How much of your own food do you produce?

sriston · #21 09/13/13, 10:09 AM

We are a family of 10, and we have a 3 acre homestead. We produce about 95% of what we eat. We do it the old-fashioned way, which means working hard from sunup to sundown (and many times beyond sundown). I can everything we produce- too many power outages in our area to be dependent upon a freezer and refrigeration is sometimes "iffy". We buy very little from a store; we have learned to live without many things that people consider "essential" like bread and milk.

We don't have hoop houses or anything fancy for winter growing. Our winters are generally mild, so we have no trouble growing cool season crops throughout most of the winter.

Our meat supply comes from our poultry, waterfowl, and rabbits. We don't eat meat every day. We eat a lot of beans instead (easy to grow).

We hope to be able to obtain a dairy goat next year so that we will have a milk supply, but that may or may not happen.

It is hard work, and it doesn't always feel rewarding. Most nights we go to bed bone-tired and the rooster (our alarm clock) crows way too early in the morning. I wish I could say we do it because we love the homesteading life, but that wouldn't be true. We do it because we are dirt poor and if we want something to eat, then we have to grow it. This way of life (the hardscrabble life) is how it has always been for us, and for most other people in our area.

The main thing to remember is to produce things you will eat. It is of no use to anyone to grow oodles of beans if no one will eat them, or to raise rabbits for meat if no one is going to harvest and eat them. Every year we plant a couple of new things to try; sometimes we like it well enough to add it to next year's garden, and sometimes we don't, but it's fun to try new things.

SueMc · #22 09/13/13, 02:43 PM

We're 100%+excess on beef, pork, dairy, chicken, turkey and eggs. We have lots of extra milk and eggs, enough to feed daily to growing pigs. Probably close to 100% of canned green beans, tomato products, beets, carrots, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, jams and jellies. I'd guess we have enough potatoes, onions, garlic and sweet potatoes (hopefully as the sweets haven't been harvested yet) to carry us well into winter but gone before next harvest. We have 5 gal of honey, purchased. We don't grow grain at all so have to buy oats and wheat although we don't use large amts of either. We do grow and dry lots of beans. I'm sure I'd get tired of it eventually but I could live a long time on beans and cornbread. We also grow several herbs that we use.
We have an excess of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, red raspberries that we grew and have frozen. Black raspberries grow wild all around us. Our orchard and mini vineyard is young so we have gotten a minimum of apples, pears, peaches, plums, etc but are hoping for a bounty in the future.
We also have a stocked pond that we'll start fishing out of next year plus we live within walking distance of a major lake.
I hope to always be able to buy coffee, tea, salt and chocolate but guess I could live without them. Well, might have to find some way to get chocolate!

My goals are to add more variety to the garden, keep bees and continue to plant more fruit and nut trees. I've decided that if I plant a tree I want it to be something that will feed us and/or the animals.

CFarmerLady · #23 09/13/13, 04:27 PM

Can't do any of it yet, because we don't have our farm. But the plan is to eventually grow almost everything ourselves. We'll buy salt, pepper and sugar, but with the green house we'll even have the tropicals like pineapple, orange and banana, and our coffee and tea. We'll grow beef, chicken, pork and fish, and have our eggs and milk products, along with grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

J.T.M. · #24 09/13/13, 05:37 PM

We are not at the 100 % point yet but we are getting closer

These are my favorite kinds of threads

PS : Thats a leg of lamb

ChristieAcres · #25 09/13/13, 09:14 PM

Quote:

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

Around 90%, sometimes more or a little less. That is for the same reason already given; there is a difference between need and want for sure!

Our garden is 3,000+ sq ft of raised beds and now even more areas being used, have 23 fruit trees, perennial fruits (vines/bushes/plants), perennial veggies, and are into diversity (one never can count on the weather to cooperate for everything...). DH hunts and we both fish, crab, shrimp, harvest oysters, and also pick wild mushrooms every year. In addition, we harvest wild edibles. I try not to rely on the freezer, but can, dehydrate or ferment everything I can (ferment a low %). Kale grows all year around here, dying back when it gets below 30F (don't get weather too much colder, usually). We have chickens for eggs, have raised pigs, and can barter for anything we don't produce here (including milk).

k9 · #26 09/14/13, 07:39 AM

I wonder how many folks that are raising their own meat are also raising all the food for their meat? Or are they going to the mill and buying food for the critter?

J.T.M. · #27 09/14/13, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k9

I wonder how many folks that are raising their own meat are also raising all the food for their meat? Or are they going to the mill and buying food for the critter?

~ raises hand ~
On that I am 100 % on ...
Rational grazing for sheep .Free range for the geese , turkey and chickens .The chickens do get tricky in the winter but they are so easy to keep happy .The geese and turkeys pick the clover out of the sheeps hay .Its a nice system

But sadly for me , this will be my last yr. with birds

TripleD · #28 09/14/13, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire-Man

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.

