My back yard...the blank canvas. Approximately 1/4 of an acre to work with.
Spring is right around the corner, and I am going nuts waiting for it to get here. I know that time is precious right now, as there is so much to be done in preparation to start our first year of "urban homesteading" if you can call it that when you are renting...
Here are a few things we have planned:
Chickens- We moved to Wyoming 4 months ago, into a city that allows chickens! I have been wanting chickens for years, but have never been able to. To say I am excited is an understatement. Along with chickens, we have tons of other plans, but chickens and raised beds for a garden are at the top of our list.
In front of the red shed there is a frame that must have been used as a garden or something, but we are building our coop in it and fencing it in.
As far as what kind of coop...I am still leafing through books and magazines, and checking out websites to find the perfect one. Chickens start arriving on March 1st! I have to get BUSY!
Raised beds and square-foot gardening- Last year was my first attempt at square-foot gardening, and for the time that I was there to tend to the ONE bed I had, we were harvesting quite a bit of food. We were a part of a community garden, and at the end of the summer decided to move here. I gave my bed to the local food pantry, and have NO idea what the final harvest looked like. I bet it was intense. We had 20 tomato plants in an 8x4 bed. I WILL NOT do that again. It was nuts.
This past weekend my good friend stopped in at Home Depot and gave me a call. They had a bunch of culled 2x6 boards. Each board is about 4 feet long, so instead of doing 8x4 beds, I am going to do as many 4x4 beds as I possibly can. Culled lumber is only $.51 a piece!
Here is what I am planting:
beets
spinach
red carrots
radishes
a bunch of leaf lettuce
chard
Hubbard squash
Sweet meat winter squash
cayenne peppers
jalapeños
5 different kinds of tomatoes (including yellow pear and cherry)
bell peppers
bush beans
zucchini
summer squash
sweet corn
and a bunch of herbs
It's the biggest garden I've ever had and I am really looking forward to preserving food for the first time as well! I think I will do a lot of dehydrating and some canning.
These beds are filled with marigolds and mums. I think I am going to leave the marigolds that are on the bottom bed, and plant herbs in the top two.
Angora Rabbits- IF I can find any, we are going to raise Angora's. I would really like start this spring, but it may have to wait until next year. Angora's are hard to find in these parts. At least from what I can tell.
This will be an awesome adventure in harvesting our own fiber for knitting and crocheting projects in the winter.
The rest is just a list at this point:
Vermiculture bin for kitchen scraps
Compost
Grey water recycling
Outdoor oven of some sort- cob, solar, etc.
So, those are the plans for this year and we feel so blessed to have a place to carry them out. God has truly blessed us.
Happy homesteading, folks!
Joe made our raised beds out of the 51 cent lumber too :-) It is an economical way to go. We have 8- 4x4 beds inside of a fenced area.
ReplyDeleteHow many chickens are you planning for?
I'd love to hear more about your Angora plans. How many do you need to raise to get enough fiber for projects?
So exciting to hear of your Urban Homestead (now am I supposed to put a little TM next to that?)plans!
We are planning on having 12 chickens, and right now I am trying to decide if I should go with one one breed or a few different breeds. Australorps are at the top of my list, followed by Wyandots and Delawares. There's also Buff Orpingtons to consider...I thought I had made up my mind to just have Australorps, but now I'm not so sure.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Angoras, right now the plans are just blooming. I am researching and trying to find all the info I can. It seems like one large rabbit will produce a good amount of fiber to create a few scarves, hats, etc. The good thing is you can just shear them like sheep,(sort of) you don't have to kill them. My goal (eventually) is to have a male and female of different types of Angora, German, Enlgish, etc, and breed them, keep what I need to produce good wool (7 times warmer than sheep's wool!)and then sell the bunnies for profit.
As for the trademark...bah humbug. I'm not gonna tell ya that you have to use it :-)
Ok now that I know what you are doing with the rabbits...awesome idea...let me know how I can help. There is lady - not to far from here - that does this, along with lamas etc. She taught us how to card the fiber, she even used her Great Pyrenees dog to card, and then she would spin the fiber into yarn. Neat process really!
ReplyDeleteYour plans look great! I am sooo excited for you guys...be careful you will end up with chicken-itis.
What did ya think I was gonna do with them? Eat 'em? :-)
ReplyDeleteDoes the lady have Angoras? I can't find any breeders in Wyoming. That's all I need help with right now.
The rabbits do sound like a great idea! I hope you can find your starters. I know someone that raises rabbits down here, I could ask her if she knows anyone that does Angora's if you'd like.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andi about the chicken-itis. It happens!!
I think your town is known for being a great gardening spot (as far as WY goes) so that will be exciting for you.
That would be awesome, Millie. Thank you :-)
ReplyDelete