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Homesteading on Smaller Properties
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Homesteading on Smaller Properties
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He can certainly make you rethink everything!
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I’m probably the odd one out, but my husband and I are living on a very small lot (9000 sf). We moved here 2 years ago (went from Phoenix area to a tiny town in SW PA). I really wanted an acre+, but hubby wanted to be close to his aging parents. We are doing as much as possible on our small lot; chickens and rabbits housed together in a 16×24 covered run, a 10×28 greenhouse and the rest of the backyard for vegetable gardening. I’m somewhat glad we are on a small property, because it feels like anything bigger would be a bit much as we age. We are not new to gardening or raising chickens/rabbits. This year I have been amazed at what my garden has produced, especially since it was the first season and I haven’t been building up the soil for long. You CAN grow a lot of food in a small space if you think it through and put some effort in.
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Do not sell yourself short. It takes ample effort to create Eden in a small space. Besides your already ahead of many of us that are struggling to tame ourselves as we learn to embrace our own chunk of land.
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Glad to read this message, so agree.
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I know the feeling, I had to move into a manufactured home community back in 2016 due to financial issues. But you can grow a lot in a small space as long as you think outside of the box. I’m far from where I want to be but each day and each year I am a step closer.
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I actually own half as much as you do and I have two apple trees, two dwarf peach trees, 7 blueberry bushes, a raspberry bush, strawberries, horseradish, rhubarb, and a full garden. I just layer it and it produces every year. I’m looking into getting chickens and I pick up a rabbit this week. If you do it right you can still have a yard for the kids to run around in.
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You go, good on the rabbit and chickens special kind a breed?
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your doing it…
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we are homesteading 5 acres on a small island surrounded by the chattahoochee and army corp engineer land in the middle of nowhere . we split the alabama georgia line. retired /disabled army vet been doing this for 6 years
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I’ll be interested to see how you use your 5 Acres!
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i have hogs,dairy goats, and laying chickens, planting food forest with multi varieties of berries fruits and nut trees and vegi garden plots, increasing each year. i have 3 wells. my property is on a south faceing hillside, so sun 365days. mottshillhomestead youtube channel.
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That’s exciting to hear. Will have to check out your channel!! Gives us hope!!
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addendum…….with the exception of my time in military and 6 years in college, i have lived, fished, hunted, trapped, farmed/homesteaded on this river my entire life.
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That’s awesome!
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We’re looking to buy 1-2 acres in Charlotte, NC to be closer to our family. We are older retired couple living on 1/4 acre in San Bernardino County California, with our Disabled grandson. I’ve been practicing permaculture for 10 yrs now. We have small orchard, fruiting vines, and berries. We also grow veggies & have 7 hens.
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Sounds like you have a plan! I assume you have heard about Perma Pasture Farm?
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I would.not look around Charlotte. To many rules and regulations. You may have to look about 1 hr out to get away from those. It is also way expensive and gets a little easier on the budget the farther you go out. Not trying to move you away from family but help you out with homesteading and such. If you want to go toward the mountains, my son likes the Franklin (southern area) area, and we like the Waynesville area (more middle of the mountain area. Closer to Perma Pasture Farms. If you want to move father east. Try the Moore County area. Still close enough but not all the mess that goes with the big city. We live in Harnett County (about 2 1/2 hours away.).
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We’re neighbors I’m in Johnston Co.
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All yall gave me a two great business, side hustle, 1, came from billy at perma pastures farm, my processor, who processes all my liive stock, isswamped due to high volume and no workers, so i volunteered to help out just for education, and skill of taking animal from kill to cure, been working two days now andbecause i wouldn’t take money he has been paying with 10 pounds meat each day. 2 i stopped cash selling my eggs and started trading 20 dz eggs per week with 2 local large you-pick-it farms, in exchange for fresh produce, the rewards are unbelievably awsome.
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This is the way.
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Love it!
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I live on a 1/2 acre in a rural town. I’ve had 9-14 framed beds for ~20 years. 15+ blueberry plants, blackberries, new raspberries plants and a fig tree in my yard. No animals. This past year I started really adding to my herbs collection for medicinal purposes and learning native plants that you can eat. Recently married and my husband isn’t interested in any type of “farming” because he grew up on a working farm and had too many bad experiences. Because of nematode issues, I didn’t have a great garden this past year and concentrated on collecting seeds for next year. I can retire in a little over a year and we may be moving to be closer to family. Who knows what this next year will bring.. God will get us through it.
