Homestead Ideas

1. Emerging Patterns
Jon Brand
May 22, 2015
L.Silva – Integrated Backyard Homesteading

2. Background
• I am living in Holland,
Michigan at the moment.
• I hope to move up to the
Upper Peninsula and live in
Escanaba.
• Right now I have four 8x8
box gardens, I am excited to
truly expand and make my
goals come alive.

3. Initial Thoughts
Before I began my assignment, I realized that this is something I
had already started to do in a notebook. However, I had to
focus more on the backyard homestead instead of the actual
farm I would like to someday have.

4. Skimming the Surface
When I wrote out my thoughts
onto cards, I realized that I was
having a hard time not
narrowing down my thoughts
into elements. I was not
actually diving down into the
roots but simply skimming the
surface with my thoughts.
I ended up with a tiny little list

5. Digging Deeper
I then focused more on pin
pointing specifics. My 15
notecards turned into 42.
I broke up my cards into 3
catagories.
-Structure
-Food
-Animals

6. Structure
• Structures had included
things like:
-Barn
-Shed
-Barrels
- Farmhouse
The barn would be necessary
to allow homing for the
animals that I would like for
the homestead.

7. Structure Cont.
• I would also like a
collection of barrels.
The hope would be that
because the Upper
Peninsula snows more
often than not, that I
could collect snow, turn
the snow into water,
and use that water for
plants.

8. Food
• Food was another
category that held many
of my elements.
• I was actually able to
break up my food into
two groups:
-Annuals
-Perennials

9. Food Cont.
Annuals
Annuals had a much larger list
• Potatoes
• Peppers
• Onion
• Kale
• Beets
• Cilantro
• Parsley
• Basil
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Parsnip
• Eggplant
Perennials
• Berries
– Grapes
– Strawberries
• Fruit Trees
– Pears
– Apples
– Peaches

10. Food Cont.
• Many of the foods listed can be dehydrated and
used later.
• The food can also be used in combinations. I
enjoy making salsas and many of the things I
grow can be placed into salsa.
• Potatoes are my favorite thing to grow and the
Upper Peninsula actually favors growing
potatoes.
• I could use the beets for sugar instead of having
to buy my own sugar. It is healthier and cost
effective.

11. Animals
• The animals that I
would like are: 2 collies,
chickens, goats, barn
cat, and alpacas.
• I would like to use the
goats for dairy and the
alpacas for their fleece.
The chickens laying eggs
would also be
beneficial.

12. Final Thoughts
• After putting the cards together I noticed that
many of my ideas can be turned into obtainable
goals. All of these ideas and goals will eventually
lead to a bigger goal of having my own farm that
can produce enough for the local town.
• All of these ideas can be inter-connected. More
so, I noticed that I am somebody who primarily
focuses on food production and on trying to be
sustainable.

13. Final Thoughts Cont.
• I had created cards that had “future farm” or
“open land” but right now, those are out of
place. I am not prepared for that and by
beginning in my own backyard, I can move
closer and closer to that end goal.