Matt Kelly, Boonie Adjacent
Name: Matt Kelly
Place of Residence: Finger Lakes region, N.Y.
Occupation: 9-to-5 administrative position, 2 ½ hours round-trip commute
Background and Personal History:
Matt
has just begun the journey of turning his 13-acre home into a homestead. He has
no real background in any of the skills or experiences typically associated
with successful homesteading or the self-sufficient life. But he thinks this would be a pretty lame excuse for not achieving the homesteading dream. Matt
knows how to learn. He is comfortable jumping into situations and making things
happen. While he does not consider himself an expert, Matt is always willing to
talk about and share his experiences.
Accomplishments
that Matt is most proud of so far:
- Acquiring the perfect property to call home
- Converting his garage into a rustic living room and his woodshed into a
functional workshop with his own two hands
- Getting his chickens through the winter, low-tech style, while still getting
eggs every day
- Heating exclusively with wood for three winters in a row
- Canning enough tomatoes from his first garden to make buying pizza sauce
unnecessary
- Making chocolate cake from scratch
Current Projects:
With
the coming of Spring, Matt is getting started on three projects: the vegetable
garden, a new chicken coop and firewood.
This
season’s goal for the garden is to produce enough vegetables to keep Matt
squared away until the next growing season. This will require improving soil
quality. There will also be raised beds and new trellises built. Matt will be
experimenting with companion planting.
And he has grand plans for a container garden that will take over the front of
his house.
Matt
is building a new chicken coop based on old-school principles of keeping
poultry before electricity and artificial heat were used. A green-roof system
might be in the works. He is planning to double the size of his current flock
to 8 birds.
Matt
will be harvesting all of his firewood this year, from bringing down the trees
to getting them reduced to burnable chunks. He would like to avoid freezing to
death next Winter.
And
he still has to get the ATV running.
Follow the progress: