2 acres of land

We have 2.5 acres. Here's the current lineup:
50' x 50' garden
Orchard of 14 fruit trees
approx. 60 laying hens, sell eggs
approx 12 muscovy ducks, sell extras
10 geese, sell extras
will be getting in 30 turkeys for Holiday sales
8 rabbits, home consumption
3 peacocks, all the hens went missing, down from high of 23
15 goats. 7 fainting with 3 kids, 2 boer and boer/cross, 3 kinder, sell pets & meat
2 pigs, one for us, one for sale
3 Highland cattle, 1 breeding cow, one almost 2 year old heifer for freezer camp and sale, one almost yearling heifer for sale
2 large but useless dogs
1 cat
1/2 acre, approx,, in woodland with a pond and stream
1 2-stall barn with loft
1 garden shed/well house/woodshed now rabbitry

It always sounds so small, 2 1/2 acres, but its amazing how much we can produce from it. All feed and hay is from local suppliers.

__________________
If angels existed, they'd probably be considered big game. (Don Swain)

Home schooling.........not just for scary religious people anymore. Buffy

If I only had TWO ACRES of land ~~~ I'd knock down the house & clear the land for tillage. I'd move in with the most amiable relative.Section off 1 acre for garden.Corn, potatoes, stringbeans,tomatoes,pumpkins & butternut squash(for pigger feed later in the year..etc,
The 2nd acre would be for poultry(meat chickens & turkeys/piggers. Have a sow. Rent a boar.Sell off piglets but raise up meat pigger.Also egg laying chickens.A few for my own use.),Shelters, fenced in areas.

Consider a sectioned off area for turkeys. Do not combine with chickens. The meat turkeys are good money makers.I buy my peeps in June for brooders in my basement x 2 weeks. Then move outside in turkey shed & yard to graze until November/ December. 17-25 lbs in Novemeber( all gobblers butchered in November. Only hens left in December which run 27-30 lbs.

meat chickens are also a good money making investment. Butchering at 8-10 weeks.

What do you see wrong with what I have? My town lets me "get away with it" because it is in the zoning regulations to allow me to have it since i have at least 1 acre. Of course rabbits, chickens and goats are the only animals I am allowed. Next street over (straight line 2 houses behind me) has horses and 2 goats.
Do not pass judgement when you have not seen our layout. There is no smell since i actually tend to the grounds and use the waste in a compost AND follow the regulations 100feet away from neighbors 65 feet away from the road.. All neighbors around me have at least 1 acre or more since we are all on private wells.
Oh and my neighbors do love me. But of course the ones who are rather close minded and have 3 acres of lawn are not fans. but they also have lawn service guys.
After all, they do not pay my mortgage or pay my bills. So they can bite me.

A is the mini orchard
B is the animal pen but extends more out to the north, 100 feet from the property line
C is the garden
Not all exact in size but gives the general idea

i wasn't passing judgement or questioning you.......you said you were semi suburban....and on one acre. consider yourself lucky...or i'm unlucky ,as our town would never tolerate that...nor would the neighbors. of course i'm in ny state.

Not knowing what part of the country you are in, it is hard to give definite suggestions.

But, I would have a garden (our 1/2 acre garden provides most of what a family of 5 ate), and berries and an orchard. Here's what can be done near Chicago on a city lot.
http://www.midfex.org/yale/intro.html

Chickens and bees are both good ideas. Rabbits, if you will actually eat them.

go to gardengirltv.com she has less than two acres and she has a wonderful set up!!!

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I've already been talking to DH about some dwarf trees. We love fresh fruit! Do they also have dwarf nut trees? Lunagardens, nice layout. Once we get our set up the way we want I'll try to post some pictures. Since I only have a little knowledge about raising gardens and almost none in animal husbandry, we're trying to start slow. I'm learning a lot from all of you here and am sure as we get deeper into this lifestyle I'll have tons of questions. Thank all of you for your patience.

Thank You!!! What you are doing is something everyone will (or at least should) do as prices of everything continue to increase. Alot can be done on less ground than you have. I >only< have around 1/4 acre but am using most of it for a garden (and DW flowers) and am going to add a tiny orchard.
This year I am starting back into farming different grain crops and maybe some veggies on some free rented land. It is owned by friends and need someone to tend it. Of course I will share with them gladly. Even though I am in an area that is farmed intensively there is lots of land available as the >BIG< so called farmers can not be bothered with small acreages. Good for me. The grain I will have I will store some, sell some and barter some for natural grown meat. My production will be naturally grown of course. Not looking for the biggest yield but the best quality...course good yield come along with that.
SO let the people with the big lawns pay to have them cut while they are off to the fitness center to work out...lol
We will keep growing our food and even have some fun along the way.
Tom

__________________
Tom Lavalette, Garden Farmer
Owner Toms Tractors, Buy, Sell, Trade Garden Tractors and Implements. Custom Built machinery by order.


If Farms were Smaller, Communities would be Closer.

Just put a wire fence around them. I see more danger from a ball or toy hitting a hive than someone just walking around them. I am putting in bees this year with a son that doesn't always learn quickly.....I am putting the hive right where I can see it from my windows and not where he normally plays.

You can really do a lot with two acres. In our last house, I grew a grape vine (just as an example) along a fence and man, after a few years, it gave me more than enough grapes to last us the rest of the year. Since it grew up and along a fence, it didn’t really take up any room at all.
We get them growing wild now where we live now and I love picking wild muscadine grapes and blackberries every year.

Anyone doing the New Alchemy tilapia tank/hydroponic veggie system?

__________________
Cindy in SW PA

We just planted 2 grape vines on our fence this afternoon. Hope it does as well as yours did.

I am making a full time living and raising a large family on two acres now. I started with 20k in capital to live on and invest in the farm I grossed 8k last year and this year I am going to gross 20k God willing. It is very diverse and becoming more so all the time, I find that I can stay busy especially with building hoop houses/green houses but really I wish I had a few more acres of pasture and a place to grow melons and squash growing the latter for 50% at my best friends place 15 miles away.

__________________
marching to the beat of a different drummer

Here's a plan for 2.47 acres. Inspired me, for sure.

http://www.carbon.org/microfarms/microfarmpage1.htm

That was a neat project thanks for the link

__________________
marching to the beat of a different drummer

working on ir right now...i just framed my greenhouse to put everything into

__________________
http://www.backyardtechnology.com/technofarming/

We also have two acres and I have found it's helpful to think "outside the box. Instead of flower beds around the front, side and back of the house I have planted herbs and low growing veggies that are relatively "trample-proof" from kids and dogs. We have a split rail fenced back yard w/ wire so this year I am going to try to plant some vine veggies or fruits. Installed trellis against the bare back yard wall and am planting beans. In the hanging baskets on the front porch I have more herbs and veggies. I am a huge fan of container gardening since it allows for flexibility.