If you’ve spent time on my website or followed my on social channels, you’ll know that I am big on systems. This is true in every aspect of my life, but is especially true when I am working on the outdoor space in our garden or other parts of our homestead.
Thinking intentionally about the systems in place on my homestead and how these systems interact is not only a fun exercise but is important for efficiency and overall production. Of course you can stumble across useful systems by accident, but by thinking about your homesteading systems in advance, you will save yourself time, frusteration and money.
I like to use the idea of homesteading systems relatively broadly in my gardens and homestead. A system is a connection between different components - how these components interact can benefit the system of not. This of the watering system in your garden. The system may involve several components - an irrigation system, mulch, hand watering, plant placement.
Many systems have one purpose, but the key to great systems in a garden or homestead is that the system serves multiple purposes. In the example of the watering system above, the mulch helps to reduce evaporation, which also reduced weed pressure, which in turn decreased evaporation!
Another thing to consider is the inputs and outputs of the system. On my homestead, one of my goals is to reduce the inputs and outputs from the entire homesteading system. If I make my own compost, I am using the outputs of my garden and kitchen and putting them back into the system as compost.
The final consideration in the garden and homesteading systems, is whether there is feedback in the system. The best systems create a feedback loop. One of my goals is to create positive feedback sitations that require as little human input at possible. One example mentioned above is mulching. By applying mulch to a garden early in the season, I am reducing weeds, which encouraged my plants to grow due to less competition. These plants grow and shade the ground, further reducing weed pressure.
You can even take this one step further and consider how the different systems all tie together.
You can read more about homesteading systems on the Backyard Farming Connection Website.
5 Systems to Consider on Your Homestead and Garden
Once you start thinking about systems, there are almost an endless set of components that can be strategically linked together. Below are 5 examples to get your thinking:
1. Your Homestead as a System
It’s probably best to start big. How does your homestead operate as a system. Start by considering the different components on your homestead. How are these components related and are there ways some of these components can help impact other components.
An example I like to think about is with our chickens. My chicken coop is purposefully built near my garden. One system that is easy in place is that when I clean out my coop, the bedding and waste is put into a compost pile near the garden and is eventually used in the garden. After thinking through this system I recognized that there are other ways I can connect my chickens and garden.
By creating moveable chicken tunnels, I am able to direct my chickens into the garden directly, where the dig up weeds, poop, and eat bugs. I then plant into this garden space, and extra weeds and food from the garden is given back to the chickens. This system is improving my garden soil, decreasing weeds, providing healthy food, producing better eggs, and reducing issues amongst my chickens.
Starting with how you entire homestead works as a system allows you to see some of these interactions.
2. Water in your Garden
A water management system is an important element to the sustainable functioning of any homestead, encompassing a range of components and considerations. The first step in the system is to start with planning. You can decrease the need for irrigation by planting things in the right spot, creating berms and choosing plants that grow in your climate.
You want to think about how you are capturing rainwater in your system. The ground should be your first storage, and then you can also consider collecting water in rainbarrels, ponds or cisterns.
Other components on the water system is water retention. This can include mulching, creating healthy soil and weed suppression (you can really see how all these different systems work together).
Finally, you can consider how to apply water to your garden. By planting properly, you’ve already reduced the need for water, so you will need to water less. Will you hand water? overhead water? use drip irrigation? How do these components of the system tie in with other systems (like the time management system). Hand watering may allow you to water more selectively, but is this really a good use of your time on your homestead.
See more abour managing rainwater on your homestead.
