8 Essentials for Your Homestead Garden

When it comes to starting and maintaining a homestead garden, there is a lot of information to sort through. Right off the bat it's important to establish that some of the very best things you will learn about growing your own food will be in the classic process of trial and error. Don't get discouraged when things don't go right the first time - learn from it and try again!

That said, below you'll find 8 essential topics every aspiring homesteader needs to consider when starting out.

Establishing a Homestead Garden

Every homestead has to start somewhere! Don't feel like you need to buy 20 acres and fill it all with food-producing plants. These posts will help you discern how much, when, where, and what to plant in your garden.

Learn About Back to Eden Gardening

Before you do anything else, please take some time to learn about the amazing gardening magic that is known as the Back to Eden gardening method. Using this method on our homestead, we turned 2 hours of prep and planting into a 1500 pound harvest! Need I say more?

Learn About It Here: Beginner's Guide to Back To Eden Gardening

Take Time To Plan Your Garden

Trial and error will be a part of your homesteading experience, but that does not mean you shouldn't put some serious thought into what you'll try to grow first! Take the time to intentionally plan out a garden that makes sense for your family and you'll have a better harvest to show for it.

Start Planning Your Garden: Garden Planning For Beginners

Take Planting Zones Into Consideration

Planting zones don't have to be the final say, but they can be useful in helping you rule out certain varieties of plants you just shouldn't bother buying seed for.

Learn More Here: Planting Zones in USA

Save Money Where You Can With Some DIY Builds

You may not have room for straight in the soil Back to Eden gardening.. in that case, raised garden beds are a life saver!

Do NOT buy expensive garden beds. I saw some small raised garden beds at Costco recently for a ridiculous price! Realistically, you could find a way to garden in almost any container if you're willing to drill holes in it!

Homesteading is all about being creative and learning new skills. Even if you've never built a thing in your life, these garden beds are a great project to start with.

Get The Building Plans Here: Simple DIY Raised Garden Beds

Soil Management for the Homestead Garden

Once your garden is established you'll need to keep the soil healthy. Back to Eden is great for this, but there are some other considerations too. Read on to learn all about soil health!

Managing Soil In A Raised Garden Bed

Take good care of the soil and you'll be rewarded when it's harvest time! It's important to consider drainage, nutrients, and the ratio of soil to sand.

Get The Details Here: Raised Garden Bed Soil Management

Consider Cover Crops For Soil Nutrition

Cover crops have been used on homesteads for a very long time to maintain healthy soil. This farming tradition can be very useful to get your soil healthy in between growing seasons!

Learn More Here: What Are Cover Crops For Gardens?

Protecting Your Garden on the Homestead

Bugs and animals like to eat fruits and vegetables just like you and I! If you want a bountiful harvest, you'll have to learn what pests want to eat your garden and try out some of these solutions to keep them out.

Learn How to Protect Your Garden

Animals can be very determined to consume your garden, but the good news is that they can be humanely deterred. There are some very creative ideas for preventing wild animals from consuming your garden!

Find Out More: How To Protect Your Garden From Animals

Try Companion Planting For Effective Pest Control

Bugs. Are. The Worst. They can really drive a homesteader crazy! Fortunately, companion planting is basically preventative health for plants - certain plants can actually protect other plants just by growing next to them! The crazy thing is, it works.

Get The Details: Companion Planting with Common Herbs

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