How do you use your space?

[curly_kate]

I'm curious how much you can do on the property you have. We have 2.5 acres, and I keep thinking we need more space to do more stuff, so I'm looking for inspiration. How much space do you have, and what are you able to do with it?

 

[Beekissed]

I have an acre+, half of which is apple orchard, all of which is now fenced except a small area in the front of the house. I am free ranging a flock of 30 dual purpose chickens right now and grow a pretty big garden, of which I will be selling the excess this summer.

I am getting two ewe lambs next week to bottle feed and will use them in a managed grazing rotation to keep my lawn and orchard down and to sell the offspring.

I also am adding a small gaggle of geese, maybe 5, to eat the grass species that the sheep won't. I will harvest their down and sell goslings, as well as the occasional Christmas goose.

I am also getting a bee hive and will probably make it two the following year.

All of this can be done without any crowding of species and with plentiful food for all. I will be adding an herb bed this spring and several species of perennial flowers for cutting and selling.

Next year I will be adding pigs, temporarily, for plowing up the garden space and then to sell at market when big enough.

 

[Henrietta23]

I'm going to jump on board to see what people have to share. We only have 3/4 of an acre. We've got a fairly large coop though, which has plenty of room for our 13 chickens and 4 ducks. The ducks swim in a 100 gallon water garden pond. We have space to add more chickens if we want. We could have a couple of mini goats to milk if I could persuade my husband. My biggest obstacle is the lack of sun for a garden. I found a book that had directions for building self-watering containers out of the big Rubbermaid tubs. I plan to make a bunch that we can plant in on the deck which faces south and does get full sun. Now I just need to find a way to keep the chickens off the deck. They did a number on my tomatoes last year, pecking at everyone they could reach through the chicken wire around the plants.
It is probably too shady for beehives here from the reading I have done. That is something I'd try if I though I could have happy bees!
I'm also hoping that we can build a greenhouse window for one of our south facing windows to grow herbs indoors.
We planted two dwarf apple trees last fall.

 

[FarmerChick]

I have 120 acres. We crop farm. Corn, watermelons, alot of hay fields, various vegetables, pasture land.

BUT there are tons you can do on 2.5 acres.

It matters how much you give to your yard also. If you can handle a smaller yard.....then use more of what you have.

You can easily produce tons of veggies. Square foot gardening. You can definitely have animals. It is all a matter of staying smaller, culling animals when they have babies, etc. and you can run a very efficient 2.5 acres. A small orchard even.

Yup, you can have alot on that land....if you are zoned for livestock and the such.

 

[curly_kate]

Wow! I'm impressed already! We have some chickens, and a garden that's about 45'x25' (although I'm pretty spatially challenged, so I'm probably off on that estimate). We have 5 chickens right now, and will probably add some more this spring. DH really wants goats, so I guess there's no reason not to get a couple. The only thing is that a good chunk of the flat space behind the house is leach bed for our septic. I'm guessing I shouldn't plant anything there. Is that a wrong assumption?

 

[lupinfarm]

We have 8 acres with a bank barn, and large-ish chicken coop, and soon duck house that could comfortable house 5 or 6 ducks.

We have a massive garden that receives almost full sunlight all day long in the summer months, and will be turning the old mini-hay field which we don't want cause we can't work it into an orchard.

We whole heartedly believe in pasture management or land management. Pasture rotation, you can have a good amount of animals on 2.5 acres if you manage your pasture properly ensuring that you are not degrading the soil or grass too much.

We will eventually have a 6 pasture system, maybe more. You rotate every week or so to minimize the damage to the land, letting the land re-cooperate.

We're getting hopefully 4 or 5 goat kids, I was thinking on Alpine because we do have quarried bits between our fields that would serve as awesome goat territory, has lots of grass and weeds and everything growing between the cracks with little grass patches, but we're also going to pasture them on the large horse pasture.

We've also ordered 3 ducklings to add, but are looking into getting some geese as well and maybe some White Pekin ducks as christmas duck next next year.

