single mama homesteading to live?

BelleWithBoots · #1 04/28/15, 12:26 AM

Hey there guys, I am a 27 year old very recently single mother of three, 6 & under, I am living on our recently purchased home on two acres for now. And my ex is giving me some child support which will cover the mortgage and a few bills but not much more. Like childcare and food. I am in school to become a nurse and then hopefully a midwife after that. I'm still playing with options to cover childcare (sense I have no family around) such as renting out a room, If I can find someone, maybe while i work an evening shift, but food is another issue. About any day job I can get without my degree is gonna pay minimum wage and barely cover the childcare (for 3) for it plus gas.

So my question is this? How feasible is it to feed my children almost entirely off my homestead and what is the best way to do so or what else should I do for cost efficiency on food and feed ;-)

I just put 150 lbs of Cornish X rocks in the freezer and am getting about 1/2 a gallon of milk a day from my older alpine doe (also have two mini nigis I'm gonna breed) and i have a flock of 26 chickens, half of which are laying and most of which are hens ;-) 4 ducks (gender split, maybe?) & 6 rabbits that I'm attempting to breed for food. Oh yeah and a boerboel and two cats to feed, LOL

just talked my kind neighbor into plowing up a nice size garden plot for me which is late but I want to get whatever I can going asap. I also see a piglet and bees in our future, but for now, what is the most best way to feed my children off of my homestead as much as possible for as long as possible? Any tips or advice? Thanks!
-Christie & the three ducklings :-p

Bellyman · #2 04/28/15, 09:29 AM

Definitely get that garden going. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots have been really good to us when it comes to the amount of work required vs the food we've gotten off of them. Many times, green beans can be very heavy producers and pretty easy to process, either canning or freezing. Other kinds of beans or field peas would probably do well for you in GA. Squash, tomatoes, onions, peppers, sweet corn, all good. Broccoli, cabbage, greens of various kinds...

Start with what you like to eat. What do you buy at the grocery store? If you can grow what you like to eat, it really makes a difference.

Good luck!!

ihuntgsps · #3 04/28/15, 10:30 AM

Many single parents in your situation can get some form of welfare (food stamps or child care assistance).

It may not be what you want to do but I would imagine it to be a great crutch to help you by until you finish schooling and can find a good paying job.

I am one that feels our welfare, disability, etc, systems are flooded by people that don't really need them but based on your post you sound like exactly the type of person that could use them temporarily to get back on your feet and better your situation.

I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors!

Nimrod · #4 04/28/15, 10:59 AM

Go on Craig's List and buy a used freezer. I got one for free and paid $80 for another. Grow as big a garden as you can and freeze as much as you can. You need to feed the kids during the winter too, ya know. It's always a good idea to have as much extra as possible in case next years harvest fails. A freezer also lets you stock up when the grocery store has a special.

Have a pantry. Again, stock up when the grocery has specials. Buy what you are going to use anyway and rotate. There is nothing wrong with canned or dry food that is beyond the best by date. These are usually a great buy. Don't worry if the food in your pantry goes past the date.

Take a firearms safety class (cost here is $15) and learn to hunt. A rifle for deer hunting is a few hundred dollars for a used one. Maybe you could borrow a rifle from a neighbor? You are hunting for meat, not sport. If baiting is legal then buy some corn and put out bait. Shoot them when they come to the bait. A deer or 2 for the cost of a hunting license will feed the family all year and is very economical. You are going to have to learn to butcher a critter but it sounds like you would for the domestic animals you will have. It's not very cost effective to pay someone to do your butchering.

You will learn the skills you need. Don't get discouraged if you fail at first.

Good Luck

**Terri** · #5 04/28/15, 11:05 AM

26 chickens? Do you sell the eggs, then? You either will need to sell eggs or cut the flock down to save on feed costs. I found that 4-6 hens were enough to provide my small family with eggs.

For the garden I would look first at what your children like to eat: mine liked cherry tomatos, peas, potatos in the form of oven fries (these are easy), raw bell peppers, and so forth. I would start with what your kids want. The FASTEST harvest is from salad greens, radishes, and turnips but if the kids do not want them then there is little point in planting them.

Bread machines can be bought with $10 at the Goodwill store, and bulk yeast can be bought for relatively little at King Arthur Flour. That is an EXPENSIVE place to shop for most things, but their yeast is way cheaper than the little packets at my grocery store. One pound lasts me a year or more.

By the way, we ate an orange bell pepper and as soon as I cut it up I planted the seeds and put them on a windowsill: I got a very good stand so now I have a lot of free pepper plants for the garden. Buying plants is faster but it is still chilly out here, so not too much time was wasted.

And, I am rooting slips from a sweet potato I put in water.

hippygirl · #6 04/28/15, 11:21 AM

Your location says west GA, but is that northwest GA, west central GA, or southwest GA? I'm in east central AL, right on the AL/GA line...the distances between those areas, even though seemingly insignificant, can have a big impact on what you choose to plant and, most importantly, when.

In my area and, of course, in my opinion, the biggest bang for the buck (warm weather crops) is from field peas (purple hull, blackeye, crowder, etc), green beans (pole or bush), okra, squash, cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes. You can get a lot of good meals out of those crops alone.

Corn is great and I love it (a LOT), but it takes a lot of ground to really produce enough for the freezer (for us, anyway), so I don't waste my space on it...when it starts coming in, we buy/eat it fresh and enjoy it while it lasts. Same goes for lima beans.

