Long term garden plans, mistakes and reflections

I have found summer gardening on our farm really hard. The pests wanting to eat my veggies were relentless. Recently I ripped out my leafy greens as they had been decimated. Unless I used commercial sprays, the situation was beyond salvageable. I certainly didn't want to risk planting new seedlings until the situation was rectified. So for now, I am focussing on extending our range of edible and medicinal herbs. Thankfully I still have some nice-looking cherry tomatoes free from damage. It would certainly be a sad summer in the garden without homegrown tomatoes. 

Recently we have been drawing up and considering a long-term home/garden plan, utilizing all we have learned over the past couple of seasons. 

The pond is now in, though we need to backfill it with gravel to make it safe for Elsie as it's a little deep. We are beginning to collect rocks to put around the edges to settle it into its surroundings, as well as provide habitat to frogs and other small animals. 

Elsies Garden

Elsie's garden is the small garden near the door. It's where her cubby house and sandpit are and it's a safe area for her to play which can be easily supervised. There is an old galvanised tub there for waterplay too. 

Last summer we planted a large cutting from a frangipani and though it did well in summer, it didn't survive our hard winter frosts despite being planted in a protected area. I have replaced it with a magnolia because I love them with their furry leaves and striking flowers. I have been planting more herbs as well as some cottage flowers like lavender, cosmos, foxglove, salvia and diosmas for colour. It's a great place for herbs being near the kitchen door.  

Some of the herbs in there are chamomile, basil, perennial basil, parsley, Vietnamese mint, lavender, peppermint, (in a corner it can't escape easily) lemon balm, echinacea, spring onion, oregano, different varieties of thyme, sage, cherry tomatoes that self-seeded and elderberry. I may have missed some mind you. 

There is also a crepe myrtle, gardenia and a few other bits and bobs tucked throughout. It is a pretty, cool and shady place.

Round garden

The round garden has been mostly cleared of annuals and with just the perennials remaining. Grant opened it up and is extending the fence to the yurt, continuing with recycled timber pickets. This fence will divide the yard in two so the dogs will have one section when they are not free ranging on the farm. Aggie likes to be with us mostly and is currently sleeping under the bed so she won't mind a smaller yard. 

Gardening with dogs can be tricky and though there are many great examples of people managing a garden and dogs, I find it easier and cleaner to have them separate. Aggie especially loves to dig in any freshly laid manure or compost with no regard to new plants I may have planted. She will even dig in raised beds much to my dismay. Her legs may be stumpy but she doesn't let that hold her back...

Once the fence is done, I will relocate the remaining perennials from the round garden to the pond garden. Then top up the round garden with manure and compost before planting it out again with leafy greens and veggies. Being careful to net everything thoroughly. I have found having flowers in among veggies tricky to manage, though it looks pretty. 

The new pond will be surrounded by a large garden that includes the mulberry tree. That garden will be a cottage-style garden with flowers, herbs and pretty grasses. With perhaps some space and steppers around the mulberry to make accessing it easier. 

I'm thinking of planting agapanthus along the bottom fence line as I have heard stories of them helping to create a lush green boundary line which helps with property protection during bushfires. Agapanthus don't burn easily. Also, a mass of Agapanthus in flower is a beautiful sight. I have a love for colourful old-fashioned plants 

I will be adding several more silver birch trees to the one we have, it looks lonely. Silver birch seems to be a tree that needs friends, they are so pretty. A small stand of silver birth will also provide some much-needed dappled shade. Right now a lot of the garden is in full sun which is hot and not nice to be in. 

Along the fence on the right side of the yard we have started a wormwood hedge. The prunings of wormwood can be put in the chickens' nesting boxes and fed to the goats to aid natural worm prevention. I hope to complete the hedge right down the side by striking cuttings once the plants are a bit bigger. We did have some wormwood planted in the past but Will mowed over them.....There is always a risk when you get kids to help out. Though he managed to not mow over my second elderberry yet so I'm very impressed. 

The pond was a free find on Facebook marketplace, It's in, but needs gravel and rocks to make it look like it belongs. 

The round garden has been opened up, where the gate is will be where the staircase from the deck will go, once the deck is built that gate will be moved elsewhere. We will be putting a parking area on the flat so everyone comes in via the deck which will provide a sheltered area for shoes etc to be stored. You can see what I mean in the garden plans in the first photo.

The big veggie patch

Beyond the bottom fence in the photo above will be stage 2 of the garden which will consist of the orchard, a greenhouse and a big veggie patch. We hope to start on that in the second half of the year. For now, the internal yard is the priority. I'm hoping that increasing the biodiversity with flowers and herbs will attract more predatory insects into my garden and provide more balance. I also want to create a pretty, peaceful and lovely garden for our family. 

Some people might feel it's more essential to get a productive garden up and going before an ornamental one and for them, it might be. But I am at a point where I need some gentleness. I am more confident in my cottage gardening skills than I am in my veggie growing skills. Since moving here our entire lives have consisted of chores and essential jobs. I am confident that once I find joy again in gardening for fun, the desire to garden for food will return soon after. The round garden will be filled with veggies in the meantime again once my seeds are established. 

New chook run

While free-ranging chickens are idyllic, ours are naughty and don't give us any eggs when we let them free-range on a permanent basis. And we really like eggs.

We are going to build a permanent chook run that will run parallel to the veggie garden. That way we can throw the green waste over the fence for them to tun into compost as well as let them in the veggie garden and the orchard to help manage pests and turn over the soil if we want. As we move forward we want to utilise the chooks as a form of composting more than we currently are.  

The importance of good planning

It's good to have a clear long-term plan as we continue to chip away at all that has to be done here. A plan helps bring motivation by providing a picture of how things could be. It ensures everyone is on the same page and has similar priorities. When undertaking a major lifestyle change like we have, that is really important. 

Many people give up on their homesteading dreams after the first few years due to the sheer amount of work they find needs to be done. For us this homesteading journey is the way we want to live our lives long-term, there is no need to try and do it all once. We have made mistakes that wasted time and money by rushing into things before we were ready. 

It's a sobering lesson. 

But due to our mistakes have learnt how to hold back and to embrace the practice of patience by watching, assessing and re-assessing what we are doing and how we are doing. We have learnt how to prioritise what needs to be done and what we value rather than wildly following our homestead dreams.  

If homesteading is a path you dream of, there will always be something interesting to tackle. Today Grant is hanging a light over the kitchen table from an old shade I painted with a sample pot of blue chalk paint. Then he will be building a small shelf from recycled timber near the door to store garden tools and various bits and bobs. While he is doing that I'll get the house in order, take down the Christmas tree, tend the animals and prep tonight's dinner. After lunch we will work in the garden with the kids, I'll shuffle plants and work on the new garden around the pond while he continues to build the recycled timber fence. It's not everyone's idea of a good time, but I really enjoy working side-by-side. There is nothing more satisfying or rewarding to work on projects where you get to see and experience the progress you make. 

And for me, creating a nourishing home and garden where our family enjoys being together is the most valuable project of all.  

Much love,

Emma

xx