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Thread: Getting real close!

  1. #1
    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
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    Smile Getting real close!

    By the end of this summer I will have My 28 thousand $ creidit card debt paid off. This took 5 years to accomplish!

    In the small town I live in chickens, bunnys, a goat or two are all on the agenda. I only have 1 acre so I was wondering if you kind folks could give a little advice on minumum requirements, for each. And minimun garden size,to feed a family of three. Tomatos,corn,potatos,onions and carrots is all I'm realy interested at the time.

    Or do you think I should sell the place for more acerage,as this really wouldn't be a problem. I just don't want to move If I don't have to. My boys are only 12 and 9 and I would hate to move them!

    I've been reading up on such things, but there's nothing like having advice from people whit first hand experience!

    Thanks in advance,....Later,Ted
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.


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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    Ted, I posted this book a while ago, then Rick put in a link to download it from rapidshare.

    http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=great+book

    It's a great book and has a section on what you can expect from a holding of different sizes. Might be worth a looksee.
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    BTW BD(before divorce) My ex and I had a garden of about 250ftx40ft. It provided nearly all the fruit and veg for the three of us, and we had a couple of Goats and some chickens too. The Goats were yard kept and taken for a walk every other day(causing a lot of near accidents) The chickens were in a moveable coop.
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
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    Thanks Winnie,..... Love your sig quote!
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.

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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    You're welcom Ted!
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

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    Grubbin fer food Durtyoleman's Avatar
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    Depending upon how much time you want to spend on your animals each day the ratio all depends on your primary focus of food and feed. Rabbits for example can be raised solely on grown and salvaged food but the more you have the more they will eat...how much planting do you want to do for them and how much for your family...true they provide many times the meat per acre as opposed to cattle butone does not want a meat diet of rabbit alone. If you started with two bucks and four does from different breeders/parentage you could easily grow all the rabbits you could feed in a short period of time and with careful record control manage the inbreeding. I currently feed mine a mix of store bought feed and home grown/salvaged produce (salvage being veggie scraps which I get from various local restaurant kitchens)... Were things to become too unweildy timewise or financially I would butcher half my stock to allow more produce for myself and family from the garden thus minimising expense of store bought feed. All animals require time input. My rabbits are low maintenance, I spend only a few minutes each day feeding and watering and an hour a week cleaning under and in the cages at most.

    D.O.M.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    It will take a LOT of land to feed a family of three if you expect all your food to come from it. You can certainly augment you food with a relatively small garden but it would take a lot of land to live off it and I'm not including grains for things like flour.

    That aside, I commend you for taking ownership of your finances and working to get them in order. No small task with a high interest debt.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I'll let those with more experience offer the advice you are looking for, but wanted to say WAY TO GO!!!!!! Getting yourself debt free, or as debt free as you can goes a long way in survival and sanity.
    Can't Means Won't

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    Senior Member Ole WV Coot's Avatar
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    Dave Ramsey would be proud of you. We raised most everything when I was a youngster and a minimum of 3 acres with a few stands of bees will go a long way. Cornbread, meal ground yourself is very good. Hominey, pickled, canned or blanched & cut off the cob and frozen goes a long way. Planting pole beans with the corn uses no extra space and beans can be dried, pickled, canned also. Most all stuff can be dried and learn what we call "greens" to make a tasty salad. You can make a big dent on your grocery bill with just a little planning & rotating. I guess a couple of hogs or even chickens might be frowned upon in town, gonna have to probably stick with early & late crops. Tomatoes can be stuck anywhere and the list goes on.......
    Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Here are some guidelines for companion planting and plants to keep away from each other.

    http://www.gardenguides.com/410-good...egetables.html

    This article has some good links to things like successive gardening.

    http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/373019

    I was assuming you were wanting to raise some protein such as chickens or pigs in my earlier post. That may have been a wrong assumption on my part.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
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    Thanks for the responses, as you can imagine I'll have plenty of cash on hand to get this rolling. The links, advice and encougment are appriciated greatly!
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.

