![]() ![]() As well, creating a whole farm is a process, a road map to follow and many of the whole farms I have visited over time have been working for years on their farm design and implementation. What doesn’t take place here on these pages is the importance of the individuality of every farm - how each farm has its own nuances, challenges, successes and deep complexities which all work together (or not) to create a functioning whole farm organism. In this manual, we try to take you through all the most important components of a whole farm - we undoubtedly miss something, but we hope to give you a strong overview of all the strategies and components that go into designing a whole farm system. The whole farm is supporting the landscape, communities and farm families in healthy, intelligent and sustainable ways that integrate the strong connections between farming and nature. Whole diversified farms are places where bluebirds nest, where diversified markets support the farm and family, where the community is connected to the farm’s life and longevity. How whole, diversified farming takes into consideration a farming pattern that is based on diversity - biological, economical and social. How it is a departure from the industrial agriculture that dominates many places in the US. What Lifeline Produce represents and what this manual attempts to relate is the extraordinary nature and complexity of the whole farm system. ![]() It was through their own passion and dedication to diverse farming systems that captured me. What struck me the most was the diversity of their farm, their intuition as farmers working with the land and their profound deepness and connection with their place. I saw happy grazing animals, rows of flowers in bloom and diverse pockets of vegetables, and healthy stands of grass and cover crops. He talked about enhancing the soil with cover crops and sound crop rotation. Steve talked about their goals of trying to grow all the feed for their animals on the farm and creating a closed loop farm where very little inputs came from somewhere else. ![]() I remember walking their farm on that hot August morning and listening to Steve talk about the cycles of the farm, the interconnectedness of all things that grow and live on the farm and their efforts at creating and enhancing a biologically diverse and complex farm. Located in Victor at the base of the Bitterroot Mountains, a stunning backdrop for this organic farm, Lifeline Produce (run by Steve Elliot and Luci Brieger) is an extraordinary example of a highly diversified farm – nine acres of vegetables, herbs and flowers 29 acres in pasture 8 acres in hay with greenhouses hoophouses chicken ewes and cattle. I still remember the smell of the hot dirt near the barn and the sheep grazing on green pasture and the farmer with suspenders leading us through the various fields and structures of the farm. Looking for more garden plans? See our free layouts for other types of gardens.What struck me the most was the diversity of their farm, their intuition as farmers working with the land and their profound deepness and connection with their place. “This is a my “chef’s garden” with lots of different veggies and fruit that we like to eat.” See our free “How to Garden” series of guides to learn more about soil preparation, which crops to plant, watering the garden, and more.īelow are three sample homesteading garden plans created by Almanac readers with the Almanac Garden Planner! Note that you can link to each garden’s full plant list and details. Learn more about the principals of homesteading (wherever you live from rural farm to urban apartment!). To take this further: By having a dedicated area or greenhouse for raising seedlings, follow-on crops can be readied to plant into areas after the first crop has been harvested, making an area doubly productive. In addition, many vegetables grown in a homestead garden are high-yield crops that can be stored (examples, beets, onions, carrots, potatoes). While raised beds are increasingly common, most crops in a homestead garden are grown in traditional in-ground rows. ![]()
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