Anybody here into self-sufficent food growing/Sustainable growing?

[Cascadia]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned John Jeavons Biointensive growing! His book "How to grow more food" is THE book to do what you're talking about.

As for 'homesteading' and sustainable lifestyle, there's a mired of books out there. I'm not at home now, otherwise I'd recommend a particular book that coupled with John Jeavons would give you almost every answer you could need.

I recommend the Book "Gardening when it counts" by Steve Solomon, a great book on creating a realistic strategy for growing your own food when the Super market shelves are bare. I also recommend another book by Steve called "Gardening west of the Cascades", a great book for veggie growers living on the west coast between the Puget sound and Nor-Cal.

 

[kenned]

Nice thread!!
I really think that kind of growing is the way to go...

 

[dubwise]

Cascadia- We lost a chicken last week due to a weak spot in our netting. This is our first time at it and 'dem cluckers are getting huge! We've also been trying to get information on "beef" goats. Last season our apples finally produced (after 5 years of growth) but they produced a massive amount of apples.

 

[dubwise]

anyone making honey?

 

[Tolpan]

Hey Brothers!

Nice to read. Hope one day to run my self-sufficient farm! Until mow I just produce some wine! Thats my passion, next to the herb!

I produce much more than I need

I'm doing everything organic and with respect for mother nature!

Cheers

Tolpan

 

[dubwise]

tolpan, what kind of grapes are you using? I started some last year, and am hoping that they will take off!

 

[Guest]

I've only been doing this 4 years and a lot of this was here when we bought the house from 2 master gardeners. Not only have I been able to maintain it but find I have enough in me to expand. I do need some help though. The Mrs. isn't into it at all.

I have the following in my place.... lot is about 9,000 sq.ft.

Trees dwarf apple all grafted hybrids.
Spitzenburg apple tree
Honeycrisp apple tree
Bing cherry tree
Rainer Cherry
Bartlet pear

Brambles
Thorn less blackberries
Marion berries
Raspberry
Raised strawberry planter

Concord grapes
Red Flame grapes
1 other grape that I cant remember the name of

Herbs, purslane, potatoes, tomatoes

I have two more raised beds and a 12x12 garden plot ready to plant in the spring. Amended this year and plant next. I think I',m going to do some companion planting out front in the flower gardens.

I spend 7-16 hours a week and sometimes 40+ a week beginning and end of season in the yard/garden.

This next season my goals are to get my compost tea brewer online. Got a new backpack sprayer for just the tea. I'm going to go from 3 compost bins to 6. Take my first step at lettuce, cucumbers, cabbage, and zucchini. Looking into amaranth.

 

[Cascadia]

Wow! Nice list there! Honey crisp apples are on my list.

 

[lordbudly]

I really like the idea of self sufficient living, but i have a few questions, how does one seperate chicken feces from the straw and other debri for fertilizer? is straight chicken feces how you go about? and then later after the plants have sucked up the nitrogen you make a chicken tea like you do with worm castings?Also what are some steps people do to amend soil? (add chicken and worm castings?), heres something else to ponder, making your own bone meal for flowering

 

[dubwise]

this is our first year with the chickens, actually had them for about three months, so I've not used the poop yet....so I can't help you with that.
Our apples were great this year. When it was time to change out my resevoir, I would pump it out to my apple trees, and they produced tons of apples, we have five green apple trees and canned 30-40 jars. I don't know if the leftover nutrients from the indoor grow helped out or not, but I plan on using the same method this year. We also have blue berries and strawberries, but not a bunch of success yet. I have a great deal of wetland to contend with, and the land that is not as wet is real tough clay. We're on 80 acres and plant more indoors then we do out.

 

[marali]

lordbudly. If you are after straight feces you really don't need much to make some strong fertilizer, so just pick some old feces out of straw or just get some aged or composted straw/manure and soak in water. Dilute heavily.

Beautiful thread. Perennials are the way to go! Fruit trees, nuts, berries etc. Then you just inter plant annual veggie beds in the system. I'm on half way there. Still have individual veggie garden, but i really have a good base for what i'm talking about.

Here are some topics that are making self-sustainabilty a peace of cake- permaculture, forest gardens, terra preta. Then there are a lot of topics about energy, but i guess they are part of the perma itself so no need to point them out.

 

[NiteTiger]

Depending on how you're handling your waste water, you could go back to the ancient times for inspiration on fertilizer. Urine was collected in a central basin away from the house that was surrounded by flowers (for obvious reasons). The basin was emptied regularly into irrigation ditches, and provided excellent fertilizer.

My solution in the self-sustaining house I'm planning is to install urinals and toilets. The urinals will be set to flush with a gallon of water, and out to the central basin.

