Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#61
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
|
#62
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
Even though you are a vegetarian it is a good Idea to have
some livestock. My choices would be: chickens, (they eat the bugs that will harm your crops produce eggs, feathers for pillows etc. chicken dung for fertilizer) Geese, (intrusion detection and down for clothing comforters etc.). bees (pollination of your crops and a source of sugar, bees wax for leather preservative and water proofing also for making candles) cashmere or angora dairy goats, (produce, milk and cheese plus keep brush down around the place. Also while goat droppings are not the best fertilizer it is better than nothing, and is easy to collect (dry, doesn't smell and can be swept up with a broom) add it to your compost pile to decompose into your compost. Also the shearing or combines can be used to make fine fabrics to keep you warm in the coldest of weather. When one dies of natural causes you can use the hide for leather to make water proof wind proof outer wear, like pants, jackets and gloves. (Leather is not strong enough for shoes and boots) So you can see that even though you are a vegetarian you will still have a need for livestock. The Independent House Todorovich wrote: Yes, got the idea from an old copy of TMEN. Also you might be interested in "No Till" Agriculture for raising grains and other food stuffs to minimize the energy expenditure vs. return on food. We have homesteaded on as little as 3 acres, but currently have around 25. Five would provide for the six of us. Buckwheat, 1/4 acre hand mowed, and winnowed provided enough when stretched. I also collect acorn and make acorn flour, and also cattail flour. My son is almost a pure vegetarian by nature, so meat is of less importance at our house these days. It is more of a side dish. Grains and foraging are more important than vegetables to survival homesteading. Potatoes, peanuts, and Yams are also of high value. IT is all in the calories. Jim Ever actually done this? or is this just an 'educated guess"? |
#63
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
"gregpresley" writes:
Most people would want to have eggs for an additional protein source, but keeping chickens adds another layer of work to a one-person operation. Chickens are pretty easy to raise, IME, especially if they're free-range and you don't mind losing one or two every once in a while to things like foxes. -- mike [at] mike [dash] warren.com URL:http://www.mike-warren.com GPG: 0x579911BD :: 87F2 4D98 BDB0 0E90 EE2A 0CF9 1087 0884 5799 11BD |
#64
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
"Fran" writes:
John Seymour who is British wrote a very similar one with an almost identical title. I think it was "Indepencce on (and?) 5 acres". "Farming for Self-Sufficiency" -- mike [at] mike [dash] warren.com URL:http://www.mike-warren.com GPG: 0x579911BD :: 87F2 4D98 BDB0 0E90 EE2A 0CF9 1087 0884 5799 11BD |
#65
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message ...
"simy1" wrote in message Since the original poster was posting from subtropical Australia, I doubt it. One just has to have winter vegetables, and things like grains and beans. Not really, he said Your point about also using cool season veges is of course correct but, speaking personally, you can only stomach so many meals of beans and brassicas! David On this we will have to disagree. New Zealand is probably Zone 8 or 9. There are many things you can have winter-round - we are just so locked into tomatoes and corn in this country. But when in France farmers were offering fresh vegetables at the market in Feb. or March. I am told in Italy is even better. Besides the various types of brassicas (please don't try to convince me that arugula, tatsoi, red cabbage and broccoli are the same meal), there are all the root crops, several types of chicory, many other winter greens, there is chard, cardoon, favas, winter squash, sprouts and shoots. In fact, one could argue that winter gardening is more efficient than summer gardening, for all the most nutritious veggies are winter veggies, so you get the same nutrition for less work. I am myself still supported completely (veggie-wise) by my garden (currently, onions garlic potatoes are in storage, beets and carrots are pulled as needed, and I have also collards and radicchio), and this is December in Michigan (Zone 5-6, minimum temp so far 17F). In the last two months, we have only bought apples from the farmer market, and celery for stock and lemons for juice. |
#66
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
Where *is* the Bucket Farm guy? We need more parameters.
