Everyone will have a different approach to keeping a self-sufficient homestead, and itās unlikely that any two 1-acre farms will follow the same plan or methods or agree completely on how to homestead. Some people like cows; other people are afraid of them. Some people like goats; other people cannot keep them out of the garden. Some people will not slaughter animals and have to sell their surplus stock off to people who will kill them; others will not sell surplus stock off at all because they know that the animals will be killed; and still others will slaughter their own animals to provide their family with healthy meat.
For myself, on a 1-acre farm of good, well-drained land, I would keep a cow and a goat, a few pigs and maybe a dozen hens. The goat would provide me with milk when the cow was dry. I might keep two or more goats, in fact. I would have the dairy cow (a Jersey) to provide the pigs and me with milk. More importantly, I would keep her to provide heaps and heaps of lovely cow manure to increase my soil fertility, for in order to derive any sort of living from that 1 acre without the application of a lot of artificial fertilizer, it would have to be heavily manured.
Raising a Dairy Cow
Cow or no cow? The pros and cons are many and various for a self-sufficient homestead. In favor of raising a cow is the fact that nothing keeps the health of a family ā and a farm ā at a high level better than a dairy cow. If you and your children have ample good, fresh, unpasteurized, unadulterated dairy products, you will be well-positioned to be a healthy family. If your pigs and poultry get their share of the milk by-products, especially whey, they likely will be healthy, too. If your garden gets plenty of cow manure, your soil fertility will continuously increase, along with your yields.
On the other hand, the food that you buy in for this family cow will cost you hundreds of dollars each year. Compared with how much money you would spend on dairy products each year, the fresh milk supply from the cow plus the increased value of the eggs, poultry and pig meat that you will get, along with your ever-growing soil fertility, will quickly make a family cow a worthwhile investment. But a serious counter-consideration is that you will have to take on the responsibility of milking a cow. (For different milking plans and estimated savings, see Keep a Family Cow and Enjoy Delicious Milk, Cream, Cheese and More.) Milking a cow doesnāt take very long ā perhaps eight minutes ā and itās very pleasant if you know how to do it and if she is a quiet, docile cow ā but you will have to do it. Buying a dairy cow is a very important step, and you shouldnāt do it unless you do not intend to go away very much, or unless you can make arrangements for somebody else to take over your milking duties while youāre gone. So letās plan our 1-acre farm on the assumption that we are going to keep a dairy cow.
1-Acre Farm With a Family Cow
Half of your land would be put down to grass, leaving half an acre arable (not allowing for the land on which the house and other buildings stand). The grass half could remain permanent pasture and never be plowed up at all, or you could plan crop rotations by plowing it up, say, every four years. If you do the latter, it is best done in strips of a quarter of the half-acre so that each year youāre planting a grass, clover and herb mixture on an eighth of your acre of land. This crop rotation will result in some freshly sown pasture every year, some 2-year-old field, some 3-year-old field and some 4-year-old field, resulting in more productive land.
Grazing ManagementĀ
At the first sign the grass patch is suffering from overgrazing, take the cow away. The point of strip grazing (also called intensive rotational grazing) is that grass grows better and produces more if it is allowed to grow for as long as possible before being grazed or cut all the way down, and then allowed to rest again. In such intensive husbandry as we are envisaging for this self-sufficient homestead, careful grazing management will be essential.
Tether-grazing on such a small area may work better than using electric fencing. A little Jersey cow quickly gets used to being tethered and this was, indeed, the system that the breed was developed for on the island of Jersey (where they were first bred). I so unequivocally recommend a Jersey cow to the 1-acre farmer because I am convinced that, for this purpose, she is without any peer. Your half-acre of grass, when established, should provide your cow with nearly all the food she needs for the summer months. You are unlikely to get any hay from the half-acre as well, but if the grass grows faster than the cow can eat it, then you could cut some of it for hay.
Intensive Gardening
The remaining half of your homestead ā the arable half ā would be farmed as a highly intensive garden. It would be divided, ideally, into four plots, around which all the annual crops that you want to grow follow each other in a strict crop rotation.
An ideal crop rotation might go something like this:
āāGrass (for four years)
āāPlot 1: Potatoes
āāPlot 2: Legumes (pea and bean family)
āāPlot 3: Brassicas (cabbage family)
āāPlot 4: Root vegetables (carrots, beets, and so on)
āāGrass again (for four years)Ā
Consider the advantages of this kind of crop rotation. A quarter of your arable land will be a newly plowed-up, 4-year-old field every year, with intensely fertile soil because of the stored-up fertility of all the grass, clover and herbs that have just been plowed-in to rot with four summersā worth of cow manure. Because your cow will be in-wintered, on bought-in hay, and treading and dunging on bought-in straw, you will have an enormous quantity of marvelous muck and cow manure to put on your arable land. All of the crop residues that you cannot consume will help feed the cow, pigs or poultry, and I would be surprised if, after following this crop rotation and grazing management plan for a few years, you didnāt find that your acre of land had increased enormously in soil fertility, and that it was producing more food for humans than many a 10-acre farm run on ordinary commercial lines.
Half-Acre Crop Rotation
Some might complain that by having half your acre down to grass, you confine your gardening activities to a mere half-acre. But actually, half an acre is quite a lot, and if you garden it well, it will grow more food for you than if you were to āscratchā over a whole acre. Being under grass (and grazed and dunged) for half of its life will enormously increase the half-acreās soil fertility. I think you will actually grow more vegetables on this plot than you would on a whole acre if you had no cow or grass break.
Tips for the Self-Sufficient Homestead
A dairy cow will not be able to stay outdoors all year. She would horribly overgraze such a small acreage. She should spend most of the winter indoors, only being turned out during the daytime in dry weather to get a little exercise and fresh air. Cows do not really benefit from being out in winter weather. Your cow would be, for the most part, better if kept inside where she would make lovely manure while feeding on the crops you grew for her in the garden. In the summer you would let her out, night and day, for as long as you find the pasture is not being overgrazed. You would probably find that your cow did not need hay at all during the summer, but she would be entirely dependent on it throughout the winter, and you could plan on having to buy her at least a ton. If you wanted to rear her yearly calf until he reached some value, you would likely need a further half-ton of hay. I have kept my cow on deep litter: The layer of straw gets turned into good manure, and I add more clean straw every day. I have milked a cow this way for years, and the perfect milk made good butter and cheese, and stored well. Although more labor-intensive, you could keep your cow on a concrete floor instead (insulated if possible), and giver her a good bed of straw every day. You would remove the soiled straw daily, and carefully pile it into a muck heap that would be your fount of fertility for everything on your acre.
