Hooligan,
In MI I used to raise salad veggies in my garage in the winter. Lettuces, spinach, radishes, short carrots, etc. In a couple of 2x4 raised beds on heavy plastic. (I think the beds were 10" deep). Used grow lights (special florescent light) overhead on adjustable frames, so I could raise the lights as the plants grew. Some people make it a 4x4 and put them up on legs.
Think small square foot gardening inside or in pots.
Also, in Ohio, I used to have the square foot set up outside and used PVC to make tunnels covered in heavy plastic for a winter garden. You might still be able to set up small outside garden tunnel and plant a few things. Surround the bed with bales of straw or hay for added warmth. If nothing else, you have a head start on Spring.
Don't forget about sprouting seeds in the kitchen.
ROB: I still think chickens, (the right breeds of chickens), will out beat any quail without a doubt. A Free Ranging chicken has basically no feed cost, except in the winter months. That is why I raise Sicilian Buttercups. They would rather free range and they eat very little feed.
That is also why I want to play with tractoring a small batch of my Jumbo Brown meaties in the Spring. Just for fun and to see how big they get on ground for the last few weeks, with feed offered morning and night with ground in between. I like the Coturnix because they are so portable, if need be they can travel.
How many you have to process to get so much meat, doesn't come into the factoring. Its the feed to meat conversion that needs to be accounted for. Self Sufficient being - not spending much money to get or raise your food. You life off your animals, they live off the land is better than you buying feed for your animals year round. The vegetables and fruit feed off the land, so keep it fertile with compost from the animals not bought fertilizers and compost. That is also why you want as much edible perennial vegetation as possible for your area. Annual vegetation needs to be non-hybrid so you can save seed and not have to buy new each year.
A lot of this is discussed over in the sister sufficientself.com web site.
In MI I used to raise salad veggies in my garage in the winter. Lettuces, spinach, radishes, short carrots, etc. In a couple of 2x4 raised beds on heavy plastic. (I think the beds were 10" deep). Used grow lights (special florescent light) overhead on adjustable frames, so I could raise the lights as the plants grew. Some people make it a 4x4 and put them up on legs.
Think small square foot gardening inside or in pots.
Also, in Ohio, I used to have the square foot set up outside and used PVC to make tunnels covered in heavy plastic for a winter garden. You might still be able to set up small outside garden tunnel and plant a few things. Surround the bed with bales of straw or hay for added warmth. If nothing else, you have a head start on Spring.
Don't forget about sprouting seeds in the kitchen.
ROB: I still think chickens, (the right breeds of chickens), will out beat any quail without a doubt. A Free Ranging chicken has basically no feed cost, except in the winter months. That is why I raise Sicilian Buttercups. They would rather free range and they eat very little feed.
That is also why I want to play with tractoring a small batch of my Jumbo Brown meaties in the Spring. Just for fun and to see how big they get on ground for the last few weeks, with feed offered morning and night with ground in between. I like the Coturnix because they are so portable, if need be they can travel.
How many you have to process to get so much meat, doesn't come into the factoring. Its the feed to meat conversion that needs to be accounted for. Self Sufficient being - not spending much money to get or raise your food. You life off your animals, they live off the land is better than you buying feed for your animals year round. The vegetables and fruit feed off the land, so keep it fertile with compost from the animals not bought fertilizers and compost. That is also why you want as much edible perennial vegetation as possible for your area. Annual vegetation needs to be non-hybrid so you can save seed and not have to buy new each year.
A lot of this is discussed over in the sister sufficientself.com web site.
