On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:33:07 -0500, WCD wrote:


One issue is the question of how much physical space would be
needed to grow enough food to completely support myself?

There are an awful lot of variable involved here, but in a place like
Maine where I am, I've heard you could grow all the wood you would need
for heat through the winter on 5 acres. I've also heard you could eat
very well if you gardened 5 acres, with a lot of extra to put away or
sell for cash. I think I remember Eliot Coleman saying in one of his
books you could make a decent living growing on as little as 5 acres.

I guess I'm taking "self-sufficiency" too literally. I think it would
be virtually impossible for one person or family to be entirely
self-sufficient. If you include barter or sale of what you have excess
of -- that is, relying on your own land and labor to support you in
whatever way practical -- that's a different story. Reductio ad
absurdum, one could easily be "self-sufficient" if one had an oil well
in the back yard. L-) I expect one could grow enough veg so as not to
have to purchase any extra. But even a vegetarian can't live on canned
tomatoes and green beans alone. The OP mentioned goat(s) and chickens,
which means fodder of some sort and grain, and shelter. Experience
with a 20'x40' veg plot made me *very* aware of how difficult real
farming must be. Between too hot/cold, too much/too little water,
diseases, pests, weeds, and inexplicable failures to grow, I'd rather
not depend on my own efforts to sustain me.