Pigs would have to be confined in a house for at least part of the year (and you would need to provide straw for them), because, on a 1-acre farm, you are unlikely to have enough fresh land to keep them healthy. The best option would be a movable house with a strong movable fence outside it, but you could have a permanent pigpen instead.
The pigs would have a lot of outdoor work to do: They would spend part of their time plowing up your eighth of an acre of grassland, and they could run over your cultivated land after you have harvested your crops. They could only do this if you had time to let them do it, as sometimes you would be in too much of a hurry to get the next crop in. As for food, you would have to buy in some wheat, barley or corn. This, supplemented with the skim milk and whey you would have from your dairy cow, plus a share of the garden produce and such specially grown fodder crops as you could spare the land for, would keep them excellently.
If you could find a neighbor who would let you use a boar, I recommend that you keep a sow and breed her. She could give you 20 piglets a year, two or three of which you could keep to fatten for your bacon and ham supply. The rest you could sell as weanlings (piglets eight to 12 weeks old), and they would probably bring in enough money to pay for the food you had to buy for all your other livestock. If you could not get the service of a boar, you could always buy weanlings yourself ā just enough for your own use ā and fatten them.
Poultry could be kept in a permanent house in one corner of your garden, or, preferably, in mobile coops on the land, so they could be moved over the grassland and improve soil fertility with their scratching and dunging. I would not recommend keeping very many birds, as just a dozen hens should give you enough eggs for a small family with a few to occasionally sell or give away in summertime. You would have to buy a little grain for them, and in the winter some protein supplement, unless you could grow enough beans. You could try growing sunflowers, buckwheat or other food especially for them.
Goats, if kept instead of a dairy cow (or in addition to), could be managed in much the same way, however you would not have as much whey and skim milk to rear pigs and poultry on, and you would not build up the fertility of your land as quickly as you could with a cow. You would only get a fraction of the manure from goats, but on the other hand you would not have to buy nearly as much hay and straw ā perhaps not any. For a farmer wanting to have a completely self-sufficient homestead on 1 acre, dairy goats are a good option.
Crops would be all of the ordinary garden crops (fruits and vegetables), plus as much land as you could spare for fodder crops for animals. Bear in mind that practically any garden crop that you grew for yourself would be good for the animals too, so any surplus crops would go to them. You would not need a compost pile ā your animals could be your compost pile.
Half an acre, farmed as a garden with wheat grown in the other half-acre, is worth a try if you kept no animals at all, or maybe only some poultry. You would then practice a crop rotation as described above, but substitute wheat for the grass and clover field. If you are a vegetarian, this may be quite a good solution. But you could not hope to increase the soil fertility, and therefore the productiveness, of your land as much as with animals.Ā Ā
This article is an excerpt fromĀ The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It, written by the late John Seymour and first published by Dorling Kindersley in Britain in 1976. The book has become a treasured classic for back-to-the-landers and is now available in a beautifully illustrated 400-page edition.Ā
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I usually love Mother Earth News and the information it provides. Then I read an article like this and realize some contributors to MEN are just idiots! You cannot keep a cow on 1-acre of land, even if that was the only thing living there. In prime grass country, it takes about 3-acres to provide sufficient food for a cow. Where I live in central Nebraska, a cow could starve on 10-acres.
People should read John Seymour's "The Fat of the Land " ..He lived this experience, starting out of necessity when his small canal barge sank and he had to rent a remote farmhouse with his pregnant wife Sally. He was a journalist with no experience of farming. The book details his journey to becoming one of the foremost authority's on self sufficient living in the 20th century. I personally lived this experience myself with no idea of how even to milk a cow and I had never had a garden. I was an immigrant to Canada from the United States.. I was homesteading in the wilderness in the British Columbia interior, a thousand km north of Vancouver ... seven miles up a river and 80 miles at least from a town and 12 miles from the nearest neighbor all on dirt roads. There was no electricity anywhere along the lake then , no one had it unless they had a generator and it was never coming up the river . There was no shelter but the tent, a moose fell in love with the Jersey cow and the chickens conveniently laid eggs in the bottom of a salvaged cupboard .The garden provided everything possible..you can grow a lot even if you are at 2300 feet and it frosts often at night in the summer. We learned to plant potatoes on the hill side as frost drains to the low land. Mr Seymour didn't have that problem in Britain... but if you talk to and listen to the local old timers you will find out everything else you need to know. We had very little money , we salvaged and made do and learned. We had read John Seymour's book. We were successful and prospered . It is a wonderful way to live and a cow, some chickens and a garden can provide all you need to live and you can go anywhere from there if you have dreams and are willing to work . For any dream to come true you have to believe in it first.
Plants are living things too! the circle of life requires that some life is eaten in order to sustain the circle. ... I am planning for a small organic orchard. Have not decided on animals but I am partial to rabbits and ducks/chickens (need to find our which is allowed in my town) for manure and food. Looking for how to's about the orchard and so far find the methods conflicting. My soil is mostly clay which drains okay but not sure if I should dig it out and replace as some articles suggest.
Eating animals is unnecessary and cruel. You can sustain yourself in the healthiest way with plants. Why kill them if we donāt need to for survival. We have all been born into this tradition of killing and eating animals. Question everything, look into the way that people who are living on a plant based, no animal product diet are thriving. Iām vegan for the animals after finally waking up after 30 years of eating others and not even thinking of the pain and suffering that the 56 billion land animals and trillions of sea life that are killed each year for food go through. Please consider living a vegan lifestyle. Itās better for human and non-human animals and the planet.
