Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Arrival
Arrival means you are heading in a particular direction. These are your specific goals. The sketch
you put together of how you're going to adapt your home into a working backyard farm should be
clear! Of course, you will never reach that dream ideal in anything closely resembling a straight
line. But with a clear-cut vision of what you want to achieve for your family, it will be easier to
meet your goals even when unexpected setbacks occur.
To me, this variability of life is part of what makes having a plan so valuable. When unexpected
things crop up, we can change the plan a little to accommodate the situation and then move easily
to get back on track as soon as possible. For example, I was hoping to buy a greenhouse for the
backyard because the plan was to increase the amount of food we were growing. Unfortunately, we
had a situation come up with my husband's work truck and it needed to be repaired. Bye-bye green-
house money. Part of the repairs was a new set of tires on the truck, and I used the old tires to grow
potatoes in a tower. It was amazing how many we produced in that very small area! Not to mention
the fact that growing the potatoes vertically freed up two rows in the garden for more tomatoes.
Natural
This is the aspect of planning that I want you to keep firmly in mind as you read this topic. You
will be most successful when you work toward what is a natural fit for you and your family. Your
plan should reflect
you
. All the ideas and suggestions are things you can do—things you might
want
to do, not things you
have
to do. So select a goal that makes sense to you. Start small if you
have to. Go all out if you want to. Make your plan work for you, and you'll be surprised how far
you'll come when you look back a couple years from now.
Write out your plan and start working out the most important elements of backyard farming to
add first. For many people, that is a garden and a small flock of chickens. And that's a great place
to start. Then note what you need for those elements to be successful. Assess what you currently
have and go from there.
On a diFFerent Scale
If you're taking on a backyard farm as a business and planning to support your family without any addi-
tional employment, you need to be a lot more detailed in your planning. Some market research, pricing
information within your region, and estimated costs versus income projections will be needed.
Your garden will need a flat, well-drained, sunny area. If you don't have one, you'll have to create
one. This might mean removing an out-of-place shade tree, digging up some lawn, building raised
beds over a portion of the cement patio, adding containers to your balconies and window sills, or
even just making reservations for a space at your local community garden.
