The Modern Homesteading Podcast
Society & Culture:Personal Journals
Getting the most from your garden depends on a lot of things including the right climate conditions for each specific plant. On today’s podcast episode I discuss how to locate or create microclimates for your garden and how best to use those microclimates.
Homestead Updates:
Why I haven’t been podcasting and responding to social media and emails much lately.
Planting fall crops
This year’s tomato crop
Homesteading Relevant News:
What, Exactly, Is Permaculture?
Permaculture: Can a system of sustainable farming catch on locally?
Hangin’ Out on the Homestead Front Porch
A new segment where I share a few things from the Homestead Front Porch Facebook group including a question I ask group members and some of their answers.
Q & A from the group:
What is something you know about homesteading now that you wish you had known when you started?
Main Topic Of Discussion:
Creating and Utilizing Microclimates
What is a microclimate?
Simply put it is the climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area. Microclimates can allow the growing of plants in an area that normally would not grow in the hardiness zone or the season of the area.
Microclimates are created and vary due to soil, water, weather, sun, and warmth. Variances in these areas can be caused by many reasons including garden direction, exposure to wind, slopes, and berms, structures and overhangs, the topography of the land, and soil drainage along with many other factors.
Locating microclimates on your property.
University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources has a great Garden Site Microclimate Evaluation Form that can be downloaded or printed off to help locate microclimates on your homestead.
Creating microclimates.
To create a microclimate you simply need to mimic what causes microclimates naturally. This can be done by adding things like trees, boulders, ponds, and berms. I discuss some of the ways I have done this on my homestead on the podcast.
Utilizing microclimates.
Identify what plants you want to grow and what those plants like then find or create the microclimate that best fits that plant. As an example of what gardening this way can do, creating microclimates has enabled me to grow leaf lettuce throughout the summer without it bolting too quickly.
Today’s Recommendations:
Starfrit Salad Spinner, 5-quart capacity
Book- The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach
Caring For Animals In Hot Weather
How To Feed Your Garden: Compost, Compost Tea, Weed Tea and More
Homesteading and Technology
Homesteading, Yurt Living, and Staying Fit With Guests Mike and Lacie Dickson
Closed Loop Soil Fertility With Guest Nigel Palmer
Gardening In Cold Climates With Guest Krista Green
Purpose and Possibilities of Small Scale Urban and Suburban Homesteading
Getting Started With Seed Starting
Creating Systems For A Gardening and Homestead Revolution: Guest Takota Coen
Our Favorite Vegetable Varieties To Grow
Planning A Survival Garden
Everything Freeze Drying with Sonya Boone
From Sowing A Few Seeds To A Farm Business: Guest Steve Rice
Growing and Operating A Farm Business with Guest Rob Kaiser
Faith, Family, and Farming with Guests Brad and Starla Walker
Overcoming The Biggest Hurdles To Growing Food With Guest Marjory Wildcraft
Food Security, Healthy Eating, and Homesteading Community with Guest Sophia Eng
Small Scale Seed and Nut Oil Production with Guest Bevin Cohen
Goats, Fencing, Soap, and More with Guests Dave & Amanda Allen
Apple Harvesting, Processing, and Preserving
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