Holy information overload batman

Thank you for that very detailed background and other information Architect.

I'm far away from being able to live your life style, though it sounds beautiful. We live in suburbia with a few million people just around the corner

Your book list looks comprehensive, out of all of them which one(s) would be best suited to the casual hobby garden but could be used for self sufficiency if the need ever arose?

MD
I believe you've stated before that you live in an Urban Enviroment. If this is true I've seen videos on youtube for Urban Gardening and such. People have gardens in their apartment (Not just semi legal herbs, but food). Also I will have my EMT cert by the end of the Summer.
Again people grow carrots and such in Water bottles in their apartment and very limited space.

MM

I think I'll have to start and give you an update. I'm in a small urban home with a little land 1/8 acre, but I'll try some indoor stuff.

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

#2 The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour.

#3 The Backyard Homestead edited by Carleen Madigan

All should be available at your library for review before you buy.

This is a great idea. So few people think of the possibilities of producing food from there own land. Both of my parents grew up on farms and loved to garden - of course I helped and learned a lot. By the time I was a teen they bought a new farm to retire to.

Gardening is good exercise too. Even in the city, a 20 x 20 garden can produce a lot of food.

This is about the nicest looking chicken coop I have ever seen!

Thanks - an architect designed it, LOL. Its a little heavier than I wanted, but I can still move it by myself. As I get older, I think it'll take two people or a tractor to pull it around.

It looks pretty nice from the other angles (all covered with the same green metal panels with aluminum drip edges, etc).

I'd be embarrassed to tell you how much it cost us to build. It is a "Chicken Hilton" if you will.

Oh yeah, we're "organic" so no pressure treated lumber was used in the construction. I clad all lumber that comes into contact with grass or soil with lapped seam aluminum flashing. All aluminum and steel products are isolated in a way to prevent galvanic corrosion, etc.

The birds like it. They put themselves to bed every night at dusk, and the girls seem to love laying in the nest boxes. We have a couple of fake eggs in two of the six boxes, but all get used.

Our dominant rooster stands guard over the ladies while they lay in the morning. Its really sort of sweet to see.

Do you ever have a problem with your chickens exiting the compound? The chickens we had when I was growing up could FLY! We lived on 4 acres and they were allowed to free roam. They could easily fly all the way across the property. I have no idea what kind they were. They decended from fighting chickens.

Nice coop!

Yes, the WW2 English "victory garden" was an intensively planted food plot on tiny bits of land that kept people from starving.

The key to small parcel gardening is INTENSIVE design and seasonal rotation.

Our last house was in a suburb on 1/8 acre. My wife managed to grow fruit (cherries) and vegetables in the tiny amount of yard that was left over after the house, drive way, side walks, etc.

Our current (and last) home sits on 11 acres, and is surrounded by a few homes that have a minimum of 10 acres and as many as 18. Past those boundaries is endless miles of small homesteads, farm land, and government forests.

The cost of living on a rural organic farm is extremely high for us in terms of: travel time (I spend two hours a day commuting to work); travel time (its 35 minutes ONE WAY to a WalMart); travel time (my mailbox is 1.4 miles, round trip, from my house!); and so forth. This life we've chosen is HARD, and not for anyone less than 100% committed and driven.

How many chickens do you need in order to keep yourself supplied with meat and eggs?

The answer isn't a number of chickens. The answer is more complex...

- the selected breed's qualities (meat bird, layer, dual purpose)
- the breed stock quality
- the breed's behavior (good forager? Thrifty eater? Do the hens go broody?)
- forage quality
- supplemental feed quality and quantity

A good quality hen will give about six eggs a week when she is getting 14 hours of light per day . She'll slow done in winter and during molting.

Raising chickens for meat really isn't a profitable venture if cost is your only motivation. For that matter neither are eggs.

Our chickens are 100% organic so they were expensive over winter when the forage is thin. It cost us about $3.60 per dozen eggs in feed. However, I'd you don't care about organic the price drops of precipitously. Also, chickens are omnivores and will eat kitchen and garden scraps.

We have 8 laying hens and 16 pullets (female chickens less than a year old and/or not yet laying). The eight birds supply us with an average of between 6 and 7 eggs per day. When all 24 birds start laying we will be looking to sell eggs to family and friends who value free range, humanely treated, 100% organic eggs.

Now that forage is plentiful we don't have to supplement nearly as much.