Our Colorado Springs Urban Homestead

By Kristin Chaney

I’ve spent the last nine years serving in the Air Force. It was a wonderful, growing, and

challenging experience. But after my third child was born about four years ago, I began to feel like something was missing. It was me from the home, my children missing out on experiences I wanted them to have, and a lifestyle that wasn’t always about getting to the next appointment on time. I finished up my second enlistment in January of this year with the intention of buying a couple of acres in Texas and staying home where I could raise and home school my children. Unfortunately, plans fell through when our rental property in Colorado was to be vacated and we learned of the many damages that would have to be repaired. With time and money not on our side, we made the decision to return to the suburbs and make the best of our situation. So here we are!

My husband and I have three children ; ages 10, 8, and 4. We also have a German Shepard/lab mix, a golden doodle, and a lazy grey cat.. I grew up with a small kitchen garden but that’s the extent of my gardening experience. My husband is from Juarez, Mexico (which is basically a concrete jungle in the middle of the desert). Needless to say, he has no experience. We made this conscious decision because we want to educate our children and ourselves. We are concerned about our health, our environmental footprint, and our ability to survive should the need arise due to various possible catastrophes etc. Not to mention, we would much rather have our children outside digging in the dirt or collecting eggs as opposed to vegetating on the couch glued to one electronic or another.

This is a drastic change in lifestyle for us but with baby steps and a thirst for experience and knowledge we are ready to take on this challenge to better ourselves and maybe in the process inspire others to do the same.

Why are we doing this?

This is a family project so I enlisted the help of my

children to help observe our location and think of things we want to include in our homestead. There were some off the wall requests and ideas but with some guidance we were able to come up with a very long list of wants/expectations, a list of possible problems we may encounter, and a list of property observations.

Brainstorming

We own .14 acres The home was built in 2009 so it is fairly energy efficient The home doesn’t have an a/c so our energy consumption is a lot less in the summers We belong to a home owner’s association The front lawn has to stay to comply with the HOA’s Our house faces west We have a green belt on the other side of our backyard fence Because our home is 2 stories, it casts a large shadow over growing areas We are in USDA Zone 5 It is a semi arid climate We recently learned that there is a 2/3 chance for a wet summer due to a possible El Niño

year

Property Observations

Organizing our goals on note cards was a bit chaotic with the children but

I was finally able to narrow them all down into the following categories which will be expanded upon in upcoming slides. Food we want to grow Water harvesting Compost Growing concepts Animals Preservation of Harvest Other

Goals

HERBSRosemary

BasilParsleySage

ThymeMint

ChivesOreganoCilantro

Food We Want to Grow

VEGETABLESTomatoesRhubarbPeppersOnionsGarlic

SquashCucumber

Sweet peasPotatoes

BeetsBroccoliLettuceSpinach

KaleCabbageCarrotsZuchini

FRUITApples

CherriesPeaches

StrawberriesGooseberries

CurrantsRaspberriesBlueberriesBlackberries

Grapes

Water harvesting may be a bit of a problem for us. We have recently learned

from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources:Stormwater ManagementPrecipitation that falls on a site and becomes concentrated in a detention or infiltration area may not be diverted for any beneficial use.  Landscaping that is planted on roofs (green roofs) is allowable as long as the landscaping intercepts only precipitation that falls directly onto the landscaping. The landscaping may not intercept and consume concentrated flow and may not store water below the root zone.  http://water.state.co.us/SURFACEWATER/SWRIGHTS/Pages/RainwaterGraywater.aspx

Still, we would like to have the following:

Swales Drywell (x2)

Water Harvesting

Two worm composters which will be stored in

our basement in the winter due to snowfall Dog poop composter installed away from

growing food to help lessen our environmental foot print

Compost

Green house Container gardening Raised beds Hugelkultur Edible landscaping in the front yard Companion planting

Growing Concepts

Chickens (x3) w/small coop Bees Our existing 2 dogs and lazy grey cat

Animals

Can and freeze excess Cold storage in basement

Preservation of Harvest

Small storage shed for garden tools Gourds and carving pumpkins grown on

outside of backyard fence to help prevent weeds and sticker bushes from taking over and for compost uses

Solar panels

Other

Direction our home faces in consideration of

the sun Winter weather HOAs City/State Laws such as:

Water harvesting Poultry restrictions

Problems We May Encounter

Before I even learned that I could take this course online, my family and I have been

at the drawing board adding and subtracting ideas to begin work on this project. This week’s reading and video helped me expand upon this even more. I was aware of companion planting and had learned about the “three sisters” a long time ago in school when learning about the American Indians – but this great technique hadn’t even crossed my mind. Thanks to the Suburban Permaculture video I was reminded of it as well as motivated to get out in my yard.

The more I read about homesteading, permaculture, and the effects of modern day production and consumption the more driven I am to make this change. Peter Bane mentioned that this need to get back to the land may be primal instinct. Personally, I think he’s right. Furthermore, how can you deny common sense? The examples of how other countries can maintain without the existence of industrial farming is inspiring and hopeful. For this reason, I hope that what we are doing helps to inspire others in my neighborhood. Right now, none of our neighbors really speak to one another outside the general head nod or hand wave as you pull into the driveway. Perhaps our doings will at get some curious dialogue going and a better sense of community can begin forming. Let the excitement begin!

Conclusion