A Little Backyard Homestead Project

sumi

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As some of you know by now we moved house this week and I finally have a space big enough for more than a few hens :) The house I'm renting now comes with a decent sized backyard that over the years have been left to neglect and my landlord is very happy to let me transform it into something better than this:

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I am still working on straitening the house out and unpacking, in-between recovering from a badly timed mini bout of flu, so at the moment my project is in the planning stages still. But I decided today to take some pics and share my plans, before I get started, to keep track of this project (and have you all kick my butt when I slack off ;) )

First on the list is removing the two piles of what turned out to be tree branches and the other rubbish. Then decide where exactly to put the chickens (at the moment I'm leaning towards part of the left hand side, as you go up the steps). On the other side, once I cleared the space, I'm going to do a vegetable garden. Closest to the shed I'm planning to put in some roses, just for eye candy :) I may also put in a small lawned area behind the roses, before you get to the chickens and garden. It doesn't look it in the pics, but it's a generous space that allows for quite a lot with some careful planning.

Since it's Ireland (more often than not wet), I'm going to make a path running between the chicken pen and the garden with stones. So from now on, when I go out, I will keep my eyes peeled for suitable stones for that part of the project…

The garden side of the plans are going to have to wait until spring, but before then I plan to clear the space of dead vegetation, rubbish, etc… Once that is done I can better plan the space and layout of everything. I'll probably shop for roses soonish though, as the garden centres and market traders sell them cheap over the cooler months. Another thought I am still undecided on, but may end up doing is putting on some fruit trees along the side, where the property border is. Probably apples. Apple trees are wonderful and grow so well here.

@Beekissed I'm thinking of clearing the bit right at the back for your pumpkins to run riot in.

So… A lot of thinking going on here at the moment! There are many possibilities for this space :)
 

NH Homesteader

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Yay!!!!!! Sumi has a project!

We thought about putting in a stone walkway but we realized turnout putting in extra material (and a lot of it), it would be claimed by the mud come April. Sounds like you have some great ideas!
 

frustratedearthmother

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Congrats Sumi - can't wait to see what you can do with it! And, I'm sure pics will follow. :)
 

Beekissed

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How exciting to be starting out fresh in a new place! Lots of work but a great level of satisfaction in taking something that looks that rough into something of smooth, neat beauty.

Please keep us posted with plenty of pics as you go along....I LOVE that kind of story and transformation! Great too that your landlord doesn't mind what you do with the land...I love that too. My last one was of that nature, but with his next tenants that came back to bite him in the bum~BIG TIME.

Can't wait to see how it all turns out! :woot :pop
 

sumi

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We thought about putting in a stone walkway but we realized turnout putting in extra material (and a lot of it), it would be claimed by the mud come April. Sounds like you have some great ideas!
Good to know! It rains here frequently, we may get a few inches of snow over winter :hide and we get all sorts of other types of moisture in-between too... So I'm going to have to make sure I put the path in so it doesn't disappear. Any tips for that, anyone?
 

NH Homesteader

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We have epic mud here- like my car can't get in the driveway for a month or so. Not sure how much of an issue it would be in "normal" places lol. I'll ask my husband...
 

sumi

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@frustratedearthmother @Beekissed that is exactly what I plan to do, take lots of pics as I make progress. It will keep me motivated and it will be enormously satisfying seeing the change over time. The soil beneath that mess is absolutely gorgeous! My landlord told me he grew vegetables there years ago, when they lived in this house.
 

NH Homesteader

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So he said that if he were putting in a walkway, the technically correct way to do it is to dig down, put down crushed stone with a layer of fabric over it. Then put down sand with your stones on top. He would use a compacter to... But he does this at work sometimes so you might not want/need to do all that at home!
 
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