The Backyard Homestead

[Quail_Antwerp]

He doesn't like anything that sounds like farming at all either because in his mind it is work.

That's because it is work!

But IMO it's the most rewarding and the best paying job there is! AND you work for yourself! No one to tell YOU what needs done when...but then there isn't anyone for YOU to tell what to do either, soo....

 

[keljonma]

I WISH I had a half an acre.

The book doesn't deal with just half an acre! It shows a person how to plan out your lot and grow as much food on a lot as possible! I think it said 1/10th an acre???

Anyway, it made me think even if you are in town, you can plant FOOD...all over! And you can put a pair of meat rabbits in a hutch in your backyard for meat...even if you live in a town where you can't have any hens (they put 6 hens on 1/10 an acre in the book), you can still raise meat rabbits. You only need a buck and a doe, have 2 litters a year (or more if you aren't worried about giving the doe a rest)....skin those critters out and eat!!

I've talked non-stop about how I'm going to do away with my flower beds and turn them into herb gardens. DH has been shaking his head at me..."You realize how much work all that will be? All the weeding you'll have?" Um, yep, and it will be soooo worth it! And I've got 5 kids! I can teach all of them, right down to the youngest, on how to pull weeds, plant, and harvest!

I wouldn't get rid of the flowers - I would just slowly integrate and/or replace with flowering herbs. Many, like yarrow, calendula, nasturtiums, tarragon, borage, lavender, lemon balm, sage, bergamont and chamomile, attract bees and butterflies to the garden - great pollinators for the entire garden.

 

[keljonma]

I talked to my DH about possibly getting meat rabbits. His response, "to eat?" Well, yes, honey to eat. I told him I'd probably have to take them to have them processed. I don't know how to do it myself and would worry about whether I was doing it right and whether I could do it at all. Back to DH, he doesn't like my ideas of raising animals for meat at all. He doesn't like anything that sounds like farming at all either because in his mind it is work.

You might be able to find some Ruth Stout or Mel Bartholomew books at your local library. There *are* ways of growing food that aren't the traditional row farming used commercially. Mel is famous for his book Square Foot Gardening. Ruth (1884-1980) wrote many books, some information or portions of them are available on Mother Earth News archives....

How To Have A Green Thumb Without An Aching Back - A New Method Of Mulch Gardening

The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book

Gardening Without Work for the Aging, the Busy and the Indolent

 

[Aidenbaby]

What's funny is that I don't have ANY rows in the garden. I've been planting the veggies just like they were any other flower. I try to plant them in groups of 3 or 5 depending how many I have to transplant. The only section that looks like a normal veggie garden ATM is my poisonous section (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers). Once I get the peppers and tomatoes established, I'll be inserting cukes to let them run amok along the ground. I wanted to plant the veggies like they were normal ornamental flowers so that I could try to influence my hubby's mindset. I am also planting normal flowers occassionally throughout, as well. I think that once he starts seeing the end result, he won't be so ridiculously painful about what I'm doing. This is the guy that wants that beautiful, perfect, green lawn but won't insert the effort that goes into achieving it. I love him dearly but lately we've been fighting a lot. I think it must be stress from work feeding into our home life.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I WISH I had a half an acre.

The book doesn't deal with just half an acre! It shows a person how to plan out your lot and grow as much food on a lot as possible! I think it said 1/10th an acre???

Anyway, it made me think even if you are in town, you can plant FOOD...all over! And you can put a pair of meat rabbits in a hutch in your backyard for meat...even if you live in a town where you can't have any hens (they put 6 hens on 1/10 an acre in the book), you can still raise meat rabbits. You only need a buck and a doe, have 2 litters a year (or more if you aren't worried about giving the doe a rest)....skin those critters out and eat!!

I've talked non-stop about how I'm going to do away with my flower beds and turn them into herb gardens. DH has been shaking his head at me..."You realize how much work all that will be? All the weeding you'll have?" Um, yep, and it will be soooo worth it! And I've got 5 kids! I can teach all of them, right down to the youngest, on how to pull weeds, plant, and harvest!

I wouldn't get rid of the flowers - I would just slowly integrate and/or replace with flowering herbs. Many, like yarrow, calendula, nasturtiums, tarragon, borage, lavender, lemon balm, sage, bergamont and chamomile, attract bees and butterflies to the garden - great pollinators for the entire garden.

Yes, I've been thinking of that..I am hoping if I plant flowering herbs, then I can keep my rose bush (was my MIL's before she passed) and my Hostas...there's really nothing else planted in the beds...

 

[Farmfresh]

I WISH I had a half an acre.

ME TOO!

My lot is super tiny and my house takes up 1/3 of it. So I can only grow: peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries, grapes, tomatoes, green beans, okra, kale, spinach, herbs, onions, peppers and my own eggs.

It is amazing what you can do with very little space and some determination - so get to homesteading your little piece of the world!

Next subject.

Who wrote the book Quail? Where did you get your copy?

It sounds VERY interesting!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Uh, I didn't get the authors name.....ooops...lol ask keljonma...she knows a lot!

My book should be here this week sometime.

 

[keljonma]

The Backyard Homestead is by Carleen Madigan.

She is a gardening editor at Storey Publishing, and the managing editor at Horticulture magazine.

Of course, this also depends on your ag zoning, but as Quail_Antwerp mentioned, in the first pages of the book she mentions utilizing One Tenth of an Acre.

From the back of the book...
From a Quarter of an Acre, you can harvest:
1400 eggs
50 pounds of wheat
60 pounds of fruit
2000 pounds of vegetables
280 pounds of pork
75 pounds of nuts
100 pounds of honey

 

[Farmfresh]

I will definitely have to check that one out!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Where did you get your copy?

I just noticed this part of your post, and I apologise for not answering the question...

My copy is coming from Amazon.com for $12.89 and that included shipping. And it's a NEW copy, not used, at that price, so you might be able to find a used copy cheaper.