The Start of the Winter Garden
It is one thing to say we’re going to move off-grid and start a homestead and it is an entirely different thing to do it. What you think might happen really doesn’t and what you envision your days looking like isn’t really a reality.
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We’ve spent the past seven weeks learning that lesson, amongst others. You’ve got to get your basic needs met first before you can even consider work on food production projects. You know water, food, shelter, and waste management.
The last couple of weeks, however, we have started to see a glimmer of what could be. One day the Papa mentioned the winter garden and I said “Where? and hand me a shovel.” I guess all of this don’t lift heavy objects stuff had me itching to do some manual labor.
So we dug out three beds right next to our cabin and started the garden. One of them we turned into an hugelkultur bed after learning about them.
Little hands collected many, many rocks and sticks and planted big bulbs of garlic. Papa hands did pretty much all of the heavy lifting, planting, and planning. Mama hands took to the shovel and the rake and were actually caught on camera.
We also piped grey water out of the house and into a small hole containing lots of rocks to increase surface area and bacterial break down. This now helps to keep the hugelkultur bed moist.
We are thankful for this start to our little homestead and for the lesson that you have to start small and you have to start somewhere.
I love this! And I love seeing you in a picture. 🙂 We are thinking of doing some hugelkultur beds soon. We have lots of wood around and they sound great.
This is so great! We experimented with the hugelkultur beds, but they didn’t work as well as I was hoping… maybe another try next year.
You look great, by the way… My husband commented that if it was me, the white covering, apron & blouse would be FILTHY. 😉
Love your blog! Thanks for sharing!
You are so blessed to be living within a community that can offer you their help! I will have to do some research into hugelkultur, as this is a new term for me. Shannon, you look so lovely and serene as you prepare the garden! It hardly looks like work, but I know it is!
Your off-grid reports are so helpful. It’s good to see the reality of what it’s really like. You have come such a long way so far!
This is wonderful 🙂 What zone do you live in?
I just did some research on hugelkultur beds. What a great idea and tool to use in Texas. From the landscape it looks like you guys are in the south or west part..it doesn’t rain much there, so I am looking forward to seeing how this bed pans out for you guys.
Hi Shannon, your off off-grid life is amazing. Thank you for sharing. Can you tell us if those are pallets you’re using as fences? Am I correct that you’re using them as fences? Thank you.
Julie-Ann – Yes, those are pallets! They give them away for free in town so my husband picks up loads of them every time he goes to town. He’s building one around our winter garden right now and then planning to use them on the “big garden” in a few months. Free works for us!
It always makes me happy to see folks expanding their food growing area. I believe nothing brings more satisfaction and a sense of peace than growing some of your own food (even if it’s one tomato in a pot). I can’t wait to see how this garden grows!
Loved this update~ I know when we moved to the farm we were overwhelmed at first with all the work & we had a house & electricity! You’re doing so well & I love your new garden ~ I hope it produces abundantly for you. I haven’t heard of that hugelkultur bed before, but will have to look into it ~ I wonder if it would be beneficial here in areas where the land is less fertile.
Have a wonderful week
Blessings
Renata:)
I’m a fan of hugelkultur gardens too! I think they’re a great way to build a warm, moisture-retaining garden with garden waste. I wrote a post about it on Craving Fresh a few months back:
http://www.cravingfresh.com/2011/07/how-to-build-hugelkultur-hill-culture.html