Meeq

Homesteading, even at the backyard/small-scale level, almost immediately turns into a systems engineering and infrastructure problem. For example: okay, you've got 9 chickens spending their whole day walking around wood chips. They crap a lot, constantly, way more than you'd think. That poop is some of the best fertilizer imaginable, wood chips are great for composting. Now you want a compost setup. Optimal (not necessary) composting often involves a 3 bin setup where you put active compost material (food waste, chicken poop and wood chips, grass clippings, etc.) into bin 1, let it heat up, rotate into bin 2, let it heat up, rotate into your 3rd bin to be used. Okay, now you have 20lb of compost, you don't want to waste that, now you need plants. Now you need raised beds (because you have dogs) so you need to learn how to build those, but now you also have to figure out the ideal place to put them for sun exposure. Also, what are you going to grow? That changes watering schedule, soil type, what it can/should be grown around. Okay, now you're growing stuff, awesome, dope! Now you have to eat it, take care of it, weed it, etc. You've gone from "man I have a lot of chicken poop" to a compost setup that takes like 48sqft of space, raised beds, veggies or herbs, etc. It's awesome and an incredible way to make yourself learn a ton! I'm really enjoying it. But it comes at you fast.