How much of your own food do you produce?

[JHuff8181]

I'm working on expansion plans for my 2014 garden. I want to set some realistic goals for production. I was thinking of tripling the size of my garden and getting some pigs to help my prepare an area to maybe add a milk cow in 2015. I was thinking I could produce 40% of my families food needs.

What percentage of your family's food do you produce? How do you do it?

[jwal10]

There is just the 2 of us. Retired. We use raised beds, lots of compost and leaves to keep the soil protected at all times. Only disturb to plant. We have a small greenhouse and use hoops to extend our gardening season. No digging needed. We glean a lot of food from private timber co property, with their blessing. We have berries and some fruit trees. We raise goats for milk, meat and fiber. Chickens for meat, eggs and manure. Rabbits for meat and manure. And pigeons for meat. We hunt deer, elk, squirrel, turkey, raccoon and pheasant. Fish for salmon, perch, trout, bluegill and sturgeon. We smoke a lot of fish and meat. We buy very little food. We know where to find most of what we need. We buy tuna to can ourselves right off the boat and bought windfall peaches this year, cheap. We don't use coffee, tea, white sugar or pop. We dehydrate most of our own vegies for flavorings. We can a lot....James

[Homesteader]

Your plan sounds good to me! I guess I count ours food-by-food. We grew 100% of what we'll need in potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and eggs.

Have quail in the works (got too late a start and have to hatch our own breeders now), which could become 100% of our poultry needs if necessary, but will also hatch out some dual-purpose chickens so we will have a mix.

Since I had to give up all dairy, and DH only has a small amount of dairy that he ever eats, the goats are now pets, but IF that hadn't happened to me we would be producing 100% of our dairy needs.

During winter/early cold spring we grow 100% of our salad greens in tubs, with tubs covering them to prevent freezing. Cut and come again type lettuce, mustard, spinach, etc. Can't grow it after about April here, too hot. Could grow that inside under the grow lights though.

Maybe 25% of onion needs. Had wonderful peas this spring, but only enough for fresh eating.

As to how, well it's been hit or miss with us, but the main thing is we grew way more than we thought we'd need. Just the two of us, we planted 50 potato plants, 50 tomato plants. Two bags of those little onion bulbs.

We now have some fall potatoes and green beans growing, also corn, but the corn is iffy as we got it in so late. Even so, it's just a small little patch for fresh eating, not for any serious putting up.

We are upping our production a few small steps at a time. Health issues hit me hard and most things stopped for several years but as I have adjusted things are coming back.

The systems are there, the first years we did a lot of work, put in a barn, the irrigation systems (have to water in the desert). For this last Spring we added a grow light shelving unit which was wonderful. We used to grow up our seedlings in our styrofoam grow boxes and would still if necessary, but the shelves got those boxes out of the living room.

We also added a trellis "shade house" section which in the desert has been all the difference. Greenhouses get too hot too fast, it's actually the hot sun that young seedlings need protection from (and our winds) and this section right up against the house really did the trick!

We also built and fenced in four raised beds and sheltered them from the bad winds.

Next year we intend to expand the specific foods so that I can preserve more. We don't have the right climate for "root cellar" type preserving so dehydrating, canning and freezing is what we do.

[farmerDale]

We grow a lot of food that we eat. Ducks, turkeys, chickens, lamb, in the meat department. We are a family of six.

We can/freeze a lot of our vegetable needs. We grow wheat, barley, oats, flax, peas, and various other small grains for our own use, (comes with being a grain farmer! lol), and for animal feed for our critters.

The part I enjoy the most though, is gleaning from our land the wild plants and game we have available:

Hazlenuts, various mushrooms, saskatoon berries, raspberries, strawberries etc.

We harvest moose, elk, two species of deer, grouse, duck, geese, partridge. Each one of these animals could be shot from my front porch if the need arrived.

Nearby unpolluted lakes are teeming with walleye, perch, pike, rainbows, brook trout.

We have many, many meals where nothing is purchased from a store, other than salt, or pepper.

Our future plans include a couple milk goats, we buy our milk/milk products.

