what's a good acreage for self-sufficiency?

[toddzilla]

Just curious as i'm looking to acquire some land in the next few years, and i'd like to put a very small house/cabin on it for retreats/vacations/hiding from the inevitable police state. isn't there a book that tells you how to be self-sufficient on 4 acres or something along those lines?

thanks.

[westman]

1. Depends--

How much property tax do you want to pay?

[yelladawg]

2. And Location

The growing is different as you go north or south. Where are you wanting to go?

[toddzilla]

4. Not really sure..

I live in missouri, so it'd be nice for it to be somewhere not terribly far, but i'm not really tied to anywhere in particular. Midwest in general. I'm not really worried too much about the whole gardening thing.. just wondered what a good # of acres would be as a side consideration. Obviously as much as i could afford, but if there's a minimum amount i should look for, that's what my bottom amount would be.

[SOteric]

3. This really depends on the land in question,

how fertile it is, how far you need go to have a sanitation source sufficiently removed from your source of potable water, and the climate in question.

[cliss]

5. It also depends on how self-sufficient you want to be.

Do you want to grow your own crops, or do you want to include livestock, like a cattle, a few sheep and a goat, some chickens and a pig? Some people feel that self-sufficiency has to include raising their own livestock.

You would probably need more room if you decide on that. Otherwise, you won't need as much acreage. I'm sure Rodale Press has lots of information. Do they have a web site?

[toddzilla]

6. i guess i should have said "moderately"

I don't know, i guess i just want to read on it a little :shrug: i figured someone would know a book or something to get me started, since i'm probably a year or so away from having cash to get it rolling.

[punpirate]

7. There was a book...

... titled, I believe, _Self-Sufficiency on Five Acres_, but for the life of me, I can't remember the author, or if it's still in print.

The old adage at the turn of the last century was "40 acres and a mule."

Probably the best book on the subject of self-sufficiency and small farms, though, is _Five Acres and Independence_ by Maurice Kains. It's still available, although probably mostly from booksellers who deal in used books. If your local library doesn't have it, try asking them about an inter-library loan.

Edit for typo....

Cheers.

[grasswire]

8. there are a couple of used copies...

...of that book available at www.abebooks.com, the internet used bookseller. Just look it up there.

[The Mighty Boot]

9. I think it's called

"Five Acres and Independence"