I’m very excited to be sharing this video with you today! In it, I take a tour of my students, Jamie and Niall’s, small suburban backyard. Jamie and Niall took my Resilient Homestead Program three years ago and have done an amazing job with their implementation plan, while also fitting in the birth of their son!
I love this tour because it’s such a great example of how to pack water capture, soil building, and perennial and annual gardens into a small space. It gives me hope on how we could easily and fairly inexpensively redesign the suburbs with found materials. Whether it’s free 55 gallon barrels, free pallets or free mulch, the only significant investment that Jamie and Niall made was for the stones surrounding their pond. And, of course, the returns have been many – food, community, pollinator habitat, and an engaging space for their young son.
Here are some highlights from the tour:
2:05 – A view of Jamie and Niall’s backyard before they took out the grass and how the Resilient Homestead Program saved them time, energy and money.
3:00 – Tour of their beautiful pond and how it’s fed by rainwater.
4:34 – Tour of their small food forest and garden.
7:58 – A look at their connected 300-gallon rainwater capture system.
9:30 – How and why their garden has attracted birds and other pollinators.
10:40 – A look at their compost bins made from free pallets.
12:57 – Why Jamie and Niall’s young son loves the backyard.
Near the end, they also share that the Resilient Homestead Program is not just a class, it’s a community. I could not have wished for a better outcome from someone taking the program. Ultimately, that is my goal with so much of the work that I do. Creating community around growing food. So click on the video above to get the tour!
Enrollment for my Resilient Homestead Program is NOW OPEN. If you’re interested, I’d love it if you joined me this fall/winter.