Thanks Fire -Man. I'm having chicken bog tonight. When I moved to NC nobody up this way had ever heard of it. Used to live in Florence....

CountryWannabe · #29 09/14/13, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k9

I wonder how many folks that are raising their own meat are also raising all the food for their meat? Or are they going to the mill and buying food for the critter?

Previously, we were buying much of our animals' food. We now have 10 acres and have reduced the number of animals. The pastures have provided grazing and browsing since spring, with no further input so far, other than water. I **have** bought hay for the winter, plus whole oats to sow as soon as we get a run of rainy days. That should provide more grazing, though probably only an extra month or so. I have "standing forage" on approximately 2 acres right now, and the critters will be moved onto there while the oats are growing on the other pastures. I will probably have to give some grains as well as the hay while they are on that. I am hoping to not spend very much till winter. This is a new learning curve for me, so we shall see.

Mary

ronbre · #30 09/14/13, 10:09 AM

I had to replant my food forest gardens after a housefire and then some really bad droughts and weather damage..but my fruit trees and nut trees have begun to bear, I also had some older fruit trees that had been bearing all along.

We did have a bad drought this year..genearlly my gardens will supply all of our vegetables and most of our fruit for the year, however this year we lost a lot of our crops..but fortunately our neighbors had some abundance and other people also..so we are able to get what we lack in most cases.

we don't raise farm animals here at this time (my husband says no) but there are people in the area with milk and with eggs and some meat is available as well..locally..but mostly we generally in a good year will supply all of our own fruits, vegetables and a good percentage of our nuts.

jwal10 · #31 09/14/13, 11:38 AM

We raise small animals for our meat, much easier to keep and use. I make a little meadow hay and barter my oats. The big game shared. We have great friends and family, so we trade back and forth as needed. We do not have a freezer here. We find we don't need one. We own one, it is at the family home, DD lives there. Things put in it are excess to us and are for others to use to keep waste down. Fresh and in season saves us a lot of work and cost. We can for use 2 years in advance, in case of a bad crop and to have just in case something happens. We eat it to keep it rotated. We have done this so many years we have a system. Just keeps getting less and less because we are only 2, now, and the kids have their systems up and going. We dehydrate so much these days, people do not use this as much as they should, great flavors in normal size, rehydrated, but so good as a powdered mix. A lot is made year around from fresh and stored vegetables. The fresher, the better....James

CAjerseychick · #32 09/14/13, 12:05 PM

Not much, because we work in town and dont have to.
However, what with finally getting our garden in, realizing we have a couple mature fruit trees (its a new place) and having gotten in another couple trees, and having a flock of hens that are dual purpose and doing well laying as well as hatching out their own chicks....
I feel we are starting up our set up to do more home production when and if we have to....(or whenever I can just get the dang cars paid off and cut back some at work)....
Still deciding on our meat sources-- we are going to have to have something other than tough old laying hens to eat-- and so will our other animals....
cats are doing pretty well hunting their own meat/ rodent control-- but our pack of dogs will need something too...

Fire-Man · #33 09/17/13, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k9

I wonder how many folks that are raising their own meat are also raising all the food for their meat? Or are they going to the mill and buying food for the critter?

I raise most of my feed for my animals. Probably about 3/4ths. Mainly corn which I grind and mix in store bought protien supplement. They also get fed out the Big garden. The hogs get turned into pasture area too. The chickens and rabbits get alot of their feed year round out the garden.

7thswan · #34 09/17/13, 08:10 PM

I picked this after I got home this afternoon. Really, I could do this all season long,with different harvests ofcourse. It all depends on your soil, how much you plant, and the different produce you plant.I do have a hoophouse and greenhouse(made from salvage,both). I have 30+different fruit trees, 4 diff. grapes 3 diff. rasberrys,blackberrys,blueberrys,herbs prenenial foods and much more for just the 2 of us. Thing is I just am a gardener and like to grow things, so go from there.We do also raise our meat, but still Dh likes to shop and buy,so I cook. If it was just me,I could eat out of a jar and be happy.

EGDwalker · #35 09/18/13, 02:28 PM

At our house we are just trying to get back to the earth any way we can do it. We have a very small lot and therefore a small garden. Just recently our town said we could have chicken hens, big victory for the Backyard Chicken movement. We live in a difficult area to raise food, it is 100% sand. But we have raised beds. I like to look at what people did historically. People farmed, fished, hunted, foraged and traded for what they needed. We are next to the ocean and sound, lots of fish and crabs. Hunting is also an option if you can locate the nocturnal deer and they are not on the local golf course. Since we can't raise enough I spend a lot of time at the produce stands around our towns. Just trying to do it, I think counts for something. You have to start somewhere. I try to encourage people to get started with a lot of beginner articles on my blog.
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