growing 90% of your own food support group

Planters are every where. I have this one that works well

http://www.earthway.com/products/han...seederspreader

Small broadcast seeders come in different sizes, designs, carry, push or pull.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

When I plant a cover crop, I use the tiller.

I till, scatter the seeds, adjust the depth of the tiller to shallow, and till them under.

Some of the seeds will be on top and be lost, but most will be buried and they grow well.

I used the LDS food storage calculator to get an idea of how much to store and folow the rule of storing what you eat and eat what you store in the way of food rotation oldest out first it can get overwhelming at times as it is only the two of us but I also can expect our kids to come here if they need help

We are fortunate that we can have stuff coming form the garden almost year around. That helps tremendously.

As far as figuring food, we have a different approach.

Stuff like blackeyed peas, green beans, corn, etc, is frozen in 1 lb packages. 1 pound will make a meal for Karla, myself and the 3 kids. Then, 52 weeks in a year equals 52 lbs of each. Thats minimum. We shoot for half again that much if not double.

With potatoes and onions, its more of a storage problem. I'm working on that, but in the mean time, I will plant more and pick through them as the months go by . We are shooting for about 600 bulb onions ( we eat nearly an onion a day anyway ), and 400 plus pounds of red and white potatoes.

We havent really sat down and figured canned tomatoes and such, but when the time comes, we'll can or freeze all we can and see what it looks like.

Just put a hog in the freezer, have chickens, ducks and turkeys to go into the freezer. Eggs daily with more pullets coming along to fill in the gaps when the older hens slow down during molt.

The goats will kid about April, and then Karla will start the milking and yogurt, cheese and such.

It will be a work in progress here and then adjustments can be made next year, but that is always the case.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it; and I would 2nd the suggestion to create a separate forum for this and the idea of each of us starting our own personal blog in that forum with a link to the this main thread.

Attempting to be self-sufficient in the growing of our own foods is what I've strived for since we first purchased this land and set up living quarters on it back in 1995. The first thing I did was test the soil and give it what the ag dept said it needed to grow what I wanted on it.

I started with grass seed (New Zealand seed that is endophyte free) for pasture land for a small herd of dairy goats. (The dairy goats being for both milk and meat needs.) And I sprayed the rest of the acreage with cover crops (winter rye, lespedeza, hairy vetch & winter oats) that got tilled under each year.

Then I purchased chickens, geese and guineas...also for meat/eggs & tick control. (The geese are "weeders", which means they forage for their food all year around, as do the guineas; so our major food bill for the fowl was for laying pellets & cracked corn.)

Learning what is growing wild on these 6 acres has benefitted us a lot because, not only do we have fresh greens all year around, we also have some medicinal plants I'm learning to make use of.

All the bedding each late fall and/or early spring gets raked into the garden area to which they are all adjacent. The one thing I did NOT do well is composting. Though I have a huge composter that is easy to stir (just push the lever around and around several times daily and give it a little water), I've never been adequate in creating good compost in it...not yet! So this year I'm creating a 3-part area inside my veggie area for composting "on the ground". This will be a neat experience!

Then, after constructing all housing for the animals and fowl, tools & gardening supplies, I put up fencing around a large garden/orchard area and planted fruit trees (pears, persimmons, cherries, plums, currants), bushes (elderberry, goji, rugosa roses, blueberries) & vinyard (blackberry, raspberry, seedless grapes & muscadines). Also have a couple of Sugar Maples growing. Learning how to care for these was a pain in the xxx. (I'm a city gal born and bred with a country heart and no country experience; so I've learned to do what needs done on our homestead by doing and making every mistake in the book.)

Next came the vegetable garden with basics we use a lot of, i.e. snaps, corn, asparagus, squash, peas, okra, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers & a variety of melons. The herbal garden is something I just started experimenting with last year with mint, garlic, nettle, calendula, & oregano; and I've ordered 50 strawberry plants that should be showing up pretty soon.

This year I'm putting in a deep (2-1/2 ft above ground) bed for root crops (carrots, Irish potatoes, beets & onions...no sweet potatoes here because the soil for them needs to be more alkaline I believe.). I've already got the top soil off, which left a 2 ft hole (6' x 30'). I am putting in 4x4 all along one side then will put all our fallen tree limbs, old wood from the destruction of an old house we've been working on for years & the trunks of various trees David cut down. Then I'll put some goat bedding over all this and return the top soil (mixed with chicken manure). Of course the remaining 4x4s will be around the entire parameter by this time and some horizontal boards running all around for me to sit on while working the bed. (The working area of this bed will be 5' x 30' and I can easily work it from all sides; and the length of the 4x4s around it will permit me some options as to shade or even trellis if I want for some reason down the road...maybe running beans to feed the soil nitrogen.) At the end of this raised bed I have a huge Bocking 14 Comfrey plant that is pulling up nutrients for all around it. (I suspect this will be my only raised bed for this new year as it has taken a lot out of me to create it. However, root crops were about the only basic foods we did not grow ourselves; so it will save a bit of cash.)

I believe we are at least 75% self-sufficient foodwise now. If I can get a pond excavated I won't have to purchase sea food either, which will up this percentage.

My work room (14' x 18' in a corner of the barn that is under our loft) will be emptied this year and I will set up all my food processing tools in there, i.e. canner, dehydrator & juicer. Am also considering an area of this space for wine-making tools.

