amending. We don't use any chemicals at all. When we put in our apple and plum trees they got pretty bugged up but a package of ladybugs cleared it right up for us.
We're also planning a cold frame up against the house on the south side so we can grow some cold hardy crops such as spinach, kale and chard through most of the winter...primarily for the birds, of course
Obviously on this small property we can't grow enough to sustain ourselves, although so far I feel we've cut the feed bill by about 25% by supplementing with what we already have on hand, and every little bit helps. We're technically in the county but still in a residential neighborhood, so we're not allowed any sort of livestock...6 hens is all...and no roos. So we went for layers...got 6 started red sexlinks and they've really done well for us. In the 7 weeks or so we've had them, we've given away 3 dozen, eaten a bunch and have 3 more dozen in the fridge. Woohoo! I'll be selling off some of the excess, but that won't amount to much income simply because we won't have that many.
So, in a HUGE nutshell, that's what we have. I'd really welcome any suggestions y'all might have about what more we might do to provide more with what we have.