We are very blessed to do what we do, and to live in an area where so much is available, and so few people are competing for the supplies of food. BUT, winter is coming soon enough. If I could just shave a month off each end of winter, we would be blessed immensely. But then the people would come and spoil this wilderness...

[highlands]

We can produce all we eat, and we have done that sometimes. But we also enjoy luxuries like chocolate, bananas, oranges and such that just don't grow here. The percentage of how much we produce of our own food varies with how much cash we have on hand.

I make sure we can and are producing at least a portion of our necessities because I can always ramp things up to a higher level fairly quickly should the need arise. Developing the skills, soil, etc takes time.

It is important to understand the difference between need and want, between necessity and luxury.

[CountryWannabe]

We have produced all our meat for the last few years: beef, goat, lamb/mutton, chicken. We used to have pigs, rabbits and ducks but gave up on those. We use the milk from the goats for drinking and to make cheese, yoghurt and soaps. We get the eggs from our laying hens and we raise a few meat birds each year. We have bartered some of our meat with a friend for fish he caught now and then.

We have just moved to this place earlier this year, so maybe no garden here until next year. However for the last few years I have had a moderate garden and grown most of our vegetables - tomatoes, onions, garlic, shallots, peppers, eggplants, several types of squash, salad greens, cukes, okra along with a few melons, a couple of peach and apple trees (that were just starting to give fruit) and a few blackberry plants so if we had to, we could have gone a long time without a grocery store.

This year I am preparing raised beds for my garden (not getting any younger or less creaky) and they may be OK for some fall broccoli and sprouts, and some salad greens. I doubt my hoophouse will be up till winter or early next spring (critter housing to build) but that extends the seasons well an ensures that I get my summer veggies a good head start. Plus it gets less weedy, always a Good Thing.

This spring we got 5 fruit trees and a couple of blackberry and raspberry plants and got them in the ground. Next year we will finish planting an orchard. We will only have dwarf or semi-dwarf trees, as my days of climbing the old 30' apple tree are over.

There is only myself and DH here now, we are retired and trying (LOL) to take it easy as possible. Our grand daughter visits most weekends and is invaluable for helping with those chores that take a young back and strong arm. She is saving up for her visit to England next year, so this is a win-win arrangement.

I agree with Highland - we could pretty well manage with very little outside input, other than winter hay for the animals if we had to. But we are not purists. I like to be able to get a few wants when I want them.

Mary

[unregistered358967]

0.0001% so there's nowhere to go but up. We do have a small garden.

But I tried. I sent the HOA prez an email asking if I could keep chickens and she sent me back a one-word reply.

"LOL". I took it as a no.

[michiganfarmer]

realistically....probably only about a third.

We could produce enough to eat ONLY what we grow, but IM getting too lazy to cook every meal every day from scratch after being at the shop 12 hours. ...and we dont have a milk cow anymore so we buy all our milk, ice cream, and cheese.

We put up a hundred quarts of tomatos, 150 quarts of potatos, 50 quarts of green beans, and a couple bushel of onions every year, and we help my dad raise our beef and pork. We could do more, but the wife works 3 days a week at the hospital, and goes to college, and I work 5 days aweek at the shop. ...and of course there is all the house work.

[TnAndy]

About half or a little better. Couple of 1/4ac gardens, beef cows, pigs, chickens, catfish in ponds. Orchard and several types of berries. Building a hoop house now to winter grow greens,etc.

[NamasteMama]

We produce ZERO. I would love to start producing but until we move to our vineyard, this is not going to be possible. So for now we buy all our foods.

[Grumpy old man]

I bought 2 black Angus bull calves today from a friend in Ky and going for them early in the morning .I've been wanting his bull for a few years and he wouldn't sell him but he needed some quick cash and called me earlier today ! I've been after his bull for so long I kinda feel like Christmas came early !