Up between the front gate and the state road is an area about 50-60 ft wide where I will use some of what I've taken off the old shack to create a road-side stand where select produce can be sold and/or given away. (The sign is going to read, "Take what you need. Pay what you can. And a little money box will be placed up there for customer convenience. I'm not going to worry about any type of theft.)

David is working on the herbal aspect more than I as he is creating extracts that are very, very strong and strictly organic. He worked a great deal with Passion Flowers this year and is hoping to set up a way to sell these for a little extra income. (A couple of drops of this extract will help me sleep like a baby all night long...and a glass of Passion Flower tincture thru the day will keep my nerves from jumping all over me....and best of all it is not habit forming nor with any negative side effects.)

Again, thanks for starting this thread and I am looking forward to learning from what others are doing to become more and more self-sufficient.

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

On the beans I just bought a package for m the grocery store. They did fine.

Around here, it's rather common practice to have a roadside stand with no signage besides maybe "CORN" or "PRODUCE", and a little mayo jar or some such. The customer decides what to pay and leaves it in the jar, if necessary helping themselves to change.

I'm planning to donate a lot of produce my first year until I can get a profitable outlet going next year. I'll have to look up town codes about produce stands.

A lot of work, yes, for sure. Regarding quantities, I found a fact sheet from the extension service that told how many row feet needed per person for each crop item listed. That was a big help in planning.

I decided to try to raise some meat chickens this year. I have a good start on Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds stock so I am going to start setting off some eggs early this spring. DH and I strategized the chicken yard additions and laid out plans for at least 1 chicken tractor! So glad he's on board with this! Anyone else eat the meat of these two breeds? They are awesome layers for sure, and sweet friendly birds.

Kale! I actually planted some this fall but then got sick and couldn't get out and water and take care of it so I didn't get a harvest. But I've heard that Kale is so very good for you so I want to grow and eat some!

Belle

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/beans.htm
http://www.localharvest.org/pinto-bean-seed-C6666
http://www.mypatriotsupply.com/Pinto...ds_p/pinto.htm

I just scatter mine on the ground. Didn't cover the seeds at all. Rain came, oats grew. This is my first time growing them so it will be interesting to see how much I really get. Good luck with yours

I broadcast the seen on loose soil, lightly raked over it and tamped it with my hoe. Then put a light layer of old hay on top and watered. I don't have too many bird issues in my garden because between me, the dogs and the cats, along with the ducks outside birds tend to stay away for the most part. One thing I have found when i broadcast pasture seed though is to do it in the rain, a hard rain is best. It somewhat drives the seed into the soil and at least gets it dirty and the songbirds tend to leave it alone for the most part. Yes, it really works. I lost 100lbs of rye seed one fall as the birds swooped on the pasture and cleaned up every stitch I put out. Anytime I put out seed in the rain on the pastures the birds leave it alone.

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Come visit Homesteading and Homekeeping at Whisperwind Farm

OH MAN! Thanks so much for these links!

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“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as a sorry state as the souls who live under tyranny." ~ Thomas Jefferson.

So, ya'll planting oats... how do you dry it? Do you thresh it? If you use the stalks for straw, how do you store that? I would like to plant enough to use the heads for food and the stalks for bedding/mulch. That's probably a lot... but I can probably employ some free labor i.e family

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“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as a sorry state as the souls who live under tyranny." ~ Thomas Jefferson.

I bought a book by Jackie Clay: she says she puts the grain in a child's swimming pool, puts on new sneakers, and walks on it to thresh the grain out.

Those of you talking about growing oats for food and feed, have you studied how to dehull the oats you grow? Critters can handle the hulls but, not so much in the kitchen.

In can be done for food use but there is extra work involved before you can do anything else with it.

Unless, you grow hull less oats.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

We have robins! I always heard that once robins reappear, that spring is right around the corner. Then right after we see the robins we have a winter weather blast of freezing rain and snow pellets. But the forcase is calling for 50 degrees again by Thursday. I am eager for spring. This 90% challenge has me enthused for the growing season.

Belle

My green house is finished. I have a bunch of plants I was starting inside in it now. Still some shelves and another table to go, but it is 100% usable right now.

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" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

If you grow regular oats then you will need to thresh. My oat patch was hull-less oats. The horse ate most of them but I did get a handful or two out of the patch that I saved for seed. I simply snipped the heads off and laid them on the dining room table for about a week. Seeds easily separated. The stalks I used for bedding in the goat barn. I didn't have much from my little plot. If I had had more I would have stored in the feed room on a pallet. My feed room has good air circulation.

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Come visit Homesteading and Homekeeping at Whisperwind Farm

When I look in pantry and rootcellar I have tons of stuff from here or very nearby . Flour , olive ( well ,any ) oil and citrus is a problem . I would love to grow and process wheat .

I have to go to work , 1 hr commute each way and five days a week with a second job on Saturday so my time is limited. I think extending the growing season with green house and cold frames would serve me best .

Had venison stew this weekend , eveything was from here except the wheat and yeast in the bread that went with it . Peppers , snow peas carrots , potatoes,tomatos , rosemary . It seems to help me realize what I need by looking at what gets consumed

How much experience in food production do you have?
How is your soil? What kind of fertilizer are you using? Do you have to buy it year after year?
We have not bought animal products in years, but we have to buy hay and feed in winter.
We also live in Ky. We just ate the last of the lettuce out of the cold frame. If we had to grow 90% of our food we would starve. We have worked very hard to improve our soil. Don't mean to sound discouraging.
good luck