Questions about small acreage homesteads

[i_am2bz]

I'm reposting this as a separate thread, since I was inadvertently highjacking someone else's post - sorry!! :/

Okay, you guys asked for it!!!

First of all, just to throw a monkey in the wrench...I'm a vegetarian so no rabbits for me. I already have 4 hens, who do provide more than enough eggs. Hmmm, a goat. That has possibilities (for cheese & milk), will have to check with zoning....(altho my entire family already thinks I'm nuts for having chickens...sometimes trying to be SS is a lonely business).

I have a small garden with tomatoes, peppers, cukes, onions, & lettuce. (The broccoli died, ) My biggest problem is our land is entirely CLAY (North Carolina, where nothing grows but tobacco & cotton), so we actally had to truck in decent soil & put it in a raise bed. How could I manage that on a larger scale...?

I have 1 pear tree, which has about a dozen little pears on it right now, & 1 apple tree with NOTHING. I would LOVE to grow more fruit, and have some nut trees. I've read they're hard to grow (nut trees). I would dearly love to grow strawberries, but also read they're hard to grow. Any suggestions there would be appreciated.

Oh, & a good share of the back yard is the septic system, so obviously I couldn't grow trees there.

So, how do I it?? I'd love to see pix of other small-acreage homesteads out there!!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm no expert on this, and i'm definitely not a vegetarian. Our plan includes a wide variety of meat sources.

However, something i have just recently learned about purple hull peas might be helpful to you. First, if they will grow where you are (and i have no idea whether they will), they produce like mad. You can pick them for weeks and weeks, then till them under, and they'll come back up and produce some more. Their fruit is very tasty and very healthy and a good protein source.

Also, i learned that these peas help improve the soil by adding nitrogen and other goodies.

I was thinking they might be a hope for growing them on a non-raised bed. But i don't know for sure.

Also, i would think that honey bees would be a good thing for you (and everyone really). Having a healthy sweetener that you could also sell or trade for things like flour, etc., would be very nice.

Those are just my thoughts.

 

[emilosevich]

I haven't had a problem with growing strawberries. The hardest part I have found is keeping them where I want them. The plan now is to get them in a raised bed of their own. Our's is putting off shoots like mad. DH has the shoots in pots waiting for the raised bed and the mother plant still in the ground. Can't wait until I can get strawberries next year. Yummy.

 

[pioneergirl]

I agree with Punkin.....if you could find a crop that will produce well, that you can actually EAT, then turn under that really improves that clay, you could take care of 2 things at once. Maybe even crop rotation in sections would help improve the ground. If done in small parts you could have a decent patch to work with in the end. I've heard of many people getting the dwarf fruit trees, putting them in pots on wheels, and getting great fruit that way.

Keep in mind that bigger doesn't mean better. One cucumber plant as I'm sure you know produces A LOT! lol I would just say start with small patches of your garden spot and try amending the soil a little at a time, that way its not so overwhelming. And if you do it with natural amendments instead of chemicals, all the better!

edited for spelling

 

[freemotion]

I am not a vegetarian, but do eat many meals that are ovo-lacto vegetarian now that I have goats and pastured chickens.

Some things to consider....If you can have goats, you will have lots of compost. This can be used to creat new raised beds each year if that is how you will go with the gardens. As long as you can add three inches of rich compost, you can grow most things without fertilizer. Having raised beds will conserve your precious compost, too.

If you have access to a truck, you can also get horse manure from local stables. Someone will give it away for free. Horse manure is mostly bedding materials, though, mostly wood shavings (pine) so it takes some time to break down. You will need a larger contained pile unless you have equipment to turn it with. I had three piles going for years when I had a horse, so there would be one finished pile, one working pile, and one new pile. It was/is all contained with fencing and is about 16' x 24'. Big by many standards, but we have really improved the soil on most of our small acreage in a few years, with very sandy soil that sucks down the compost.

Now that I don't have the horse, I ask the neighbors to save their lawn clippings, etc, for me and I mulch with it or add it to my compost pile. Either way it feeds the gardens.

As for dairy goat, ask yourself first if you can sell kids every year and if you can handle some going for meat. In my area, it is not realistic to think that every boy goat will have a home as a pet. Your area may be different, but each doe must be bred yearly and will produce 1-3 kids per year. If you are relying on milk and eggs for the protein of your diet, you will need more than one doe, most likely. One is not enough for us, and we are not vegetarian. I hope to breed three this winter, two will be first fresheners. I wish I had three big milkers right now! I could use every drop.

 

[emilosevich]

As for dairy goat, ask yourself first if you can sell kids every year and if you can handle some going for meat. In my area, it is not realistic to think that every boy goat will have a home as a pet. Your area may be different, but each doe must be bred yearly and will produce 1-3 kids per year. If you are relying on milk and eggs for the protein of your diet, you will need more than one doe, most likely. One is not enough for us, and we are not vegetarian. I hope to breed three this winter, two will be first fresheners. I wish I had three big milkers right now! I could use every drop.

I kind of have to disagree with this. If you look for a goat line that is bred for milk they do not necessarily have to bred every year. I have a goat that will go almost 2yrs on her lactation and I've heard of many homesteaders who do this. You are correct that it has to be looked at realistically though because when bred not all babies can be kept especially when working with small acreage. On our two acres we keep our numbers down to around 5 and do not breed every doe every year. Luckily we have a large hispanic population over the summer and have an outlet for extra baby goats when needed. Nigerians are a smaller goat and their babies are much cuter. This combination generally makes them easier to find homes for.

 

[freemotion]

It really depends on the goat, so I was speaking in very general terms. I plan on milking my Mya through this year and seeing how long she will go for me, as she didn't want to dry off with her last pregnancy. She was still easily giving over two quarts a day well over a year later.

Not all does will go that long, and production will drop. But it is better than nothin'! And gives the doe a break.

So we do actually agree...it is not possible to put all my ideas in a couple of paragraphs! But I sure try!

 

[Buster]

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre, by Brett L. Markham.

 

[Lady Henevere]

There are ways to amend the soil and have it work better for you, it just takes time and knowledge. I highly recommend Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture -- lots of wonderful information about how to build the soil through composting and the use of certain types of plants.

 

[i_am2bz]

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre, by Brett L. Markham.

Awesome! I see this book recommended with another one on backyard homesteading (can't remember the name now) on Amazon.com. Thank you!!