DR.DAVID JONES - MINI BACKYARD GARDEN FOR STARTERS: Everything You need To know

Table of Contents

Intrdutn

Yearning for a mr lf-uffnt lifestyle? The lutn mght b close as your own bkrd. Whthr u have n r outside f twn r a tn t lot, you can bnft frm mkng th mt of your rd natural t. Th k to trt your rd lk a mrfrm tht nd nvtmnt, nrhmnt, harvesting nd rlnhmnt nd manage t accordingly. This book contains information n hw t trt a mn backyard frmng.

Backyard Farm

A bkrd farm the ntrt of ur fd rdutn effortsplant, animal, nd otherwise. Whr traditional mmrl frmng grw 1 r n straight rw over thousands of r, backyard frmng is nfntl mrtr. Put ml, th backyard farm is a rur-ffnt mbntn of gurll fd rdutn zn, tht are h optimized fr their hght and best u. Hv a piece f property tht naturally mr hd and h d soil? Put blubrr thr. Have a uth-fng wll that gets full sun nd tugh t rrgt? Plnt unflwr up gnt t. Live n a climate that gt lt n frz? Save your fruit b planting tr vrt tht bloom lt. Hv a t rblm? Gt a few hkn to dvur m. Th nd a mlln thr simple lutn rvd xtrml rtl w t mxmz ur bkrd frmng. This rh nt nthng terribly new r uttng dg. These are thng tht our ancestors knew nd rtd as a mttr of urvvl.

Crtng A Backyard Farming Plan

Your food rdutn ln is really just a mnnt f ur bggr, mr hlt homestead plan. It bgn with n mnt of ur situation nd fd gl.

Ll lmt

Sfll, whn wr tlkng but ur tutn, rh th bggt thing t thnk about lmt. What is the bggt limiting ftr f your climate? Is t gnrll more hot and dr, r cold nd wet? Or u m wnd up n a l lk th American uth tht ht nd wt. N matter wht your lmt, what are the ll-tr, wll-dtd plant vrt n your r? Gt a hld f ur ll tt xtnn ff, nd jum n ll Fbk gru. When ur drvng rund twn, ttntn t th wd tht are grwng by the d f the rd. Rmmbr, th r lnt that arent getting any special fertilizing, wtrng, or anything l. Chn r, thr r rbbl a fw of these wd tht are dbl, mdnl, or thrw useful n ur food frt.

Free r lw-t rur fr th micro farm

If u r doing fd rdutn on a smaller ftrnt, u rbbl wont b bl t just hul in an excavator t dig u a pond, r rt m Walipini grnhu n ur front rd. But, ur mllr, urbn or uburbn tu also comes wth m bult in dvntg. And being th gurrll frmr tht u r, u nd to mk u of n nd ll rur you hv t ur dl. Ar thr places whr you n gt fr/duntd ul n town? D you have to manure that n b ud for frtlzr? An mulching mtrl? Wht but discounted trees r shrubs? In mn areas, nurr will significantly discount trees and hrub twrd th nd f th n. I hv also fund tht vrl municipalities will ffr discounted wd h, l, and mulh t residents. Strth your dollars b tkng dvntg of th kinds of thng! Another thing t tk stock f are n fd rdur tht r lrd n ur rrt. Yu may lrd hv m grt trees r nml n your rrt that n contribute gnfntl t ur hmtd. If so, unt th a blessing, and dnt tk t for grntd. Even if it mght not be the xt h you wouldve md (n species, ltn, etc), but dont thumb your n at nthng thats lrd in lll f t urrntl rdung. After ur homestead has bn tblhd fr a fw years and ur producing thr food, you n always get rd of r move mthng t a nw ltn, but until then, w always dv l to keep th rdur, vn f thr ugly r in a l-thn-dl location. Thnk but your ntrwuld th hv rd out a rdutv frut tr, just because the frut w mllr r n the wrong d of th hu? Addtnll, rmmbr your nghbr. It m b that they grw some fd tht u dnt. If u r n gd trm, th wll likely trd wth u (r mr lkl, thll jut tll u t hl urlf!).

Zn f ur backyard frm

Where are th best t t grw thng on ur t? Whr r th bt t for your rttr? Wht but ur fh nd? B? Rmmbr th traditional commercial frm? Th usually grow one crop n trght ln, fr as th can see. But ur food rdutn is dffrnt. Bu you rnt lmtd b the constraints f lrg mhnr, u n rdu fd anywhere u wnt. Dnt gn hl urlf by thinking tht u hv t hv 1 grdn, in a 16 x 20 lt somewhere. Yur food rdutn n tk place n 15 dffrnt areas n ur property, and u n grw 10 dffrnt thng n h f thm. If u lv n a mllr mrtd, the gl should rll be t blnkt ur ntr rrt wth fd rdutn (maybe some f it mr aesthetic nd goes in th frnt rd, but nonetheless, fd rdutn). If u lv n a larger, mr broadacre hmtd, then you will rbbl nt rd your ffrt ut vr ur entire rrt, but mr fr convenience thn anything l. Th is whr the scale f rmnn m nt play. Fd rdutn xtrml mrtnt, but n likely b ft rund the less flexible pieces f your hmtd. In gnrl, I wuld site rd and thr access, ponds, water supply, swales, earthworks, nd trutur all bfr fd rdutn. Whn t m tm t create the layout f your food rdutn hwvr, priority huld b gvn t:

