Hello all, greetings travelers, welcome back, whichever seems appropriate to you. In essence, Salutations.
I'm Ryan and I'm the other half of the reasonably unsane duo making up the undertaking you're currently reading about.
Gretchen's the other half. She's providing the broad, sweeping overview. Every two weeks she's going to update everyone on the really important/interesting things we're doing.
I'm going to be providing the filler on both ends of this blog. I'm going to keep you up to date on the tiny little details, as well as the broad sweeping philosophical questions. About what? About the little patch of land we call home, the Suburban Farm.
First, we might be better off calling it the Suburban Homestead because we're not at all interested in making it pay (as in cash money). We're not looking to make the land here produce more then we can either use or easily give away to friends and family.
Second, the physical plant. We're on about a half acre that backs up to a utility easement. That makes us a bit further from the neighbors then most people, but doesn't buy us much past the half acre. The half acre is divided between house, lawn, dirt, Garden and woodland. We're taming the woodland, covering the dirt, expanding the garden and reducing the lawn. The house itself is about 1600 square feet built in the mid 90's. It's fairly unremarkable except that it's ours and we like it. Perhaps one day I'll get into it with you, but for now, except to say that we're embarking on a wood heat experiment, the outside is much more interesting then the inside.
Third, the parameters. We're staying within zoning laws, building codes and nuisance ordinances. We're making sure the house looks fairly nice (if sometimes a bit odd) from the street. We're trying to spend as little money as possible (not always succeeding, but trying). We're learning. We're experimenting. We're going into the third year here and we're just getting started. Basically, we're trying to see how close to a goal of self-sufficiency we can get while taking the land, the house and the neighborhood as givens.
So there you have it. You're reading about 2 people, living in suburbia, dreaming about their homestead out in the country, but rather then just dream they're trying to make at least a small portion of their dream a reality without having to find that perfect homestead.
I'm Ryan and I'm the other half of the reasonably unsane duo making up the undertaking you're currently reading about.
Gretchen's the other half. She's providing the broad, sweeping overview. Every two weeks she's going to update everyone on the really important/interesting things we're doing.
I'm going to be providing the filler on both ends of this blog. I'm going to keep you up to date on the tiny little details, as well as the broad sweeping philosophical questions. About what? About the little patch of land we call home, the Suburban Farm.
First, we might be better off calling it the Suburban Homestead because we're not at all interested in making it pay (as in cash money). We're not looking to make the land here produce more then we can either use or easily give away to friends and family.
Second, the physical plant. We're on about a half acre that backs up to a utility easement. That makes us a bit further from the neighbors then most people, but doesn't buy us much past the half acre. The half acre is divided between house, lawn, dirt, Garden and woodland. We're taming the woodland, covering the dirt, expanding the garden and reducing the lawn. The house itself is about 1600 square feet built in the mid 90's. It's fairly unremarkable except that it's ours and we like it. Perhaps one day I'll get into it with you, but for now, except to say that we're embarking on a wood heat experiment, the outside is much more interesting then the inside.
Third, the parameters. We're staying within zoning laws, building codes and nuisance ordinances. We're making sure the house looks fairly nice (if sometimes a bit odd) from the street. We're trying to spend as little money as possible (not always succeeding, but trying). We're learning. We're experimenting. We're going into the third year here and we're just getting started. Basically, we're trying to see how close to a goal of self-sufficiency we can get while taking the land, the house and the neighborhood as givens.
So there you have it. You're reading about 2 people, living in suburbia, dreaming about their homestead out in the country, but rather then just dream they're trying to make at least a small portion of their dream a reality without having to find that perfect homestead.