HAPPINESS is a Suburbian Homestead

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Left: Kim stacks firewood that was ""free for the taking."" Center: Brian Reynolds with the three younger children. Above: Blaine, now 8, knows his work is valuable to the family.

Firsthand: Reports from the Field

by Kimberly A. Reynolds

I don't live on a farm or a remote mountainside—nowhere near the "boonies," as my mother calls the countryside. I am just another suburbanite with a half-acre plot and a brick ranch house in the middle of it. Our yard is modest, but we've found even on this small amount of land, a family can go a long way toward self-sufficiency.

Suburbs is a dirty word to some, but this is where I was born and raised. Although country living is fine for some folks, this also is a great life.

Our four children eat a lot, so it pays to have a garden. Our plot is approximately 20x40 feet. In this small area we grow enough corn and tomatoes to last all winter. I prefer to freeze my tomatoes, as it's easier than canning. I freeze corn in the husk. When we're ready to eat it, it comes out of the freezer and into the microwave. Nothing could be easier, and the taste is fresh-from-the-garden.

I also freeze zucchini (grated up for sweet bread), green peppers and hot peppers. I always put out several cucumber plants for pickle relish and bread-and-butter pickles. I can't find pickled beets in our local stores, so I plant and pickle those, too. We plant a few cabbages and some early lettuces, and that pretty well fills up our garden plot. It only takes one day for us to get our garden in, which is a small sacrifice considering the abundance it provides not only in food but in the sense of accomplishment as the harvest comes in. I never feel more connected to Mother Earth as I do when I'm in my garden.

Now the downside: weeding. Who wants to spend their valuable time on that? I've discovered a free and easy way to deweed the garden. As soon as I have my rows in, I lay down cardboard (free from the grocery store) and cover the pieces with grass clippings. If your mower doesn't have a bagger, ask a neighbor to drive over and dump their clippings in your garden. It's easier on them than trying to squish the clippings into a garbage bag. As the grass clippings break down, the garden gets a shot of nitrogen and other nutrients.

All our kitchen scraps, peels, egg shells, used paper napkins, etc., go into the compost pile. We keep our compost contained in a plastic drum with air holes in the sides and bottom, which allow worms, beneficial bugs and bacteria to move in and do their jobs and prevents our neighborhood dogs from viewing our compost pile as a buffet. After the scraps decompose, we spread the compost on the garden.

Any time I pass a new construction site, look out, here I come to haul away rocks. My oldest son swears he's going to get a hernia one of these days, but I tell him a little hard work never hurt anyone.

It's amazing how little trash we have to set out on trash day since we're recycling most of it in our own yard. Maybe I'm simple, but this really makes me feel good.