Modern Homesteading - Get Your Backyard Homestead Started

Whether you’re already boots deep in homesteading and are successfully self sustained on your backyard homestead or your big picture dream includes turning that rough patch of side-yard into the perfect veggie garden, modern homesteading is becoming a way life for many. It doesn’t require large acreage to fulfil your homesteading dreams; it’s impressive what a small vegetable garden can bring to your table. If you’re plans consist of animals, bigger crops, water storage and canning (to name a few chores), summer can be a season filled to the brim with projects to get you set up for cooler months and shorter days. If you’re just learning how to homestead, don’t worry! You’re not too late to get some great late summer and fall crops in the ground and you’ll reap the rewards in just a few short months.

Modern Homesteading - Set Yourself Up for Success

If you’re just setting up your little slice of heaven, knowing how to homestead has a learning curve that never ends. If you’re set up simply to garden and bring in your own fresh veggies, herbs and bounty, that can seem like enough of a task. Be sure you map out your gardens in arrangements that make sense - consider crops that require more or less sun, figure out what gets planted when and where. Evaluate your soil, measure out your plots and get to growing! When planning your multiple beds, you want to consider things like run off, sunlight, slope and accessibility. While you’re at it, consider the ground between your beds. Some people utilize mulch or pavers, while others consider  just leaving grass to grow. It’s important to create areas that are easy to navigate, while keeping your weed problem down, all the while considering footing for cooler months and wet seasons. Utilizing Lighthoof’s mud management panels around your garden beds will give you a firm, clean surface to navigate your beds, while giving that moisture a place to go.

Is your backyard homestead as efficient as it could be? If you’re planning out your garden plots, consider footing, accessibility and navigating around your beds.  

 When it comes to animals, ensuring you have the space and means to house them is key. Chickens and goats are common to modern homesteads, while pigs, ducks, sheep, some breeds of cattle and even llamas and alpacas are easily kept on backyard homesteads as well. Just make sure you’ve checked  your city ordinance to determine whether you’re allowed to have animals, and what their regulations are. When it comes to keeping homesteading animals, ensuring they have clean quarters and access to shelter, food and water when they need it is important. Chickens can help with your garden bugs, while goats can provide you with fantastic milk, all the while helping you with some of your weed and yard problems. Not to mention, you’ll get some fantastic composting components when you clean their pens!

For many, modern homesteading includes critters! Goats, chickens, pigs and even llamas and alpacas are the perfect addition to a backyard homestead. 

Of course, setting up your perfect modern homestead also includes considering pests of all kinds. Insects, rabbits and other small critters can damage your garden crops, while foxes, raccoons and larger wild animals can go after your own animals. There are effective means to protect your backyard homestead so rest assured. It might take some time to figure out the best means to the ultimate protection, but we have the utmost faith in your abilities!

The Benefits of Having a Backyard Homestead

While it seems like a lot of work, the benefits of setting up your property to better provide for you are endless. Modern homesteading means collecting your own drinking water,  fresh eggs, herbs, veggies and even honey and so much more. Getting more out of your small acreage is always worth the blood, sweat and tears. Not only do you know where your food is coming from, but you’ll save a little cash and set yourself up for delicious canned, baked and homemade treats all year. Once you’ve figured out how you want your homestead to look, it’s time to get those planter boxes under construction. Just remember, those fresh veggies taste so much better when you grew them  yourself!