How much land needed?

[hotbiggun]

What is the min amount of land needed to actaully feed your family? guy down the road has about 1/4 acre and he has chickens, small garden and a cow in a tiny fenced area. To me he is trying to get to many recources off his small lot. His place looks like hell.

But got me thinking, how much land in S Louisiana would it take to feed your family year round?

 

[Gator 45/70]

I'd go with 10 acres, Fish ponds are nice too.

 

[Bigchillin83]

1/4 acre is super small just for chickens, let along a cow lol , garden must be in the chicken coop lol… I’d say min 2-3 acres depending on what livestock you want

A pond will help a lot.. if you wanna feed fam year round better also work in a barter system with neighbors, it’s hard to supply 100% year round needs by your on farm, but trading your surplus for other stuff you need will go a long way, my in laws have 60 acres in oaklahoma and that’s what they do, they always trading 10-15 laying chickens for a baby hog ect..

 

[3fifty7]

You can supplement out of a “garden” but you can hardly live off of one.

Potatoes are stable for about 6 months, rice can be stable for a year plus.
I try 1/4 acre of potatoes, 1/4 acre potatoes, 1/4 acre miscellaneous garden, 1/4 acre for 30 chickens. Another acre for 6 hogs or 6 goats. Half an acre for my home and fruit trees and a small buffer from the animals.

So I’d say 2.5 acres minimum and way more work than most people are willing to do.

Edited “can’t to can”, I didn’t catch the autocorrect initially.

 

[hotbiggun]

You can supplement out of a “garden” but you can hardly live off of one.

Potatoes are stable for about 6 months, rice can’t be stable for a year plus.
I try 1/4 acre of potatoes, 1/4 acre potatoes, 1/4 acre miscellaneous garden, 1/4 acre for 30 chickens. Another acre for 6 hogs or 6 goats. Half an acre for my home and fruit trees and a small buffer from the animals.

So I’d say 2.5 acres minimum and way more work than most people are willing to do.

I was thinking 5 acres because i like beef. But yeah the work involved would be too much for most. Probably be better off networking with neighbors to swap different crops.
Wasnt long ago cajuns did this type of thing.

 

[machinedrummer]

If you are thinking long term…10 acres per family member for a family compound. God’s not making anymore land. Plan ahead. Good luck.

 

[Manimal]

What is the min amount of land needed to actaully feed your family? guy down the road has about 1/4 acre and he has chickens, small garden and a cow in a tiny fenced area. To me he is trying to get to many recources off his small lot. His place looks like hell.

But got me thinking, how much land in S Louisiana would it take to feed your family year round?

It depends on the layout and what your real goals are. Are you using fish, you using cattle, etc? A family grows their own food and makes something like $60,000 a year on 1/10th of an acre on an urban lot in California, market gardening. It's pretty crazy, they even have a goat and chickens.

I put 50+ fruit trees on 1/3rd of an acre and turned it into a jungle paradise. It provides many hundreds of pounds of tree fruit, as well as garden fruit/veggies, and thousands of dollars worth of cut flowers. Next year the tree fruit might reach thousands of lbs of production. That 1/3rd acre would sustain 2 sheep, along with those fruit trees, without supplemental feed and they would fertilize the fruit trees while mowing.

It's all in how you design the property and what you intend to do.

Tell me 3 goals for what you want to produce on your land.

 

[Manimal]

I'm looking for (not ready to buy) 10 acres to put a You-Pick-N-You-Fish Farm & Nursery on. It will be my income & if the bad comes I can close the gate, take the sign down, and be OK and have a productive place to be.

For families of 4-6 to grow basic fruit/veg/protein 1-2 acres would be plenty, truthfully.

if you're row cropping & tractor farming monoculture you'll need more, it's the way it has been done for generations here but it's actually a very poor method of farming, it's just "easy"/standardized.

 

[3fifty7]

if you're row cropping & tractor farming monoculture you'll need more, it's the way it has been done for generations here but it's actually a very poor method of farming, it's just "easy"/standardized.

It’s, with extremely few exceptions, the main/only method of farming for profit. It is standardized but it ain’t easy.

Now if you want a homestead go for it and I wish you luck. Until you completely quit “buying groceries”, and I’ll bet a substantial sum of money that will be never, choose you words more carefully.

 

[Manimal]

Keep in mind I used quotations, but also keep in mind that standardized is indeed convenient and accessible. It is absolutely easier than Homesteading, as you noted.

 

[sksshooter]

If my wife is touching it, there isn't enough land available to sustain my family of 4... i have 7.5 acres that if i really had the desire i could have a decent go but theres no way i could fully sustain us year round, muchless while working a full time job. not to mention to get it all properly setup to be productive costs money no matter how you go about it. fencing for animals is unreal anymore, irrigation is expensive. i've already got a decent size tractor and implements for upkeep on my property and deer lease upkeep but that stuff isn't cheap either.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Im like you i got 7.5 acres, good size garden, about 25 laying hens, had 4 hogs for a while, but after we ate them the wife said we were done with them lol.. got a good size tractor and implements.. I opted for no pond, i hate cleaning around them lol. But i do have a large portion of my property butted up to big woods and deer/hog/squirrel/rabbit hunt with hog traps on my property.. You would be surprised as to the harvest you can get with good foodplots and feeders on even a small plot of land in the right spot.. Between me and my young sons we can deff harvest enough meat to keep us going for a while if need be...

my next endeavor will be some meat chickens... just cant let my kids name them, like they do with our laying hens lol...

raising rabbits can be very easy to breed and use as meat.. they are about the easiest to manage, i think even easier than chickens

 

[Manimal]

Cuy are the easiest mammal protein, but American's have trouble eating Guinea Pigs.

Rabbits are pretty easy though, and 10% better than Cuy in their protein speed/production.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Cuy are the easiest mammal protein, but American's have trouble eating Guinea Pigs.

Rabbits are pretty easy though, and 10% better than Cuy in their protein speed/production.

learn something new everyday, i can promise you my wife and kids aint eating no cuy

 

[jdindadell]

If my wife is touching it,

What is she touching? The land or? Sorry, I just don't follow.

 

[sksshooter]

What is she touching? The land or? Sorry, I just don't follow.

Lol any plants... she trys her best every year in a couple raised beds but i dont know if she has made a grocery bag of produce in 4 years.