My greatest inspiration in my own backyard farming adventure has been to
hear the experiences of others. I invite you to read along here as
Homesteaders share their adventures and experiences from their own
farms, backyards, and homes.
Want to be featured as a Homestead Highlight? I would love to hear about your experience. For more information follow the link to the information page and share your own homestead here at the Backyard Farming Connection!
Want to be featured as a Homestead Highlight? I would love to hear about your experience. For more information follow the link to the information page and share your own homestead here at the Backyard Farming Connection!
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Today I welcome Kari to this space.

How
long have you been backyard farming?
What got you started?
I have been backyard farming since
2009. At that time, my husband was
deployed as a Navy Reservist. While he
was away, I occupied my time by earning a Master Gardener certificate and started
my first garden at my home in Phoenix, AZ.
Rubbing shoulders with other gardeners, I naturally became acquainted
with people who also kept small livestock, and the idea of keeping chickens
intrigued me. When my husband returned
from his second deployment, we discussed the idea of having chickens of our
own, but it was an idea for the future.
That changed with a visit to the
feed store. My girls and I took one look
at the tiny chicks and we were hooked!
We initially brought home two of them, but went back for more in short
order. While they were in the brooder,
we renovated an old playhouse into a chicken coop, in which our 21 chickens
live today.
As time went by, we have added
several more gardens and Coturnix quail to the property. Turkeys were brief visitors, but their pen
now houses two tiny lambs. Soon we will
also have baby goats, as we wait ‘expectantly’ for our two Nigerian mini milk
goats to give birth.
Things have certainly changed around
our place in the last few years. My oldest
daughter recently commented that when she was young, I wouldn’t even let the
dog in the house. Now I have two tiny
sheep following me around my kitchen, and poultry chicks of various sorts are
common residents. I never would have
foreseen this lifestyle for us, but we are having the time of our lives!
What
does your backyard farm look like? Where
is it?
Our micro farm is located in Arizona
on an 11,000 square foot city lot. The
front of the house looks like any other Phoenix home with rock and cactus in
the yard. But the backyard is very
different. A covered patio runs the
length of the house. At the north end of
the patio lies a garden, the chicken coop, goat pen and a shed. The south end of the property has a second
veggie garden, an ornamental garden that we call the tiki garden. The quail
aviary stands behind the tiki garden. A
lawn grows in the center of the yard, a mixture of Bermuda and pasture grasses
for the animals. A dozen fruit frees dot
the property. It is a very beautiful and
relaxing oasis, though it takes a lot of hard work to keep it that way!
What
has been your biggest success and biggest mistake?
Our biggest mistake has been a lack
of planning and preparation in our excitement to add animals to our farm. As relatively new urban farmers, we were
having so much fun with our chickens that we had the bright idea to add five
turkeys to the mix. We had an 8’x8’x4’
pen that we thought would be perfect for housing them. I didn’t realize when they were babies just
how big they would get, and how quickly it would happen! The pen was too small, so we let them run on
our property during the day, and what a mess they made of my gardens! Before we
realized that the males were fighting and that we needed to separate them, we
lost our largest tom, which was very disappointing. When processing day came, I
was a little bit nervous because it was my first attempt at butchering, but all
of us relieved to send them to “Camp Deep Freeze.” This year, we will build a
proper pen and will probably limit ourselves to three turkeys.
We have had shining moments, as
well. Recently, we adopted a ewe lamb
name Eleanor from a friend who received her as a Christmas gift. Although we knew little about sheep, we
brought her home and began to do our research to figure out how old and what breed
she was, and how to care for her. Our
original intent was to find another farmer amongst our farmer friends to whom
we could give her. But she was so cuddly to hold and she began to follow me
around the house, everywhere I went. I
fell in love and knew she was going to be a permanent member of the farm.
Friends gave us goat milk to feed
her, since our goats were not in milk at the moment. For the first few days, she would not take a
bottle or eat anything we tried to give her. I was becoming very worried. On
New Year’s Eve, I found myself home alone, cuddling Eleanor and coaxing her to nurse
a bottle. Out of frustration, I filled a
bowl with bottle and began to dip her nose into it gently. Nature and thirst took over, and she began to
drink greedily, but awkwardly, sneezing as she sniffed liquid into her
nose. She quickly got the hang of it,
and is now thriving.
Interestingly, when we brought home
a younger ram lamb, she suddenly decided that she wanted to have a bottle. She now has to be penned while we feed him,
or she becomes a real nuisance, trying to get the bottle for herself. The two lambs are great friends, and we are
hopeful that they will be the Adam and Eve of our own little flock of sheep.
What
plans do you have for the future?
My husband and I have fallen so much in love with the urban farm lifestyle that we would love to make it our full time occupation. We envision having a larger property that can support more livestock, perhaps even some mini cattle, with which I am currently enamored. My dream is to have a few guests houses on the property for visitors and a classroom to teach urban farming skills (which I do already at a local all-edible plant nursery.) This dream is a few years away, as I would like to pay off our current property first so that we can rent it out as a “starter” urban farm to another family like us!

Thank you for spotlighting our farm!
ReplyDeleteKari - I'm so glad you shared! I, too, live in Phoenix and my husband and I are starting an Urban Homestead on our land. Great work! You're an inspiration!
DeleteKari,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a really neat place. I enjoyed your article. We live on a small space of land, an acre, and we are "bringing the farm to us". We've started with laying hens. We currently have seven and have a few more coming in the spring. And, we have five ducks on order to arrive in June. We are on a waiting list for Nigerian Dwarf goats but have been a little bit reluctant since we don't live on a "true farm". Since you are an urban farmer with goats, I thought I'd ask your input about having Nigerian Dwarf goats. Can you tell me what type and size housing you have for yours? And, do they have a place to graze or do you supplement them with grain and hay? We want to have goats in the near future but we want to be sure to supply them with a happy home that can meet their needs. Thanks in advance for your input. We have a FB page named Our Crazy Coop. Go check us out :-)
What a wonderful highlight! I really enjoyed reading about all your animals, Kari. I love all the photos of the chickens and goats. They are all so cute! Eleanor's story is so sweet - she sounds like a very special girl :)
ReplyDeleteThe photos ARE great, aren't they?
DeleteI love what you have there. A little piece of paradise right in the city. It doesn't get much better then that - unless of course you go to a bigger property as you said. I think that too is a wonderful plan that you have and hope that it all comes together for you. Really enjoyed reading your Spotlight.
ReplyDelete@ 3Beeze Homestead
It all looks beautiful! Congratulations on making a wonderful place for yourselves. Hope your expansion plans work out for you!
ReplyDelete