Wow!! Iām getting ready to plant on an acre of land and build a cob home. I was really interested in this article because of the title but am surprised to see that it promotes raising dairy cows and drinking cows milk. Nature intended cows milk for baby cows and research is showing just how bad it is for humans to consume cows milk. We have all been lied to by the dairy industry. Milk isnāt needed past infancy and we should be drinking the milk from the species we belong to. Please check out the Physicians Committee for Responsible
People should read John Seymour's "The Fat of the Land " ..He lived this experience, starting out of necessity when his small canal barge sank and he had to rent a remote farmhouse with his pregnant wife Sally. He was a journalist with no experience of farming. The book details his journey to becoming one of the foremost authority's on self sufficient living in the 20th century. I personally lived this experience myself with no idea of how even to milk a cow and I had never had a garden. I was an immigrant to Canada from the United States.. I was homesteading in the wilderness in the British Columbia interior, a thousand km north of Vancouver ... seven miles up a river and 80 miles at least from a town and 12 miles from the nearest neighbor all on dirt roads. There was no electricity anywhere along the lake then , no one had it unless they had a generator and it was never coming up the river . There was no shelter but the tent, a moose fell in love with the Jersey cow and the chickens conveniently laid eggs in the bottom of a salvaged cupboard .The garden provided everything possible..you can grow a lot even if you are at 2300 feet and it frosts often at night in the summer. We learned to plant potatoes on the hill side as frost drains to the low land. Mr Seymour didn't have that problem in Britain... but if you talk to and listen to the local old timers you will find out everything else you need to know. We had very little money , we salvaged and made do and learned. We had read John Seymour's book. We were successful and prospered . It is a wonderful way to live and a cow, some chickens and a garden can provide all you need to live and you can go anywhere from there if you have dreams and are willing to work . For any dream to come true you have to believe in it first.
Interesting. All those naysayers who are posting. You all have something negative to say. So I say Prove by example. You set up a test site and then prove that you were not able to accomplish 1 acre for your self sufficiency. SInce I don't drink milk nor do I need dairy products I can be self sufficient without a Cow. But has anyone considered a Miniature Cow and Bull and a couple calves to start the heard? A Miniature can feed a family of 4 for 6 months. 12 months if you weren't making a pig of yourself and ate 4 oz per meal instead of a 24 Oz Steak. Since I have a family of 2, That could be meat for 2 years. When I was a child I lived in a 2 bedroom house on a 3,000 sq ft lot. There was a garden there in the back yard with 12 hens and 1 rooster (Bantys) Yes they were small and so the eggs but the point is that we had a viable egg producing chickens. Corn was grown in 3 rows along the fence line. So we had corn. Carrots were grown in the front along the sidewalks and to form edging in the flower gardens. Tomatoes were grown in buckets near the back fence. And so was the potatoes.Peas were grown in a 4x8 foot contained area. Globe Basil was grown as additions to the carrots and the sidewalk location to look more ornamental like placement of hedges. This was in the CITY when government didn't tell you you can't make your own food so you would be dependent on the government!. Now tell me how many ears of corn does one person eat per day before just saying NO! How many people eat more than 2 carrots per day, or 2 stalks of celery, or 1/4th head of lettuce. or peas.. etc. That is why I am stating the the naysayers are not looking into sustainability by reduction of waste in our eating habits. Forgot we also had 6 breading rabbits at a time. In every case that little lot provided at least 90% of our food.. and yes most was vegetables but after the first 6 months we had enough rabbit to have meat with every meal every day because rabbits were slaughtered every 12 weeks from birth (3 months). Note this is in reference to Pigslife2 and MsPony1. You do not need rabbit pellets for the rabbits. You don't need a lot of grain to raise chickens as they do eat other things in the yard.You do not need to plant a quarter of acre of Corn to have corn. We grew enough corn in a 1.5 foot wide line around the fenceline to meet all our corn needs for the whole family. There is also aquaponic farming that increases the food supply by also providing Fish as a meat (a new thought process that we were not privy to). And ask yourself how many potatoes do you eat per day. The other consideration when evaluating if the Article is deficient or insane, is that you are lineal thinkers thinking size of the land determines the functionality of the activity... Have you ever looked at an abandoned 4 story parking lot. Technically it is really only the footprint of the land it sits upon.. or is it for plant growth and or... Ranching??? Why don't you all do your own experiment prior to statements of insane ideas. I once lived for 8 months on Ramen Noodles with carrots, Corn, peas and bean sprouts that I grew on the roof of my station wagon (Ramen Noodles were 5 cents a pack back then) The Corn was actually grown on a 6x12 foot area at the back of a fence. I rented a Parking Lot space for $10 per month. This is while I was in College.That space provided all the corn I would ever use during the 8 months of that space rent. SO just because it doesn't fit into your personal lifestyle or perception of what you think a person needs... does not mean it is impossible. Back to the Cattle raising... an acre is 43560 sq ft. One 10 foot wide swath of 208 ft x 208 ft = 2,080 so a pathway for the Mini Cattle around the acre plot = 8,320 sq ft dedicated to the Cattle and an 832 foot cattle run.. and since they are mini it would be more like 1,664 foot walk area or about 1/3rd of a mile. Now how much poundage of food per day per Cow/calf/bull? 12 each x 4 = 48 pounds. SO how many pounds per bail of hay = 50 pounds. You would need at least 365 bales per year.for 4 of these animals. Now if someone has a shared bull, then you reduce that to 273 bails for the year. Therefore both Pigslife and MsPony are correct in stating someone is High on their BULL. But wait, I have acreage in the North of Wisconsin and I have to cut the grass at least once per month starting April to October... and that grass is at least 3 ft high when I do so, That in itself can increase the amount of total cow food production. When I don't cut it, by end of May it is 6 ft tall in places. So by cutting the feed incrementally during the growing season, it is possible to become more self sustaining especially during the period of pregnancy of the cow. And what about controlling the access to new feeding areas by incremental expanse of the designated area for the cattle based upon consumption? Has any of this information touched upon a possibility that it might be able to provide enough sustainable food for a family??? I know this much I can live on an acre as well as my wife and have meat on the table, or fish. Just remember that 60% of the food you purchase goes to the garbage. So learn to CAN Dry and Freeze!
