How many hours a day does it take?

[JustBringIt5x]

So i have the idea to become self sufficient...somewhat.

I figured i have alot of research and reading to do, but over time id like to grow, raise, hunt, and fish my own food aswell as find ways to produce energy (electric, water, heat/ac, etc.). Buy an electric car or truck (like a Tesla - i know their pricey but once paid off would save on gas).

Im just curious, if i had 5 acres (hypothetically) how many hours a day would it take to be that self sufficient?

I mean...im still going to work - but maybe I can do something I would enjoy for lower pay (which i currently make anyways) rather than something i hate that id have to go to school for to make money to live.

Regardless, if your raising livestock/chickens/etc and farming your own food and etc how many hours a day does it take?

Can you still go places, or are you just stuck on ur own land?

My reasoning is that I could cut costs of living by being as self sufficient as possible...



ps. Im in the early stages of this potential...please bare with me.

[diggernotdreamer]

I have 3 acres of land, around 50 different fowl, 1 pet pig, 2 alpaca's and two dogs. On the land is two polytunnels and various raised beds. I feed the animals in the morning and evening, so that could be done to fit in around work hours. I reckon that I probably spend two hours a day tending my garden, it is a lot more at the moment as I am making a new vegetable garden as the first one floods. How much stuff you need to grow is all dependent on how many people you want to feed. I have loads of beds because I sell my surplus vegetables and eggs, but I could never make a living at it, I would need help. If you wanted to grow wood for firewood, I reckon you would need 5 acres to power a house with wood because you would need to harvest an acre every year on a 5 year rotation (have had this conversation quite a bit). As for going away, that is tricky, we have had people move into our home for 3 days, but that is probably all I could ever ask anyone to do it for, you can't ask people to clean out animals and pick up dog poo and it is a big responsibility to put on people, especially if anything happens, an animal gets sick, breaks down fences etc. We do live very well, there is always something to eat in the garden and it does keep our costs down, it is not just the cost for me, it is the knowledge that we are resilient in the event of something happening which it does, like being snowed in, or our village being cut off by flooding, we can survive here. I can't grow wheat which is a bit of a bugger, animals need feed, and if you can grow what they need that keeps the costs down, swedes, turnips, legumes, etc are all useful animals feeds. Land quality is important too, not all land is equal, mine is quite wet so I grow in raised beds and not all of it is suitable for large animals.

[JustBringIt5x]

Intresting...

i mean its not like i go anywhere anyways, lol. I just want to be able to hit the beach/boardwalk in the summer time, maybe go to a ball game here or there.

Id plan to live in south new jersey, usa btw...

[JustBringIt5x]

how much food is needed per person per year???

[diggernotdreamer]

Well if you want to go out, you have to in factor your time out, when do I need to get back, animals need feeding, watering, my hens would need shutting in at night as they are free range and the foxes would get them, we go out for shopping every 4 weeks and leave everything here for about 4 or 5 hours as we shop 20 miles away and make a bit of a day, have fish and chips for lunch as a big treat. We don't get much good weather here, so any good weather we have to get all the jobs done we can until the rain comes back, you may get lovely weather nearly all the time so you can have more leisure time. Spring evenings are good, not too dark so we nip to the pub for a few bevvies and the craic.

How much food is needed, I don't know the answer to that, you will have to sit down and make a list of what you eat every week, then you have to decide what you are going to grow from there. Some crops would need storing for winter like spuds, carrots, parsnips, beets, maincrop onions etc, some things you could grow and preserve by freezing or bottling. We have mild wet winters so we can still grow salads in the winter, plus we have leeks, kales, broccoli. Perhaps you should consider going on Workaway or Helpex even Wwoofing and get a bit of experience growing

[JustBringIt5x]

What is a helpex/workaway?

[diggernotdreamer]

They websites online, you can go and volunteer to work places, usually you get bed and board, lots of people do it as a way of gaining experience in fields they are interested in, if you google any of those words, you will find information

[Flo]

It sounds as if JustBringIt5x is dreaming of a lifestyle something like crofting in Scotland. To be self sufficient in that sort of way you'd need about 10 acres of land. You'd be looking at working full time to produce fruit and vegetables or whatever crops you can grow in the area to preserve and a little to barter. Animals are up to you, depends on your diet and whether you have access to slaughtering and preserving facilities.

If you want an electric car then you need facilities to charge it so you would need to be able to generate your own power. And have access to facilities to repair it in the case of breakdown (both the car and the power generation).

