A Few Quetions

kevin537 · #1 05/02/04, 12:27 AM

Hey Every One I'm New At This But Want To Learn A Easier Way Of Life Have A Few Questions
1.is One Acre Enough Land For A Family Of 4
2.would Like To Know How To Make Our Own Soap

cowgirlone · #2 05/02/04, 01:12 AM

Hi Kevin, You've come to the right place!
First of all, Welcome to the forums!!

Some of the posters have been doing great on less than an acre.
As far as soap goes, are you wanting a hand soap, laundry soap, dish washing soap, etc.? We have the recipes for all of the above And we're happy to share!!

Jo · #3 05/02/04, 02:45 AM

Hi and Welcome.......the library is a wonderful sourse of information.....
With planning you can do a lot with 1 acre.....you didn't say what kind of animals you wanted to raise?
Gardening can be done in pots and you can use less space by growing vine crops around corn stalks. Let us know more ......people can share their ideas.

Balancedmom2003 · #4 05/02/04, 06:09 AM

Hi Eric, you might want to pm Mrs_Stuart...... They live on 1 acre and do alot! Goats, ducks, rabbits, chickens, pig and have a good garden. I have been chatting back and forth with her. She also knows about making soap! Give it a try!

Michele

**Cabin Fever** · #5 05/02/04, 08:56 AM

1 acre...hummmm?....kinda depends what local ordinances, covenants and zoning restrictions that you'll have to live with. Really, 1 acre isn't much larger than a big city lot. You could have neighbers closer than 75 feet away.

Ken Scharabok · #6 05/02/04, 09:15 AM

Keep in mind more and more areas are imposing restrictions against certain formerly common activities, such as free-ranging chickens or require a minimum acreage per larger livestock. Check what the local restrictions are. Just because you see the guy next door doing it, doesn't mean you can. They may have grandfather rights.

Ken S. in WC TN

Sarah J · #7 05/02/04, 10:53 AM

Hi Eric,

One question that I'm not sure anyone has asked is this: do you live in the country? Do you live in town? Are you looking to move and just want to know how much land you need?

I deliberately moved out of the city five years ago...we had an acreage at the edge of town - almost two acres. It was beautiful and perfect. But there were only two acres. We were not allwoed to keep any agricultural livestock (including chickens) without 5 or more acrea...the neighbors across the road had horses and a cow...you get the idea. If we'd wanted, we could have applied for a waiver of that rule - petitioning the neighbors (who really couldn't have cared less!

), asking for a "hearing" at the council, etc...would have taken a year and we're reasonably impatient people.

We bought an acreage on the other side of the state - almost 4 acres, one acre of it is tillable farmland, almost an acre is concrete from an old cattle lot. So really, we have almost 3 acres since there's only so much you can do with concrete.

I have a family of five total...three pre-teens who are *really* starting to eat me out of house and home and we go through a gallon of milk a *day*...VERY glad I have milk goats this year. But in this small amount of land we've planted over 50 trees for an orchard, maple sugaring, and other purposes. We have oats growing this year in the farmland area and will be planting clover next year for our new bee hives. The garden provides about 7 months worth of food for us, and we are butchering our own free-range chickens and the male goat kids we have...I got a bottle calf this year as well as a sheep...the sheep has expanded into three and then I bought three bottle lambs to use up some of the excess goat's milk and fill our freezer in the fall, too.

With all that on three acres, I'm pretty certain that you can do a LOT on one acre...but it all depends on where you are, what the regulations allow, and what you *want* to do with it.

Start slow or do it all at once, however your budget allows. But follow your dreams!!!

Sarah
(spinner, soap and lotion maker, weaver, dyer, cheese maker, and general all-purpose farm wife)

kevin537 · #8 05/02/04, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowgirlone

Hi Kevin, You've come to the right place!
First of all, Welcome to the forums!!

Some of the posters have been doing great on less than an acre.
As far as soap goes, are you wanting a hand soap, laundry soap, dish washing soap, etc.? We have the recipes for all of the above And we're happy to share!!

I'M LOOKING FOR HAND SOAP FIRST THEN IF I DONT BLOW MY SELF UP THEN I'LL TRY THE OTHERS

kevin537 · #9 05/02/04, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jo

Hi and Welcome.......the library is a wonderful sourse of information.....
With planning you can do a lot with 1 acre.....you didn't say what kind of animals you wanted to raise?
Gardening can be done in pots and you can use less space by growing vine crops around corn stalks. Let us know more ......people can share their ideas.

I AM PLANNING ON GETTING SOME CHICKENS A FEW GOATS ALREADY HAVE THREE RABBITS AND SOME MORE ON THE WAY.AND ON ONE SIDE OF MY PROPERTY I HAVE A SPACE OF ABOUT 100X75 THAT I PLAN ON GARDENING ON.

kevin537 · #10 05/02/04, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balancedmom2003

Hi Eric, you might want to pm Mrs_Stuart...... They live on 1 acre and do alot! Goats, ducks, rabbits, chickens, pig and have a good garden. I have been chatting back and forth with her. She also knows about making soap! Give it a try!

Michele

THANKS FOR THE INFO HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH HER.

kevin537 · #11 05/02/04, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

Keep in mind more and more areas are imposing restrictions against certain formerly common activities, such as free-ranging chickens or require a minimum acreage per larger livestock. Check what the local restrictions are. Just because you see the guy next door doing it, doesn't mean you can. They may have grandfather rights.

Ken S. in WC TN

WHERE WOULD ONE CHECK ON THE LOCAL RESTRICTIONS AT.

#12 05/03/04, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevin537

WHERE WOULD ONE CHECK ON THE LOCAL RESTRICTIONS AT.

Local county court house would be a good start - they generally will most always cover state regulations as well. If you are within a town or city limits, need to check with the city office as well - often called a planning commission or some such.

A side issue tip: In the old days of the internet, when people got mad at each other they would type in all capitol letters to show they were screaming & yelling at each other. As well, longer messages are more difficult to read when in all-caps. You might consider taking off the CAPS key. It tends to turn some people off.

--->Paul

januaries · #13 05/03/04, 12:08 PM

I've recently started making soap--it's so much fun! I made some just this weekend. There's a lot to learn, but the basic process is very simple. You can get good information on the internet if you weed through all the pages that are selling things. If you like, PM me with your email address and I'll be happy to share some simple recipes and directions with you.

Mrs_stuart · #14 05/04/04, 10:32 AM

We are just outside of city limits and we do not have restriction. Missouri is pretty easy goin on the restrictions. We do have neighbors pretty close to us and that is why we put up a fence. We also share our eggs, milk, garden goods and meat so that we can "keep the peace". We do try to be a good neighbor but we do have one neighbor that doesn't like our animals and She is welcome to move, she lives in the "country" and like i said, We really try to be a good neighbor because of it. (and she never turns down my pork each year or my cantalopes, or my eggs for that matter). and I always say, there is always worse things out there...like the house up the road that has not been taken care of by renter after renter and is never mowed and has broken windows and is not painted neon lime green.....I say you make due with what you have and do it well and things will turn out fine and do fine.

Belinda