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I have .67 of an acre in NW Indiana. I have been growing my homestead here since 1987. <font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”>I garden, have fruit trees, and berry bushes. I have a flock of 21 laying hens, and a rooster. My milk goat herd is up to 4 does and a buck. I have always lived with the idea that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. My neighbors have been </font>tolerant<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> up to this point, but I am starting to get some flack from next door, when my chicken tractor got to close to her back door. She printed out the counties regulations on keeping chickens and gave them to me with a letter telling my how stupid I am for thinking that she would not mind having them clucking away 20 feet from her back door. (oops) I guess I should try to be more thoughtful. I moved them to the other side of my property and have not been moving them that far her way. I would love to have more land but hate the thought of moving 35 years worth of stuff. </font>Hindsight<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> is 20/20, if you are just starting out, plan ahead and get as much land as you can afford and if </font>possible<font color=”rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)” face=”inherit”> in a place that is not land locked by other houses so you might have room to expand at a later date.</font>
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🙋♀️On a quarter acre in a cul de sac in a neighborhood here, with an HOA in small sorta pretentious city. Luckily, being in a cul de sac translates into teeny tiny front yard and enormous weirdly shaped back yard. Ive been here since 2014 and have 6 raised beds, several troughs, whiskey barrels and planters. I have a rain barrel but honestly need about 10 more. This year I observed the sabbath year and didnt plant in the raised beds but did plant in pots and bought a green stalk. That thing is awesome. It grew tropical spinaches, a tiny jalepeno and my first ever pumpkin, a tiny little white one. (For the life of me I cant grow pumpkins.) I also planted grapes, blackberries and blueberries in pots, but a flash drought killed the bueberries. Already had a young cherry tree, strawberries and established raspberries. But fruit production isnt where it needs to be yet. A cardinal destroyed my beloved baby dwarf sweetheart apricot tree last year and I am still in mourning. She will soon be replaced, but its just not the same yet. She was just over a year old when she met her untimely demise.
I almost NEVER go to the grocery store and most years I grow lots of veggies and I am so ready to expand on that. Working on establishing perinneal veggie beds for asparagus and rhubarb. But I am learning that the traditional “boring” things like green beans, corn and tomatoes are the most popular garden plants here for a reason. Its because they grow so well here!
I have a few culinary herbs beds and have started a medicinal herb garden. Looking to expand that greatly this coming year as well. I hope to build 4-6 more raised beds and experiment with tomatoes and peppers in 5 gallon buckets. I am also going to be trying smart pots for the potatoes this year. A big goal is to grow BIGGER potatoes than we have gotten in the past.
James Prigioni really inspires me with how much he gets out of his suburban back yard. I think the key is raising vertically as much as possible. And having an ample supply of used bedding at your disposal. Its just so challenging trying to do it a way that looks good to the neighborhood. One of my goals is to make it prettier this year without compromising production.
We are not allowed to have “farm animals” of any kind, only pets. So Im looking at getting a rabbit and some quail. The rabbit solely for the poo. My daughter raises a large qty of chickens, geese and turkey on her urban homestead. I get beef from the Amish in North Central Missouri, and honestly as much as I love cows theres no way I could physically handle raising them. So I feel very blessed to have good farmers to purchase from. If ever I cant get it I am ok not eating it. I feel better physically when I dont eat it, and its an indulgence for me to have it.
My own opinion is that I dont HAVE to have meat and dairy. I did a Daniel fast last year, eating almost 100% from the garden and felt AMAZING when it was done. The more of my diet I can grow, the better.
My son cleared out the raised beds today and Im looking forward to planting garlic at the end of September. A few months later it will be time to start seeds, and Im so ready! Lord willing in 2023 I hope to have a bigger than ever garden and take food self suffiency from 90% home grown produce 6 months out the the year, to 100% of my produce all year. Its a lofty goal to be sure. I cant wait to get back into it. Its been a long year and I feel blessed to have had some rest but I miss my garden! I look longingly at my seeds every day.