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    Member madmantrapper's Avatar
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    Chickens are easy, you can find all the info you need at a website called "back yard chickens". They do not require much room. If you are in a place where you can not let them free range, feed cost will be more then if you can let them free range. You can sell excess eggs to offset feed cost. I planted corn in an area about 40' x 100' and had enough corn to supply the neighborhood (about 180 dozen). 20 tomato plants yielded enough tomatoes to supply for all our needs for a year +. I had 8 cucumber plants that yielded more then we could use, I was begging folks to take them. I didn't plant beans or peas last year because they are to much work to harvest for us. Cabbages do well and don't take to much room, also radishes and carrots.
    Example is not the main thing in influencing others it is the ONLY thing.

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    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
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    Thanks Mad Man! Great info!
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.

  14. #14

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    the bok mentioned and linked several times:
    due to violations of use the file was removed from the server

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    That's too bad. Here's another link. Ignore the flashing ad if it appears. The download is in the upper right hand corner. Enter the letters displayed and click download file. You'll have to wait 30+ seconds unless you have a premium account. But you'll be able to download the book. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7LRNME7P
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  16. #16

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    That's pretty good being able to pay off a CC with that high a debt in 5 years. Congrats!

    when I was young we raised chickens, hogs, pheasants, rabbits, had a milk cow and a couple horses and such on a small piece of land. Couldn't a been more than an acre or two. We had a good garden and some fruit trees too. No corn or grain as that could take up a lot of space. But, our place backed up to a few thousand acres of cornfield.

    Buying corn, taters, and grain is pretty inexpensive and I reserve my growing for more expensive, or stuff I'm more picky about, like maters and peppers, melons, squash, fresh greens, beans, peas, etc.

  17. #17
    Not a Mod finallyME's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Durtyoleman View Post
    Depending upon how much time you want to spend on your animals each day the ratio all depends on your primary focus of food and feed. Rabbits for example can be raised solely on grown and salvaged food but the more you have the more they will eat...how much planting do you want to do for them and how much for your family...true they provide many times the meat per acre as opposed to cattle butone does not want a meat diet of rabbit alone. If you started with two bucks and four does from different breeders/parentage you could easily grow all the rabbits you could feed in a short period of time and with careful record control manage the inbreeding. I currently feed mine a mix of store bought feed and home grown/salvaged produce (salvage being veggie scraps which I get from various local restaurant kitchens)... Were things to become too unweildy timewise or financially I would butcher half my stock to allow more produce for myself and family from the garden thus minimising expense of store bought feed. All animals require time input. My rabbits are low maintenance, I spend only a few minutes each day feeding and watering and an hour a week cleaning under and in the cages at most.

    D.O.M.

    Another thing with rabbits is that you can feed them weeds. During the warmer months, I pick dandelions from the yard and feed them to the rabbits. Then, when my yard is empty, I pick the neighbors. They eat other weeds as well. Sometimes, if there is a spot that has a lot of dandelions, I will put a small pen around it and stick the rabbit in. They won't eat the grass if there are dandelions. During the winter, I will buy a hay bale and give them a handful a day. They need roughage to help wear down their teeth. Feeding rabbits is real easy. If you live somewheres cold, three words...heated water bottle. They are worth their weight in gold.
    I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
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    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by finallyME View Post
    Another thing with rabbits is that you can feed them weeds. During the warmer months, I pick dandelions from the yard and feed them to the rabbits. Then, when my yard is empty, I pick the neighbors. They eat other weeds as well. Sometimes, if there is a spot that has a lot of dandelions, I will put a small pen around it and stick the rabbit in. They won't eat the grass if there are dandelions. During the winter, I will buy a hay bale and give them a handful a day. They need roughage to help wear down their teeth. Feeding rabbits is real easy. If you live somewheres cold, three words...heated water bottle. They are worth their weight in gold.
    Thanks fM!
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.

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