G Freden

I don't have a homestead I only have an allotment and it's pretty small comparatively.  But when people say to me, "I wish I had one," my reply is, "It's a lot of work" by which I mean I highly doubt you'd manage  Seriously, I can barely keep up with it this time of year:  weeding, seed sowing, planting out, mulching, watering.  And of course harvesting and processing the harvest which takes at the very least half an hour a day during the summer months.  I love to do it;  it's my therapy.  The site itself has a pretty high turnover of allotments--clearly most people aren't as crazy as me.

Despite them being a traditional British garden staple, I've given up on them for the same reason.  I think our summers have gotten too hot.  Thankfully I can still grow French beans.

Once mine gets too sour, it becomes an ingredient in other dishes.  For instance, a couple spoonfuls cooked into stew/casserole/etc.  Or as a garnish on salad, or on top of chili (some people like sour cream on chili--it's the same idea).  Mince a little bit up and mix it with cooked vegetables.  A little every day and I soon use it up.

I like your set up.  Does a lot of smoke escape?  

I fermented garlic stems last year;  one in a kimchi type brine and the other just a salt water brine.  Not the garlic scapes but the actual fibrous stems.  I haven't tried with onion tops but I would definitely be willing to, based on how tasty the garlic tops were.  I cut mine into long lengths but ended up needing to chop them up fine before adding to my dishes.  Really good in salads and on cooked vegetables.



Like others have suggested, I too find a bag of frozen chopped leek/onion tops to be a very handy thing.  I wash, chop and load into the freezer bag.  

I love my ducks;  they are the ultimate slug and snail predator, and they are not destructive amongst the plants like chickens are.  However as I recently learned, they may not be ideal as urban livestock:
https://permies.com/t/371325/Noisy-ducks-waking-neighbours

Here they are, enjoying some free range harmoniously.

Yes, there are weed and grass seeds in the stable bedding, and I do get a lot sprouting.  However, it's the persistent couch grass that won't die.  Everyone on site has it (and bindweed/morning glory too!) and the only few people who have it in check are the ones with tall raised beds--like waist height--and black plastic on the ground.  That's not my style, and I know I get more yields than they do, even with the grass.  My soil is better and I have more growing space.

It's been a few years but I'm still battling the grass at my allotment!  I've given up trying to dig it out and just sheet mulch every year.  It grows back every year no matter what I do, and sheet mulch is less work than digging.  I do some light digging if I replant a bed during the same season--for instance when my broad beans finish next month I'll clear the bed of as many roots as I can, and replant immediately with leeks.  But when the leeks are finished at the end of the season I'll sheet mulch again.

Compare this photo (taken in April 2026) with the second photo in my previous post, with my small daughter (she's now 6).  In the years since, I've almost quintupled my yearly food production (according to my records, I grew 129 lb of veg in 2021 and 578 lb in 2025).  Big winners have been squash and tomatoes:  last year approximately 100 lb each!  

Another repair!  My Tefal upright airfryer stopped reliably turning on.  After some poking around, I discovered there's a connection between the door and the airfryer that turns it on:  the door has the male connection and the airfryer has the female.  But the plastic extruding bit had worn away on the door and wasn't properly connecting.  It was as easy as ordering a new door and fitting it (no assembly required):  we were all amazed that after weeks of pushing and prodding and poking to get it to run, it now starts with just a touch again.