Cool weather crops (early spring and fall) offer the opportunity for cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, greens (turnip, mustard, lettuce, etc), beets, carrots, potatoes. For me in my area, those can be hit or miss due to wild weather swings...I've grown some of those well into April and even into early May, only to lose some of them the next season due to freak hot spell in March.

ihuntgsps · #7 04/28/15, 12:46 PM

we plant lots of tomatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, etc. and it definitely helps a little budget wise but does require a time/material commitment.

I always wonder how people can grow all they need for their family and manage a job/etc.

I enjoy growing as much as possible but would guess I could spend the same amount of time working somewhere, instead of raising the garden, and buy 4 x's what I harvest.

I applaud your effort to take care of your family and further your education.
I wish we had many more people like you in our part of the country.

DLMKA · #8 04/28/15, 01:53 PM

I would avoid messing with any animals until you are done with schooling. Focus on that first, it's the most valuable thing you have going and nobody can take an education away.

Do a garden, big as you think you can manage, get some neighbors and pool time and resources and share the harvest. That is where you're time and money will be most productive with the biggest returns. Livestock is expensive to feed and when it comes right down to it raising animals for meat, milk, and eggs is more expensive than the store if you're buying bagged feed or buying hay.

Get the education taken care of and then mess with the other stuff once you start working as time allows. I can see you getting in over your head and everything suffers.

pudgypete · #9 04/28/15, 03:17 PM

If you can find a resterant or bakery to get wast food pigs are great to feed on the cheap. My neibor works at a daycare and brings two 5 gallon bucketts of slop home to me every day. All he asks is some sausage when Hamhock goes to piggy heaven.

DLMKA · #10 04/28/15, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pudgypete

If you can find a resterant or bakery to get wast food pigs are great to feed on the cheap. My neibor works at a daycare and brings two 5 gallon bucketts of slop home to me every day. All he asks is some sausage when Hamhock goes to piggy heaven.

But all that takes time. Time that could be better spent in a garden, studying, or taking care of kids and the house.

FarmboyBill · #11 04/29/15, 07:58 AM

Id say forget the freezer and buy used jars and can your produce. Will save hundreds over a year in electric bill, More time consuming tho I admit.

Bearfootfarm · #12 04/29/15, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pudgypete

If you can find a resterant or bakery to get wast food pigs are great to feed on the cheap. My neibor works at a daycare and brings two 5 gallon bucketts of slop home to me every day. All he asks is some sausage when Hamhock goes to piggy heaven.

Did you know that is illegal unless you cook it first?

trulytricia · #13 04/29/15, 09:57 AM

Keep your eyes and ears open to free food. Since moving to this county, a year has not gone by that someone hasn't offered me fresh garden vegetables, if I will come pick them. Fresh good rabbits, squirrels [people who needed to kill them in their yards] fresh roadkill [good venison] and also meat that has been in their freezers for a year [still good, you just need to use right away] they want to unload because they are going hunting in the new season. Even old food out of someones freezer that you would not eat might be just fine for your animals, saving you a little money.

I would not want you to antagonize your friends or family of coarse, but if you think they are game tell them they can bring any stale food or scraps to feed your chickens. I went to visit my son and we cleaned out his cupboards of old food, cereal, chips, and high quality almonds and walnuts that were stale. All good animal food.

There is a kind of network going on around here. You might just need to let people know you are willing. But also be ready to say no if the cost of travel is higher than the value of produce.

Bellyman · #14 04/29/15, 11:32 AM

Good point about people willing to give stuff away. During the glut of the summer, it's often possible to find some produce either free or nearly so. My dad almost always had boxes of squash set out along side of the road with a "free" sign on them because he had too much. And he used to comment that there were things like green beans that he was glad for anyone to have... but they'd have to come and pick them. So stuff like that does happen.

Last year, even though we had plenty of our own tomatoes, there was a roadside stand that we passed by all the time that had "seconds" tomatoes, ones that had some blemishes and weren't going to last more than another day or two for like $2/bushel. Would have been just fine for making sauce. Not free but better than grocery store prices.

Good luck!

k9 · #15 04/29/15, 12:08 PM

wow, thats a full plate.

puddlejumper007 · #16 04/29/15, 12:20 PM

i agree with DLMKA, do not get in over your head,,give it time...when i was in nursing school it was my whole life, and i was blessed with a husband that took care of the kids.. go slow,

wendle · #17 04/29/15, 12:40 PM

If you do have the time I would try to raise some kind of animal for meat, or hunt. The cost of meat is so high, well along with everything else. Another high priced food is fruit. If you haven't already, get some fruit trees started. It doesn't take very long for them to start producing well. I started out just buying one or two a year when they were on sale. I have been a single mom living on the farm for about 10 years now. I do have an off the farm job though. You can do it!

han_solo · #18 04/29/15, 12:44 PM

I don't know if this would help or what you want but some churches here will have a free meal once a week.

Forcast · #19 04/29/15, 01:48 PM

lots of good ideas. I took in a girl from church to rent a room for $200.00 a month in exchange for childcare help. She had to buy her own food. I have found that animals cost me more to keep, then if I just bought the food they would make from the store. even chickens.
Social Services have programs to help you get jobs, training,food stamps, a stipend when your in school, childcare. I would for sure look into that, it just might be a safety net that you need. What about the ex helping with the kids in the evening when your in school and or working?

ET1 SS · #20 04/29/15, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

Did you know that is illegal unless you cook it first?

Three days old roadkill is great for pigs.

But; milk that expires in three days, day-old bagels, vending machine sandwiches in the plastic clam-shells, grocery store pastry [cakes, cupcakes covered in sugar frosting], school cafeteria baked beans, apples and oranges; must all be cooked again, to transition it from people food into pig food.

I have a herd of pigs. Tell me how any of that makes sense.