|
#67
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
Strider wrote:
There is no good answer to the question without more info. It generally took at least 40 acres to barely keep a familiy going here in East TN in the 19th century (before hybrid seeds, commercial fertilizer, and the internal combustion engine). That's the key topic of dissent that I have raised every single time this thread has come back around. It is impossible to raise all the food you need on "blah acres" because, if the situation comes to be that you have to try to do it, you will in effect be reverting to medieval stats and not modern ones. By modern standards, one might live on whatever acres etc, but when you *have* to do it, you won't have all the modern amenities. That's the key problem with anyone who cites the "half and acre" or "one acre" bull etc. ral Strider |
#68
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
|
#69
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
|
#70
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
In article ,
George Cleveland wrote: Jeez, I don't see that at all. The guy is keeping his day job. He can do it from home via a satellite link up. He just wants to know what he would need to keep himself in food and off the treadmill of consumerism. Noble goals, although the slant towards isolation is a bit worrying. I have no idea what to tell him other than it probably won't take much land and if he does it right it shouldn't involve an excessive amount of work. It seems he wants to mimic a Walden experience, not the one that lives in the popular imagination of going into the woods and being a hermit, but the one of Thoreaus true intention, i.e. "I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I die, discover that I had not lived." g.c. Back in the 30's and 40's, Helen and Scott Nearing did this in Vermont (I think). They wrote several books on the subject, most of which are out of print I suspect but you might still be able to find them. They were kind of anal about their style of living but they raised all their food in a couple of gardens on their property AND did it on a rigidly defined ration of a half days work. The rest of their time was devoted to their cause. It might be that not many people could do it their way, but they did and this fellow might. I think the basic book was "Living the good Life" but it's been a while since I read it so the title may be bogus. Has anyone mentioned the US Department of Agriculture yearbook, "five acres and Independence"? That would be a good reference. Ted (who lives on the cash economy and wishes he didn't) |
#71
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
There are right here . . .
http://www.goodlife.org/ Back in the 30's and 40's, Helen and Scott Nearing did this in Vermont (I think). They wrote several books on the subject, most of which are out of print I suspect but you might still be able to find them. They were kind of anal about their style of living but they raised all their food in a couple of gardens on their property AND did it on a rigidly defined ration of a half days work. The rest of their time was devoted to their cause. |
#72
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
Jim Dauven wrote:
Also try and get a a trio of dairy goats. A Buck and two does. They will supply you with meat and milk, How long do you reckon three goats will keep you in meat, idiot? ral |
#73
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
"Richard Lewis" wrote in message ink.net... Jim Dauven wrote: Also try and get a a trio of dairy goats. A Buck and two does. They will supply you with meat and milk, How long do you reckon three goats will keep you in meat, idiot? ral You call him an idiot? You apparently know nothing about reproduction. Animal husbandry? Raising food? |
#74
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:14:41 -0600, "Don Staples"
wrote: "Richard Lewis" wrote in message link.net... Jim Dauven wrote: Also try and get a a trio of dairy goats. A Buck and two does. They will supply you with meat and milk, How long do you reckon three goats will keep you in meat, idiot? ral You call him an idiot? You apparently know nothing about reproduction. Animal husbandry? Raising food? Fortunately, the one male and two female goats mentioned will figure out how to produce more goats. Happy trails, Gary (net.yogi.bear) ------------------------------------------------ at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom |
#75
|
|||
|
|||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement?
On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:52:26 GMT, Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:
On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:14:41 -0600, "Don Staples" wrote: Fortunately, the one male and two female goats mentioned will figure out how to produce more goats. Happy trails, Gary (net.yogi.bear) ------------------------------------------------ at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom Us goats do have our reputations. g.c. Capricorns rule! |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement? | Edible Gardening | |||
Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement? (getting fuel) | Gardening | |||
Where is Bucket?! Was: Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement? | Edible Gardening | |||
Where is Bucket?! Was: Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement? | Gardening | |||
Where is Bucket?! Was: Self-Sufficiency Acreage Requirement? | Gardening |