A practical guide to producing food and more on a small plot of land, from vegetables and chickens to goats and bees
A small farm in your own backyard
Angela England and her family run a productive small farm on about half an acre of their backyard in Oklahoma, raising vegetables, fruit, chickens and goats. In this guide, she shows how to plan and run a backyard farm on a quarter acre to a full acre, growing healthy food, saving money and living more sustainably in the space you have.
Who will enjoy it
Families and beginners with a large garden or small plot who want to grow food, keep animals and become more self-sufficient.
What you will get
A friendly, practical and encouraging guide that shows how much food and satisfaction you can get from a small plot, helping you plan a realistic backyard farm.
Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less) Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Nonfiction · Homesteading · Gardening · Self-sufficiency
Length
432 pages · ≈ 13 h
More about this book
The book begins with planning: assessing your land, sun and soil, deciding what you really want to produce, considering local rules and budgets, and laying out a farm so that gardens, animals and storage work well together. England emphasizes starting small and expanding gradually, with practical advice from her own experience, including her mistakes, and she explains how to estimate the time and money each project will really need.
The gardening section covers soil building, raised beds, intensive planting, vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, berries and season extension. The animal section explains how to keep chickens for eggs and meat, ducks, rabbits, dairy and meat goats, and bees, with guidance on housing, feeding, health and the time each requires. Later chapters focus on enjoying the harvest, with methods for canning, freezing, drying and making simple cheese, as well as crafts such as soap making and candles, and ideas for earning a little income from surplus. The book is illustrated with photographs from her own farm and includes checklists and planning tables throughout.
Practical, realistic and inspiring for would-be homesteaders. About 432 pages in the Alpha Books paperback.
The Backyard Homestead
Mini Farming
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
The Backyard Beekeeper
Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens
The Vegetable & Herb Expert
Self Sufficiency for the 21st Century
The Weekend Homesteader
Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
Back to Basics
What to Expect When You're Expecting
Tiny Beautiful Things