I realise that my profile name doesn't really tell anyone anything much about me. So I thought I'd introduce myself a bit better and tell you all a bit more about why I started my project The Miniature Smallholding.
Hi, my name's Cara and I'm an introvert.
I'd like to say I'm the cute chick!
I'm not comfortable seeing myself in photos and rarely post any of me, so I don't get surprised when people online think I'm a man and I don't get offended. Don't worry if you have made that assumption!
I find it much easier to communicate online than I do in person, because I can say what I want to say without being talked over by louder people and I can make any alterations before posting, so that it's not just me babbling and making no sense. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike loud people at all, in fact in social situations they make things much easier for me as I don't then have to try and figure out what to say and what the current social etiquette might be. However, I can't do loud or crowds for long periods of time and need my quiet space back to recuperate. There are people I love, but can only manage in short doses.
So being such an introvert, might beg the question as to why I decided to put myself out on social media. I'll be honest, I was never keen on the idea of it, but I came across a homesteader called Justin Rhodes and he said that whatever you do, document and share it. I thought, why not? If I want to do this there are likely others who will too and the more we share the more we can help one another.
How The Miniature Smallholding Came into Being.
When we bought our first house in South Australia, one of the things I really wanted was enough room to have a veggie garden and the house we chose had a small one ready to go. It even had fruit trees and as spring arrived we got to discover what each one was. I didn't do a great deal with the garden at first, but the more I did the more I wanted to do. More and more of the lawn got turned over to growing edible and medicinal plants.
I'd already dabbled in poultry in the form of four bobwhite quail we'd kept in a little mobile cage at the rental house. When we got our own house, however, I really wanted to upsize to chickens. The quail were sweet, but not big layers and their eggs were tiny.
I soon realised that my biggest desire was to have a smallholding/homestead, but there was no way we could afford a large area of land so I decided to see what could be done with the garden we have. Our smallholding would be smaller than usual and that's why I came up with the tongue in cheek name of The Miniature Smallholding.
My goal was to share how we are learning to work with the restrictions of growing in suburbia and small spaces. Here are some articles I've already shared about what we've learnt in this area.
Overcoming the Drawbacks of Small Scale Urban Homesteading:
Introduction
Using Every Space
Planting Choices
Trading and Outsourcing
Keeping Livestock
One day I would love to take the knowledge I gain here and apply that to a larger smallholding, but until then we'll remain miniature.