On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 14:11:23 -0600, "Bob Peterson"
said:

Lots of people claim lots of things. I would be inclined to do some
personal research before I would just my life to something I saw in a book.
This type of farming is very difficult to sustain and takes a lot of work.
You could well be in deep trouble if you were forced to stop work for a week
or two due to injury, illness, or some other reason. or what if a storm
came through and destroyed your crops? or a horde of grasshoppers? even a
herd of deer could decimate your garden very quickly.

personally I suspect you can do a lot on 5 good acres with a continuous
water source, but I am leery of trusting my life to such a small area.

I remember an old saying "Which can you spare more of ? Back or Brians
? "
I use the raised bed method of gardening. My total garden size is less
than 1/4 acres and I trow away 3 times as much food as my family (5 in
all) eat in a years time from this garden. Its a lot of work keeping
the soil good. Chicken wire and 2x4 frames keep the deer and harsh
rains from destorying the garden. A small green house gives me a big
jump on the growing season. Of course this is only a veggie garden, I
would need far more land to grow grain. BTW, for my familys needs, its
by far cheaper for me to buy or barter grain than it is to grow it.