Welcome to Serendipity Creek, our little urban homestead in Western Maryland. When my husband Dave and I moved into our 3-story townhouse about three years ago, I never envisioned myself as a homesteader. As renters, we have always lived the apartment lifestyle and this is the first home that we have lived in that even had a yard. Serendipity seems to be our theme, as prior to moving into our townhouse, we weren't even considering moving at the time. I just happened to notice an add in our local paper that a townhouse in our community was for rent and it was only $100 more a month than what we were paying for our two bedroom apartment. As soon as I saw the front yard (Yeah, I could actually have a garden!) and the serene wetland that seemed to wrap its arms around us, I new in my heart that we were meant to live here.
I have always wanted to have a garden but I soon realized that we had a few challenges with our yard. Not only is our yard tiny (approx 20 square feet), we also have a large cherry tree that takes up most of the space. In addition, being on a wetland meant that we didn't have a lawn but rather heavy clay soil and many of the native wildlife plants such as Burdock Root that had completely taken over. I'm sure for any Master Gardener this would be an exciting challenge to conquer. For me, a novice at best, I must confess it was quite overwhelming. Well, three years later and with lots of educating myself on gardening I have begun the journey of turning our yard into a functional courtyard garden that will provide my family with fruits, vegetables and herbs to feed our family. I do not expectation that this little garden will provide for all our food supply, however, I am looking forward to what bounty awaits. There is nothing more satisfying than eating the fruits of your labor. Being renters and living in a suburban community, we are not aloud to own animals so for now we get fresh eggs from a friend who raises chickens and by fresh raw goats milk from a local farm.
And so the journey is just beginning. Some day Dave and I plan on owning our own piece of land and creating ourselves a sustainable, self-sufficient homestead. Until then, we are learning all we can and enjoy discovering the blessings of homesteading, even in our suburban community. I hope you'll join us on this journey and discover for yourself that you can enjoy the blessings of homesteading no matter where you live! Along the way, I hope that you experience the joy of Serendipity!
Joy