[Dixie Bee Acres]

I really have no idea what percentage, but I know Que have easily produced all of our green beans and sweet corn for the next year. We have more than enough jam and jelly for a year, but had to buy pectin and sugar to produce it.
We get, currently, between 1.5 and 2 dozen eggs a day, and dont use anywhere near that much, but we do have to buy the chicken feed.
I am close to having a years supply of tomato sauce canned.
I am hoping to order a batch of cornish cross chickens in the next week or two and fill the freezer by winter.
Next year we plan on doubling our garden space, plant more fruit trees, and add a pig or three to our meat production along with chickens and turkeys.
With any luck, there will be at least 1 deer in the freezer this fall.
We also make our own egg noodles and a good bit of our own bread. Bread production should be increased soon as I am likely getting layed off from my job at the end of next week. But, i still have to buy flour and yeast to make the bread.

So, although we do produce a good fair amount of our food, i really have no idea what percentage, but the percentage will increase every year.

[hiddensprings]

we produce all of our meat (beef, chicken, pork) and hubby hunts so we have deer meat. We produce all of our dairy as well (cheese, milk, yogart, butter) and eggs. So, I have little time for the garden So, I barter with other farmers at our farmer's market. I've canned tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, fruit, peas, corn, etc. all from my friendly farmer friends and they've enjoyed chicken, pork chops, T-bones, cheese and eggs from me. I do grow garlic, mushrooms, chives, herbs, and do cooler weather veggies like lettuce, spinach, etc. We do buy flour, sugar, oil, and my Dr. Pepper and other things we can't grow and can't get locally.

[SilverVista]

We produce all of our fruits and vegetables except for a few canteloupe and watermelon in the summer, and napa cabbage (which I prefer to lettuce for salads) in the winter. We have our own beef, pork and lamb in the freezer. I had a milk cow years ago but with only two of us now, I would just as soon buy my milk from a neighbor and either make my own yogurt, butter and easy cheeses, or simply buy at the store. I buy wheat straight out of the combine from a neighbor whose farming practices I can see, and clean and grind it myself. At some point I'll get up the desire to butcher a bunch of chickens again, but for now that's another purchased luxury. Not necessary because of all our other meat, but something I love. The other sundry items necessary to an interesting diet that must be purchased, like sugar, salt, spices, vanilla, liquor, coffee and tea, olive and coconut oils, I try to purchase in bulk. We end up visiting the grocery store a couple of times a week for this and that, but if things get really tight, I have no problem living on what's on the shelves here for 3 or 4 weeks at a time. After all, lack of latte is really a rich folks' problem if taken in perspective, isn't it?

[Yvonne's hubby]

There was a time when I raised, trapped, or hunted pretty much everything I had to eat. That was no fun and probably not the healthiest move I ever made. My Yvonne and I still raise some veggies and I can and freeze a lot of stuff. Just put about 3 gallon of kraut in the freezer today. I can enough tomatoes to last us all year, have broccoli, peppers, cauliflower and sweet corn either frozen or canned, numerous jars of vegetable soup mix on the pantry shelves, pasta sauce and salsa enough put up for the year already. I would estimate we have produced about 90 percent of our veggie supply using conventional gardening methods in the past on about half to two thirds of an acre but due to my limited physical capacity have had to downsize that the last few years. When I was raising 3 kids it required 2 goats to provide enough milk. About 20 chickens every year kept us in eggs most of the time and meat when they quit laying. Lots of road kill has found its way into my freezers as well. I have never had any luck with onions in this area so I buy those at the farmers markets. Sweet corn takes more space and work than I can handle these days and so do taters, those are also farmers market items these days. We have a couple of "raised beds" now, about 8 x 40 each and a row of flower pots down one side of the deck, about 20 of them, no more plowing disking and planting conventional gardens for me. I scrounge "drops" for most of our fruit needs, apples, pears and the like from folks who have surplus. Grocery stores are good for flour, salt, sugar, spices, coffee and things that are not produced locally.

[Dixie Bee Acres]

Originally Posted by Less-is-more

0.0001% so there's nowhere to go but up. We do have a small garden.

But I tried. I sent the HOA prez an email asking if I could keep chickens and she sent me back a one-word reply.

"LOL". I took it as a no.

Sounds like its high time to get out of the HOA community

[randm]

Unfortunately very little, this is our first fall on the homestead. Last fall in the city I planted onions, garlic and shallots and our stock is about emptied. This weekend I plan to at least double that also plant enough greens to last us until the heat takes them next summer, peas and beets.