I couldn't agree more! This article is insane...tons of nice suggestions but in no way realistic. For those of us that were born, raised, are educated and have chosen to continue this lifestyle this is just nothing more than pipe dreams. Please, nobody take this article as realistic and dump your life savings into a plan that is guaranteed to fail. Raising livestock, growing crops, managing predators/pests, storing food, and so on is not just as simple as being a rewarding "lifestyle." It is also extremely difficult and can be very expensive. For example, that family "milk cow" requires (in general) being inseminated, having a calf, proper warm/cold shelter, feed, protection from predators, milking 2 times/day/everyday, fresh water that is protected from freeze (or your availability to break ice); not to mention the cost of feed, fencing, equipment to build all of the required necessities, needed supplies and so on. This is a very nice idea but unless you are a wealthy person who can continuously spend w/o regard for break even margins this article is extremely irresponsible and there is not one part of this article that promotes actual "self sufficiency." I very much enjoy Mother Earth News and their contributors but someone with actual experience should have proofed this article before publishing it.
As noted in another comment, the author is dreaming, and certainly has no experience whatsoever with intensive farming. And stuffing all those animals on one acre would be intensive - and insane! On one acre, you could fit - max - 2 or 3 dairy goats, chickens, rabbits, maybe ducks and turkeys. You'd have to bring in hay and concentrates for livestock feed. You'd have precious little browse for the goats so you would essentially be dry-lotting them. Hardly "self-sufficient" homesteading. If someone were to follow this author's fantasy as a blueprint, they would find themselves up to their armpits in mud and manure, their animals would be sickly, and their garden overrun. Has MEN lost all touch with reality? Why in the world did they publish this?
1 acre might be to small to have a cow. I would say a couple of goats and chickens for milk and eggs. A small high tunnel and a patch of land for a veggie garden. Don't forget to squeeze in a house for you to live in...LOL
1 acre might be to small to have a milking cow. I would say a couple of goats and chickens for milk and eggs. A small high tunnel and a patch of land for a veggie garden. Don't forget to squeeze in a house for you to live in...LOL
1 acre might be to small to have a cow. I would say a couple of goats and chickens for milk and eggs. A small high tunnel and a patch of land for a veggie garden. Don't forget to squeeze in a house for you to live in...LOL
Do you have anything for homesteading for vegans?
If you are not growing all the food for the cows, pigs, goats, & chickens, etc., on your homestead, it is terribly inaccurate to call that a self-sufficient homestead. Isn't that just obvious?
For me this would all be a dream come true! But I want to point out something very obvious to me. When speaking of increasing soil fertility, keep in mind something very basic in science (high school level). Since matter is neither created nor destroyed, we know that mineral nutrients do not increase without some sort of inputs. For this reason, livestock should not be viewed as magical cure for soil infertility. The cow's hay purchased from elsewhere is the nutrient input for the farm. If we neglect to purchase the inputs, then how do mineral nutrients increase? Legumes can help with nitrogen, but we have limitations, especially with other nutrients. What if I have some barren land, and I buy some livestock and some seeds. Without their food, I won't have any manure. Without the huge pile of manure, I won't have the solution for my problem soil. The livestock do not improve the soil by magic. They need to eat, which helps them grow and reproduce. The livestock extract nutrients from their food, and half those nutrients are excreted. The other half are retained in the body of the animal. Here on my property, I do a lot of composting. But I must bring home a lot of material to keep my composting operation quickly producing good fertilizer. So to bring this thought around completely, let me suggest composting hay to improve the soil. The livestock are optional. Every time you sell an animal, you are selling part of the farm's fertility with it. Don't sell cheap. And eliminate some loss of nutrients by composting your own poop. That is recycling!
I've figured it out. The house...is a treehouse. Frees up a ton of land. haha. In addition to a well, I'd also advise situating yourself near a fertile water source. There are so many water crops that we often neglect in planning. Both fresh & salt water can provide edible plants as well as aquatic life.
Hello ! I live in Edmonton Alberta. Can you please tell me where to start this home business, where to get land?
We are an older couple living in Quartz Hill. We live on two 1/2-acre lots side by side (about 300 feet deep, give or take). We are by no means self-sufficient and here in the high desert of California we would need much more land and our own well. We do have rabbits, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and are raising one hog this year. We also have four horses for pleasure, and two of those are semi-retired. We also have a small garden in re-purposed horse water tanks, raising tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, cucumbers and many herbs. We have one beehive in a top-bar hive, too new to have harvested any honey. Maybe we will have some this fall. We are water-wise, after 30 years of this life, and have set up defenses for pests ranging from hawks to rats (15 day old chicks dead once) to ants and everything in between. My point? Decide, set up, evaluate and keep trying. I don't want to have a cow because it is a bigger commitment than marriage! We find horse manure composted using the O2 method is fast and gives us plenty to work with. What matters to us is that we are doing what we can for ourselves and our families with the resources at hand. Yes, we both do work currently, but I am planning to retire in December. Be inspired and enjoy your time here. We do.
to Zorba: I also live in the High Desert area of CA.. I've had to fight off rabbits and chipmunks along with the lousy soil and high winds/heat. My husband build me raised beds for the garden this year and so far so good. He used cinder block, 2 high, and then built the boxes on them. Then enclosed with hardware cloth on the outside. We brought in good topsoil. Now I'm looking to cool it with misters until I can get some shade around it. Much less than an acre, but enough for us. Cost is a little high one time, but I think its worth it considering it is permanent.
This article was written by an idiot. Im shocked Mother Earth supports it. Lets start with the cow. Every state has a graze min for cattle. Here in SW Iowa with lush land its 2.5 acers. I dont think most people believing this know how small an acer is. You can have a garden, a few trees and poultry if you never let them out, but not livestock and if your home is on that 1 acre to, forget the chickens, better buy quail and rabbits.
