With our food systems on the verge of collapse, it's the plutocrats v life on Earth

[MissB]

20. I have a half acre property

Half of that is arguably forested, and the other half has a house, small lawn, gardens, coop for the hens etc. We fenced the property a couple of years ago when we got our second pup, so now we don’t share the yard with the deer.

We are about to re-do the back yard. When we bought this place 20 years ago, the backyard looked a lot different, though all of our efforts to reshape the yard were based on immediate need (ie a tree needing to be removed or an area fenced to keep deer out of the veg garden). We are at the point where we can finally make an effort to make it both functional and pretty. I hired a landscape architect to come up with a design that included level ground (currently slopes in two directions), a large greenhouse, space to sit and plantings that take less effort. My perennial beds are hard to keep up, beautiful but useless and my knees don’t love moving like they did 20 years ago.

Part of the plans include a bunch of coreten planters. I like those- and their purpose is to both divide between two elevations in my yard and to provide some formal planting spaces for things like bushes that can be shaped. I’m more likely to use them as herb planters and for dwarf tomatoes in the summer. The architect’s vision is uniformity and mine is more food production. I absolutely love dwarf tomatoes (fellow DUer turned me on to those!) and I grow a ton of oregano, thyme and rosemary to dry inside and use through the winter months.

This year I planted a bunch of peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, squash and cucumbers both in the garden proper and amongst the perennial beds. I don’t hate it, and I can see where I can continue to grow things in the yard with the new design, not just in the proper veggie garden.

Dh and I met with the greenhouse builder a few weeks ago. We talked about shade cloth for the greenhouse but the location for the structure means we are unlikely to need it. We can add it later; doesn’t require additional accessories. It will be heated so that I can grow year round. Not a huge structure but built to last. It won’t be in place until late 2024 or early 2025. My veg garden could also be shaded with little effort as it was built to keep out deer so the sides are tall. A few posts to support the center and some shade cloth would work just fine. Heck i could stretch it over the top and still garden just fine.

I do Bokashi compost which sets for about a month once the bucket is full before going out to the actual compost bins. I have four Bokashi buckets going in a cycle. My hens produce lots of poo for the compost, mixed with shredded paper on their poo shelf. By spring my overwintered beds are ready for veg. Leaves and small yard debris remain on site.

I have a limited amount of fruit on-site - plum, apples, kiwi, raspberries, blackberries and figs. My strawberries are pretty limited. But it’s all for us.

I’m about to dehydrate my first goldini squash this morning. It’s a big one- bigger than you’d pick for summer squash but perfect for dehydration. Tasty at any size, and grinds up well to add to soups and stews in the winter. My bean production is sadly minimal this year but I’m still reshaping the gardens. Couple more years and I think I will have settled into a fair pattern of production. I just pulled my garlic in time to make pickles, though I had to buy dill because I didn’t get it planted on time. My cukes were ready. It’s a work in progress.

My goal for fall is to start red wine cap mushrooms under my circle of fir trees in the middle of my driveway circle. Something new every year, always learning. Sometimes I fail, or I succeed and still don’t like the results (ie my four very well growing goumi berry bushes.) Someday I’ll have bees. They’re all over the garden still so I don’t quite need to have my own hive, but someday…

We are one of the few folks in the neighborhood that don’t mow and blow. I don’t care for a perfectly manicured yard. It’s supposed to produce food for me. I do grow flowers but I’m more interested in food production. Another reason to not live in an area that has an HOA.

My next door neighbors done even cook, let alone grow food. I can go out and pluck some self seeded arugula or sorrel for a salad or other dish many months of the year. They have to order in food for every meal. They have a beautiful level and landacaped back yard.