Base Map

1. BASE MAPOF A COLORADO SPRINGS URBAN HOMESTEAD
By Kristin Chaney

2. Fortunately we had
everything on hand!
SKETCH PAD
ART PAPER ROLL
PENCIL/PEN/MARKER
EGINEER’S RULER
100 FT MEASURING
TAPE
PROTRACTOR (I ended
up not needing this but I
went through the
trouble of making my
husband pull it out of his
toolbox)
THE GATHERING OF
SUPPLIES…

3. I drew a quick
sketch of what I
knew (or thought)
my property to be
so that I would
have something to
label and go off of
once I started
measuring.
FIRST THINGS FIRST…
It’s really hard to get a good picture of a pencil sketch on white paper!

4. Once again, I
enlisted the help of
my children. We’ve
been studying map
making in
homeschool
recently and so this
was a perfect
opportunity!
TIME TO MEASURE!

5. It took us about an
hour to measure all
the bits and pieces
of our property,
but we were able
to get it all done
just as a big storm
rolled in.
MEASUREMENTS COMPLETE!

6. Wow, was I off on
my sketch! I never
realized how
squared my
property is. I also
thought I was
going to need a
larger drawing
space. But after
drawing 1 in. to
every 10 ft. it really
put into
perspective just
how small my lot is.
TO THE DRAWING BOARD!

7. This was the hardest
part of the activity.
Because I have such a
small space to work
with and we haven’t
removed any of the
grass to begin
creating our growing
areas etc., things
were pretty basic. I
labeled the house
Zone 0. My porch,
patio, and small herb
garden bed were
labeled Zone 1. The
rest of the spaces
were labeled Zone 2
with the exception of
the small area outside
my backyard fence
which is Zone 3.
ESTABLISHING ZONES

8. TO SUM IT ALL UP…
Mapping everything out was the easiest
part of this assignment. I have to admit I was a little
disappointed after transferring the measurements.
My property just looked so plain and boring on that
white piece of paper. It added fuel to that fire I have
to make positive changes though. The same
disappointment struck when trying to label each
current area with a particular zone. I’m sure this will
change as we plan and create our urban homestead.
Establishing sectors is proving to be a bit easier. I
know that the left hand corner of my backyard gets
the most sun. I also know that my backyard has a
fairly steep incline which causes all water sources to
run down. By observing the erosion caused by
running water we will be able to plant in conjunction
with this. We also have a scenic view just outside our
backyard fence line that is home to a couple of deer,
fox, and lots of field mice.
Overall, I thought this was a great
assignment as it opened my eyes a little more and has
inspired some new and better ideas. The next time I
make a base map of my property I plan for it to be
filled with the fruits of our labor…