I will be continuing my work towards food security. These are my thoughts for this season, as well as my assessment of my current assets and issues.
Assets
- over half acre available for gardens and animals
- land is owned and is in an area without covenants or restrictions
- I have a well
- I have strong teenage boys who are still at home
Issues
- land is very arid
- I’m completely off-grid (could also be an asset, but pertaining to water it’s currently an issue to overcome)
- while it gets very hot here in summer, it gets fairly cool (zone 7) in winter, making survival difficult for plants – it’s the desert AND the mountains.
- extreme wind, especially in spring when you want to be planting
- I don’t have a high cash flow to put into this
Garden Goals/Experiments
- A grocery row garden – as created by David the Good. Four foot wide rows, four foot wide paths. Broadforked and slightly sunken, then no-till.
- A potager or kitchen garden – close to the house with slightly raised beds (mainly to offer wind protection), focused on herbs and fresh greens/veggies. I may use the Native American technique of waffle gardens.
- A WW2 victory garden – I love the focus on food that can be preserved/offers calories, as opposed to the modern salad garden. I hope to till this area and plant from seed. I also want to try some of the water wise techniques from Africa.
- A pecan guild (food forest island) in my former driveway.
Livestock Goals
- Increase my poultry stock, get some younger hens/pullets as well as some ducks, mainly for eggs but also for meat.
- Build a chicken tractor and raise some meat chickens while building pasture (inspired by Edge of Nowhere farms on YouTube).
- Milk, breed and sell high-quality Nubian goats.
- Experiment with Guineas for bug control.
The concepts of Landrace Gardening, by Joseph Lofthouse, fascinate me. Again a thank you to David the Good for bringing this to my attention. I would like to landrace everything – starting with seeds and perhaps chickens (although I’m not sure I’ll let them free range, because they seem to target my small plants). I plan to use the principles by only keeping and breeding hardy goats.
I have more experiments than time but I’m excited for the coming season.