Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Replacing the back lawn with drought-tolerant food crops will decrease your watering bills. These
crops will also make it possible to grow the feed for your animals as well. Notice a large plot for
corn in the back of the growing area. There are also large spaces for beans or peas and beets or
potatoes.
Alternatively, you could use this area for market-produce. Perhaps you could use this space as a
larger orchard for selling jams and jellies, cut-flowers area, or specialty heirloom varieties specifi-
cally for higher prices at farmer's markets. The less you keep for yourself and animals, the more you
have to potentially buy for your backyard farm, but the trade-off might be worthwhile for you.
Closer to the house are perennial beds for more permanent plantings. Notice the strawberry
pyramid, which allows vertical growth of the plants in a set location. You can also enjoy a good size
asparagus bed that would be more of a permanent planting as well.
In this example there's a greenhouse, a garden shed for housing tools, a chicken coop, and goat
and sheep pens. This is a large number of outbuildings, of course, and not all are necessary for
getting started. We don't have this many right now, but if I were creating a long-term plan of what
I wanted to have over the next five years, this is pretty close to what it would look like.
Over the Garden Fence
The best part about starting slow and adding new things as you're able is that you can test the waters
and see what you feel most comfortable with. Do you hate goats? Don't keep them just because we do!
Increase the size of your chicken flock instead, or specialize in small sheep grown specifically for their fiber.
Whatever it is that interests you and catches your fancy is worth looking into.
Creating a Workable Plan
Consider these illustrations as wish-lists for “someday.” Create a few sketches, perhaps in your
garden journal, of what you think you'd like to have available over the next year or two. When you
have a vision of what you're looking for, you'll be able to move forward with confidence.
This is an acronym I use when coaching blog clients, but it applies to planning anything: you need
to have a P.L.A.N.: Precise, Lasting, Arrival, Natural.
Precise
Make your plans precise! Don't be afraid to start planning the number of crops you want to plant.
Then figure out how much room they will take up and how much space you'll give them. Now you
know precisely how big to build that new garden plot.
Will you have gardens, livestock, or a mix of both? What crops will you want to grow? Part 2 of
this topic will detail some of the most popular and useful vegetables, herbs, and fruits to grow.