Who ever wrote this is an idiot. IF you don't have your home on that 1 acre you still need by law more then 1 acre of land for a cow. You can fit one of many given things on 1 acre but not a cow, pigs, chickens, a garden, fruit trees, I don't think they know how small an acre is.
This article was written by an idiot. Im shocked Mother Earth supports it. Lets start with the cow. Every state has a graze min for cattle. Here in SW Iowa with lush land its 2.5 acers. I dont think most people believing this know how small an acer is. You can have a garden, a few trees and poultry if you never let them out, but not livestock and if your home is on that 1 acre to, forget the chickens, better buy quail and rabbits.
Goats need hay, period. So do rabbits. And they still need bedding besides. Their manure is excellent- deemed "cold" so it is ok to put right on plants or garden- no composting needed. Chickens *can forage and eat lots of scraps, yes, but they always need protein and/or calcium or their shells will be paper thin and easily break. Maybe baby steps is the way to go instead of the total self sufficient way.
Disappointed. To me self sufficient means no outside inputs. You cannot feed a cow on one acre without buying hay and feed. It may be possible with a goat, given the right forage. You'd need additional acreage for the rest of your food. I'd love to hear from someone who's done it.
One acre is not enough space to feed a cow, unless you buy it a lot of food.
I have Loved Mother Earth News since the late 70's early 80's!!
To zorba 1 A cheap and probably effective green house would be to build a hoop house using at least 1' PVC Conduit for the hoops. I have one like that that has withstood winds of up to 75 mph without problems. A secret to making it withstand high winds is to place 1" x 4" down the middle of each side lengthwise about midway up the hoops; have a ridge pole to give rigidity to the peak of the hoop house and to have corner braces of 1" x 4" on all 4 corners. I used to live in the high desert of California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's and there were times the wind exceeded100 mph. Country Homestead Living John.
I'm 69 and just helped build my SHACK as I call it. 800 square feet, all wood inside and a metal building around. Actually put up the metal building first. At this age, and even in decent health, it was an overwhelming task and the very first thing I learned about building is that all the materials are really heavy. I injured my hamstring in a fall almost detaching it from my pelvis. I now have golfers elbow in both arms from all the heavy lifting. However, I got through it and now we are warm and cozy in our little shack. The thing about building at this age is being careful and knowing your limitations.
We have one acre in the high desert of California, our ground is hard clay and decomposed granite.We have water restrictions and our "ground" has almost no moisture in it, after the recent five year drought. We are disabled in our seventies and low income. We do want to raise our own veggies, chickens, some sheep and goats. I know about raised beds and am currently digging 500 feet of trenches by hand for a watering system. Our land was part of a junkyard at one time and it is full of broken glass and car parts. We have picked out several hundred pounds of glass and old junk. But, we need to gradually bring in either ground bark or something to cover the land with to raise animals. I have dug as deep as three feet and still found broken glass and car parts that deep. We have to work with what we have, has anyone had and worked with this kind of problem? We might have to raise any animals on concrete, the raised beds may have to be on legs, off the ground, and we need a cheap but effective green house. It gets up to 115 degrees in Summer and 10 degrees in winter, with very high winds. Any help will be appreciated. We did not know about the past junk yard until six months after we bought this manufactured home and land. Both of us grew up on farms back east, so we know about growing crops and raising animals.
Is there a similar resource for homesteading in central Texas?
With both of us in our 60's, fit and self sufficient in our self employment and youngest about to leave home to follow his own career we are planning a working retirement of self sufficiency. Having both been developing and building our own properties for most of our lives since our 20's, we are looking for the ideal site or property in Devon or Cornwall UK to build or convert into our self sufficient and hopefully off grid ECO home. We would love to hear from any others in UK or Abroad that have attempted or are attempting the same ambition o know of any suitable sites.
With both of us in our 60's, fit and self sufficient in our self employment and youngest about to leave home to follow his own career we are planning a working retirement of self sufficiency. Having both been developing and building our own properties for most of our lives since our 20's, we are looking for the ideal site or property in Devon or Cornwall UK to build or convert into our self sufficient and hopefully off grid ECO home. We would love to hear from any others in UK or Abroad that have attempted or are attempting the same ambition o know of any suitable sites.
Oh - a book excerpt. Not initially knowing this, I mentally criticized it for lack of numbers... which might be in a more intensive chapter.
Great ideas, but you need more than one acre of land to implement them. The winter hay and grain for one dairy cow costs more than the value of the milk she provides, and in a dry year you'd be buying hay summer AND winter . This model would work with a two and a half acre plot, such as my husband and I have: 3/4 acre of pasture, one acre devoted to hay production, and the remaining 3/4 acre for the house, garden, and poultry yard.
think: stocking hectaras 2.5 per animal, is a stupid way to commit suicide, such thinking is foolish, whether animals think that way, never have existed africa their large pastures, the big problem is desertification, If stocking in countries "underdeveloped" stocking in the 80s and 90s of last century, was 1.5 hectaria, for the moment is from 3.5 to 4.5 hectares per animal, but the problem is that the earth no longer gives for that, and the reason for that is the thinking of scientific illiterate, they can not see beyond their own papal may not realize that agricultural practices are causing global desertification, only way is to return to the origin of human beings, where we were not farmers but nomadic migrations back of the animals, which beneficieban of his gifts, the basic idea is many animals in a short time, where land works with animals, where the ground is tread enough time for it to regenerate, in a way where many plant species grassland exist, but few individuals, so the animals have to choose and eat their best, they are the same as not us, we like to eat only hamburgers, we like potatoes and lettuce, refesco tail, just as animals. one more question where the greatest amount of sunlight you get, for our benefit? I put target those who say you can not: achieve a stocking rate of 0.5 acres per animal.
