Anyone living off the land?

Hello from NW Georgia!

I own a 1-acre "farm" in the country. I have fruit trees, a nice-sized vegetable garden, and a flock of 32 chickens (for eggs & meat). My dad hunts for deer, and we fish during the summer, so I rarely buy any meat from the store. We are trying to live off the land as much as possible. I'll be planting more fruit varieties this spring, like blackberries & blueberries.

It's amazing how much you can do with just a little bit of land!
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You're absolutely right! On our one-acre in Texas, we have three vegetable garden areas and we share 14 free-range hens with our neighbor. I'm vegetarian, and my husband is content with my vegetarian meals at home. We got out to eat once a week, and he gets his meat fix then. We haven't had much luck with fruit trees, except for figs. The possums, raccoons and birds get to the pears before we do, but that's okay. We're able to eat out of our gardens 9 months out of the year (fall through spring).

After a long summer drought, we've had lots of rain the past couple of weeks. So we're getting asparagus, and eggplants. Spinach, chard, collards and green beans are starting to come up.
 
I went outside yesterday and seriously considered building raised beds for a vegetable garden even though we are renting. The paperwork for the Montana property looks like it will take awhile because mother in law is not in any hurry. So I want to consider things that are grown easily and that will thrive in the desert (plants for stupid people with black thumbs). I will put out a pretty penny for the organic seeds so hopefully I can find veggies that I wont kill.

Any suggestions on plants that grow in 9 zone in the desert that are easy peezy to grow??? Prefer perennials to annuals. Must NOT kill over in sever heat-120 degrees.

There are many areas considered zone 9. But IMO it is too broad a zone because most zone 9 areas get WAY more water than us and don't hit 120 degrees in summer.


On an acre I would have triple my size of flock, bees, fruit trees, gardens, grains, a few goats and maybe a few pigs (maybe on the pigs cause hubby might say no). Oh and ducks!!!
 
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I went outside yesterday and seriously considered building raised beds for a vegetable garden even though we are renting. The paperwork for the Montana property looks like it will take awhile because mother in law is not in any hurry. So I want to consider things that are grown easily and that will thrive in the desert (plants for stupid people with black thumbs). I will put out a pretty penny for the organic seeds so hopefully I can find veggies that I wont kill.

Any suggestions on plants that grow in 9 zone in the desert that are easy peezy to grow??? Prefer perennials to annuals. Must NOT kill over in sever heat-120 degrees.

There are many areas considered zone 9. But IMO it is too broad a zone because most zone 9 areas get WAY more water than us and don't hit 120 degrees in summer.


On an acre I would have triple my size of flock, bees, fruit trees, gardens, grains, a few goats and maybe a few pigs (maybe on the pigs cause hubby might say no). Oh and ducks!!!

I've been searching for heirloom seeds that will flourish where we live since we have pretty dry summers with the occasional hurricane. It's been wet lately but I don't suspect it'll last. This summer was dry and hot with no relief. So I think you might have some luck with Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Most of the vegetable seeds they sell are meant to be more resistant and flourish in extreme temps. There was a tomato, the Abu Rawan Tomato, that is supposed to be extremely heat tolerant due to it being an Iraqi type seed.

I've already got loads of seeds on my wishlist and I'm going to go over them with Dad tonight. He's got the day off tomorrow and I want to get some plans solidified.
 
I've been searching for heirloom seeds that will flourish where we live since we have pretty dry summers with the occasional hurricane. It's been wet lately but I don't suspect it'll last. This summer was dry and hot with no relief. So I think you might have some luck with Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Most of the vegetable seeds they sell are meant to be more resistant and flourish in extreme temps. There was a tomato, the Abu Rawan Tomato, that is supposed to be extremely heat tolerant due to it being an Iraqi type seed.

I've already got loads of seeds on my wishlist and I'm going to go over them with Dad tonight. He's got the day off tomorrow and I want to get some plans solidified.
Thanks for the heads up on the tomato!!!! That's the kinda plant I need. Any others you can think of? We get just a few days a year of rain (as you know).
 
Thanks for the heads up on the tomato!!!! That's the kinda plant I need. Any others you can think of? We get just a few days a year of rain (as you know).
Grandpa Admire's Lettuce

Red Malabar Spinach

Aswad Eggplant

Red Bisbee Cowpea


Those are a few of the seeds I came across. There are more, but it takes a bit of searching to find them. And make sure to read the reviews because, often enough, you'll find that some aren't as good as they claim. Iraqi seeds are particularly good, but I'm sure there are other keywords that can be used to find more. I think you can also order a catalog and it might lead to a more complete selection of heat-tolerant seeds. I'm planning to order one, just to get a better idea of what's out there.

Edit: Oh and the Desert King watermelon! One of the reviewers said it didn't even wilt in 115 degree weather with full sun!
 
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Grandpa Admire's Lettuce

Red Malabar Spinach

Aswad Eggplant

Red Bisbee Cowpea


Those are a few of the seeds I came across. There are more, but it takes a bit of searching to find them. And make sure to read the reviews because, often enough, you'll find that some aren't as good as they claim. Iraqi seeds are particularly good, but I'm sure there are other keywords that can be used to find more. I think you can also order a catalog and it might lead to a more complete selection of heat-tolerant seeds. I'm planning to order one, just to get a better idea of what's out there.

Edit: Oh and the Desert King watermelon! One of the reviewers said it didn't even wilt in 115 degree weather with full sun!
I saw the desert King watermelon too! They look funny but I bet they are good! Yeah i should probably get a catalog too
 
Okay so I went out and splurged on 2 dwarf fruit trees-an avocado and a banana. Ugh I wasn't sure what to get and these were the only dwarf trees-not semi dwarf- they had at Home Depot. Remember I want to be able to move these trees if I move. Well gee how would I ever grow bananas and avocados if I move to Montana. DUH!!!! Unfortunately these and citrus trees seem to be the only fruit trees I can find in the area. I would love to grow apples or peaches or SOMETHING here that I would also be able to grow in Montana. Any suggestions?

Also, I really didn't do my research-impulse buys-so I didn't realize how hard these trees would be to grow in the desert. WHY would they sell trees not hardy for our region? Oh they might grow but they might not grow FRUIT!!!

I am annoyed because I thought it was a great idea. Any help would be appreciated.
 

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