Spring Plans for Our Second Spring

Where Do We Begin? Building A Homestead From Scratch

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April - Welcoming Chickens, Collecting Eggs & Making Pancakes

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The Gift of the Garden Tractor

On this year’s spring equinox warmer weather came to our Danish homestead.

It had come from the meadow under the beech trees, it had jumped over the brook and run up the hill to our home. A warm and gentle wind it was, that met us, that stood on the doorstep in front of our farmhouse, waiting for guests to arrive.

The cold winter was loosening its grip on us, and the sun shone on the dry grass and dead raspberry bushes, remnants of the previous season.

The winds of change were blowing. Spring was here.

Up the road came my fathers truck, and on its back: An almost new garden tractor.

It was a gift from my grandmother who has sold her old farm this winter, and moved into a small and quaint place in the village, I grew up in. There, she would have no use for a garden tractor, and she kindly gifted it to us.

The Potential of 2 Acres of Un-Kept Farmland

When we moved in here almost two years ago, the 2 acres were completely overgrown. So last autumn we had everything cut firmly down, and the land, with the exception of the bigger oak and pine trees, was essentially ploughed up and left bare.

This spring, our second one, the grass was once again tall, and the lupins and broom were already returning.

The gift of the garden tractor could not have come at a better time than now.

So while I watched the baby sleeping away in the pram, and our daughter played with her grandparents in the cottage garden, Herluf started the work of cutting down the grass of our almost 2 acres.

The sun was going down into the woods, when he was finally finished. The sky was pink and baby blue, and our land, our land was green with promise.

With the grass cut down we could finally see what had laid hidden under the snow of winter: the potential.

Once again we found ourselves talking, planning and daring to dream of how we could lay out this land in order to sustain ourselves, our children and perhaps also some of our extended family members as well.

Dreams of livestock grazing down the grass. Planning fields of potatoes, and roots, and brassicas and beans.

When the sun had finally sunken down into the cradle of the wood, and the children had been put to sleep, I said to Herluf:

“We have all these big dreams and plans, of fields with vegetables, of animals, all working together. Spring is now, so let’s get started.”

“But where to begin?” He asked.

Spring Plans for Our Homestead

For context, we have a little under 2 acres of land, that are south-faced. Right now it is laid with grass, raspeberry bushes that have crept in from the wood, and some older trees. The only building, aside from the farmhouse, is an open woodshed that we built last year to keep our firewood for winter dry.

This is how we have chosen to begin the work of building a 2 acres homestead from scratch:

1. Hens & Fruit Orchard

In the winter we established a fruit orchard. We bought and buried 9 fruit trees of different sorts and we fenced everything in order to keep deer from pre-pruning the young trees.

Fruit trees take a long time to yield, but when they do they are very little work, and very giving, so they were at the top of our list.

An then, earlier this March we welcomed 4 egg-laying hens that we were kindly gifted by someone, who - like my own grandmother - was moving away from the countrylife and closer to the city.

We welcomed them with open arms, and they have consistently been providing us with 4 eggs each and every day.

For animals, I was keen to begin with hens, most of all because we have kept hens before, and it is a job I am well familiarized in.

Our hens we keep in the same enclosure as the young fruit trees. The hens will keep the young fruit trees free from bugs, while also fertilising the soil and keeping grass at bay, hopefully allowing the young fruit trees to grow high and put down strong roots.

2. A Vegetable Garden

Last year we only had a small greenhouse, a few planters, and a random plot with potatoes, but this year we are excited to establish a proper vegetable garden.

Like the fruit orchard, the vegetable plot needs to be fenced in because of deers that will otherwise eat the top of everything we plant. By sharing one side of fence with the fruit orchard where the chickens roam, we are saving a bit on materials.

The vegetable garden - I’m sure - will take years to be properly up and running. But for this first year it will be 4 squares of rotated soil and compost, and it will host everything from potatoes to strawberries to pumpkins.

Basically all the old seeds, we have laying around, that will still sprout, and whatever we can pick out from vegetables in the fridge (like tomatoes, bell pebbers, and cucumbers), and hopefully also some random starters we can exchange with family and friends.

What we will not be doing is spending a lot of money on expensive seeds from exciting new sorts of vegetables and fruits. We are still very much in the beginning of our garden journey, and are bound to make a lot of mistakes, and seeds can be very expensive, especially if you - like us - is just a beginner.

This year’s vegetable plot will be more of a playground than a full sustainable garden, but we cannot wait to play, experiment, learn and get our hands - inevitably - very dirty.

3. Pigs

The big experiment (and somewhat of a surprise for us) is that we are working towards welcoming two piglets this spring.

In my mind, pigs have always been the way we would start the fields of our homestead: By having them plough up a piece of land (ca. 500 square meters) one year, so that we may plant potatoes there the next.

Hopefully then, the pigs would turn up another small piece of land, and the rotation of the fields would have begun.

But we never had pigs, and have no experiment with the animals ourselves. Therefore it is a daunting task, and not one we take lightly.

We have been researching a lot and listening to family members’ advice when picking fence, planning a hut and choosing the animals.

In my opinion, spring is a great time to start new ventures. There will be plenty of time for disappointments and change of plans later in the season.

However, we are also cautious not to begin too many things at once. We always want to make sure, that we are capable of taking care of every garden we establish and animal we keep.

A fruit orchard (especially with hens) needs very little attending, and with hens and a vegetable plot is work we have tried before and know suits us well. The only real experiment for us this year is the pigs, and that is quite enough!

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