Self-sufficiency in terms of food is a real luxury that everyone cannot afford. It requires real effort and dedication. Many people think that it requires a lot of commercial land, with machinery and all support resources to operate and deliver. But it is not the case.
Self-sufficiency is possible to achieve as you can get it from only ¼ acres of your backyard. You just need to be steady and planned. Aligning your efforts to planned gardening will make you free from worrying about food supply and storage.
How Much Food Can You Grow On A ¼ Acre?
Self-sufficiency can be achieved from a land mass of ¼ acres. You just need to be planned. We are not talking about vegetables and fruits only. But also, you would be able to get all the essential nutrients that are required by the human body.
The layout of the ¼-acre backyard will be such an amazing setting that it will produce vegetables, fruits, meat, and other essential items as well.
Building an Eco-System in ¼ Acre Garden Layout
You can grow enough food for yourself and your family in a limited space of ¼ acre of the backyard. You just need to build an ecosystem, in a way that all the trees and other grown plants are aligned.
They can act as a companion plants to each other, and also be beneficial for livestock like hens and bees in the garden.
There are 10890 square feet in a 1/4 acre, this is a lot of space if you have a layout in your mind. Let me give you an idea here
- Fruit trees: ( Reserve 3500 square feet for the fruit trees) You can add three to four different fruit trees in this much space
- Chickens for meat: (1000 square feet) Chickens are the most consumed meat source. You can raise 50 – 100 chickens easily.
- Other Livestock: ( 1000 sq feet ) A pair of goats can easily be kept in this space
- Vegetable garden: ( 3500 sq feet ) You can grow a lot of vegetables in this space. Corn, Beans, Squash Potatoes / Tomatoes Carrots, Beets, Turnips, Garlic, etc.
- Honeybees (2.5 square feet for one hive) You can keep 100 hives in only 250 square feet of space)
You are still left with a lot of living space, a reasonable storage space can also be managed in this area.
Benefits of Building an Ecosystem in ¼ Acre Garden Layout
Growing different types of trees and plants makes the soil resilient and hard. It survives well in harsh conditions and develops resistance to many diseases and pests.
Also, growing different plants makes the area diverse and good-looking. It has been evident that growing different plants not only fulfilled the requirements of the cultivator but also some nutrition requirements of the soil as well.
What to grow in ¼ Acre backyard?
As you are going for self-sufficiency, you will plant a lot of plants and trees. Include hens and bees which are essential for life as well. So following are some of the settings which you can execute. This will make your backyard/ area self-sufficient in terms of food.
Planting Trees in ¼ Acre Garden Layout
These are the only permanent plants that will be there in the self-sufficient homestead. Also, be clear that these trees will take time to get developed and bear fruit. So, make sure you select carefully and work patiently to get fruit from them.
Choosing Trees
Choose the orchard trees carefully. Try to select the trees which are native and bear good fruit. You can consult from horticulturist or you can go to a nearby plant nursery. You can choose fruit trees from there as well.
Placement of Trees
After you have selected the trees, make sure to select the places randomly. Because if you don’t make a proper line it will not be so beneficial for other plants. The lines will act as walls and might create hindrances for the other plants when they require sunlight or air.
Place the trees in such a way, that their shadow or their placement does not create any harm to other plants, trees, and vegetables to be grown.
You can plant around 30 fruit trees on ¼ acres of land. Now as the trees are planted, there are other ¼-acre backyard ideas you can explore to plant more diversity in it.
Planting Cereal Gardens Hand in Hand:
As of now as the fruit plants are clear, now we need to grow cereals. Cereals are important. These are rich sources of fiber and other nutrition. In this land mass, we are going to plant cereals based on companion plants.
In this way, these will not only help in getting enough cereals but also they will help each other to grow and sustain as well.
Preparing the Soil
First of all, you need to till the land and make the rows. These rows can be so long that water can easily reach them and fill them. Once you have tilled the soil well and made the rows, you can use the traditional technique of planting the seeds.