We want to grow our own black oil sunflower seeds because they're super expensive to buy and the chicks have really taken to them, even the one with the weird eggs (very brittle rough shell) and her eggs are starting to get...normal lol. So, we're planting sunflowers all up the driveway (half a KM long driveway!) on either side for prettying up and around the back along the fenceline between Jim's corn fields and our backyard.

We have a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) Rhubarb patch that came with the property behind the office. We're turning our front garden into a victorian knot garden complete with veggies and fruits mixed with flowers like marigolds to control the pests.

...Oh lord I could go on and on and on and on and on... but I won't.

You get the general idea LOL.

There are a lot of things you can do if you have the zoning animal-wise, and still a lot you can do without the zoning. In Ontario, you need 15 acres to have Marginal Agricultural Zoning, which means you can have animals. This only came into act recently, so those who lived on the properties earlier were okay, but if they sold they couldn't grandfather it over to the new sellers unfortunately. Our house was severed as a homestead, so the town was obligated to give us permission and changed the zoning from Agricultural to Marginal Agricultural. They say we can have as many animals as we can fit in the barn, lmfao and our pump guy said... "well just stack them LOL"

HA HA HA HA

 

[Big Daddy]

We have 8 acres. It's divide into 2 pastures about 3.5 acres each. the other acre is house, yard and garden. The garden is 60x80 with an attached 30 x 60 greenhouse. Chickens are in a 8x16 coop with attached 20x60 run that has access to the greenhouse during off season. We have 4 horses and the pastures only last about 4 months without supplemental feeding. But that's high plains in Colorado. Not much water and the soil either has sand or clay so the grass is sparse.

 

[2dream]

We have a little over 3 acres. 2 of which we just aquired last year.

1 oversized chicken coop that houses my EE's and Iowa Blues about 25 total and a smaller house for the Cornish Banties and Silkies (about 15 total). Hopefully this summer I can subdivide my big house and seperate my boys and girls to keep my breeds true.

I also have 5 rabbits for breeding, 3 does and 2 bucks. Their quarters are attached to one side of the bigger chicken coop.

1/2 acre we keep rather wild. We both like the trees in the back yard so we just kind of let it go. The dog pen is also in the back yard.

My front yard (not quite a half acre) is strickly for our ornamental grasses and flowers except for my newly planned herb garden.
(That is our afternoon, walk, talk, admire, and relax place).

We raise green beans, watermelons, tomatos, peppers, zuks and yellow squash on a strip that runs up the side of our driveway. Last year we raised pumpkins and 4 different varities of peas on some of the newly aquired property. This year we will add corn, pinto beans, butter beans, and I can't remember what else I bought. LOL

Our winter crop this year was mustard, turnips and cabbage. Grown where the peas were planted during the summer.

I also grow leaf lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatos and radishes off my porch rails in planters and plant snow peas in with my rose bush that is right outside my side door. The snow peas are about played out about the time the rose bush is starting to wake up good.

I hope to add a few ducks this year. I wanted goats but looks like that will have to wait another year.

Prior to purchasing the property next door we raised enough greenbeans, tomatos, yellow squash, and zuks in the small garden to feed a family of 4. Plus all the turnip greens you could ever possibly want.

Utilize pots and planters for stuff too. You can do a lot where you are.

 

[TanksHill]

I have just about two acres. Right now I have 24 hens and a roo. Several gardens. I live on a hill so it's a challenge. Working on adding a rabbit. Small family ochard I add to every year. And about 1 acre down the hill facing north I dont use at all. Well theres a storage shed but thats it.

Kate-Not sure if you have ever seen his link but these people do a ton on 1/5 an acre. http://pathtofreedom.com/

Big Daddy, your garden green house chicken set up sounds very interesting. Do you care to elaborate? Do you have any pics??

 

[Wifezilla]

I have a little suburban lot. I think my total square footage is around 7000 sq ft? 1000 sq ft is taken up by house, then there is a garage and a shed...not a lot of space left. I have still managed...

2 apple trees
1 pear tree
2 grape vines
an herb garden
3 raised beds for greens
a squash garden
I intersperse veggies in with my flowers
I have 4 ducks now too.