It never ceases to amaze me at how so few can see past the end of their noses. Yet here again the comments show just that. The lack of intelligence can be overlooked. It's that someone would actually post some of the stuff they do, proving their lack of any intelligence at all, that is mind blowing! Comments such a, or similar to: you can't raise a cow on 1/2acre; the proper stocking rate is something like 2 or 3 cows per 2 acres (uhh, that comes out to 1/acre - 1 1/2/acre.) So w/good mngmt 1per1/2acre could certainly work. However, that's not exactly the point. Stocking rates are that heavy in areas. In others,such as where I live, it's 1per 30-40acres. 150miles west of me, it's 1per 150-200acres. It's different everywhere, but that doesn't matter. In a well mngd homesteading situation, the whole scenario changes. Then there's: animals will produce milk, once started, until they griw old, w/out thr need of them being breed and having new offspring on occasion. Perhaps so, but I've lived 40+yrs on and around farms, ranches, dairies, and rural communities, and having done so, I've assisted in all areas of dairy operations. I've also owned, cared for, and milked my own cows. I have never known of a cow to continue producing usable amounts of milk,after an extended amount of time w/out her having additional offspring. All of the dairies, I've ever dealt with, had things set to where each cow had a calf once per year. This is to promote milk production. No, it's not to supplement income. Dairy calves, though as of recently prices for dairy calves has increased, bring little monetary value in. Not more than 30yrs ago they were given away just to get rid of them. Then someone thinks the amount of manure produced, in this scenario, if added to the garden would be toxic. Obviously whoever made that comment has never been oast their front door. The manure would be a wonderful addition to the soil, and far from toxic. Another has this idea that the manure, from cattle, must be composted for 6months or more before it's applied to the land. To such an ignorant comment,I ask, just where do you suppose it's composted in fields and pastures? Right where it lands! Yes you can put fresh, wet manure directly into your garden soil. Just take care not to add too much in one area. There are similar comments as well. Again, it's okay to not have anymore intelligence than a newborn. The problem lies w/posting comments that show that pure ignorance and lack of any intelligent lifeform! Know what it is you're talking about, BEFORE posting!!
I don't understand the crop rotation with the 4 years of grass. Do I need to have 4 years of grass on my 0,5 acre, afterwards 4 plots with potatoes, legumes, brassicas and root vegetables and afterwards again 4 years of grass. If I do that, where do I get food from in those 4 years of grass? Or are there 8 plots and do I have to use the first 4 for food and the last 4 for grass and switch after 4 years and rotation the crops? Sorry if my question seems dumb, but I'm not a native English speaker
I have to add my voices to those protesting the raising of a cow on a single acre of land, with more than half of it (if the illustration is to be believed) taken up by house, garden and outbuildings. You *might* be able to raise a couple pygmy goats with what's left over after the garden space is taken up, but even then I wouldn't really recommend it. This plan, if we're to include the cow, would be a better one for at least *four* acres, with at least two just for the cow. I tell anyone looking to raise a small number of farm animals to consider ten or twenty acres, and for something as big as a cow, to allow at least two acres per head for grazing to prevent the area from becoming a mudhole. You could keep the chickens on this small a property, though, so I'd consider sticking with those if your property is only 1 acre.
One thing to keep in mind - check your zoning before acquiring any animals. Where I live I consider rural but the powers that be here mandate 10 acres minimum to have a pig and 4 acres to have any cows. And I am allowed 2.4 horses if I so desire. How'd anyone come up with that?
I want to butcher a cow for beef. My Dad used to raise Black Angus. What do you think? What is the best beef cow in today's world? We live in Tennessee.
I see that some people like to criticize and others are just brainwashed...You don't need a pasteurizing machine, and you can not raise a cow on such a small plot either...I was raised on a farm that was completely self sufficient and it was bigger than most can afford. But it also was a cotton, bean, corn, wheat farm. We had herds of cows and horses...pecan orchards, and my family of 8 had a 2 acre garden every year. We raised 200 chickens each year. We killed 1 cow per year. We had a milk cow. We DID NOT have to have a pasteurizing machine...(LOL!!!) We ate chicken MANY different ways... We raised 1 pig in 32 years (4H club). We had a neighbor who raised pigs and we shared or bounties...traded eggs, beef, vegetables(sold lots of them also). You can not do what is in this 1 acre idea...the cow alone would eat all the vegetation. I forget the number, but it's something like 2.5 cows per acre...for the feeding of them... IF you supplement the cow, then yes,cbut it would not be self sufficient then... You would have to have a male and a female in each instance on the animals to re-supply the population after you eat a cow, pig, or chicken... I could ramble on about how this would not work, but then I would be telling you all something that I don't know. I DO know that there are a lot of holes in this formula...If you have good neighbors, who will barter with you, you might be able to make this work...feed for the animals would be my number 1 concern...
I don't see how anyone could call this system "self-sufficient" when the author constantly mentions having to buy feed for the animals. If you are buying feed, you are dependent on someone else, and therefore not truly self-sufficient.
My wife, 3 kids, and I moved to a 5 acre farm in Ontario. I look to this article often as inspiration and a place to gather ideas when I need to. I am writing a blog to help others who are trying to do anything related. From gardening or chickens to hay and sheep. silvermanfarm.ca/blog/
Oneacrehomestead.net Come join us as we build a small homestead and raise a family on a frugal budget. We will explore the topics of organization, budgeting, crafting, saving money, recipes, gardening and canning...but please donāt think this is all we will be discussing. There is so much to learn on one acre.
LOL? its cause they want to be your only source of meat I suppose, but Ive never seen one city that didnt allow chickens. You know every year they try to push a bill through congress to outlaw gardens? They want a dependant nation, People who dont know how to grow a bean... it really sad.
I do think this guy is dreaming, he should buy the book about homesteading on a minifarm, to the people who think you have to keep a cow pregant to get milk from it, your idiots, at least research something before you post. As long as a mammal is milked it will always produce, even humans...Till old age anyways. when a milk cow runs out of milk it either slaughtered and made into grain or sent to a glue factory.
I couldn't figure out how to add to my post! Check out DIY fodder sprouting systems. Keep researching, don't get discouraged by what other people say when they haven't tried newer/efficient ways to keep animals. Consider keeping smaller breeds as they will consume less food in the winter, but still provide your family with meat, milk, etc. If you have time and acreage, you can harvest grasses, etc to store for winter feed. Again, research. I know someone who sewed huge bags of lightweight material to store her grasses and hand cut hay. I hand harvested buckets of leaves, weeds and orchard grass for my small goat herd to cut down on feed costs. I dried it all in a rotating system made with pallets.
