Becoming self sufficient

[bachbach1]

lazy gardener,
from what I hear the homemade soap is great for front loaders and HE machines. It's very low-suds, which is great for that kind of machine. It may void your warranty though, FYI.


OP,
I'm having a rough time too, I'm about ready to throw in the towel. I lost my ducks to predators 2 nights ago, just lost 3 chickens 20 minutes ago (trampled each other to death panicking during a sudden storm), rabbit gave birth to dead kits instead of a healthy litter, and all my new fruit trees were destroyed by wind and wild rabbits. I'm about to give up and quit putting $$ into all these things that aren't even coming up even, much less saving me any money.

I read all your blog and enjoyed all the articles, and how to info. I also read about your rabbit, chicken, fruit tree, and predator/duck problems. You might want to concentrate on one or two of the problem areas. I had predator, and wild rabbit problems before, and they can be tough. I used to catch wild rabbits and use them for meat, there are good humane traps like the one at the link HERE.Tie your fruit trees to a stake, and put wire around the bottom to keep rabbits away, a good stake will help with wind. An old strong stick, or metal "T": post sold at home depot will hold a young tree up in strong wind. As far as the predators that can be tough. A lot depends if you are in town, and if you have firearms. I was in a place once overrun with coyotes, and we wound up having to shoot a lot of them, they do pose a danger to small children, so I didn't hesitate to use a firearm to get rid of them. anyway just a few thoughts, good luck with your chickens, ducks, rabbits, and trees.

 

[kitinwest]

I am very interested in aquaponics, but imagined the start-up cost to be more. Can you provide a link or something for more information. Would it have to be indoors in the northern states?

 

[MoonShadows]

I learned about Aquaponics from a video system I purchased called Aquaponics 4 You. Not only was it informative, but the videos show you how to build and maintain your own system. It wasn't that hard or expensive. It does cost $37 for the system, but I thought it was well worth it.

 

[deserthomestead]

thanks, bachbach!

 

[tsuya]

I plan on putting in my own beehive this year so I can get honey . One hive should do a family of 4 pretty well throughout the winter months.

There are plenty of books out there that go over construction of the hive and the maintenance though they are pretty self sufficient themselves.

Also, if you want to do fruit trees training them to esplair (sp?) or making them grow flat against a fence/wall/house/trellis will save you a bunch of space and shouldn't diminish the harvest very much. You can also get apple cordons (a straight stick with fruit on it basically) and dwarf trees will not be hard to harvest from.

 

[cws451]

I read all your blog and enjoyed all the articles, and how to info. I also read about your rabbit, chicken, fruit tree, and predator/duck problems. You might want to concentrate on one or two of the problem areas. I had predator, and wild rabbit problems before, and they can be tough. I used to catch wild rabbits and use them for meat, there are good humane traps like the one at the link HERE.Tie your fruit trees to a stake, and put wire around the bottom to keep rabbits away, a good stake will help with wind. An old strong stick, or metal "T": post sold at home depot will hold a young tree up in strong wind. As far as the predators that can be tough. A lot depends if you are in town, and if you have firearms. I was in a place once overrun with coyotes, and we wound up having to shoot a lot of them, they do pose a danger to small children, so I didn't hesitate to use a firearm to get rid of them. anyway just a few thoughts, good luck with your chickens, ducks, rabbits, and trees.

i was thinking about catching some wild rabbits on my property but i was reading online about the risks of eating them(parasites,rabies,etc) do u think that only applies to certain areas?

 

[kitinwest]

i was thinking about catching some wild rabbits on my property but i was reading online about the risks of eating them(parasites,rabies,etc) do u think that only applies to certain areas?

You should only eat rabbits in cold weather. You should check your state guidelines for when it is ok to hunt and eat rabbits.

 

[Jennsbirds]

It depends on how far you want to go with self sufficiency. Can you grow or grind your own flour? If not, you can still make your own bread and pasta, which I've heard are delicious.

You can try a water wheel if you have a source of running water.

Sugarcane requires heat, but is easy to grow. I'd look up other edible pond plants as there are a good many of them and some are multi-use. Make your own pond. Plumbing supplies are cheap and you can pretty up old bathtubs and sinks easily. If you can keep predators away, there are edible frogs and you can easily raise crawdads if you have the right setup. Plants also love fish poo.

If you have enough scraps, check into goats or even a pig (you can eat most of it and you get over two hundred pounds of meat from just one).

Alpacas need space, but they're easy to raise, given enough hay. They have great fur you can shear yearly, and you can breed them too.

I'd avoid rabbits. While they're fast breeding and there are about half a dozen meat varieties (rabbits are also said to be parthenogenic under certain circumstances), there is such a thing known as 'rabbit starvation'. It's also probably more profitable to sell the meat, as it goes for ten bucks a pound.

Bees are easy to keep, but in many places you can trade veggies for them (even in cities).

 

[UnlabeledMama]

I'd avoid rabbits. While they're fast breeding and there are about half a dozen meat varieties (rabbits are also said to be parthenogenic under certain circumstances), there is such a thing known as 'rabbit starvation'. It's also probably more profitable to sell the meat, as it goes for ten bucks a pound.

"Rabbit Starvation" is a debatable subject. It is mainly because rabbit is so low fat and low cholesterol that if you ONLY eat rabbit meat it may give you deficiencies. But can't that be said for any food? Many, many countries eat rabbit as a staple to their diets and have no issues.

 

[Jennsbirds]

"Rabbit Starvation" is a debatable subject. It is mainly because rabbit is so low fat and low cholesterol that if you ONLY eat rabbit meat it may give you deficiencies. But can't that be said for any food? Many, many countries eat rabbit as a staple to their diets and have no issues.

No, it's a real thing, scientifically proven decades ago and everything. Rabbit is unlike most other meats as it is much more lean than they are. There is no such thing as chicken starvation or cow starvation (heck, there are many civilizations that lasted years on one single source of meat for years).

There is, in fact, no civilization that eats mainly rabbit. All rabbit eating civilizations depend on the fact form other meats to ward off such starvation.

The book 'Sacred Cow, Abominable Pig' goes into this and cites a good many studies on this.

Rabbit starvation is real, but also avoidable.