Availability
Loading...
Summary
Author Amy Stross talks straight about why the suburbs might be the ideal place for a homesteading lifestyle. In these pages you'll learn how to: stop letting your garden overwhelm you; develop and nurture healthy soil; and use easy permaculture techniques for stress-free, abundant harvests.--COVER. Full description
Table of Contents:
- Pt. 1. Getting to know the micro-farm
- Chapter 1. Suburbia : Civilization's opportunity
- The suburban problem
- Suburban micro-farming myths
- The suburban micro-farm solution
- Chapter 2. Managing expectations
- Prevent garden overwhelm syndrome
- Life hacks for the busy micro-farmer
- When it's not enough
- Overcoming brown thumbs
- Setting up your neighborhood for success
- Chapter 3. Developing healthy soil
- Building soil health and fertility
- Guide to organic soil amendments
- No-till micro-farming
- Constructing a simple compost system
- How to compost
- Cultivate worm castings with vermicomposting
- Chapter 4. Vegetables on the farm
- The efficient micro-farm
- Guide to planting and growing vegetables
- Choosing crops to meet your needs
- How to place vegetables
- Extending the season with cold frames
- Chapter 5. Micro-farming fruit
- Growing fruit trees
- Growing berries for beginners
- Choosing fruit for your circumstances
- Chapter 6. Growing herbs on the micro-farm
- Kitchen garden herbs
- Herbs in a pollinator garden
- Create an herb spiral
- pt. 2. Becoming a micro-farmer
- Chapter 7. Organizing your micro-farm
- Make a garden sketch
- Make seed and supply purchases
- Month-by-month micro-farming
- Checklists and monthly calendars
- Chapter 8. Seed starting and planting
- Starting seeds indoors : a step-by-step guide
- How to sow seeds directly outdoors
- How to transplant seedlings outdoors
- Chapter 9. Maintaining the garden and harvesting the produce
- Daily garden visits
- Mulching the garden
- Watering
- Pest management
- Guide to harvesting vegetables
- Cleaning up the garden for fall
- Easy seeds to save
- Storing seeds
- pt. 3. Advanced micro-farming techniques
- Chapter 10. Edible landscaping
- Why landscape with edibles?
- Things to consider before breaking ground
- Landscape design principles for visual appeal
- Planning techniques for the edible landscape
- Choosing what to plant
- Utilizing the parking strip
- Chapter 11. Digging deeper : Permaculture and micro-farming
- Using water wisely
- Building plant guilds
- Farming the contour
- Terracing with check logs
- Managing the edges
- Permaculture plants
- Chapter 12. Making money on the suburban micro-farm
- Perennial crops
- Annual crops with a long season
- Shade crops
- The edible plant nursery
- Cut flowers
- Maple syrup
- Cottage food products
- Homemade soap
- Teaching and writing
- Tips for success.