Being self sufficient on the land is mostly a full time occupation over here. So you need to start out with a good bank balance and a lot of experience. Not just experience of growing crops and caring for livestock but also of the many other practical repairs - fences, house, outbuildings. You can become a builder/ electrician/ mechanic/ gardener/ soil expert/ pigman/ cowherd/ shepherd/ vet depending on your stock. Can you deal with that fallen tree that has just bought the fence down before the stock escape (or invade from elsewhere)? How good are you with machinery from spade through chainsaw to rotovator and hedge trimmer, tractor and attachments? Believe me an electric car is no use in an agricultural setting - it won't carry dirty veg and machinery at all well.

Oh and you'll need a good solicitor and a good accountant. I'm a small farmer's daughter - luckily there was family to help but I think both sides of the partnership had three weeks holiday in ten years thinking back - taken when time permitted and not both at the same time.

Like Digger says, go and get a lot of practical experience working for or helping someone else. It'll show you whether you don't have the talent for your dreams or whether you'd hate doing it in the long term or whether you really do want to do it.

[Flo]

It sounds as if JustBringIt5x is dreaming of a lifestyle something like crofting in Scotland. To be self sufficient in that sort of way you'd need about 10 acres of land. You'd be looking at working full time to produce fruit and vegetables or whatever crops you can grow in the area to preserve and a little to barter. Animals are up to you, depends on your diet and whether you have access to slaughtering and preserving facilities.

If you want an electric car then you need facilities to charge it so you would need to be able to generate your own power. And have access to facilities to repair it in the case of breakdown (both the car and the power generation).

Being self sufficient on the land is mostly a full time occupation over here. So you need to start out with a good bank balance and a lot of experience. Not just experience of growing crops and caring for livestock but also of the many other practical repairs - fences, house, outbuildings. You can become a builder/ electrician/ mechanic/ gardener/ soil expert/ pigman/ cowherd/ shepherd/ vet depending on your stock. Can you deal with that fallen tree that has just bought the fence down before the stock escape (or invade from elsewhere)? How good are you with machinery from spade through chainsaw to rotovator and hedge trimmer, tractor and attachments? Believe me an electric car is no use in an agricultural setting - it won't carry dirty veg and machinery at all well.

Oh and you'll need a good solicitor and a good accountant. I'm a small farmer's daughter - luckily there was family to help but I think both sides of the partnership had three weeks holiday in ten years thinking back - taken when time permitted and not both at the same time.

Like Digger says, go and get a lot of practical experience working for or helping someone else. It'll show you whether you don't have the talent for your dreams or whether you'd hate doing it in the long term or whether you really do want to do it.

[Weedo]

rule of thumb is that it takes nearly as much energy and time to produce your food as the value you get out of it - basically, you need to substitute time growing, preparing, preserving etc. for money spent on full purchase costs of the same food (you pay something for everything you get)

For me, the issue is not so much how many total hours but rather that you need to dedicate some hours nearly every day, for example at this time of the year (our Autumn through to end Winter) I must hand feed stock daily; it only takes a couple of hours but it must be done every day. Unless I can get someone in to do it, it is hard to get a break.

[happyhippy]

Hi Weedo,I grow alot of my own food.Sure its probably cheaper to just buy it from the supermarket,but I like to be as independant as possible,know whats gone into my food,and enjoy the process of growing it.Can you put a price on that?

[Weedo]

Hi Happy H

I'm not arguing about that at all - I am just acknowledging that the price of your food is either $ or time; At the moment I don't have time so have to spend $. I also agree that the (potential) quality of home grown is superior; I would be ashamed of admitting to growing some of the stuff I see in supermarkets, including the meats.

[happyhippy]

I have an allotment,which I use "No Dig"principles on.I work full time,so my plot has to be as easy maintenance as possible.I average spending 4 hrs per week working on it during the growing season (April-Sept),and thats basically just abit of light weeding,watering,planting and harvesting.

[Ellure]

I enjoy reading Home Pursuits and have an allotment,which I use "No Dig"principles on.I work full time,so my plot has to be as easy maintenance as possible.I average spending 4 hrs per week working on it during the growing season (April-Sept),and thats basically just abit of light weeding,watering,planting and harvesting.

I like your idea a lot, Happyhippy. I struggle balancing everything too and I feel like something like this would help a lot. At least until I can figure out some other stuff in my life so I can dedicate more time to my garden.

[Skippy]

A lot will depend on the state of the plot in the first place . If the land has been neglected you could spend a good deal of time clearing vegetation, weeds ,or worse , getting fences and hedges in order , and ditches or drains to go in perhaps .
Part off my daily job is looking after people's gardens. There were some that looked like Viet Cong training grounds when I started and a few hours work hardly seemed to scratch the surface. But , a few years down the line those couple of hours have added up , the worst has all gone and though I still spend the same time there the results are far more visible and the work is easier.