<< Is your family food self sufficient ? If so I would enjoy seeing a
brief itemization of your total food consumption per year...
Have been for 24 years in the Delaware Water Gap area, then St Johnsbury, Vt,
Homer, Alaska and then Mt Judea, Arkansas.
Briefly, sometimes we purchased grains to grind or beans to eat and salt off
farm. Honey we also produced. It takes about 65 lbs to get through the year.
We also purchased olive oil from a farm in California in recent years.
Usually, we use our lard for our oil base. The acerage I mention has to do
with supplying all the fertility from on farm sources, livestock, legume
based rotations primarily. Includes perennial crops. There is no question
one generates a surplus, but it is usually in one category or another and the
land continues to improve.
I do not know if you are a vegetarian. I/we are not. And that may be another
discussion.
Best, Eric
The CSA that I mentioned provided food for 80 families for 24 weeks
from less than 7 acres of crops... we always had a tremendous surplus that
I took to a local food bank... I agree that my subscribers were not
being supplied with their total food needs... >>
Subj: Re:
Date: 97-11-10 23:50:54 EST
From: jgruv@wam.umd.edu (joel b gruver)
To: Erorganic@AOL.COM
Hello Eric,
The numbers that I included in my previous post are based on actual
yields/area on my families farm in MD... My family has 15 acres (less
than 1 acre in food crops) We currently grow about 75% of the food that
all family members eat... I am the only family member that is interested
in 100% food sufficiency and so until recently our plantings were not
designed to fulfil full dietary needs...we grew large surpluses of certain
items that we sold or gave away and our main cash crop was honey. I have
not gone a full year eating only home grown food but I am progressing in
that direction... I certainly believe that it is desireable to have land
that is not involved in production and with this in mind 10- 15 acres is
a nice size piece of land for wildlife habitat, recreation and
enough crops/pasture to feed a family of 5... but I stand by my assertion
that 1 acre can certainly produce enough calories and protein to feed 5
people comfortably... add 2 acres of woodlot to supply the 2 cords of wood
that we burn each year...
Is your family food self sufficient ? If so I would enjoy seeing a
brief itemization of your total food consumption per year...
The CSA that I mentioned provided food for 80 families for 24 weeks
from less than 7 acres of crops... we always had a tremendous surplus that
I took to a local food bank... I agree that my subscribers were not
being supplied with their total food needs...
Thankyou for your time...
Joel
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