Newcomer from New England

Hello Permies,

New Englander here, been lurking for a bit. Pleased to meet all.

Was a web developer for 12 years before I hit a wall. Still dabble in that but am exploring a more sustainable path for myself in my late 30s.

My claim to fame is the DIY tiny house I built and a Prius camper conversion which I’ve documented on YouTube and the other socials (@teaspoondwellings). Working on a van conversion now.

Currently working on tiny home building standards and working with other advocates on adding chassis provisions to the IRC so more people can live tiny legally.

I’m into eco-sanitation and attended the Rich Earth Summit on Cape Cod this year.

I read Paul and Shawn’s “Building a Better World” a few weeks ago and feel like I’ve found my people. Love the idea of low tech innovation and “luxuriant living” on the cheap.

Excited to start a garden in the Spring and start becoming more self-sufficient.

Hi Mike,

Welcome to Permies.

Hi Mike - Welcome to permies!
I sort of like the idea of a tiny house, but have accumulated too many possessions for that now. I do like the multifunctional features and would like to build more clever ideas into our normal home - our bathroom isn't huge for example, and laundry always seems to take up three times as much space as it could.
Growing your own food is liberating! How much garden space will you have? Are you starting from scratch, or has there been a growing space there before?

I have the pipe dream of a tiny house. Sigh. I'm also a packrat. Ah well.

Thanks for the welcomes!

Nancy - I'm starting from scratch with the garden, though I have lots of compost from the past ~10 years of composting, so I'm hoping I won't need to buy any soil amendments. My neighbors have a garden with just a 4' fence around it and the deer haven't given them much issue (surprisingly). I read the Mini Farming book and plan on doing raised double dug beds. Focusing on crops that are easy to preserve that will cover most of my dietary needs & wants (mostly vegetarian mediterranean diet): potatoes, spaghetti squash, white beans, canning tomatoes, peas, onions, bell peppers (the one less-easy-to-preserve).

Plenty of compost is a good start! Double digging sounds like a lot of work, but presumably you've looked at some of the other options. However this thread for a newbie gardener maybe worth a look for you. With a good lot of compost you may well be very successful with a no dig garden over sheet mulch (like cardboard or thick layer of autumn leaves), if you don't need the raised beds for ergonomic reasons.

I suspect bell peppers could be dehydrated for storage fairly successfully.

Thanks for the link to that thread. I'm definitely open to alternatives. The Mini Farming book did offer a no dig alternative that sounds like what you described, though it said that double digging to start is your best bet if you're willing to put in the work.

The beds would only be raised 4"-6", so more for containment and drainage than for ergonomics.

I did save a lot of leaves last Fall

Mike Spooner wrote:it said that double digging to start is your best bet if you're willing to put in the work.

I double dug my raised beds because my soil is very compacted silty soil and had been abused for decades, however in many cases I understand that digging causes more harm than good to the long term health of the soil. There are lots of threads on permies about dig v no dig and the soil carbon and microorganisms including the role of soil fungi. Each situation is different though.
If you fancy another lot of reading then Bryant RedHawk's Epic Soil Series will keep you amused. Also Helen Atthowe's teaching about soil health here may be helpful.

Yeah, my understanding from so far is that an initial digging/till is good but after the soil is loosened up it's best to avoid tilling year after year. I'll keep reading

Well, I took everyone's advice and went no-dig. Just digging holes for my 2 gate posts was torture with how rocky the soil is here!

Built beds from 2x4s (torched them to add some rot resistance), added a layer of cardboard over the grass, and filled them with my home made compost and old potting mix (50:50). Potatoes, peas, beans, onions, spaghetti squash, and tomatoes have all sprouted. Bell peppers are a no-show so far. I've heard direct sow for tomatoes and bell peppers in my climate (CT) is a bad idea, so I may be too late to the party. Not sure if I should swap them for something else or just hang in there and see what happens.

I originally just had rabbit wire for the bottom half of the fencing, but squirrels were getting in and digging around in the beds and I was afraid they would dig up my seeds so I added some tighter fencing. No more signs of digging since then.

Hey Mike,

Greetings from NH! Garden is looking good. I am super curious about your tiny home conversions, so I'll check out your youtube channel!

Thanks Pete! NH is like a second home to me. I’ve spent a lot of time at my friend’s cabin in the Whites and I worked a Summer in Conway. Great grandparents were from Littleton. Where about are you? Wish I was up there right now!

Update on the garden: