Homestead diet plan

unregistered168043 · #61 04/07/12, 02:50 PM

Lorichristie, I don't think I'll have milk on the menu. I've considered goats but I really would prefer an animal that can be raised on pasture only ( self reliance ). I don't want to buy feed at the store, I have an economics background and I can't getaway from that mindset. Its all about inputs vs outputs. I don't want to end up paying as much for feed as I would pay for food at the supermarket. That really defeats the whole purpose for me.

I'm trying for self reliance, so even buying fertilizer and manure gets under my skin and I'm trying to cut that expense as much as I can. What I need is a manure machine. A nice beef cow or two that can live off my pasture in summer, and get penned up during winter living off my hay and producing manure for spring planting. Maybe a few goats can do that too, IDK.

I'm thinking about a crop rotation cycle that includes green manures (legumes). I'm also considering cutting way back on the corn and going with hulless oats. I think it is a more economical crop as the N requirements are much lower than for corn.

I agree about choosing a wide variety of fruits and veggies. I also use the 'shot gun' approach...throw enough manure against the wall and some is bound to stick, LOL. I have alot of BB bushes too, and planted raspberries this year. IMO homesteading is the greatest occupation, the most challenging and the most rewarding when you get it right.

ChristieAcres · #62 04/07/12, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

Lorichristie, I don't think I'll have milk on the menu. I've considered goats but I really would prefer an animal that can be raised on pasture only ( self reliance ). I don't want to buy feed at the store, I have an economics background and I can't getaway from that mindset. Its all about inputs vs outputs. I don't want to end up paying as much for feed as I would pay for food at the supermarket. That really defeats the whole purpose for me.

I don't plan on buying feed... My best friend and I were discussing that very subject and she said that everyone has become too conditioned to thinking that critter food must be purchased, pointing out exactly how were goats and other critters fed when there was zero commercial food for them... There is where Texican has made a good point, growing feed to supplement pastured critters. I worm using Garlic & Rosemary, had worm free yummy pork that resulted...

I'm trying for self reliance, so even buying fertilizer and manure gets under my skin and I'm trying to cut that expense as much as I can. What I need is a manure machine. A nice beef cow or two that can live off my pasture in summer, and get penned up during winter living off my hay and producing manure for spring planting. Maybe a few goats can do that too, IDK.

There is plenty of info online and in books on raising critters without buying commercial feeds... You just choose what your property can support and grow what is needed (carefully researching just how much is required).

I'm thinking about a crop rotation cycle that includes green manures (legumes). I'm also considering cutting way back on the corn and going with hulless oats. I think it is a more economical crop as the N requirements are much lower than for corn.

I prefer composted chicken manure, also rotate, and use green manure crops. If you raise pigs, for example, they defecate in a small area. That will be much higher in Nitrogen, and will support corn... I don't consider corn a food, myself, but growing it for a "treat." When you hear about the Indians burying fish, under the corn, that is true & highly beneficial. There is a use for fish waste...

I agree about choosing a wide variety of fruits and veggies. I also use the 'shot gun' approach...throw enough manure against the wall and some is bound to stick, LOL. I have alot of BB bushes too, and planted raspberries this year. IMO homesteading is the greatest occupation, the most challenging and the most rewarding when you get it right.

You said it! Right now, I can have a lousy year for orchard fruit, yet still have plenty of fruit. If everything produces, we are flat loaded with hundreds of pounds (not sure how it measures out in bushels) of orchard fruit (pears, apples, cherries, figs, etc...). That is in addition to all the other vine fruit we have. A mature Kiwi vine can have thousands of Kiwi on it. Exaggerating? Nope, we had 2,300 Fuzzy Kiwi produced on the female Kiwi on our last property (her 3rd year producing). They start off with less than 100, but produced prolifically in graduated numbers after that (providing they get high Nitrogen, and have a water ground source, not just watering). Kiwi can't ripen here, so you pick them in November, store them in the fridge, take them out, let ripen on the counter, as you want them. I sold 100s of them! Our current female Kiwi, should be bearing this year. Each year, I have added more varieties, but am going for broke this year. That means it will slow down, and finally be focused on yearly annual crops, maintaining all the perennial crops, in future years.

City Bound · #63 04/08/12, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texican

The "Tragedy of the Commons" I think would prevail...

During the Great Depression, all wildlife disappeared here in three months. It was the mid fifties before the State agreed to restock wild game...

Fish and Game disappear right now... at the end of hunting season, it's slim pickins.... Let "Law and Order" disappear, and the SHTF, and I'd guess all game would be gone within a week. There are a lot of high tech gadgets hunters use to track game... that and a spotlight, and it all disappears.

Well, that is why I said the elders of the family form a council, the council discusses and democraticly decides what is best for the land and the community, and there are rules. One of the rules is that each family gets a quata on how much game and timber they can harvest from the commons. As a group the council declares what they believe to be their turf, and they defend it. Every one in the Pack can use the commons in accordance with the council rules. The rules of the commons are never out of step with the needs of the community because the rules are made by and for the community. The famlies form a malitia that patrols and portects the commons. poachers are killed.

Poeple could do this now and have a better life (except for the part about killing poachers hahaha). Five families buy there own homesteads ajoined to a massive track of land that they all chipped in equally for. Imagine five families with their own privately owned homestead and then access to mutual support, bartering, and the resources and game of 1000 acres of raw wilderness.

City Bound · #64 04/08/12, 08:39 AM

Darn green manure is a great idea. Rabbit manure is great and those little guys put out a LOT of poop.

compost tea and seaweed tea are good fertilizers and they can be made with small amounts of material.

you can get by without milk. I have a mild alergy to milk so I do not drink the stuff. I have gotten by without it for a decade.

oregon woodsmok · #65 04/08/12, 10:00 AM

[[[[.......the resources and game of 1000 acres of raw wilderness......]]]]]

I'm curious as to where you think this 1000 acres of raw wilderness is located where there is no one who owns it and protects it and 5 families can poach at will and chase off everyone else who comes near.

City Bound · #66 04/08/12, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

[[[[.......the resources and game of 1000 acres of raw wilderness......]]]]]

I'm curious as to where you think this 1000 acres of raw wilderness is located where there is no one who owns it and protects it and 5 families can poach at will and chase off everyone else who comes near.

up in some foot hills, way up, it gives you an up hill advantage and it is difficult for people to get up there. People live in the himalayan mountains, the farm up there, have animals, and many areas are very difficult to get to.

Why, do you think it is impossible?

BobbyB · #67 04/08/12, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edcopp

I planted jelly beans last year, but they never came up. Hope I can learn how to do it.

They are like blue bonnet seed. You have to scratch the hull a bit so they can germinate.

Pony · #68 04/08/12, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by City Bound

up in some foot hills, way up, it gives you an up hill advantage and it is difficult for people to get up there. People live in the himalayan mountains, the farm up there, have animals, and many areas are very difficult to get to.

Why, do you think it is impossible?

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find such land in the States. Not that such land does not exist, but as has been noted, there are those who already own it.

I also think that competition for this type of land - as a squatter or poacher or even legal owner - is going to continue to increase.

BobbyB · #69 04/08/12, 06:32 PM

Right now, we couldnt go 100% . I believe we could get as high as maybe 50% this year with some planning. We could probably get to 75% or better in a couple of years. But we will have to buy salt, black pepper, coffee, tea, and flour or bread. I couldnt grow enough wheat due to the dry conditions.

And those same dry conditions would stop us from ever getting to 100%. Most dryland farmers in this area will tell you that you get 1 good growing year in 3. In the 17 years I have lived here, that is pretty much on the money.

City Bound · #70 04/08/12, 08:38 PM

darn, sorry for sidetracking your thread.

I think your idea is awesome and i hope you will post a thread with the results of the experiement and the lessons good and bad that you learned.

unregistered168043 · #71 04/09/12, 07:04 PM

Thanks CB, I'll be posting about it, from the planting and prepping stage to the end. Whats really got me worried is this dry weather. It hasn't rained good in weeks. People are talking about a dry hot summer maybe even drought. Since much of my crop land lays outside of my water source, that could be trouble. We usually get lots of rain though so it hasn't been a problem before.

oh well, keeping my fingers crossed.

unregistered168043 · #72 10/03/12, 07:48 AM

UPDATE:

OK guys its time for an update. My plan was to work hard all summer and grow 100% of my food by October. Sorry to say that I fell absurdly short of that goal. I could blame the dry weather, which definitely played a role, but the truth is I met a woman and spent the summer courting instead of hoeing.

I went swimming with her at the creek when I should have been hilling, took her to dinner when I should have been fertilizing, and even went away on a trip with her when I should have been harvesting and canning. Life is funny sometimes...

I did get SOMEWHERE with my farm though...my chickens, mostly left unattended, hatched out some 20+ chicks and me and my girl incubated about 30 more. I finally got sheep...mostly cause she thought they were cute, but its the beginnings of a small herd. I'm building a barn ( mostly so she can put her horses there ), but I'll also have a place for my sheep and some cattle next year.

Just so ya know, I'm not giving up on my goal of 100% food independence, BUT I guess I judged some things were more important this year

jwal10 · #73 10/03/12, 08:59 AM

I knew it would be a tough row to hoe. Thanks for being honest about the outcome. Because of this post, I set my limits and am holding true so far. I do barter for things (bananas, tuna, actually quite a bit, really) and gleann all I can from the timberland around me (I back up to private forestland that I have permission to be on. Most of the fruit and nuts come from there, Mushrooms and berries. I fish and hunt all over Oregon. My Son helps with the off grid cabin property with bigger garden, he lives mostly off that too. I have a small garden, greenhouse and hoops here (90% of our vegetables comes from this). I have 3 rabbit does, 4 hens and 3 pygora goats. I have yellow perch in the greenhouse and a farm pond with bluegill and large mouth bass. We can, dehydrate a lot and freeze a little. We buy very little food (a few things that we don't grow) from the store. Pineapple, canned chili beans, hominy, pork and beans, etc. A few paper products and clothes....James