What homesteading projects have you taken on?

[Pettycoat Prepper]

I’ve been on my homestead about 4 years now. Chickens are my recent add, so now I must compost! I bought a very small walk behind rear bagging mower for the “green” part of compost during the none gardening time. I built two compost containers out of free pallets and cardboard. I wired 4 pallets together on top of a cardboard bottom (smothers the grass and worms will compost it too) plus cardboard around the inside as I add coop bedding and fresh grass. After 1 day it’s cooking at 150°F!

 

[WIchickMama]

I love this!

I have gardens, raised and in ground, anywhere and everywhere I can put something. I put melons around base of trees, started an herb bed and added grapes, raspberries, blueberries and gooseberries this year. I have chickens which I adore. Would love to do meat birds but wouldn't be able to butcher, nope can't do it, but we do have an Amish community close that will butcher for $3 a bird so that is on my list for next year.

I would really love to turn my homestead (2 acres) into a small food forest but it takes a lot of time and I will get there eventually, I just have to remember to start small and take on what I can handle. I did plant clover in our home yard and we let the dandelions grow to bring in the wildlife needed.

We converted to 95% wood heat this fall, so we have been harvesting and cutting trees at our other property (7 acres of woods). I can, freeze and dry food/herbs that I can for future use.

I really want two goats and someday a couple feeder pigs. and bees, though deathly afraid, I do have a lady in the neighboring town that might just do the leave a hive for some honey on my land.

 

[Weeg]

This is a cool thread!

Currently I only have a 1/3 acre property to work with, but we are moving soonish to 2.5 acres.
I've been pottering about with mini homesteading/permaculture for a few years now. I've got the hens obviously, and a rooster. My chickens are my main hobby. I used to have horses but haven't got the time or space for that anymore. I told my husband the chickens would be cheaper than getting back into horses and so far i'm not wrong (note, I didn't tell him they wouldn't be expensive.... just less expensive )

I use their special skills to help me in the garden but only when I haven't got something growing for me in them. I use their run to make wood-mulch compost, and coop bedding cleanouts get dumped onto my garden beds over the winter.

I have several raised beds and general gardens I've stashed all over the place. And a little mini greenhouse I use for winter greens and spring starts. I have something growing all year around but predominantly over spring and summer. The gardens are thoroughly fenced off against the chickens during the growing season. After harvest the chickens get let loose to clear them up and tackle any bug population build ups.

I maintain my lawn as a pasture and that works really well. I even cut hay for bedding if the grass is really taking off.

I've got plum trees currently and I plan on planting an orchard once we do move. The plum trees are in the chicken run and thriving from all the lovely fertilizer, and the mulch. I had a huge harvest this year. I've got frozen plums, dried plums, canned plums and lots of jam.

I try to do something new every year, be that plant a new crop or learn a new food preservation skill, or a new way to look at my garden ecology. I've learned how to use a drill but I wouldn't trust my building skills yet! Cable ties and bungie cords are my friends.

Thats awesome! 1/3 acre going to 2.5 acres is going to be such a welcome change!
Sounds like your going to have lots of room to expand.

Same here. Recently I've been working a lot in the garden. It hasn't been so good the past few years, so this year I'm really trying to populate it. Our recent cold spike didn't help any of the plants, but I'm hoping it will warm up soon and I can replant.

 

[Weeg]

just tell your friend to park a hive of hers on your plot for a little honey as 'rent'

Thats not a bad idea either. Much more instant than setting up a hive ourselves. Hmmmm.

 

[Weeg]

I have gardens, raised and in ground, anywhere and everywhere I can put something. I put melons around base of trees, started an herb bed and added grapes, raspberries, blueberries and gooseberries this year. I have chickens which I adore. Would love to do meat birds but wouldn't be able to butcher, nope can't do it, but we do have an Amish community close that will butcher for $3 a bird so that is on my list for next year.

That is so neat! I just started watermelons this year. Very excited to see if I can get them to grow.
Neither can I. I can raise them as long as I'm prepared, but I can't do the butchering myself. Luckily I have a couple of family hunters that will do that part for me.