You need to select the cereals which can go well with one another. This will not only result in good yield, but as the companion plant, these cereals will support each other in the growth session. Overall, there will be a good yield. You can keep the fruit trees in mind as well when deciding the companion cereals.
Selection of Crops
You can try different combinations. Like wheat, sorghum, and sunflower. Or, try corn, squash, and beans as well. These cereals produce a good amount of yield.
Also, you can get the contact of nearby horticulturists. They will suggest you a good combination of companion cereals that will be able to fulfill the needs of the family, in terms of cereals as well as oils.
Keep Reading
- 20 Best Vegetables To Grow In Buckets
- 20 Vegetables That Grow In Winter
- 28 Best Vegetables To Grow In Raised Beds
Planting the Storage Food:
As of now, we have covered the fruits and cereals. Now we are moving towards the plants and the food which can be stored as well. These include potatoes, which are one of the main ingredients of many dishes. Also, other vegetables like carrots and turnips can be grown and stored as well.
Here you also have to follow the same procedure. Till the soil well in advance. Make the rows of soil, so that you can cultivate the storage food easily. These types of storage food require good soil to grow well. So keep this thing in mind.
Caution:
Before planting the cereals and storing food in the rows, keep one thing in mind, you still have to manage the meat, and honey production. Keep the rows wide.
So that you can adjust the moving sheds of hens, and bee hive boxes among the rows. These rows should be able to handle the movement of moving sheds and bee hive boxes. Usually, these rows are 6 feet wide.
Raising Hens for Meat Requirements:
On the vegetarian side, we have almost covered different aspects. But still, on the meat side, we are lacking the resources. Backyard self-sufficiency ideas have not ended here. We have left the space of 6 feet among the rows of cereals and the storage of food like potatoes etc.
You need to get the small moving shed which can contain some of the hens. Make sure these sheds are easily movable. Otherwise, you will have to put extra effort to move the shed or you have to allocate proper space for these sheds.
Allocating a space is not a good idea. Because moving sheds will keep the nutrients of the soil balanced. The organic waste of hens will keep the soil fertile. On the other hand, if it is occupying space in the land, you will have less land left to cultivate to become self-sufficient.
Adding chickens will not only fulfill the need for meat but also the land needs the nutrients which are only present in the waste of hens. Also, there is no tension in the feed required by the chickens to grow. They can get their feed from the garden settings as well.
Adding Bee Hives to Backyard Garden Layout:
In the meantime, you have come across the stage where you have almost fulfilled many requirements which usually a family or a person has from the garden. But as the people experienced, and the space between the rows is there, the bee hive boxes can be added to the garden.
By adding the bee hive boxes, you will get multiple benefits. You will be able to get honey. This product is mostly used in breakfast. And it is quite expensive. In your homestead, it will be easy for the bees to keep up with the hives, as there will be a lot of pants.
Pollination Benefits
Gardening depends upon pollination. Honey Bees are the best pollinators. You will be able to get maximum fruits from trees, and maximum yield from the plants due to successful pollination.
In a nutshell, you have grown sufficient food in just the ¼ acre of the area. You are now free to enjoy breakfast, as well as fruits, vegetables, and chicken as well.
If still space is left, plant different vegetables like tomatoes, cauliflower, etc. These have a short period to grow and can be repeated under controlled circumstances with a consultation. You can add different plants like bitter gourd etc. which requires less space and yield more.
Read More:
Is It Possible To Grow All Your Food On 1/4 Acres?
For the first year, don’t go for 100% dependency on this land. Keep the target of 75% for the first year and then move to be 100% self-sufficient.
Yes, as we have shown it is easy and manageable to grow and become a self-sufficient gardener in terms of food. And this all can be achieved in just ¼ acres of garden layout, IF YOU ARE JUST ONE PERSON. But if you have a family of 3 to 4, you might wanted to buy some more land like 1.5 to 2 acres.
The primary factor that decides how much land is necessary is the number of people living in the family unit at any given time. This should not come as a surprise given that a loaf of bread may last one person a week, but it is possible for four people to consume the entire loaf in a single day.
Whether it is your backyard or you have proper land, this can be achieved easily. You just need to be committed.