2. I live in Marblehead, a small coastal town of about 18K
residents on the North Shore of Massachusetts, about
18 miles north of Boston. My two-story colonial sits in
the middle of about a quarter acre in a typical
residential-style neighborhood. Most people have golf-
course quality lawns and ornate landscaping that is
tended by a yard service every week. As for me, I like to
tend my own yard and have a mix of fragrant flowers
and food for my family, as well as an area for my three
kids and dog to run and play.
3. Coming up with ideas for my homestead at first was
easy...
- herbs
- salad greens
- vegetables
I am already
growing these things
in containers on my
deck, but I’d love to
grow more.
4. My First Arrangement of Cards
Since I’m keen on reduce/reuse/recycle, I used scraps
of paper to write my ideas. My first categories were:
● Structures
● Sustainable/Renewable
● Animal-related
● Veggies
● Fruit
5. I’ve enjoyed container gardening to this point, but I know
my property can support more, and I am eager to think
about all the possibilities, even if they seem far-fetched. We
are looking to replace the roof on our house, so then I
thought we should look into adding solar panels. My
second grader is interested in science and nature, so she
has asked for a worm bin to tend. I hope to grow more of
the produce we tend to eat, like salad ingredients, so I can
rely less on the supermarket.
6.
7. Structures include house, chicken coop, barn, worm bin,
garage, outdoor canning kitchen, and raised beds. Under
Sustainable elements, I wrote solar power, rain barrel,
compost pile, and kitchen graywater container. I put eggs
from chickens, bird feeder, bee keeping, and butterfly
garden as Animal-related, and the other categories are
fruits and vegetables (for the fruits and vegetables we eat
most).
9. This time I arranged the cards in fewer categories:
Structures, Functional, Ornamental, and Food. I wanted to
see how simplifying the groupings would make me think
about the individual elements. It became clear to me that
food production is important, as are functional elements
that promote sustainability, like composting, solar power,
and capturing water.
11. My last arrangement of the elements helped me further
hone the things that are important to me when I envision
my burgeoning backyard homestead. I still have the house
and possible barn under Structures, and Functional
sustainable elements like solar power and water collection
resources, but in addition to just a Food category, I added
Canning/Preserving, which would allow me to take the
fruits and vegetables that I grow and turn them into jam,
sauce, or even wine or cider.
12. Reflections on the Process
I was surprised to realize that large scale food production is not my number one
goal. The thought of ripping out my entire yard for the purpose of growing food
does not feel like the balance that I would like for my homestead. Ultimately,
this is my home and I want both function and beauty, a refuge from the rest of
the world. Through brainstorming these elements, I kept coming back to the
sustainable practices that I’d like to implement, like solar power for the house,
figuring out a way to capture kitchen greywater to use for my plants (other than
just taking bowlfuls outside constantly), and making more of a commitment to
canning and preserving what I grow.