 

[Alagirl]

Thats not a bad idea either. Much more instant than setting up a hive ourselves. Hmmmm.

plus you can learn as you go.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Ahhh yes I have found my tribe There is just something that feels so good for the soul when you spend time in the garden growing your own food and raising your own farm animals. We are converting part of the old barn into an insulated/heated greenhouse to grow veggies that don't keep well and warmer climate dwarf fruit trees year round. I'm currently raising chickens and ducks for eggs (soon chickens for meat as well). In the back field we're building what I have called my "Eden" which hopefully by the end of the year will be fully fenced in. We currently have (4x) 50'x100' tilled garden plots back there. I grow my own beans, lentils and chickpeas for drying and canning (super easy the grow). I also grow and store about a years worth of potatoes, dried corn for cornmeal and musque de province pumpkins that I store in our basement so they take up a lot of space growing. I'm hoping to grow enough tomatoes and peppers to supply a years worth of sauce and salsas. We are also adding a fruit orchard with peach, plum, cherry and apple trees and a covered berry patch with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. We've been composting in piles, but I would like to build a nice and organized composting site with large separate bins. I've also ordered quite a few red sugar maples to be planted in the fall. I am planting them perfectly spaced around the entire property to help as a wind break, but also I grew up tapping trees to make our own maple syrup so I would like to make our own here as well. I removed quite a few invading species of plants that were here when we moved and replaced them with native wildflowers for the butterflies and bees. My husband wants goats for milk/cheese and to raise our own beef, but I told him he has to take care of those because I have reached my limit since I've been running the farm while he's at work

 

[HausOfEggwards]

Thats awesome! All things I am aspiring for as well.
Watched a video about the mushroom bed and it seems pretty easy, how is it going for you? What kind of mushrooms are you growing?

Garlic and chives are great! Gosh I have way to many of them, come and grab some from me! They constantly come back, and the multiply. Strawberries are the same way. Strawberries are fantastic for perennials, and very easy to take care of. Just make sure you have a separate bed for them, or they will take over your veggie beds.

Bee's, that something I am very interested in doing. I have a friend who told us she would show us the ropes of owning them, just have to find the time to get down there. Black soldier fly larvae as well! The list just keeps expanding, a pond is yet another thing I forgot to add.

I hope your able to get some of our projects going, lots of great stuff there to work on.

Thanks! It's exciting to know other people are on the same page. No mushrooms yet, but the mycelium is looking good. This bed is pink oyster, and if it goes well I'll probably expand into wine caps.
I actually don't have garlic or chives yet, just "garlic chives" which is a perennial relative that's supposed to be hearty here in zone 5b, but definitely looking to get into garlic and chives and all the plants
Oh and that's a great reminder for the strawberries, I ordered some bareroots that should be arriving soon and I have no bed ready! Also on the way are raspberry, honeyberry (aka haskap), horseradish, and sweet potato. (Lots of beds to prep lol)
Ok I have a weird story about ponds and bees and I had no one to tell it to so now you get to hear it. So I started digging a small area to get more soil for beds and at first it was holding water. Then the bees showed up and they DRAINED THE POND! I don't know what kind of bees, but they dug a ton of tiny holes into the soil and drained the water, I'm still dumbfounded. So I have a lot to learn about bees.
If you ever get down to your bee friend you should post an article here, I'm sure it would be all the buzz

 

[Alagirl]

Thanks! It's exciting to know other people are on the same page. No mushrooms yet, but the mycelium is looking good. This bed is pink oyster, and if it goes well I'll probably expand into wine caps.
I actually don't have garlic or chives yet, just "garlic chives" which is a perennial relative that's supposed to be hearty here in zone 5b, but definitely looking to get into garlic and chives and all the plants
Oh and that's a great reminder for the strawberries, I ordered some bareroots that should be arriving soon and I have no bed ready! Also on the way are raspberry, honeyberry (aka haskap), horseradish, and sweet potato. (Lots of beds to prep lol)
Ok I have a weird story about ponds and bees and I had no one to tell it to so now you get to hear it. So I started digging a small area to get more soil for beds and at first it was holding water. Then the bees showed up and they DRAINED THE POND! I don't know what kind of bees, but they dug a ton of tiny holes into the soil and drained the water, I'm still dumbfounded. So I have a lot to learn about bees.
If you ever get down to your bee friend you should post an article here, I'm sure it would be all the buzz

good luck with the bare root strawberries. I bought 3 packs from 2 stores and all three were dried out beyond recognition. Then I had to search for plants. By the time I found them they had been picked over and now a squirrel killed one of them. So we shall see, but the season has passed for them anyhow, I got snow on my fruit tree blooms, so nothing there (still good, so I was able to repot them without having to worry about losing fruit)
it's slow going to build the farm.

 

[Banana01]

Thats so neat! Sounds like they have quite the coop! Lucky birds.

A garden is a must. We currently have 4 raised beds we use for our garden. It holds a decent amount of vegetables, though I would love to add more. I also want to add winter garden frames, so I can grow year round.
I love my raised beds, I'm sure you'll find it a great addition to your new property. Congrats on getting that done!

I live in a mountain area, and where we have our house, I just finished bringing in 180 cubic meters of new terrain and completely leveled the lot behind and on the side of our house. It went from an unusable sloped terrain to now a huge flat usable area. Im excited to start planting.

For a water tank, we have an elevated tank that gets filled by an elevated resevoir that is filled by filtered river and rain water. The village I live in manages the resevoir up in the moutain.