Charolett Knapic

My paddocks are my back yard, side yard, barn yard, south lot, and cafe garden. Or more properly, I should say that my 508c1a spiritual nonprofit's land is used this way. I live in the middle of Wichita, KS, zone 7a and have gradually acquired 3 residential lots and adjacent commercial cafe building and garden lot on the edge of the 'hood' which made it more affordable. In my retirement, I plan to homestead this sanctuary of almost 1 acre and have community gardening and homestead workshops to feed myself and others. I have 2 dwarf Nigerian goats and 3 farm yard hens that are enough for me and this land. I graded my lots to manage water and am planting food forest and fodder as my landscape. I've landscape gardened professionally for 25 years and it seems that to fit in, in town, it's important to add color to my yard, keep easement fodders low or try to mow high, and group plantings with obvious pathways.

For the goats and hens, I have fenced off beds of various fruits, berries, herbs, veggies and flowers and open the fenced beds for controlled grazing. What ever grows out of the fencing is free for the eating. I'm learning about planting grains along bed edges so the animals have winter feed and have learned that they love purple winter creeper euonymus which is growing all over the city that I can prune and bring home. It's said to be toxic but they show no ill signs and Hilda's weepy eye actually cleared up. Other winter green forages that I've noticed they also love are arbor vitae, pine, bamboo, dames rocket, liriope, hardy peas and brassicas, some clovers, iris and star of Bethlehem. I pick up bags of tree leaves for them as well as buying hay which I'm trying to learn to grow for standing hay. It's amazing to watch them eat certain things at certain times of the year that they won't touch any other time.

In spring I plan to plant sedan, sunflowers, and amaranth around the sunny south lot while the fruit trees and berries get added over time. They like green seed heads of milo too. I plant mostly for the goats but I've noticed that the chickens really like green Dutch white clover and Bermuda grass seeds. I'm using the self seeding trees to pollard at a little higher than goat height for fodder and screening around the property lines. They love mulberry, hackberry, pear, and the wild grape leaves.

I taught myself as a kid with beginner books that will help you get started with the basics. Youtube is very helpful too.

John F Dean wrote:Regarding the plastic going to the ground, I have a wainscoting of old boards about a foot high going around the outside. It provides  substantial protection from animals, lawnmowers, weed wackers, etc.  I attached it to the metal frame.  In hindsight, I am wondering if I should have driven in wooden stakes and attached the boards to those. This would have made it easier to tuck the plastic all the way to the ground behind the boards.

Good idea, John. We've been wondering what to do to prevent cat and goat damages. I think we need to do something similar. Thank you!

craig howard wrote:I have a chimney cap just like that.

Pics from the inside are next right?

Thanks for the screening experience!
Here are a couple of photos from inside the tent.

R Scott wrote:Glad to see you are using proper insulated chimney. One possible issue I see (not sure, hard to tell from the photos) is your horizontal run inside the tunnel may be a little high—too close to the peak plastic. I would add a metal heat shield between the plastic and that pipe. It can be a scrap of metal siding, just something to block the radiant heat from going directly to the plastic.


Yes, thank you! We've been thinking about that too. Instructions said to leave 2' and we are a little closer even than that.

My friend is living in a year round tent on an 11 acre pasture from her family and is gradually building a homestead. She was donated a high tunnel and I suggested that she put her tent inside the tunnel for the winter, since last winter was so cold that the mini wood burning stove couldn't stay stoked enough to get much sleep. She got a little bigger stove and we're working out details for the chimney without melting the plastic but has anyone experienced this? You can see the tent inside and we're setting up the stove chimney.

In working with city ordinances, I had to pursue and pay an additional $50 to be allowed to keep a goat, and they required me to petition my neighbors for approval, which turned out to be quite fun and rewarding. Some of my neighbors take their walks along my fence lines and like to feed the goats and chickens.

I'm slowly getting involved with local nutritious food availability groups. Things move slowly. And even if my idea of asking the parks department to plant urban fruit trees was negated as a project because of messy fruit drop and believed over need of pruning and spraying, the idea is still planted in their minds and germinating. I'm thinking of contacting the park board myself with my request and also supply them with a source for plants and maybe even a simple guild planting layout. The easier it is for them, the more likely it will happen. I would ask them to plant pecan, plum, cherry, serviceberry, sand plum and currants. Some of these are native and they all have small fruit that won't attract flies.

It's important for me to remember that I'm a pioneer with these new/old fashioned concepts and change happens more slowly with groups of people. It really helps to stay connected with my permie friends so I don't feel discouraged.

My goats love to eat them throughout the winter if you can store them dry.

Make the most of little waiting periods.
I take a nap or two a day, but before I do, I usually make tea or a meal. I've come round to making a game out of how much little stuff that I can get done or cleaned up while waiting for water to boil or food to cook. I've found that there's a lot that can get accomplished in only 3 minutes. And then I don't have to look at the mess until I FEEL like doing it.
Caution: stay near your area of waiting. I've burned food by leaving the kitchen for ' just a moment' but then I forget what my main focus was.

I'm learning more and more about the microscopic critters in the soil and how, if you feed them composted stuff and keep the soil moist, the critters, bacteria, fungi, ect. will draw in the needs of the plants and the plants gift them with their sugars and such.

If you want to get a general pH of your soil, you can stir 1 part of soil into 2 parts of the water that you use on the garden, and let it set and settle. Then pour of the water and blend the water up with some purple cabbage leaves. If the water turns reddish it's on the acid side and if it turns more blue, it's on the alkaline side.

You might want to practice holding the soil in your hand and be curious about what all's in there. Squeeze it in your hand. Does it hold together? Smell the scent of it. Does it smell sweet and clean, does it smell barren, is it sour? Taste a little, The humic acid is beneficial and also gives you clues about your garden space. Sit on and lie down in it and just rest and notice your land space. When you do these things, as you do your testing and enhancing, you'll learn to feel what the earth needs. And maybe adore your space, it gives so much with little appreciation back.

I've read in 'The Ringing Cedars' series that if you share your saliva, sweat, and touch, with seeds and plants that they, then get to program to your needs. Just like nursing mothers milk is engineered to the saliva exchange from the nursing child.

I know, I know, some of this is a bit "out there" but, what magic it adds to life! And why not? And what if? It's good to open up and just pretend play.