Epic Homesteading: Your Guide to Self-Sufficiency on a Modern, High-Tech, Backyard Homestead

There is no once-size-fits-all garden. Consider the purpose of your garden. Are you trying to grow 100 percent of the food for your family, or are you trying to get a nice flower garden or a nice kitchen garden for your homestead?

Compost is as simple as it is valuable. You’re left with compost when organic matter is decomposed by organisms and microorganisms. This same action occurs in the soil, as you incorporate organic materials and leave plant roots in place after a crop is finished. The material breakdown happens faster in a compost pile because you can create the ideal conditions for decomposition.

Harvesting and conserving water resources are becoming more important as rainfall becomes more uncertain. One year you may have it, and the next you won't. I put in place a number of water-wise systems and practices at the Epic Homestead, and there's even more that can be done on homesteads large and small.