Ok so I am building Mid-Michigan SURVIVAL homestead, what is a SURVIVAL homestead? I think of it as a BOL with benefits, essentially a homestead designed around survival and self sustainability. Growing crops & livestock to feed my family completely or near completely from the property.
The house is nearly finished, just doing trim work now so I have to start planning the rest of the grounds and get ready for the next projects.
Currently we are there every weekend but during the week we are not able to stay there, however we can hire a hand to spend a couple hours a day there tending livestock or veggies during the week...the area is a bit depressed and it would not be difficult to find reliable help.
Here is the current inventory:
For sake of argument I am still working as is my wife and we do ok, so while money is dear to me it is not in short supply and I do not have to do everything on the cheap.
I have been investigating aquaponics, but it seems you cannot grow high calorie vegetables using hydroponics. However I could grow salad and feed it to rabbits....not sure if that is a viable efficient process?
Chicken and rabbits are kind of a given, I am really interested in growing food, but I want to grow calorie dense foods and partner crops correctly, I've got a lot of books some going back to the 20's on small farming, but I thought here might be some folks actually doing it and could share the love
I am thinking my next projects are going to be:
Current major crops I am thinking about are:
The house is nearly finished, just doing trim work now so I have to start planning the rest of the grounds and get ready for the next projects.
Currently we are there every weekend but during the week we are not able to stay there, however we can hire a hand to spend a couple hours a day there tending livestock or veggies during the week...the area is a bit depressed and it would not be difficult to find reliable help.
Here is the current inventory:
- Land 5 acres 2/3 is wooded 1.5 acres is tillable
- House 3 bedroom
- 2 wells, one shallow , one deep
- 24 x 32 pole barn
- 12x16 shed
- 8 x 10 xhed
- Kubota 4240 tractor, with 6ft tiller, plows, backhoe & loader
- 20,000 gallon pond with bluegill & perch in it
- 10ft wide x 1ft deep creek
- Solar power and diesel backup generator
For sake of argument I am still working as is my wife and we do ok, so while money is dear to me it is not in short supply and I do not have to do everything on the cheap.
I have been investigating aquaponics, but it seems you cannot grow high calorie vegetables using hydroponics. However I could grow salad and feed it to rabbits....not sure if that is a viable efficient process?
Chicken and rabbits are kind of a given, I am really interested in growing food, but I want to grow calorie dense foods and partner crops correctly, I've got a lot of books some going back to the 20's on small farming, but I thought here might be some folks actually doing it and could share the love
I am thinking my next projects are going to be:
- a greenhouse (how big, what style?)
- Root cellar (anyone have good plans?)
- Irrigation system
- Chicken Coup
- Rabbit Shed
Current major crops I am thinking about are:
- Potatoes (already grown here and the grow awesome)
- Dent Corn
- Winter Squash
- Various Dry Beans