Preparing For This Year’s Planting

Just thought we’d share an update on our homesteading journey. So 2023 was our first year out on Canada’s east coast. Enjoyed a pretty good harvest out of our postage-stamp sized garden that year but, in 2024, we dug out the shovels and the tillers and doubled it’s size for last season’s planting. We also installed a number of ‘hugelkulture’ raised garden beds in 2024 as well.

Put in some asparagus last year but only one plant survived. We have more asparagus seedlings in the front window so, hopefully, we’ll enjoy some better success this year. We had some success with carrots and peas last year so we’re going to enlarge that vision for this year along with green & yellow beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash. So we have the compost and sheep manure spread throughout and we’re probably going to put a little more topsoil to cover it all and mix it all up. The birch logs are on top of a layer of cardboard to keep the weeds from encroaching on the garden. Sure hope that works!

Here’s a pic of the three raised gardens we started building in the spring of 2024. Each garden sits on a layer of cardboard to keep the weeds out. Then we put down a layer of logs and smaller branches on top of the logs to fill in the gaps. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a bail of hay so we spread that on top of the wood layer. The topsoil was then placed on top. These gardens produced unimaginably well last year so we’re looking for even bigger and better things this time around. Planting will start on June 1.

Penelope’s cucumber seedlings are coming along nicely…

Brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes, better boys and peppers this year too…

Two pepper plants we saved from last fall. We had them in the front window all winter long and we’re putting them out on the front stoop when it’s sunny and warm. Starting to flower already! The plant on the right is an apple tree grown from seed so that will be going in the ground after June 1 too.

Another view of the main garden with our garlic patch in front. The seeds went in last fall, the bed is covered with mulch and the garlic plants are already starting to come up nicely! Last fall we added two more patches elsewhere on the property!

We are installing solar later this month and the aim is to get ‘off the grid’. Last fall’s harvest was incredible so our pantry’s and freezers are full.

In short, this is a very rewarding and very satisfying lifestyle that more and more people are turning to. The economic pressure people face in today’s world are likely a major, though not the only, motivation to engage in the homesteading lifestyle. It’s very physical though but, for me, well, I’m in better shape than I have been in decades. We don’t use any artificial fertilizers or insecticides on our gardens so the produce is pure organic!

So if you’re thinking about buying a piece of land, I’d say give it some serious consideration. To me, it’s a decision I wish I had made years earlier!

Grant Edward Rayner
65 and Fabulous