My take is that you would need a minimum of five acres and 10 would be better. The bulk of that would be in grazing area for your animals. Butchering in the fall will result in lower feed bills through the winter months. The rabbits are a good idea as they take less space and plenty of offspring. Clippings from the fields would supply a lot of food plus bedding for them, manure is easily managed. Check out paddock systems and permaculture for more information. For gardening, I'd suggest compact gardening and edible landscaping around the house.
Ok, getting very frustrated with this posting system, this is my 3rd. try..... We would eventually like to keep, 2 milk cows, 2 lowline Angus, 1 sow (keeping 2 piglets every year), 2 twinning sheep (preferrably, 2 for meat, 2 to sell, the original's to keep for wool), 2 - 6 turkey's for the holidays and winter, 50 chickens rotating 25 out and 25 in, every 6 months (for food and for eggs), the kids want a couple of rabbits, which I am not opposed to using the fur, hair for spinning or the meat, a decent garden with fruits and veggies, fruit trees around the edge and berry producing plants in between. Some of the extra produce would go to the animals, as well as the extra milk. We are a family of 9 at the moment and I would like to produce enough for our family, so that we control what is being put into our bodies. I have heard that this is possible on smaller amounts of land, when you rotate your stock properly. A woman came and talked to us about this, stating that her bees keep her foraging food healthy and plentiful, whilst rotating the stock allowed her to keep pathogens (ie: bacteria, germs, pests) in check so that her animals required less, to no antibiotics. Can anyone advise me on 2 things, how much acreage do I need? and About how to do this rotation properly? I would certainly appreciate anything you might add to my thought process, so that I know what needs to be done or what I should expect. Keep in mind we are doing this all gradually..... Except the bees, chickens (small numbers to start) and gardens. They will be on hand ASAP..... Thanks.
I would really really LOVE to see an idea or plan like this for the average city lot. Those of us in the city, have our yards for land, and I would love ideas to maximize the space I have. In most towns, city folks are allowed to have 4-6 chickens and usually about the same about of rabbits. Larger livestock is not allowed. But as most of us who subscribe here, we are looking for ideas to use our ground to grow as much as possible. I love the urban homestead website where in Pasadena, CA they grow enough on their city lot to sell extra produce to support their other foodstuff purchases.
pretty silly artical i worry about how many folks have taken this to heart and bought just one acre only to be living in nasty feed lot conditions...
Have you actually done this? I find it highly unlikely. Your words seem to indicate that this is what you "would do" if you were so inclined. It looks OK on paper, but from someone who has homesteaded on 10 acres for 35 years, I doubt many of your recommendations. You plan on keeping a cow and 2 or more goats on a half acre of ground. We kept 4-5 goats on about 2 and a half acres of pasture and had to supplement with hay. Your contention that you would not need any hay or straw for goats is ludicrous unless you live in a winterless area. And even so, what are you going to use for bedding? Your strips of pasture would be eaten down in about 3 days from 1 cow and 2 or more goats. A few pigs are OK as long as you mean 3 or less. And no one with only 1 acre should have a sow. Chickens are fine. They eat nearly anything. But don't expect eggs without grain unless you can grow high quality protein for them.The biggest issue that I see, however, is your manure management from all of these animals. Your garden would be toxic if you put all of the "dung" on it. On a 1 acre homestead, I would concentrate on gardening and have some chickens, some meat rabbits and maybe a goat, but only if I had children that would drink that much milk. Since mine are grown, I would rather have bees and not have to worry about the goat eating my garden!!
When I was 14, I stayed one summer on a chicken farm. But every couple of days, I was sent across the village to the woman who kept the cows. She would mik the cow and pour it into the jug I had brought with me. And then I'd return back to the chicken farm where someone would pour the jub into a dutch oven, put it on the stove, and then heat but not allow it to boil. I never could get it right without the thermometer, but everyone else knew it by sight. You want about 70 Celsius. This is the "pasteurization" process. Simple!
What about rabbits there fat free meat and rabbit pooh is good for the garden
This is a great idea, but even though we have 2 acres in the country, some "city dude" made it law that you have to have at least 5 acres to have any type of "farm" animal.
I agree, cow milk is for baby cows not humans anyways. Grow more veggies!
Agreed. Additionally, most animals prefer to be in the company of their own species, and cows are herd animals. It is cruel to keep just one. There's nothing quaint about keeping a cow on a relentless cycle of pregnancy and calving and lactating. To keep her indoors (and on that small space, the barn would have to be mighty small) for long winter months is also not kind. Think about what will happen to your cow when she gets old, and think about what will happen to the sweet little calf born right in your back yard. You may be reminded that his mother's milk was meant for him.
A person with a small farm would buy their own pasteurizing machine if they wanted to...otherwise, if its your cow and you feed it and keep it healthy there should be no reason to worry
All do able ...but more than a full time job...better to have some kind of career to finance a hobby farm...have a nice garden some chickens and bees maybe. This plan would be totally overwhelming for 99% of people.
I wouldn't want animals on my land. Keeping a cow constantly pregnant and bordering on mastitis just for the sake of having milk isn't worth it at all.
I am a little concerned that this article advocates for unpasteurized milk to be feed to your family including children. There is a reason why milk is pasteurized: Q fever, TB, and brucellosis. It is one thing to choose to drink it yourself but why put your children who have more vulnerable immune systems at risk?
I came to the comments section to say that buying a ton of cow feed a year is by no means 'self sufficient'. Then I saw all the anti-cow comments. I am not an experienced homesteader but am studying to be one. I am from India so you can imagine I am pro-cow. The manure cows provide is by far the biggest advantage. Many Indian breeds are such that they provide very little milk (of course there are breeds that milk well too ... this is the standard source of animal fat for all vegetarian Indians). Further, they are smaller cows so need much lesser feed. An Indian cow on 1 acre is easily possible ... possibly more cows ... but I will have to check. The Indian tradition of treating cows as sacred leads to caring for old non-milking cows till their death .. and yet they are valuable in terms of the manure they provide. I do agree with the inclusion of goats, rabbits. Pigs are something I am struggling to decide ... I like the fact that they dig up your field for free, I don't mind the meat, but the culling of a pig is what I cannot stomach. I'll probably keep 2 boars for the digging ... not for the meat.
