We have just about 5 acres (4.97 to be exact) and so it is important to maximize every bit of our property. In order to use every square inch, we have to be intentional about how we move animals, grow food, and even where we set space aside for us.
On the farm we have 2 cows and a calf, about 20 sheep, a growing (and sometimes shrinking) number of chickens, 4 turkeys, and 2 great danes! That is a lot of animals for 5 acres. The only way we can sustainably do this is to be very intentional with our use of the land.
Key Factors:
There are multiple things that go into using every square inch to get the most of a small property. These things apply whether you are on 5 acres like us, or have a postage stamp backyard in a city. It was our Cleveland backyard that prepared us for small-scale farming far better than we could’ve imagined.
- Animal Breed:
- Rotational Grazing:
- Space to Enjoy
- TREES:
- Creativity:
1: Animal Breed:
To maximize your space, you need to know what breeds of animals will be best suited for you. It may seem obvious, but I think this is the single most important thing to consider. For example: Our 2 cows and calf are small breed cattle. One is a dexter, the other cow and the calf are belfairs (dexter/jersey crosses).
Why these breeds? They are thrifty, small statured, and require very little inputs beyond grass to stay in good condition (HEALTHY!). We absolutely could not have 2-3 big beef or dairy breeds without a significant amount of feed brought in. If we did, we would have to dramatically cut the number of sheep. Sheep are a big priority for us, so that wouldn’t work. We also have focused on katahdin sheep, rather than larger bodied sheep for the same reasons. They are thrifty, more parasite resistant, and thrive on grass-based diets. Sheep are far better at getting every single bite of grass available to them than cows.
In our postage stamp backyard in Cleveland, we knew we wanted chickens, since we could have 6, we had 6. We also wanted some way to grow our own meat, even if it was just a little bit. So we got a small breeding group of rabbits. The chickens we got were rhode island reds and black australorps, known to be high egg producers, and good foragers. We didn’t have a ton of things for them to forage, but we wanted to maximize what those 6 chickens could do for us. Getting the most eggs out of the chickens we had.
Rabbits require so little space, that you can easily set them up on a patio with a little creativity. Same with quail! If we were to do it over again, I would solely have focused on quail and rabbits! With a small yard or patio, because of how scalable those two options are! If you think cows and sheep are not attainable (or even desirable), but you want to raise something to feed yourself, rabbits and quail are where to begin!
2: Rotational Grazing
It would be reasonable to put this as number 1, the two really are just the biggest animal related things to use every square inch of your property. If you set a perimeter fence up and just turn out all of your animals, you will dramatically cut your land’s “carrying capacity”. What does that mean? You will be able to have far less animals than if you were to move them into new places regularly. Moving animals like cattle, sheep, and even chickens, regularly is called rotational grazing. By doing this your land can rest when animals aren’t on it, allowing it to grow grass better and improve your soil. The healthier your soil, the better your grass; the better your grass, the more animals you can have.
We do rotational grazing with the sheep and cows slightly differently. The cows get a single strand of electric polywire and step-in post to move them every 2-3 days. The sheep are in electric netting from Premier1, and we move them daily. Both options are very easy to move, and help the animals have fresh grass every day. The ability to change their shape also allow us to use every square inch of the property.
How? Well there are places we can’t permanently fence for one reason or another. With these step-on post we can shape the fence to go around anything in the way and to fit exactly our needs. Meaning steep banks or around fruit trees are grazed rather than needing to be mowed (wasted). Concentrating animals in a smaller space one day at a time means they eat everything available there. That means the tasty grass and the less tasty (but more nutritious) weeds and forbs growing. Think: eating your brussel sprouts AND your ice cream. If you had the choice you’d choose ice cream all the time and brussel sprouts…well never. Ice cream may be tasty, but it certainly won’t make you healthy. Animals need a well balanced diet too! We’ll cover more about rotational grazing in another post!
3: Space to Enjoy
This one might be overlooked, but this one is important! It can be easy to be so focused on space for your animals and garden, that you forget space for your family. I’ve seen so many: “homestead in your backyard” layouts that completely forget this is your home. They definitely maximize productivity, but at the cost of space for you, your kids, and your guests. This is going to be unique to you.
For us, we need a backyard with a fence for our son to play and our dogs to go out without us. Does it cost us a few days of sheep grass? Well actually no, we move them back there when it needs mowed… but it could! But there’s a driveway to our barn. The barn and driveway both cost us grass for the animals. In turn we have a huge space to entertain guests, my son to ride his bike, and we get to milk inside instead of outside. The barn also provides vertical storage for hay and material. Is it perfect? No. Can we use those space in a way that still let’s us use every square inch? Absolutely. If you don’t have places set aside for your enjoyment, you won’t do this for long. Prioritize carving out a space for you.
4: TREES!
How do you double your productive acres? Plant trees. Silvopasture is the practice of utilizing trees and grazing. Plant your trees, research how much spacing will allow for sun to touch under all of the tree and also have rotating shade. We prioritized fruit trees, because when apples, pears, and mulberries fall, the animals get bonus forage by getting that with their grass. We also just made our productive acres essentially double, by having food growing on the ground and in the “empty air” above the ground. Trees also will help us eliminate the need for providing shade for our animals once they are tall enough. The best time to plant a tree was 5 years ago, the next best is today, the worst is “someday.” If you don’t have space for an apple tree or two, think about potted blueberry bushes for your patio!
5: Creativity
Your patio, yard, porch, acreage, etc will be different than mine and the guy on YouTube’s. Don’t let my way, or theirs limit what you think is possible. Most importantly, don’t let finances get in the way. You don’t need a fancy chicken coop before you get chickens. You can find free materials that will do just fine. Our first chicken coop was made out of free wooden shipping container from Facebook marketplace. The run was made out of an old snow fence and chicken wire I found at my grandpa’s. My only cost was a box of screws and a single piece of metal roofing.
Some incredible animal shelters have been built entirely out of free pallets. Somethings will cost money, but most will cost less than you’d think. Once you decide you want to get started, focus on making it happen, and not on how pretty it will be. Your chickens won’t care what the coop looks like, they just want to be dry and safe from raccoons.
If you want to use every square inch of your property, you’ll get to channel your childhood imagination. Finding ways to grow flowers in a ditch, move sheep around stop signs, ditching a lawn in place of a garden. Maybe it’ll even mean rasing quail on your apartment balcony alongside your tomatoes and blueberries? That is the mindset that will get the most out of every square inch of where you are now. Rather than waiting for “one day.”