How I Built a Sustainable Suburban Homestead in 3 Years

IN THIS VIDEO

SUPPORT EPIC GARDENING

LEARN MORE

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Site Selection
01:47 - Zoning Laws
02:09 - Design
03:51 - Starting To Grow
05:55 - Raised Bed Gardens
06:31 - Designing A Garden
08:16 - Filling Beds
09:28 - Planting Beds
11:17 - Productive Orchards
16:38 - Grey Water Systems
18:22 - Rain Barrel Systems
20:20 - Water Cisterns
21:20 - Solar Energy
24:09 - Keeping Chickens
28:00 - Composting System
31:06 - Preserving What You Produce

DISCLAIMER

[charissawirick]

There is a large group of (us) millenials moving back to old ways. Sourdough, gardening, farming, preserving, and homesteading are all coming back into the light. It's a daunting task sometimes, but your channel and book make it so feel within our grasp! Here's to those of us that are ready for a simpler, slower life!

[LeekleManE]

Regarding Tilling: I started getting into gardening a little over a decade ago. During my 'research' I learned there was a thing called lasagna mulching to improve soil or even just spreading free tree grindings and letting worms and other critters pull the organic matter into the soil. Over the years since then, this idea of low energy soil improvement has gained a lot of popularity amongst YouTubers to the point where some people started looking down on the notion of tilling. "Do you know the carbon footprint you are creating using a gas tiller?". But the thing presenters gloss over and commenters don't seem to catch is that it takes YEARS for the slow method to improve soil below. And if a person is on hard clay, most of the nutrients can wash away before nature can move the organic matter into the soil. So while I personally am going the slow method, the notion that someone might want to jumpstart their process by tilling organic matter into the soil shouldn't be frowned upon. 3-4 hours of tilling to get healthy, food-sustaining soil in a year's time? Seems to me that carbon burp of running the tiller gets offset pretty quickly by growing more produce quicker than it would have taken the slow route.

[Thtmomfrommars]

You and Jacques have been carrying me through winter 😭 I'm so ready for spring

[ethanknokke]

Amy balcony or big city house owner, just get quails, 2 quails is the equivalent of 1 chicken. They require far less space, they lay way more eggs, they make 0 noise. Their eggs are healthier anyways and a thousand fold cheaper to keep and take care off

[bethb]

Growing wherever you happen to be makes me think of that saying, "bloom where you're planted", and make the best of what you have idea. Your place is amazing after 3 years! My yard is so much smaller, but I'm pleased with some of the progress I'm making, and inspired to do more now! Thanks!

[AlanaLee-xvqy]

I like the urban/suburban slant of this. We have a suburban "homestead" (23 raised beds, two trees, 3 bay compost, and massive amounts of canning and fermenting) in San Jose, so it is nice to see what others can do with their smaller land spaces. Keep up the great work.

[Peachy]

I live on a half acre in a neighborhood. First thing I did was put up a cute picket fence. Then I put a hedge of pretty lime light hydrangea in front of it. Then I turned my front yard into a raised vegtable garden beds with flowers mingled in. I put a green house in the back yard and a 12×12 chicken run and turned an old childs playhouse into a coop. I got 3 chickens and made one half of their run into a compost making area that the girls put yheir magic into. Luckily I live in the exburbs. All wooded area next to me and behind me. No HOA to worry about. It is all working out wonderful!

[FrozEnbyWolf]

I was speaking to my arborist earlier, and he said sometimes you want to go with the smaller, younger trees, instead of the older, more expensive ones. The reason is that, when it comes to older trees, some orchards will cut back the roots heavily to get them to fit into the pot. As you might expect, this causes a lot of damage, and the tree has to expend energy to regrow those roots. It's very likely that a younger tree that has not suffered any damage will grow up faster than an older tree that has been cut like this.

[mikemorton]

"There is water that comes from the sky..." I'm in the UK. It's late January now and it's rained almost every day since October. I'm thinking of building an ark.

[MarilynC.Cooley]

Building a sustainable suburban homestead over three years is a significant achievement that combines creativity, dedication, and a commitment to self-sufficiency.

[WinsomeWinslet]

I'm so glad you put a focus on HOAs and regulations! When we bought a home we wanted to do a few homesteading type things, we found out later that not only could we not keep chickens, we couldn't even have a shed unless it matched the house (custom shed!). So yes, pay attention to the rules of the HOA and the town regulations before you purchase any property.

[CodyCameron-kd]

i started watching you a few days ago when i finalyl got my garden going and i cant stop watching and learning

[juliehorney]

Would love more detailed workarounds for those of us living in an HOA. For example, we can do a couple of rabbits but not chickens or fowl. No solar panels but hope to do a generator or portable solar panels. Rain barrels are in process as long as the view is shielded by a bush from the street. Fruit guilds maximize growing fruit trees and bushes, sustainably/regeneratively. Thanks for this encouragement; everyone can do something!

[catiepower]

Rain capture has been a great investment in my space. Orchard is the plan for 2024. Expanding the garden again 2025.

[Seraph]

This is awesome, I would love to see you try another Apocalypse grow challenge now that the homestead is all established and stuff :D

[CropCircleChannel]

I’m always impressed by the high-quality production and attention to detail in your videos

[christophergetchell]

Awesome work for just three years! I'm lucky to have no HOA and lax zoning regulations, mostly limited by the amount of space I have here on about an acre of which I turned the back quarter of useless land into productive and relaxing permaculture gardens and a home office/studio at the center of it!

[jaketallorlin]

Great video guys. A lot of good info packed in there.
Bought my homestead in 2017. One regret I have is not planting fruit trees until this past year. I always thought I will get to planting an orchard eventually, but that obviously was a dumb decision. Should have been the first thing I did.

[lgmadkelt]

Just ordered. My wife and I bought our home last year and are really hoping to use your guide to help our homesteading adventures to be successful!

[Hopeless_Ideas]

i started watching you a few days ago when i finalyl got my garden going and i cant stop watching and learning