Subject: Survival Homesteads
From: [email-masked] (John Mudge)
Date: 28 Jul 94 17:50:12 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

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* Forwarded by John Mudge (1:352/111)
* Area : SURVIVAL_ORIENTED (Survnet: SURVIVAL_ORIENTED TOPICS)
* From : John Mudge, 9:2500/0 (Thursday July 28 1994 12:06)
* To   : Dave Paxton
* Subj : Survival Homesteads
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Hello Dave!

Sunday July 24 1994, Dave Paxton writes to Larry Gowdy:

 LG>> What size homestead would you recommend for a secluded survival
 LG>> spot? I tend to think 40 acres is minimum for an area where you don't

 DP> This is a difficult question to answere. It mostly depends on what you
 DP> are expecting to happen. If you are expecting a monitary collapse then
 DP> 40 acres <if the ability to protect it is there> is a good size. If you
 DP> are expecting a massive civil upriseing 40 acres might be too much to
 DP> guard, 5 acres might be good. If you are expecting a military take over
 DP> or dictatorship then 1 acre could suffice and it should enclude
 DP> fortification and concealability.

 DP> I personally lean twords 5 acres. It is enough to etch our a living if
 DP> you have to and is easily handeled by One man or a small family. On the
 DP> one acre you can have a small, well fortified, easily concealed fall
 DP> back location, just in case you need it.

 LG>> have access to a river or national park on one side (I hate being boxed
 LG>> in), but with a river or lake or such on one side, it almost seems a
 LG>> waste to have more than maybe 10 to 20 acres. The little spot we have

 DP> A bordering lake or river could make it possible to live on an acre or
 DP> less. With a fair portion of you food comeing from the lake or river.

 LG>> right now is just 6 acres, about perfect for two people without much of
 LG>> anything better to do than sit around watching the weather roll by, but
 LG>> still a tad too small to get the number of trees planted we need.

 DP> I like the idea of haveing enough room for apple trees, peach trees,
 DP> pair trees, cherry trees, and plum trees. All of which are available in
 DP> miniture sizes if the land is tight. Rather than planting "grove style"
 DP> you can plant sporadicly on the property and intermingle speices with
 DP> the natural growth to the point that they are not noticeable to the
 DP> untrained eye from a distance. <like say from the road>

I think I have covered my theories with you before on this question, but I
believe it was prior to Larry joining us.  I believe that the amount of land a
person needs varies significantly depending on the area of the country you are
in.  In Larry's area, the Texas Panhandle, the native vegetation consists of
prickly pear cactus an isolated mesquite trees for the most part.  Although a
couple of rivers flow through that area, the water table is quite low and
irrigation is a necessity.  I would tend toward recommending 40 acres for a
small family.  In my area the land is extremely productive and for the most
part has no agricultural chemical residue. 5 acres here is quite adequate.  A
good method of assessing land needs would be to determine the sustainable level
of annual biomass production and insert that into a formula that took into
account food and firewood needs...plus an initial amount needed for
construction materials.  I do not have any real numbers to suggest, but will
post this in SUST_AG echo to see if someone can come up with such a formula.

John Mudge

-+-
 # Origin:  -->point MUDGE bbs * V.32b * Shelton, WA  USA<--  (9:2500/0)
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Hello All!

Anyone have any comments, additions, real info, etc?

Thanks!

John Mudge