This Family Grows 90% of Their Food on 2.3 Acres

In southern Ontario, a family of four turned a basic lawn into a mini farm using permaculture. Three years in, they harvest almost everything they eat—most of it right from the front yard.

The Front Yard That Feeds a Family

Their place looks like a regular home from the street until the front yard pulls you in—rows of greens, flowers, fruit trees, and trellises buzzing with life. The goal is simple: grow nearly all their food, and do it in a way that keeps the land healthy.

They lean on biodiversity instead of chemicals. Beds are messy in the best way—leafy, layered, and full of life so pests stay confused and the soil stays rich. It’s gardening with nature, not against it.

The Problem That Almost Stopped Everything

When they moved in, the property was a soggy mess. Parts of the forest were suffocating, and standing water pooled in all the wrong places.

They fixed it the hard way: by hand. Shovels, wheelbarrows, and a simple, smart drainage layout moved the water where it wanted to go and brought the ground back to life.

How They Actually Made It Work

They started fast in the driest spot. Cardboard went down, soil went on top, and the first beds were up and growing without digging. It looks low-tech because it is—and it works.

The wild part? Most of the family’s food comes from one sunny front-yard garden. Around it are 15 more little garden pockets and an orchard that fill in the rest.

The Daily Harvest Looks Like This

On a good day the kitchen counter disappears under herbs and greens. Mint hangs to dry, Malabar spinach and basil sit in jars of water, and it all smells like summer.

There are regular cucumbers and then these tiny Caribbean ones—spiky on the outside, super snackable inside. The kind of thing you eat while walking back from the garden.

Corn shows up in bright husks, the kind you plan dinner around right away. Fresh always wins.

Beets come in with their tops still on. The best leaves get saved for dinner; the roots get washed, wrapped, and tucked away to last for weeks.

Potatoes dry in a single layer, out of the sun, before heading to the garage shelves. Stored right, they carry the family through winter.

When a bumper crop hits—like the mountain of tomatoes last fall—the overflow goes to neighbors, families in need, and the food bank. The garden feeds more than one household.

Why This Works Year-Round

They’re not just about veggies. Grains are on the list too—wheat here and there, but especially sorghum, which grows like it means it and turns into flour for bread and baking.

Protein comes from beans and peas planted everywhere, and hemp for seed to make milk. It’s a plant-forward pantry that still feels complete.

Wild foods fill the gaps: plantain seed, curly dock, and mushrooms that pop up in the woods behind the garden. It’s free food hiding in plain sight.

What Happens to All That Abundance

Preserving turns the flood of produce into a steady drip that lasts all winter. Dehydrators whir on busy days when herbs and fruit roll in fast.

Jars line up for canning, and there’s fermenting, freezing, and whatever else keeps flavor and nutrients locked in. It’s a whole second season that happens in the kitchen.

By November, freezers, shelves, and bins are neatly packed and labeled. After that, the grocery list shrinks to a handful of items like dairy, and that’s pretty much it.

The Map That Explains Everything

A hand-drawn plan shows the whole system—sun garden up front, prairie-style beds, stream and ponds, woodland and wet forest in back—all connected. It’s not random; it’s designed.

Water is the heartbeat. They keep it, move it, and use it, instead of pushing it away. Ponds and gentle channels turn a past problem into a steady resource.

Boundaries are gentle, not harsh. Think raspberries and roses as living fences, with extra plants outside as decoys so deer and other critters snack there first.

Proof It Works

One patch of cabbage sits alone and looks rough—bug-bitten leaves and tired heads. Open ground makes easy targets.

Then there’s the other patch: cabbages tucked into a jumble of millet, kohlrabi, carrots, and a young cherry tree. The plants look clean and strong.

This is the pattern everywhere—mix it up, stack growth, and let the crowd protect the crops. Biodiversity does the heavy lifting.

What Happened Next

They share what they’ve learned through Willows Green Permaculture so more people realize this is doable. The goal is simple: more homegrown food, less grocery stress, and a healthier patch of earth.

The rhythm is sustainable now. Work ramps up in spring, eases later, and tasks get smarter each year. Challenges show up, solutions stay simple, and the garden keeps paying them back.