Combine that with a compost bin, and I think you could provide enough fertilizer for quite a bit of food crops.

Another thought is that instead of composting your food waste, you could feed it to the pigs. Ever watch Dirty Jobs? There was an episode where Mike worked a hog farm, and they fed the hogs on the thrown out food from the Las Vegas hotels and casinos.

Hell, depending on how many pigs, you could even do both composting and slopping the pigs

Me, I'm planning on maybe a few cows, chickens, and goats. But I'll admit, I'm a pussy, and I just don't think I'd do well at the slaughtering and the butchering. Figure I'll have someone else do that and pay 'em with a bit of my harvests

 

[marali]

One of the most important thing is that a man does not own too much or any of the animals! He just make a habitat for them and let them be free.

Do not complicate things!

If we go back in time a man fertilized earth with his waste, not by collecting the waste but just doing it's "job" when he needed to. If you can go back to that in your life, that would be great.

Anyway, very simple waste management can be done. You can heat your house with waste, you can compost it at the same time (if you're eating food as it comes from earth without any process (cooking etc.)).

When it comes to sustainability, food can be the greatest trouble! Again, do not complicate things. Eat food as it comes from the earth. No need to kill animals, no need to cook or any other process.

 

[marali]

But I'll admit, I'm a pussy, and I just don't think I'd do well at the slaughtering and the butchering. Figure I'll have someone else do that and pay 'em with a bit of my harvests

If you can't do it yourself, don't do it. It's simple! It's a reason it's called self-sustainability!

 

[dubwise]

now that is self reliance! I don't think I am going to go that far. I sure do appreciate you guys and your enthusiasm.
We've got chickens and they are about 4 months old. They're getting huge! We've lost a couple to owls, but since, we've secured their habitat.
Soon, we will be getting a cow and perhaps a few goats. I know a butcher, so he'll do the slaughter.
NT & Marali-how do you know at what rate/mix you can use the urine at? I'm not crazy about the idea, but, if the use of urine in conjunction with compost can aid in me not having to by nutes again, I'm all for it!

 

[marali]

Well it's not really a quantity of it, more like the quality. Like everything in nature little goes a long way. Too much is not enough, plenty could be few. Add some into you compost piles, veggie beds, outdoor holes, worm bins, around fruit trees, use it as a foliar spray. it's not like, here is the amount you can and should use. every time with every different usage it's different. No numbers, sorry, but I hope you know what i mean. For foliars use very little, always dilute with water. On compost piles you can use more and you don't have to dilute.

I prefer using plants for fertilizers, they are great. You don't have to buy nutes at all, even if you don't use urine. If it doesn't work for you, don't do it.

 

[NiteTiger]

Dub - When you're using urine with Cannabis, you use at about 1 cup per gallon, so that's the ratio I was figuring when I said I'd have my urinals set to one gallon per flush

Marali - Yeah, I COULD do it. And I WOULD, if I HAD to, I just don't WANT to So, if things get hectic, yeah, I'll do it, but if I can just hook a guy up with some bud or some veggies, well...

But you can't go back to not fertilizing with our waste - we've always done it, just like every other animal

But, you're right, waste reclamation is only as complicated as you make it, and all of our waste products can, and should, be utilized. Have you guys read The Humanure Handbook (link is to the full book published free online)? Excellent resource on waste management and reclamation.

Question for you others considering self-sufficiency: Have you noticed yourself realizing how lucky we are? If you look at the incredible amount of things we use, just in food, that we can't self sustain? For instance, we take for granted we can get salt without a second thought, but in older times, salt was a highly valued commodity, because not everyone had a salt mine in their yard

 

[guest3589]

I grew a container garden last season. It was productive and fun and one hell of a lesson that's for sure. I plan on increasing my production over the next few years until I am giving a very large portion of our food.

What about rabbits for meat protein, I thought they would make a good candidate for sustainable farming? I'm thinking it may be a good idea to have an alternative to birds since there has been such a problem with avian flu and migrating birds.

 

[marali]

Avian flu is not your enemy. Toxins in your body via food etc are. You don't need meat protein. Babies need protein the most and they get it from milk of a mother if she is healthy. Older we are, less protein we need. Forget the food pyramid, its' the most fucked up thing ever invented by man.

Yes, rabbits are very elegant animals, especially suitable for self-sustainability. You don't need lots of them, you get lots of manure just from two rabbits alone.

 

[guest3589]

I support people who take the path of a meat free existence, however it's not a lifestyle for me, I'm an omnivore to the core. Your right flu isn't my enemy just something to think about and be prepared to deal with by having alternative livestock.