Self reliance on our homestead

I've been encouraged by folks that we meet at festivals and events to share some self reliance tips we use on our small homestead. We don't like debt and believe in paying cash for our improvements so the money we make at festivals has been going back into our property.

This year we invested in our self sustaining gardens. We opted for a hydroponic system because once you set up the system your only cost after year one is seeds and nutrients. And if you save seeds, your only cost is nutrients. We have a well so our water is free.

Luckily this year my husband built a hydroponic garden that extended from our front porch which grew some amazing plants. My lettuce was so tall it literally fell out of the garden! And boy was it delicious. The summer spinach was so profuse I couldn't keep up with it.

Our garden consisted of Three tomato plants that grew non stop, cayenne peppers, jalapeño peppers, a beautiful fish pepper plant, eggplant, thyme, basil, oregano, lettuce, spinach, and okra.

We will post instructions on how to build your own hydroponic garden soon so stayed posted !