Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
What animals can you house in the backyard? See Part 3 for some ideas of animals you could
potentially keep on a smaller scale. Write down your wish list of what to grow and raise so you have
a precise picture to work from and aren't wasting your efforts.
Be sure to build a chicken coop the size you need. If you need six hens to supply your family's egg
needs and you can only house three hens in your coop, you've wasted your lumber, your time, your
money, and your energy.
Wastef ulness is almost the opposite of precision when it comes to planning. Often on the ranch
we joke that nothing goes to waste. But it's really true—everything serves two purposes, or the
leftovers can be repurposed in some way. Not even our time is wasted, as leisurely summer nights
spent watching a family movie are spent with purple-hull beans in our hands so we can shell out
the beans while we watch the show.
Lasting
The best plan takes place over time and accounts for the effort it takes to achieve a particular goal.
It's really easy to say “I want to have a fully self-sufficient homestead that completely supports my
family with mature fruit trees, a well-established laying flock of chickens, and milk goats that are
ready for milking.” That isn't really a plan, though, that's a wish. And because there's no timeline
attached to that wish, it's going to feel more overwhelming to actually set out and do.
A plan looks more like this: “This January I'm going to buy my baby chicks so they will be ready
to lay in July or August. I'm going to buy all my seeds for the year now while this nursery has free
shipping, so I need to find my list of all the crops I want this year.”
Maybe this summer you clear out an old shade tree so in the fall you can replant the space with a
bareroot fruit tree that will eventually take its place in the landscape, providing your family with
food at the same time. Maybe you make arrangements to take your doe goat to a neighbor's house
to freshen (breed) so you'll have a baby, and milk, in late winter.
Time is the taskmaster here. Often a plan is the realization that you aren't going to have everything
at once. You have to decide which elements need to be done now and which tasks could be done
later. You also have to understand when certain things take place on the homestead. What happens
each week? What happens each month? Chapter 16 will give you an overview of the seasonal
rhythms of a backyard farm.
On a diFFerent Scale
Your plan doesn't have to be elaborate—especially if you're using your “extra” or fun money to get started,
or have an outside income that is supporting your family and paying the bills. If you are taking on the
challenge of a backyard farm from a hobby perspective, just create a list, decide on your first big step, and
go after it!
