In an effort to motivate myself and get something done every day, no matter how small, I started Smallholding Diaries; a video series that gives a little glimpse into life here on my urban homestead. It's a tiny plot - just 45sqm, so there's not enough to make a daily vlog. But the diaries is enough to keep things ticking along until I can move somewhere larger and indulge in my love for cows.

This is Week 24...

Winter Crops

I have to say, I haven't had a huge amount of success with winter crops. And without a polytunnel to offer some protection, I'm rather limited. Last year I grew a lot of Pak Choi but, honestly, who eats Pak Choi?! It's not very nice.

Three things I have got going are:

• Kale (two varieties)
• Spinach
• Winter Lettuces - I've just sown two varieties, Winter Density and Arctic King. Last year they were dismal. This year I'm hoping for something better.

I've also got carrots and beets in the ground that can be harvested as and when they're needed - can't wait for some hot, winter soups!

Frosts in 2016 catch on the winter kale.

Microgreens

With the winter limited what I can grow outside, I've finally decided to take the plunge and start my microgreens project. It, hopefully, will serve not only as food for me and my family but also bring in a little income too. I've been writing about it here on Steemit and you can check up on the progress in Microgreens Adventure Day 1 and Microgreens Adventure Day 3.

Meat Birds

Being limited on space, I rely on poultry as my only source of homegrown meat, though I watched @papa-pepper's video on rabbits with excitement and am seriously contemplating trying rabbits in 2018.

My main aim with my chickens is to be able to process 27 birds a year - that's one to eat per fortnight. I haven't the space to hatch them all at once, so I have to stagger the hatches through the year. But it's totally do-able. In addition, I keep quail which are a handy little extra snack. This week was D-day for some of the cockerels; notably 2 Ixworth boys, a bantam mix and 4 Coturnix Quail.

Ixworth are dual purpose, so I keep the hens for eggs and raise the boys for meat.

As we head towards winter, much of the jobs here are about clearing up, organising and starting to plan and think about how I can better my efforts in 2018. It's a HUGE learning process, and certainly, creating an urban homestead has just as many challenges to surpass as building a small farm on decent acreage has; they're just different. Meanwhile there are still no eggs in the budgie box but that doesn't stop me hoping!

Until next week!

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