Permaculture, Homesteading, and Community Building // The First Steps in Creating My Farm

I began my farm in November, right before the wettest winter I had ever experienced in California. If there are any Californians reading this, what just happened this past winter?? Though, thankfully we are finally out of a drought in my region. However, it was too much rain for the land to handle, and the land was way over-saturated. We ended up having a large landslide from all the rain (and as a long term effect of our downhill neighbors digging out a lot of soil without putting in proper enforcement). Wow! Right as I am typing this the rain just began for the evening. The picture below is my puppy Blossom licking hail off of our porch.

I have been "summer" hopping between the Northern and Southern hemisphere for the past two years, so this winter was a cold surprise. It was also very needed. I had time to be internal and feel the cycles of the earth and seasons. However, what was I going to do for the next few months in a cold, wet environment with very little sun? I made a lot of lists, and the first few included making our surrounding yard livable, creating a compost system, and making a greenhouse.

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Living Space

I prioritized making an outdoor living space for us, because I believe that I am most effective in my work when I nourish my center (my center can mean my body, mental health, or in this case my immediate surroundings and living environment).
We spent a lot of time cleaning up stuff that had been accumulating for years. We paved pathways, mulched the ground, made a firepit, and made a seating area.

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Compost System

I then prioritized creating a compost system. I ended up building a 6-tier compost system that I will elaborate on in my next post. Very little could grow during the winter months with the hill blocking most of the sunlight. However, compost does not need sunlight for its process. And, I knew that I would need compost to amend the garden beds with for spring planting. We spent our time building the compost system, and then creating the compost piles, and then regularly turning the piles.

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Greenhouse

The next priority was making a greenhouse. I remember when Ryan first moved here, he suggested that I would be needing a greenhouse for the winter. I had very little knowledge of greenhouses and starting seedlings at the time, so my naive self bought a $50 mini greenhouse that I was sure would do the job. Ha! That greenhouse could barely fit eight 1020 trays (10 inch by 20 inch seedling trays). I now have a greenhouse that can fit over one hundred 1020 trays. Anyways, I soon realized that my small, flimsy greenhouse was not going to make the cut. I did a lot of research and ended up building my own 10 foot by 15 foot greenhouse. This was an important first step of the farm, because it has allowed me to start my seeds in a warm environment before the last frost date. I now spend every day with my baby plants in the greenhouse, I think it's become my favorite place to hang out during the day (probably because it's warm inside!