100% Self-Sufficiency is for Miserable People

Hey Amanda,

One of my pocket obsessions is mini-farming/homesteading, and if Pinterest and my own little section in Barnes and Noble is any indication, there are a lot of people like me.  I think I might be a little more zealous than most on the information side of things. I geek out pretty easily, and seeing as there are literally centuries worth of agricultural discussion and  extensive collections of  free government  resources  and publications (shut the door, interactive soil survey maps), I might have overthought a few things.

via hardworkinghippy

But, I often find myself annoyed at the tone of other aspiring homesteaders. One of the questions that pop up on forums all the time is "How many acres do I need per person to be 100% self-sufficient? I'd like to have a few chickens, maybe a dairy goat, and enough grain to make a loaf of bread every week."

To which the quick and often only response is "soil fertility and stocking rates vary so drastically even within a small area of land  to make this question impossible to answer."

I never say anything because with my 4x8 ft garden that has only ever grown a few radishes successfully, I don't  really feel qualified. But with a heck-load of theoretical knowledge, I always want to. Beyond not knowing about the soil, growing enough and the right kind of food to feed yourself through the winter, every winter, is the worst kind of personal goal. Seriously, civilization itself was created on the basis that single-handedly growing enough grain to feed yourself is supremely difficult. 100% self-sufficiency is certainly possible, it's just miserable. 

I'm all for making economic sacrifices for what makes you happy. Even if a homegrown tomato is almost always more expensive than the mealy Roma things they sell in the grocery store, they're still worth growing. However, the economics of wheat are a whole different ball game. I don't think wheat will ever be satisfying enough to grow by the half-acre just to say you did. Not only do you have to seed it, weed it, grow it like a homegrown tomato, but you have to scythe it, flay it, thresh it, clean it, grind it, and then cook it. Now, there is a machine designed to accomplish the majority of those tasks all at once, but it sells for a significant percentage of a million dollars.

via Richard A Howell

Meanwhile, the highest quality organic flour you could want is less than $2 a pound. Or to put it another way, spend less than $2 or tend 17 sq ft through the 4-8 month growing season and then spend an hour processing the harvest per pound of flour you want to consume.

Sure in the mid-range future, I want to raise my own Thanksgiving turkey and have the kind of epic kitchen garden that has the same square footage as my house, but I don't want to be totally self-sufficient. For one, that would mean giving up chocolate.  Secondly, subsistence farming also obeys the law of diminishing returns. Much better to shoot for growing 70% of your food and have time to enjoy it.

via Benoit Meunier

My two, inexperienced cents,
Stephanie

Forum lurking: gerund. free, entertaining education with zero chance of making a fool of yourself