One of these days I would like to be on a bigger property. I would love to have pond, a well, a lagoon, timber and more room for growing food. I want to be completely off grid, but in a way that works for me and my needs. Most likely solar. Lets face it. This 60 year old handicap lady is probably never going to chop down a tree. But hopefully the more we move towards our goals the stronger and healthier I will become. The goal is to find a property that suits the needs of my daughters large family, and also my needs as well, on a shared property but in autonomous homes. We are always looking, but this area is very overpriced and true small farm land is scarce. Its mostly sold off in parcels and marketed as “estates”.
If we never get to acheive our dream and I live the rest of my life in this cul de sac, its enough. Bloom where you are planted. The cul de sac garden will grow enough, and for that blessing I am grateful every single day.
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Sounds like you are handling the limitations of your place well!
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Look like you are doing great, way to work together and produce a lot together.
Was hoping my best friend was planning to she live in city limits, but she is to busy and makes it hard on herself. I just plan on my own and if she needs it is already done, she always thinks about others and forget her self.
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awesome! I am doing the same. Look forward to seeing your progress 🙂
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I live on an acre and a quarter. I grow A LOT. I’m lucky the majority of the property is in the sun. (Well, this summer that was a curse, LOL) I started growing a lot in the ground in 2020 when the co boo flu hit. I’m so glad. I also grow in greenstalks, pots, buckets, raised beds, etc. You can grow a LOT on this small space. Right now, I’m in transition from summer to fall/winter in zone 7b. Still growing are Okra, Sweet Potatoes, Yellow Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, tons of herbs, blueberries, figs, apples, pears, onions…. I have grown much more and still looking for spaces. I don’t have much help though. My husband could care less and mainly leaves it up to me. So, it’s hard. There are so many other things I grow but, I’m just not growing right now.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t feed yourself on an acre. You can! Now, I may one day have to skip the meat. But, I’m okay with that. Will I miss it…YES! No room for animals. I don’t have to have chickens because so many around me do. I either buy eggs from my “chicken lady” or we trade stuff (produce I grow that she doesn’t) instead of me paying her. She also gives me free duck eggs cause no one wants them. Sad! Good for me though. I also buy some meat at a local farm near me. The other I usually get at the Meat Market in a town close by.
All I can say is GROW GROW GROW. Gardening is a never ending lesson. I started in 2012 and I still feel like I am in first grade as far as gardening school. There’s always a new pest, a new disease, CRITTER ISSUES and wild bizarre weather!! This year to get my corn…I had 10 rows of 10. I got almost ALL of it and had some to share because of cayenne pepper!! HA I literally sprinkled cayenne on every corn silk I could reach and the leaves surrounding it. IT WORKED!!! They still got plenty but, I got most of it. This was after two years of them getting it ALL!! By they, I mean deer and raccoon!
Here’s something else I want to remind people of. Just because some of the new people in your area are from blue states….they may be good people. They are conservative and trying to escape the blue. My best connection I ever made out here, that seems to know EVERYONE I don’t, is a transplant from the suburbs of Chicago. I’m in Tipton County Tennessee. Lots of folks are finding there way out here. Not all are bringing their politics with them. Although, some are, unfortunately. Be nice to people. You never know.
Best advice….SAVE YOUR OWN SEEDS!! If you don’t …learn HOW. Great book to get is Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. Also, learn to graft and propagate fruit trees and cuttings.
Small spaces are great. We are 55 and 62. It’s hard but, can be done. At our age and with only me doing it…there is no way I need more ground to grow on. You don’t need acres upon acres to feed yourself. I don’t care what anyone says.
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👏👏👏
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Hello everyone! I live in the suburbs on a small lot with an even smaller north-facing back yard that is limited by a lot of hardscape (neighbors are very close). For five years I have been learning to grow as much of my own food as possible and have tried to maximize the area by building mini raised beds along the front edge of the flower beds that run the full length of the fence on three sides of the back yard. Planted 10 fruit trees at the end of 2017/beginning of 2018. Several are three- or four-in-one grafted varieties (multiple cherries on one, multiple types of apples on another, a variety of stone fruits on yet another, etc.), to hopefully have more variety and also different things to harvest and eat throughout the year. Several provided a decent real harvest this year for the first time, others are finally just getting started with meager offerings. I’m looking forward to next year. So grateful for what God blessed me with in 2022!
