Small Scale Homesteading / Smallholding
Homesteading in a Small Home
We have started the new year with a bang on Steemit! I am so looking forward to what other gifts will come to fruition in 2018.
I have dreamed of being a Smallholder/Homesteader for years now, perhaps even since being a child. Each year, I try to do things that will bring me closer to achieving my goal.
Last year, I successfully grew masses of potatoes, far too many if I am honest for us to eat, but I should have perhaps swapped them with someone else for things that I hadn’t grown myself, however I didn’t think about that at the time and most went to waste. They also took a huge amount of water to grow.
Unfortunately, my house is on a water meter, so every drop of water used is recorded and charged. My 6 monthly bill had gone up by £80! So I guess growing your own in your garden is not as economical as I originally hoped UNLESS I can gather rainwater, starting now in preparation!
It has been raining heavily all night and this epiphany came to me this morning whilst I was planning what I am going to grow this year in the garden. I need to get a water collector set up ASAP in time to use it for the drier months. Any suggestions?
Growing things in tubs in the garden or on the windowsill or even in a greenhouse is not just practical, it is so much fun for me! I get a great sense of joy when I create a meal using purely the ingredients I have grown myself.
This year I want to focus on growing things that I buy regularly and that my family will eat.
I also want to try and make gifts for family and friends rather than buying gifts to cut back on expenditure. There are lots of ways to make gifts. You can get creative with nature pictures made using flowers and leaves, stones etc. Crochet blankets, scarves and shawls, hats and gloves. You can put together a baked gift; a pie or a cake for example. Get the old sewing machine out and make some teddies or personalised pillows. You could even make some salt dough ornaments and hand paint them with the kids as fridge magnets for grandparents.
So you don’t need huge amounts of land to be able to live your dream of being a homesteader. Just do what you love and eventually you will be able to continue on a larger scale if the universe provides!
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Be sure to put your rain barrel above the height of the garden even if you have to build a platform for it to stand on. It can be hard to get the last bit of water out if it has to go up hill.
Does it sound like I've had some experience with failure? Hmmm...
Haha great advice, thank you! I am thinking of running some form of guttering around the fence to catch more of the rain as it sits on a downward slope from the back of the garden.
The gravity feed will definitely be high enough and (Bonus!) you should get a nice big surface area to collect in without having to dedicate a large plot of otherwise usable area. Nice idea! Lots of luck!
You and me both! The culture of growing you own needs to return to England. I too will buy a plot of land soon (need more crypto). Until then its windowsills and tin cans :)
we will get there, I am certain of it :) windowsills and plant pots for me too lol
It will coming. Just seeing this period of practice for the real thing :)
Love this you should join our homesteadingonline community on Discord
Thank you! I am already in that group I think. I have been asking about water collection on there too :) I am hoping to get some good ideas from people who can help me, I am learning every day :D My main issue is not having a great deal of space. It is my property, so I don't have any restrictions, but I can't take up too much room for water collection, or I will loose growing space. I only have about 4 x 5m sq
I love gardening! And it feels so good being able to grow my own vegetables. I don't have much space but I usually grow tomatoes, zucchini, herbs, beetroots... The water issue is not fun, unfortunately I have no great idea about how to solve it. Rain water is a nice idea, but hard to store, yes.
I already started growing some vegetables in my small studio. Lets see what comes out after two or three weeks :) Great post!
Ah great! :D What are you growing?
Chickpeas and garlic :)
fantastic! :D
Fantastic! Yes, rain collection is a must, plus, ways of gardening, like berms and hugelmounds help immensely. I do not have to water but rarely on my hugel mounds and the produce is glorious.
I also never rake and let leaves and fallen twigs do what they do in nature, create a lush soil full of creepy crawlies and nutrients.
I LOVED this post. Rock on.
ooo I will take a look at berms and hugelmounds, thank you! :) They sound like something out of Harry potter! lol Thank you for your comment, I am glad you enjoyed the post! :D
hahaha... it does sounds very Harry Potter, and I love that. :)
That must be great to have your own garden like that.
I love it :) I can pop outside before prepping dinner and pick the veggies to use! It's great! I love homegrown tomatoes too, they are one of my favourites. I don't like the acidic taste of supermarket tomatoes anymore, I am spoilt lol I only have a small garden, but I make it work hard :)
That is wonderful! I will have one someday.
I'm happy for you that you find pleasure in working on their land. It was a wonderful feeling when you eat for dinner the foods that you've raised yourself. Are you confident in their use and safety. You put them in your soul, love and care. And nature meets you for that my love. I'm very familiar with these feelings. I also do vegetable garden. This is a great opportunity to live in harmony with nature. The land in which we put their works always gives us their energy.
I agree! It is amazing knowing that no chemicals have gone into the vegetables that I am feeding my family :) Thank you for your comment
First of all, a very happy new year to you.
Homesteading is really a key to cutting down cash spent on food. I have a poultry farm here at home and also a garden where I grow pepper and some vegetables. We have a private water supply system here so it's not really expensive when it comes to using water on the farm. But the poultry feeds are quite expensive though but one great achievement is that i have an easier access to food ingredients. I could go to my poultry right now and get chicken for dinner...haha... being a homesteader is quite interesting and I hope u make a great harvest this year. Wish u the best of 2k18
Thank you so much! Happy New year to you too! :)
Its sad to pay for water, which is our basic need, find nearby river,pond anything, carry water from those if you can.
That is very true, I hadn't thought of it like that! We don't really have a natural water source closeby, but we do get a lot of rain so I think that wil be my biggest asset :)