are there books that can help?

[tinknocker66]

I am curently living and have always lived with neighbors 8 ft. away from my house.I have always dreamed of living on a small semi-self sufficient farm.The thing is ive been learning to bwb and pressure can in the hopes of my dream comming true, but I dont know what size property I need for the cows,sheep and pigs plus a very large (deer protected) garden or(everything i dont know ill need). Is there a book that discusses these topics that you know of ? I dont want a dream to become a nightmare because I didnt start of corectly.

[upnorthlady]

I don't know that there's one book that will tell you all you need to know - just read everything you can. Go to the library and read up on what you can for free, first. Also, I would also advise you not to get a cow, sheep, and pigs, etc. if you have never lived in the country and have never grown up with animals, or taken care of them. There's a lot to know, and not everything comes from a book. And why do you want to raise sheep anyway? Do you like the taste of mutton? Or do you like to spin and weave wool? You might be better off with meat goats. Basically, buy as much land as you can afford and then some. Start with gardening, maybe another year add chickens, and see how things go. If you have only lived in the city all your life, with neighbors 8 ft away, there are plenty of skills to learn. It can be done - but start slow and add things as you can. Nobody ever said that being a homesteader means you HAVE to have certain animals and do things a certain way. Raising your own veggies, fruits, and having chickens and eggs will help a lot towards being self-sufficient. Other skills will come with time. And even having a garden is really time consuming and a lot of work! Good luck, keep dreaming and saving, and buy as much land (or farm) as you can reasonably afford! You will never be sorry you own a big chunk of land.

[jenangelcat]

I wrote a post on some of my references on my blog if you want to check it out.

http://littlehomesteadinthevalley.bl.../01/draft.html.

[tinknal]

Bear in mind that there is no way to say definitively that it takes X amount of land to raise Y amount of food. There are way too many variables involved including climate, soil types, farming methods, outside inputs, etc.

Unless you plan to raise a large amount of grain you will need to buy feed for poultry and hogs. Unless you live in winter grazing conditions you will need to buy hay, or haying equipment. How much time will you have to devote to this? Will you work at or close to home, or will you spend 3 hours on the road every day? How hard do you want to work? Will you have any help (i.e., family, friends, hired)? Can you build barns, fix plumbing, erect fences, repair equipment, darn socks, and birth babies?

HT is a pretty good resource. Keep reading old threads and ask questions.

Good luck!

[Callieslamb]

I read everything I can. Mostly online though. You can get a LOT of info online. If not - try your county extension service. They often have publications that you can read that would be pertinant for your location.

There are gardening books galore. Keeping a Family Cow is a great resource if you want a milk cow. Then there are the Story guides ---- guide to raising chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, etc. I find them really good also.

I hope you realize your dream some day!

[bassflyrodder]

Here is a book we have worn out:

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-C.../dp/0912365951

Also youtube is a great source of information. You get to see both what works, what does not work, and ideas to improve what being done. Also there is no book that has all the answer you just have to do it learn from your mistakes and keep at it.

Good luck,

Pete

[Terri]

So VERY much of the answer depends on your climate and growing season! I have heard of someone in a wet, warm climate who had her cow on a 3/4 acre pasture year round that supplied her Jersey cow with MOST of her feed, but in Kansas you would need 2 acres to do that and you would have to buy ALL feed for 5 months of winter.

For a meat pig you need about 6 pounds of feed for every pound of live weight you grow them up to. I do not know what a breeding sow uses.

In Kansas you can grow about 7500 pounds of corn per acre but Kansas is famous for raising good corn, and pigs also need protien.

I cannot advise you for your state, I am afraid!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Don't be misled by the name of this book, as five acres is not enough, but there's good info in it.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...arm+management

[Alice In TX/MO]

Free eBook: How to Earn Extra Money in the Country

Ken Scharabok's ebook.

[SparkyMaine]

Yes, there are a number of books that have lots of information. Not many that I've read specify exactly what you can do on exactly how much land, though there are some with some general estimates. "The Backyard Homestead" is a fun and helpful book, with a little information on what you might be able to do with various sized plots.

I have 11 acres, and could very easily house all of the things you mentioned (cow, sheep, pigs, garden) in that amount of space. However, a lot of my 11 acres are not conducive to those sorts of things - I have some swampy areas, and no field, so there would be a LOT of work involved to get setup for a cow, and I'd still have to buy hay for the entire winter and more. Different people will have different opinions, but I would say that you can probably do all that you want easily on five acres, as far as space goes. But, if you want to be able to rotate pastures, have some wooded area for privacy/firewood, etc., something in the 10 acre ballpark would be reasonable. Again, this is just a general opinion, and VERY MUCH depends on a LOT of other details. And if you can, go bigger. Once you get spoiled with 10 acres, you'll want more!

[SparkyMaine]

The general point I meant to make (and forgot to) is that the number of acres is important, but what you can do on that number of acres also depends heavily on what you have on that number of acres. 10 acres of field is different than 10 acres of swamp is different than 10 acres of forest. Is it flat (easier to spread out) or is it very hilly (more interesting, but could be more difficult to use)? Does it have a water source? Are there any restrictions due to the location? etc.

[DWH Farm]

Storeys "Basic Country Skills" is a good book to check out.

[ronbre]

Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway (he has a web site but you can get it from a library) ..has wonderful information on urban permaculture gardening and forest gardening on very small lots and how to deal with the neighbor situation..read it you'll love it

[SparkyMaine]

Originally Posted by ronbre

Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway

My copy of this just arrived today, along with "How to Build Your Own Greenhouse" by Roger Marshall. Can't wait to start reading them!

[clovis]

Originally Posted by upnorthlady

I don't know that there's one book that will tell you all you need to know - just read everything you can. Go to the library and read up on what you can for free, first.

This is great advice. Read everything you can get your hands on. Your library will have more books on various topics than you probably realized.

[Old Vet]

There are many books that you can read but they only apply to that property.
Where I now live you can go a few miles and conditions change a lot. You can go from where 5 acres is enough to where 20 acres is close but not as good. And there are many things that only apply to one area. Thinks like mosquitoes or ticks.Nobody can give you an exact answer to what you asked but they can only give what they found about about their property.

[Patt]

Originally Posted by Old Vet

There are many books that you can read but they only apply to that property.
Where I now live you can go a few miles and conditions change a lot. You can go from where 5 acres is enough to where 20 acres is close but not as good. And there are many things that only apply to one area. Thinks like mosquitoes or ticks.Nobody can give you an exact answer to what you asked but they can only give what they found about about their property.

Good point! I am amazed at how much land varies just here in AR.

The big thing is read a wide variety of books, feel free to pop in here and ask questions as you are reading. You will get a wide variety of opinions because our land varies widely and so do our homesteading/farming methods. We read and visited friends places for 4 or 5 years before we bought this place and it took us 9 years here to get it to where it was paid off and self sufficient. So be prepared to take your time, the dreaming and planning is half the fun!

[MullersLaneFarm]

Starting Your Farm by Lynn Miller is good.

Ten Acres Enough by Edmund Morris is another very good reference book

You can read Ten Acres Enough online