My first batch of chickens is finally starting to lay eggs. I am almost setup for meat rabbits. Probably going to do another batch of egg layers and thinking about some cornish hens. We also have a heifer hopefully she will give us a calf next summer, if its a bull we will probably steer him and raise it to weight and pack our freezer with beef

[Fire-Man]

Originally Posted by michiganfarmer

IM getting too lazy to cook every meal every day from scratch after being at the shop 12 hours.

Michiganfarmer, its according to how you set-up for your meals. When I was single, I cooked about every meal---rarely eating out. I have never been much on sandwiches. I did most all my cooking in my shop using A George Forman grill, a rice cooker, fry daddy, microwave, baker/broiler and a 2 burner hot plate. To prep my food I had a regular stove setup next to my garage door, a gas cooker and a big crock pot. About every month and a half to 2 months I would have a cook day. I would go to the grocery store early and get what I need(did not have freezers full of meat then like I do now), come home and start cooking/prepairing. I would put 3 cut up chickens in a big pot/with seasoning and get them to simmering. Put two boston butts in another pot. Get the big crock pot going with home-made soup. While all this was cooking I would cut up some leg quarters and put them in bags in serving sizes. I would get some big packs of ground chuck and I weighed and formed 8oz hamburger size patties and 12oz hamburger steaks. I got some steaks/pork chops and I put one steak per bag and usually 2 boneless pork chops per bag. All these were vaccuumed sealed and labeled. The meat would be tender enough to be deboned about this time and I would debone it and I put enough meat into ziplock bags for 2 meals, with enough broth for a cup of rice. I would let the crock Pot(soup) simmer for most of the day---then it was bagged into serving sizes. All this food went into the freezer.

Meals

Steak/boneless PC(George Forman(GF) Potato(microwave) Toasted garlic bread

Hamburger steak(G F), microwaved(baked potato) bread

Hamburger(G F) drop a hand full of french fries in fry daddy

Deep fried chicken and potato wedges(fry daddy) bread

Chicken bog using bagged chicken/broth (rice cooker) beans (hot plate)

Pork bog (same as above) would put hillshire sausage in both.

Homemade soup(hot plate) and saltine crackers

All these meals take only minutes of your time to prepare for the table, the ones in the rice cooker you do not even have to watch---it will cut off when ready. The hamburger/ hamburger steak/steak do not even have to be thawed before cooking on the George forman.


I would do things like 2 frozen biscuits in a baker broiler, toast garlic/regular bread, 1/2 of a pizza sometimes. It would take me about 5 minutes to cook a nice breakfast----bacon/ham, instant grits, eggs and toast. My Grown kids would come by some time for a meal and they knew my set-up and if I was working on something in the shop they would quickly fix a burger/steak/pizza etc.

Now with the wife with me, we do alot of this the same way but most all is set-up for two. We raise most all of our food on the farm(that we can), process our own meat. She cooks full coarse meals 2 to 3 times a week, the rest of the time we do as describes above.

Chicken/pork Bog is just pre-boiled meat(we de-bone) put into a pot with 2 cups of broth per cup of rice---we add sliced hillshire sausage----bring this to a boil, then simmer till done. The rice cooker will cut its-self off when done.

[TxMex]

If you want to really raise your garden production start keeping bees!

Back when I had a family I produced over 90% of what 4 people ate. I cooked 3 times a day and often fed up to 10 folks(farm workers) at least once a day. Of all the animals you can raise, a dairy animal will give you the most reward for your work....if you drink milk and eat cheese.

Now that it is just me and I lean towards the vegan side of being a vegetarian. I expect to be raising 80% of my food. If I would experiment with growing rice I could raise that percentage, but it is so cheap to buy that it just isn't worth my time to grow it. I also like to eat cool weather greens all year, so I am less efficient at growing my own now than I was when my diet was mostly meat, dairy products and potatoes.

[hippygirl]

We produce 100% of our vegetables...normally. This year, the weather just wasn't "right", so only about 70% this year.

The only time we've had to buy eggs since we started keeping chickens was the transition period between our first and second flocks.

As for meat, I keep saying "next year", but when "next year" finally rolls around, wrench meets gear box...but it's still my goal.