If you want to start homesteading in a small space like your backyard, to produce food for your family, then you may be surprised at how much you can actually produce in a small space.
I came off a gorgeous 1000 acre homestead, in the hills, that had established fruit trees in the orchard, over 100 old fashioned rose bushes and a huge fenced off veggie garden overlooking a stunning creek that widened to a waterhole that watered the whole garden. This garden had been kept tidy in the many years prior to me moving in but had not been really loved by a gardener for many years, like a garden that is producing a families homestead goods deserves to be loved.
This was wonderful way to learn about many different plants and how they change over the seasons. Back then there was no internet and I was fairly isolated, so I learnt many lessons by experimenting, making many mistakes and observing. I would ask advice if and when I could find someone to ask, but mostly it was determination with plenty of physical work. I had to discover what all the plants were, how to prune them and then when to harvest.
When I moved to Moat Cottage, in an actual small, rural town, on 1/6th of an acre including the house, shed and concreted verandahs, I felt like I had no land. “How was I going to grow food in such a small space?” I wondered to myself, while sitting on the front verandah looking at the small triangular piece of land in front of me, armed with a pen and blank paper. At the farm, the Mulberry tree alone took up all the space this piece of land was. A rabbit was nibbling weeds inside my fence line, which felt like I was being mocked. I am a rabbit hunter and had spent the past 8 years successfully hunting them almost daily with my dog (Rabbits are vermin in Australia) and now this critter was enjoying the variety of weedy greens growing in my future garden, with no care in the world.
Moat Cottage is a rental I was blessed to occupy and where I planned to make my home while working hard to save up for my own property, so the budget was low to zero for this garden, this was going to be a challenge and one I am glad I took on.
19 years later, for unforeseen reasons, I am still here and am reaping the rewards of every Chicken and Duck poop, shovel of home grown compost, every bit of infrastructure I added, each cutting taken, seed sown and tree purchased and planted in the ground. If I had have waited for my forever, bush homestead in the hills to continue my homesteading lifestyle, then I would have a dead Lemon tree, lawn to mow and no home grown produce to eat and fill my kitchen larder now, oh and I guess I wouldn’t be making small space homesteading videos for you.
In this video I show you most of the food I have growing before the annual Summer garden goes in, so you will see the fruit trees, perennials and cameos of the Muscovy ducks and Chickens.
Life takes us on all sorts of journeys and every seed you plant today can be a great reward in the future.....
Happy Homesteading Friends
Elissa Jayne
Moat Cottage Homesteading
Moat Cottage Homesteading for all your backyard homesteading inspiration and information #BACKYARDHOMESTEADING
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MORE VIDEOS
GROWING FOOD IN THE BACKYARD https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbgyJJsd3gmPIaXPqn3OkYGYBgSeO_xGA
FERMENTING FOOD PLAYLIST - How To Ferment Food for Health and Preserving https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbgyJJsd3gmNzzLka-g59fYHfNaDtJ9QC
HOW TO DEHYDRATE FOOD PLAYLIST - Dehydrating to Preserve Food
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