Introducing Our Miniature Smallholding

This is an article I wrote for Grassroots Magazine Australia, which is in the current issue. I felt it was a good, broad introduction to what we've been doing to convert our garden into one that provides for us.

I've always believed that you shouldn't let obstacles get in the way of what you want to achieve. Especially as many obstacles are often bigger in our minds than they are in actuality. So when I realised I wanted something more like a smallholding than a typical backyard, but we couldn't afford any acreage, I decided to look at what we did have and see if we could make a miniature smallholding right where we are in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

We decided that our main goal in a smallholding was to provide as much of our own food as possible. With this in mind we started looking at our property through new eyes. All little nooks and crannies became potential growing spaces and plants that couldn't provide food slowly got replaced. Our front is open plan so initially we thought food plants might not be very presentable, but we changed our minds soon enough and with the help of junk mail as a weed mat most of the lawn was replaced with edible and medicinal plants.

As so often is the case with urban gardens, most of the soil wasn’t ready for growing much more than grass and a few tough plants. The soil was mostly clay and rubble. I suppose the quickest solution would have been a digger, skips and shipping in gypsum, but that wasn't within our budget. So we decided to use a resource we already had; chickens!

By curbing costs in other areas we were able to afford the materials to build some large enclosed runs across the back of the garden. We run the chicken flock in one run, while we grow vegetables in the other. Having the run fully enclosed means that we can keep out the wild bird population who, a few years ago, discovered that we were the only place for miles growing food. Once the season has finished we let the chickens in to finish off the spent vegetables while we grow for the next season in the nicely fertilised run that they have just come from. While the chooks are in the run we continually add carbonaceous material to absorb the poops keeping the smells at bay. As this material breaks down it adds Carbon to the soil so it's a win, win situation which improves the soil quality for growing.

Carbonaceous material doesn't have to cost, although we do reuse the straw and wood shavings after they've been used in the nest boxes or as animal bedding. I use Autumn leaves when they are available and mulched plant material from pruning. I will also throw in shredded or chopped paper and cardboard. The chooks do most of the work turning the litter over, but when it gets a bit compacted I'll help turn it over with a fork. This will get down a bit deeper for them and reach some bugs, which gives them a renewed enthusiasm to dig more. Essentially they are our composters.

We have one enclosed run that we have designated for growing fruit trees and bushes. The chickens can't go in this as they would decimate it, but the bugs can still get in. So we decided to get quail in there for bug control. They do eat the lower leaves and fruit on the bushes, but I don't mind sacrificing that little bit.

Of course we can't cover our whole garden in giant cages, so some of the work to improve the soil has to be done by hand. We have been removing rubble and digging in compost, more and more of which is coming from the coop and runs as that soil improves. Mulching around the plants also helps. We have, in the past, bought in pea straw for this purpose, but as the garden produces more we are able to use more of that production for this purpose. Spent bean and pea plants work well of course.

On the front garden we have more permanent plants, so we use a heavier wood mulch. We actually purchased our first lot of wood chips before we discovered Gumtree where you can find adverts to collect it for free from places that want too get rid of it. I now keep it topped up with garden waste that breaks down slowly, including twigs, wood chunks from firewood preparation, fruit stones and there's even a wooden pastry brush handle in there somewhere. I've put nut shells on there and chopped up bamboo skewers from when we have a BBQ.

Our rabbits have become our lawn mowers for what lawn we have left. This along with weeds and some of the more tatty vegetable leaves make up their diet, so we don't need to buy them food in. As our lawn gets shorter we have even been able to employ them in trimming the neighbour’s front verge. A bonus of this is the droppings they leave behind. Often there are way to many to leave them all on the grass, so the excess is collected up and put back on the garden. The beauty of rabbit poops is that they are neutral enough to go straight on the garden without burning the plants.

I love how gardening has changed my perspective on things. Weeds are no longer a problem, they are food for rabbits, chickens, worms and even other plants. Bugs that eat our plants are food for chickens and quail. The animals don't produce waste they produce manure, a nutritional resource for the plants. Each season the garden produces more in what seems to be an ever increasing cycle.