How much is enough?

I read today about a young person seeking a small piece of cheap land to build a "farm" on - a 26 year old and they were asking others what the best way to go about this was.  One reply was "How small do you want to talk about?  I have 1/2 acre in a subdivision - a miraculous event for me - it will never be a full fledged farm but it is a foothold where I can make real changes in how I impact the world"!

I love that line - "A foothold where I can make real changes in how I impact the world!"  If each and every one of us looked for that "foothold where we can make real changes" and developed it in the DIY style that all Farmers/Alaskans/Permies are known for, the world would certainly be a different place.

It got me thinking - as a lot of things do now days - how much is enough?

In terms of farming and gardening I think - to each his own - it depends on what you are growing.  Peonies take a little more space than lettuce, and apples a little more than peonies.  If you are growing in vertical spaces, and mostly veg (not fruit trees) 1/2 acre might be enough to grow "enough" in.  It also depends on the size of your family and how much growing they have to do still.  I think my son is still has some growing to do even at his size!  If I could grow peanuts here Id be in great shape - but again - could I grow "enough"?

This is the "orchard" area for lack of a better description - fruit trees, raised garden beds, berries and a few flowers thrown in for good measure!  Remember last year when we were a "one apple farm"?  Well this year we should be at least a "two apple farm"!  

Above is the "Williams Pride" apple tree covered in blooms!  Ill have to cull some of them off if they all pollinate.  I also have a "Duchess" apple that has three or four blooms on it.  The "Westland" which is the one that produced the apple last year did not bloom this year but is still alive and looks good!  Even the one that Brix the dog ate looks good! And my Cheery Cherries have bloomed as well - more about that later!

Wicked Raven Farm is 4.5 acres, but some of that is lawn (put here before we came) and some is what we have left go to "meadow" so that the moose and other animals might stay in that area - at least until I have a better fencing option.

Here is the "meadow" area - it ends up being about an acre.  

This side towards the lake is mostly lawn with some herb bed and fruit trees in it.  This side does well for growing things but we dont have a way to fence off the lake to keep the moose out and still be able to use it effectively - so we grow most of our stuff in the upper yard!

These two show the lawn and how patchy it is away from the lakeside.  We have tried to amend the soil, used char, and now we are leaving the grass clippings from other parts of the yard on the bare patches hoping that it will fill in.  We are using only organic practices because we live on the lake and anything we put on the yard will end up in the lake.

As I have said before, our soil is mostly clay with sand in it so we have to compost or bring in most of the soil and either dig out or seriously amend the soil here.  It doesn't really even lend itself to lawn growth right now on the side away from the lake.

We have carrots, radishes, kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and peas in the raised beds with some horseradish thrown in for good measure.  I had old lettuce seed and none of it came up - it may have been just still too cold a spring even in the raised beds, when I planted it. 

So, is this "enough"?  Probably not with the way this spring has been so cold and rainy.  I also have not seen nearly "enough" bees this year!  I have done pollinating of the apples with a paintbrush to make sure that I get at least a few. 

I have herbs in containers all around the house, greenhouse and anywhere a container needs to go!  Also on the wall of the little brown shed, in little terra cotta pots that I can bring in each fall so we have herbs all winter!  Its a great way to add some freshness to your cooking even in the winter and doesnt take up a lot of space.  It can be "enough"!

You may recognize this photo from an earlier blog - an upcycle one telling how I made those pot holders!  (See that here)


The greenhouse has been doing wonderfully though!  We will have lots of tomatoes (thanks to my Auntie - more on her later) and a few cukes.  But as far as Im concerned there are never "enough" tomatoes!

What would define "enough" for you.  How much space will that take?  Can you do with what you have?  Where can you put a container even to gain your "foothold where you can make real changes that impact the world"?  Even if your start is slow and your world seems small, impact on your world makes impact on the bigger world like water rings in the lake when a small pebble is thrown in - those impact the other side of the lake.  It can be enough.  I wish you all enough.