I have been wanting to get back into my homesteading for a long time now.
I used to do it at my old place which was my brothers home, but when he said he was planning on selling I finished off my last winter crop and put it aside. Now I have brought my own home I'm really looking forward to getting back into growing my own veggies and fruit again.
I have a large block at 900 sqm with a large front and back yard, I'm planning on making the front yard look nice with a nice array of garden plants which attract natural wild life. It will be a nice area down the track to put a hammock and unwind.
The back yard I'm planning to turn most of it into a garden full of fruits and vegetables, as I do spend most of my grocery shopping money on them.
However as you will see from the photos below I do have a fair bit of work to put into both the front and back yards. The house was rented out before I moved in, so both the front and back yard have basically been neglected over the years and have been shown no love.
No care was taken to manage the three corner jacks(caltrop) so I'm going to have to manage this as I go.
Also the soil is rather dry and looking unhealthy so I will have to throw some compost and cow poop out to get the soil to a better quality. Luckily my brother works on a dairy farm so I can get him to bring some bags of cow poop, which will be good for the soil.
It's going to be a bit of work and I will be getting a few tonnes of loam and some raised garden beds happening by the shed and along the fence lines, this way I can start growing stuff as the winter season comes in and by the time next summer rolls around the rest of the soil should be looking much better for gardening.
Here is some pictures of the front yard.
I figure a good start for the front garden is to water it, and start to make the soil more healthy again.
I will also be planting Half the garden as Australian natives, which will be good for attracting wildlife and also mean that I won't have to water them so often as they are much more hearty and drought resistant. They will go around the fence line and provide a little bit more privacy as they grow above the fence line.
At the base of the taller plants will be the shorter plants which grow about 1m high and then at the base of them will be the small ones which don't grow above half a meter.
The plants will encroach into the lawn area but will make nice scenery while I'm sitting on my hammock out the front.
Here are the first two of my Australian natives, ones called Evelyn's Coronet and the other is called firecracker. They are both from the Grevillea family.
Here are some photos of what they will grow up like. the first is firecracker.
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Here are some photos of the back yard.
As you can see I have plenty of room so I will be able to get pleanty of fruits and veggies going.
I will probably get some plants going along the fence lines which will provide some extra privacy, but I haven't really thought too much about the back yard at this stage.
In the first image of the back yard the fenced area on the left is a big enclosure down the side of the house, where dogs have been kept previously.
I'm going to put shade cloth up and a misting kit so I can have an area for all my herbs to grow. I will also be using that area for establishing seedlings and nurturing them until they are ready for planting in the ground.
So as you can see I have my work cut out for me, it will be good to see the place transform over the next 2 years.
I think I prefer having a yard like this as it will be really rewarding to turn it from a parched baron landscape into a green lush garden.