With spring just around the corner we are getting things ready for our garden here at the Yardstead.  Currently the garden is bare with the exception of a strip of onions sticking up in the middle.  We will be adding compost in a few days and our plan is to till it in well and then cover the entire garden with a heavy layer of mulch.  The compost bin shown here on the left is pretty full, but not nearly enough to cover our entire garden.  Luckily a neighbor of the Yardstead works for a local Ag Center and maintains a huge pile of old shavings once used to bed stalls for horses or cattle.  They turn the pile regularly with a front end loader.  Althought the shaving are resistant to rot they do slowly break down.  There is a great deal of manure and other organic matter mixed in and the shaving help make it more coarse and airy.  Last time (about 5 years ago) I added this compost to the garden it took 4 loads to cover it sufficiently.  I plan to add the same amount this time. 
The compost in the bin will be...

We have have had a few warm days down here and it has started me thinking about our spring garden.  At the moment the garden here at the yardstead is just a big dirt rectangle with a green strip of onions sticking up in the middle.  It's been so cold since I last tilled it (for planting the onions) that very few weeds have grown.  I plan on doing very little tilling (or weeding) in the garden this year, so I have to get a plan finalized in the next few days to combat weeds.  The main component of the weed control plan this year ....

Welcome to The Yardstead. Our goal here is to provide you with information about small scale homesteading.  Sometimes the term 'urban homesteading' is used to describe small scale homesteading but I prefer the term yardsteading.  Although there are many urban homesteaders in true urban areas, there are also many people in suburbs and rural areas who are interested in the homesteading lifestyle.  Wikipedia defines 'homesteading' as follows: "Currently the term homesteading applies to anyone who is a part of the back-to-the-land movement and who chooses to live a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.  While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading remains a way of life in some parts of the U.S.  A new movement, called Urban homesteading can be viewed as a simple living lifestyle, incorporating small-scale agriculture, sustainable agriculture, permaculture gardening, and home food production and storage into suburban or city living." 'Simple living' and 'back to the land' movements are sweeping across the world as people begin to realize