Tr and thr perennials. Th r th most rmnnt, so you nd t make sure you gt thr lmnt rght. Th also take th longest t gt producing, from a rtl standpoint, it l mk n to gt thm n the grund the nt.

Anml. Anml r not as rmnnt tr, but mr rmnnt thn nnul, and n hv mlx rurmnt (hltr, water, wind rttn, un, hd, t). Th l rvd valuable mrnutrnt that wll be a backbone n ur food urt ln.

Annul. B definition, nnul nl lt n n anyway, thr lmnt nt rtl.

St Up

Rdu lwn area. The tl swath of d rur rgulr fdng, wtrng, weeding nd mwng. Wth mn mmunt mndtng utdr wtrng restrictions, not to mntn nvrnmntl nrn about chemical fertilizers nd mn frm gas-powered mwr, eliminating some r all f ur lwn n be a tv t n creating a mr earth-friendly, utnbl yard. On ltrntv is t ml tr out th turf nd lnt lw-mntnn ntv, wtr-w gr, xeriscape plants r drught-rtnt grund covers; ull rdu wtr use nd have more tm t nj ur yard. Cnvrtng lwn to a vgtbl grdn goes one step furthr because lnd tht previously ukd up rur n now gnrt abundant fd. Grwng your wn produce tll requires tm and ttntn, but ur nvtmnt is d bk n delicious dbl rthr than d-nthng grass. A hm mt pile can rvd nturl frtlzr t nrh l whl proper mulhng n reduce th munt of wtr nd wdng needed.

Lnd wth dbl plants. Mn plants n d double-duty n the garden, rvdng lr, flg nd vul interest whl also producing food fr u nd your fml. Frut tr, mn of which flwr n th rng, n rvd hd tht cools the hu n ummr mnth. Dwrf vrt are a good h fr mllr rd, and frut-brng bushes such rbrr, currant and blkbrr can dd trutur t the garden nd br wt berries fr mn years. Prdu plants can l b colorful, rtl ltrntv to flwrng nnul. For xml, scarlet runnr bn r fast grwr wth showy red flwr nd edible d. Rhubarbs giant ruffled lv nd vvd red-to-green stalks mk unuul garden accent plants, and rd nd llw cherry tomatoes rvd brght pops of color. Edbl flwr such pansies nd nasturtiums mk rtt ddtn t salads, nd nthng beats th unflwr fr hrm nd hght n th bk f a unn garden. Grvn n b trnd u a trll or vr a pergola, nd lrful Sw hrd n b planted n hngng bkt. Grund covers uh as trwbrr, rgn nd rng thm can fill n spaces under tllr plants.

Grw th rdu tht makes n for u. Consider wht u bu and t mt, and plan ur grdn accordingly. If u make mth fr breakfast, u mght wnt t grow strawberries r kl fr a ready source f ngrdnt. Prh ur kd fvr brl nd , r u u a lt f frh nh and lttu fr salads. If youre nt br mkng, u might ndr grwng ur wn h. If u lv t k, u mght grw hard-to-find gurmt fd uh as hrt vrt r Frnh fngrlng tt. Prdll review ur gardens output frm a financial perspective and calculate th t f urhng rdu versus grwng ur wn. If you love golden raspberries, whh n b expensive nd r t the store, you mght save mn by cultivating a fw canes. On th thr hnd, if local sweet rn three r fr a dollar in ur area, t mght mk mr n to nvt your tm, money nd grdn t grw nthr r. Re-evaluate ur efforts t th nd f the n, too. Wr the bt a but? Dd you end u wth a lthr f zucchini nd nt many tmt youd have lkd? Mk djutmnt t nxt r grdn ln youre nvtng tm and rur grwng th things u will mt grl t nd use.

Grw u. No mttr what z yard you hv, you can grw mr food in l b lntng some crops vertically. Grw vnng plants uh l beans, and cucumbers trght u, urtd b t, teepees r cages. Vn n be xd t trail up a dwnut, and trellises, wr or nttng n also b attached t fn. Srwlng lnt uh tmt, mln nd uh n b trnd t grw upright n heavy cages r trll. Whl they m nd a lttl mr attention t be ur th gt plenty f wtr, vegetables grwn vrtll r l lkl t be attacked b grund-dwllng lug and snails, nd theyre less utbl to fungl d bu of mrvd air rultn.