Sustainability Thread- What is truly sustainable.

[LovinMyPeeps]

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Well, one I have the added advantage of being positively surrounded by Amish and my Amish neighbors are WAY more sustainable than I am. Beeswax candles and the like. I have a wood cookstove in the new place on 90 acres that if carefully managed, can handle me and my mom for many years to come! I have an abundance of lids, I tend to buy them in uber bulk LOL. We are also fortunate enough to have a root cellar already on site. Tongs could be replicated if done carefully bending metal yourself OR out of wood, which would be a pain but again I have master woodworkers all around me as neighbors. I also have a decent supply of parafin, and a pond where worst case scenario, ice could be cut. I dont use a canning rack...

 

[Organics North]

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Is this an organic certified farm? Do you wish to maintain that certification? Is it a "hobby farm"? Or do you wish to make a living from it?

Mixing your own chicken feed I am happy to help with that, also check out and search it in feeding and watering your flock, a group of us on byc make our own feed. No you do not need soy... and you would need to roast it before you could feed it. Field peas are better IMO.

Look at seed savers exchange for some ORGANIC seed. Talk to the previous owners, who planted the fields, where did they get their grains? Cover crops depend on the terrain and the crop grown and the land management practice. Do you have the previous owner or some one local to help you...? Running an organic farm with no experience is quite a jump off the deep end!

Personally I would stop thinking about sustainability and that stuff and worry about learning farming and more specifically organic farming (If that is your goal)... Sustainability is a result not a goal.. 90 acres you can sustain a small community let alone 2 people...!

I guess I need to know your goals before I can offer any more opinion...

ON

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

Quote:
Is this an organic certified farm? Do you wish to maintain that certification? Is it a "hobby farm"? Or do you wish to make a living from it?

Mixing your own chicken feed I am happy to help with that, also check out and search it in feeding and watering your flock, a group of us on byc make our own feed. No you do not need soy... and you would need to roast it before you could feed it. Field peas are better IMO.

Look at seed savers exchange for some ORGANIC seed. Talk to the previous owners, who planted the fields, where did they get their grains? Cover crops depend on the terrain and the crop grown and the land management practice. Do you have the previous owner or some one local to help you...? Running an organic farm with no experience is quite a jump off the deep end!

Personally I would stop thinking about sustainability and that stuff and worry about learning farming and more specifically organic farming (If that is your goal)... Sustainability is a result not a goal.. 90 acres you can sustain a small community let alone 2 people...!

I guess I need to know your goals before I can offer any more opinion...

ON

I was seriously hoping you'd pipe in

I think back in the day, I've been on your website. I actually am close friends with several full blown organic farms. I have lots of local resources to access, I just want to try to get some of it down on my own. My one buddy is going to rent 25 acres of organic pasture for her heifers. I know how to maintain the orchard. I have been organic farming on a much smaller scale for a few years, can, seed save, etc. For me it's the transition to large scale that is worrying me. Right now 10 acres is used tillable organic CSA. I will be no where close to that at first, but want cover crop to maintain the intergrity of the soil until I am ready to expand. I am not worried about USDA. I am going to be and retain NOFA.

 

[Organics North]

Hi,,
OK

Congratulations

How many years do you want to hold the land?

Alfalfa is a great soil builder and you can sell the crop too. But that would be longer term say 3+ years in order to get your ROI

Super short term you could put in annual rye or some type of grass.

Another idea would be to put in a mix. I know dairy farmers who are planting field peas and buckwheat then green chopping it. You could sell the nutrient dense green chop to dairy farmers in the area, and the legumes will help build the soil.

ON

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

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I thoroughly plan to be there the rest of my life

If all goes well we're figuring I've got about 40 years? (I'm just pushing 40) So long term return on investment is no stress especially if it's good for my land and the environment. Once I settle here I never plan to move again. If I'm lucky I'LL be planted on my land some day with a green burial.

 

[Organics North]

Cool!
On the long term stay plans...
However, I was asking about how long you wanted to use a cover crop, before you switch to a different crop?
One season?
or
Several years on some of the land?

If it is several years putting the fields into alfalfa may be a good move. (It really builds the soil. Alfalfa roots go very deep, and being a legume it adds N to the soil..)

On the subject of burial.... I would prefer to be composted when I die...

Giving back to the earth, at least part of what I took....

I know they are laxing laws on home burial and not requiring yucky embalming.....But I don't think they allow composting yet....

So I will have to live a another 40 some years..

Be well
ON

 

[tls_ranch]

One thing to keep in mind, just about every culture traded with others and between members of it's own community.... Self Sustainability is a wonderful idea, but you may not be able to produce everything you'll need. You can "keep it local" by trading for items grown/raised/made by others who practice "sustainability" as much as possible. In reality, we don't all live close to salt sources, metal deposits, clay deposits for pottery, forests for wood heat and building or other raw resources.

Labor and skills are valuable as well. I even saw a dentist who was willing to trade dental work for hay!

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

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Yah thats the nice thing about being a nurse, I can trade

I also do glass work, and I am hoping to apprentice at some point with our local blacksmith. He makes REAL hinges, pots and pans, door handles, etc. He's an awesome guy and very much an artisan. Working with metal would definitely be a good skill. I know I will not be COMPLETELY self sufficient. I'm sure I will continue to buy clothes, etc. I just really desire a more reasonable life. I am thinning the extraneous things to the best of my ability. I figure if Im not part of the solution then I am part of the problem you know?

Yes I need to keep the ground covered at the very least until I am ready to rotate crops and planting of the annual vegetables and fruits. So I want to not only preserve the soil levels, but protect and bolster the integrity of the soil.

 

[tls_ranch]

Quote:
Yah thats the nice thing about being a nurse, I can trade

I also do glass work, and I am hoping to apprentice at some point with our local blacksmith. He makes REAL hinges, pots and pans, door handles, etc. He's an awesome guy and very much an artisan. Working with metal would definitely be a good skill. I know I will not be COMPLETELY self sufficient. I'm sure I will continue to buy clothes, etc. I just really desire a more reasonable life. I am thinning the extraneous things to the best of my ability. I figure if Im not part of the solution then I am part of the problem you know? I'm with you on this

Yes I need to keep the ground covered at the very least until I am ready to rotate crops and planting of the annual vegetables and fruits. So I want to not only preserve the soil levels, but protect and bolster the integrity of the soil.

I'm going to plant a large area with a cover crop this winter too with white clover, legume and grass blend. I have 20+ different fruit trees ready to be planted this fall and will have well over 30+ fruit trees in the ground by next spring. Not counting grapes and berries

I planned for a extended and continual harvest from early May until nearing December (weather permitting here in CA). I just hate going to the supermarket and spending $ everyweek for fruit and veggies that are most likely covered in pesticides and grown 100's if not 1000's of miles away. I'd rather just walk out my door and pick a basket of what ever is in season

 

[Beekissed]

And without my electric dehydrator here in cold and wet Michigan, that may not be fully effective either.

You can dehydrate foods with a solar dehydrator, you can dehydrate in a smoke house or even in your own oven.

I think a person can get bogged down in what is truly sustainable and not realize that it is hard to map out sustainability...sometimes it is situational and can only be learned and achieved when you come upon that situation. Daily walk, step by step until you look around you and you find that you have become more self reliant.

Over on SS I think we have hashed this subject to death...Can one really be self sustainable, or can we merely hope to be more self-reliant?​