This article has some good ideas. But putting a cow on the acre is not one of them. As to whether or not you can raise all your food on one acre - yes. Almost all people did that 100 years ago. Ninety out of one hundred people lived on the farm. No they did not eat beef, except for special occasions. My great grandparents ate rabbits (wild and tame), sheep, goats and other wild game, and of course the pigs. They had a hard time raising chickens seems the weasels and other wild things liked them too. Carrots, squash, and cabbage were common. They told me they dried a lot of vegetable stuff and hung it from the rafters. In fact you can get some grow lites and grow much of what you need in your house.
i do not know of any partial acre anywhere in the world that is fertile enough to feed one or two cows. so that means you buy their food, bailed hay? that costs money.chickens are probably the most cost effective. they like pigs will eat almost anything. a garden is not a consistent producer of food. there are good years and then bad ones. early or late freeze, no rain or too much rain. i have been partially homesteading since 1970, i have always worked to make ends make and buy food when it was needed, read most of the time. being close to the nature of real life is the great reward. we lost half of our peach trees one year and the ag agents could not find a reason. oh, by the way, i have always been organic.. good luck, keep your day job.
Chalk me up as another with experience who'll tell you that this is likely an impossible scenario. I could see it possibly being done with a pair of goats, but even then, a lot of the feed for lactating does would have to be brought onto the farm, along with most of the grain and hay for winter. While the author talked about cows being a better source of manure, he doesn't speak of the need to compost it for at least 6 months so that it doesn't burn the plants; and wet cow manure piles are not the most pleasant things to have in close quarters! The dry manure of goats and rabbits can be used immediately without harming plants, making for a much tidier farm. If I had one acre with the goal being a balance between food self-sufficiency and actual farm self-sufficiency, I'd go with free-range chickens and rabbits for protein, a good sized garden and small orchard.
This scenario for a one acre plot to be truly self sufficient while raising large animals is pretty much out of the question. You can't grow a winter's worth of silage, hay, or whatever on a plot that size, which also contains your house, outbuildings, and gardens, and still raise enough food to maintain yourself. One of them has to go and my guess is that it would have to be the large animals. Chickens and rabbits would work, as would a goat or two. but you'd have to be careful about striking a balance between growing food for them and growing it for yourself while ensuring they have adequate space to be healthy.
I completely agree with the thoughts on adding rabbits! They are amazing little critters and their manure is excellent fertilizer. In fact, I'd prefer it to dealing with cow manure (I've done both, so I know for certain). Though I did love our Jersey, cows can be very labor intensive - too much so, if you ever reach a point of health issues of your own. Also, one acre would be do-able for many, but in some regions, the soil is not so loamy as in others, and this makes an enormous difference in this feasibility of a one acre self-sufficient farm. Personally, I'd opt for chickens in a moveable coop, rabbits, and only *possibly* a goat or two, more perennial, bush and tree fruits and veggies, fewer plow-dependent crops and little grass, other than what I'd 'graze' the hens on, and cut for the rabbits. Or even put the rabbits in a similar moveable hutch, like the chickens. I love the 1 acre concept, but for most people, it would be purely idealistic.
I agree that on one acre you could not graze a cow without buying food. But consider that the author is from England and it rains there everyday. And in the book, he admits that one would need to buy food for the cow and that its entirely up to the person in question whether they consider it proper for a self sufficient farmer to buy hay and grain. All in all I love this book and find a treasure trove of good advice in it.
John Seymour's book is brilliant in its simplicity, but those embarking on the self-sufficiency road might be interested M. G. Kains', Five Acres and Independance, first published in the 1940's. My father used a copy as a reference when market gardening in the 1960's. Though dated, still full of useful information.
PS - just for reference - I am on 2/3 acre - garden & orchard, and am content, for now, without the animals :) Less responsibility at the moment, and less restrictive on my having to be home at certain times. Maybe rabbits and chickens when I retire and have time for their care.
Agree with first poster - rabbits are the way to go for the most meat the fastest, and add manure. Chickens also are great, plus can help with bug control. On 1 acre, here it rains 300 days a year, I would not attempt a cow. ...... Would suggest additional reading of "Five Acres and Independence" by MG Kains, 1935, if you can find a copy of it :) Gains advises that a cow requires a minimum of one acre of pasture, plus more room to make hay and sileage. The other objection to the cow is the twice daily milkings, at the same time every day - much harder to find a relief milker than someone to feed rabbits, chickens, or even pigs. Then your article suggests a Jersey cow - and I for one find a Jersey's yellow fat very objectionable to my taste and the meat, to me, has an odd flavor. I would suggest a mixed beef breed, like angus/guernsey cross, would can also be milked, or a smaller cow like a Kerry or Dexter or Gloustershire even. ............ This is not to undermine Seymour's other thoughts tho - I actually own his book and find it very informative on gardening, sheds, garden layout, and crop rotation, and a lot of other features. Having been a dairy farmer, I just don't agree with him on the place for a cow is on a one acre plot that includes a home, outbuildings, a garden, and fruit trees - not enough room for all without buying feed - and therefore you would loose the self-sufficiency aspect that Seymour is striving for.
I just finished reading the article "start a 1-acre self-sufficient homestead" and the only thing I think was missing was rabbits. With just three 10 pound rabbits you can raise around 200 pounds of meat per year and their manure is great for the garden. I also like to use their furs for hats and mittens. I think any homestead would do good to add a few rabbits!
My experience says the author is dreaming. It is not possible to have a house, outbuildings, a cow, goats, pigs, chickens, fruit and vegetables all on one acre here in Missouri where I live. The ONLY WAY you could do that would be to pay cash and import ALL their feed. I've always thought it possible with 10 acres though.