I also use several Greenstalk vertical planters, one 100-gallon trough, two 30-inch large, round planters, and several 15-gallon containers. Never enough space to grow all I’d like, but thankfully, in this area of the Central Valley in California, many grow year-round. A lot of things that are seasonal for other parts of the country have become perennial, or at least multi-season, for me. I have jammed perennials and multi-season plants into every conceivable space (including converting an old three-tiered fountain to growing space, and hanging strawberry plants because there’s no room on the ground to grow them (when I tried that, snails and slugs ravaged them continually).
Last year I got four bantam Cochin hens for eggs. One or more of them have gone broody on me a lot this year, which has been disappointing due to the decrease of egg production. I might be able to have two more, but would definitely be maxed out at six bantams total, space-wise. Earlier this year I also got Japanese jumbo Coturnix quail for eggs (including a few males in case I need to raise meat in the future, but that has been quite the odyssey). Really grateful to have their eggs as the bantams have been so broody. I really like the quail eggs. I call them one-bite wonders. Great taste and creamy texture. Plus, I was told that by volume, the nutritional value of one jumbo quail egg is equivalent to two chicken eggs.
My biggest challenges are squirrels who damage or pilfer anything/everything possible (unless I pick it early to ripen inside and not on the vine/tree), and the summer heat, which this year has been quite miserable (it peaked at 108.5 yesterday and 107.4 today). The early and often on-again/off-again ups and downs in the temperatures here this year have set the garden back in so many ways. I expect this may be an ongoing issue with the grand solar minimum and everything else that’s happening with strange weather. Several things that did really well last year, or at least better, have either not done well at all this time around, or have been marginal at best.
Is anyone else here growing in/on such a small space? Am I in the right place with this group, or is there a better one for my kind of set-up? I’d enjoy trading tips, tricks, work-arounds and things learned with those who are interested.
God bless,
Kim
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We live in florida on one acre and we use every square inch. We have chickens, ducks, turkeys, and even sheep. We have a third of it dedicated to a food forest. We have raised beds for gardening. We have gotten very creative with what we grow. We plant fodder trees for the sheep and are working on growing pasture as well. We also grow things for us and the poultry to eat. We use a lot of fence and gates lol We use vertical space as much as possible. We are also blessed with great neighbors who have our sheep to go to their property to add to our rotational grazing system. We have been working on it for the past 5 years. A constant work in progress.
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That is awesome!
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I’m laughing with you on the fencing and gates comment…..I have at least 20 gates here to separate my goats, chickens, turkeys, and garden areas. No wasted space around here!
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i have no garden where i live and would love to have a garden at the very least
that said i would prefer a property out in the sticks
i have however just last week took on an allotment plot which i can grow my own food
for those who have not heard of an allotment
quote “Allotment Info. An allotment is an area of land, leased either from a private or local authority landlord, for the use of growing fruit and vegetables. In some cases this land will also be used for the growing of ornamental plants, and the keeping of hens, rabbits and bees. An allotment is traditionally measured in rods (perches or poles)” see https://www.nsalg.org.uk/allotment-info/
what is an area of a perch
quote “The terms pole, perch, rod and rood have been used as units of area, and perch is also used as a unit of volume. As a unit of area, a square perch (the perch being standardized to equal 161⁄2 feet, or 51⁄2 yards) is equal to a square rod, 301⁄4 square yards (25.29 square metres) or 1⁄160 acre.”
what is an area of a pole
quote “The rod, perch, or pole (sometimes also lug) is a surveyor’s tool<sup>[1]</sup> and unit of length of various historical definitions, often between approximately 3 and 8 meters (9 ft 10 in and 26 ft 2 in). In modern US customary units it is defined as 16+1⁄2 US survey feet, equal to exactly 1⁄320 of a mile, or a quarter of a surveyor’s chain (5+1⁄2 yards), and is exactly 5.0292 meters. The rod is useful as a unit of length because integer multiples of it can form one acre of square measure (area). The ‘perfect acre'<sup>[2]</sup> is a rectangular area of 43,560 square feet, bounded by sides 660 feet (a furlong) long and 66 feet wide (220 yards by 22 yards) or, equivalently, 40 rods and 4 rods. An acre is therefore 160 square rods or 10 square chains.” see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(unit)
bona-fide
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