REAL food Garden & Apiary | blog
We are an urban homestead based on natural, holistic and sustainable principles. Our livestock includes chickens & honey bees and we cultivate fruits, vegetables and kitchen herbs.
About
My wife and I have been planning things for our backyard for what seems like forever – I’m a designer/builder and designed and built our home here in Downtown Albuquerque, NM. Over the past 10+ years here, we’ve completely planted and maintained our front yard but have not made much progress with the back.
So these plans for our backyard have officially become plans to create our very own urban homestead.
We have many interests when it comes to creating our micro-farm and the following words best describe our approach: sustainable, beyond organic and regenerative.
Areas of interest:
- Vegetables – No-till cultivating based on Square Foot Garden, raised bed techniques.
- Fruits – Various fruit trees and grapevines.
- Herbs – Culinary and tea herbs.
- Poultry – 10 chickens.
- Rabbits – we have added meat rabbits to provide a safe and clean source of protein for our family to consume.
- Wild foods – Honey bees in Warre hives.
- Eco-lawn – “Fleur de Lawn” is an herbaceous, flowering, drought tolerant lawn alternative.
- Composting – 2 DIY compost bins.
- Rain harvesting – A 55 gal. rain barrel storing h2O from the roof of our chicken coop.
An additional source for following our progress with our urban homestead is at the Facebook page “REAL food Garden & Apiary“.
7hh-G sketch dated 10/6/13.
REAL food Garden & Apiary | blog 
This is exciting!
This blog is really exciting. We’re a little further along with our garden/backyard farm. But you have the chickens we don’t yet have. I’m a little afraid to go into our city offices and ask whether or not they are allowed. How did you determine permission in your area?
We don’t have the chickens just yet. They arrive this coming Spring (the week of 4/9/14) by US Postal from My Pet Chicken.com. The answer to chickens being allowed here in Albuquerque was provided by a simple Google search which led us to our City Ordinance. Online review of that showed that up to 15 chickens are allowed and one of those could be a Rooster (very progressive compared to other cities). We’re not going to include a Rooster in our 1st flock but may add one if and when we move to a more rural setting here in Abq. Glad you found us interesting enough to comment on and hope you follow things here. ~Sam
Hi! Just coming over after finding you through our pages on Facebook. I will be coming by often, this is just awesome. 🙂
Anrdrea-
So glad you made it over to our Blog – 7HH-G uses our Facebook page a whole lot more than our Blog but nevertheless, we are exploring the Blog world. I’m thinking we have simlar situations going on between us and i’m looking forward to following your progress too. And i’m excited to hear you’ll be back. I have lots of content to add here , just have not been able to lately. Spring is going to be super busy for us. Talk to you soon. ~Sam
Hi folks, We have a little urban homestead in the Hyder Park area, nice to see others doing the same. Tom
Nice Tom ! What sorts of things are happening with your efforts ?
Can I buy eggs from you? : )