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dtrade83

Sustainable Farming

dtrade83
12 years ago

I am rebuilding our family farm, and since it wasn't maintained properly for the last ten (10) years, I am essentially starting from square one. I am planning on creating a more sustainable system, and I would like EVERYTHING to be as sustainable/reusable/zero waste as possible. I am looking for ideas/suggestions in hopes that maybe some of you out there can help me think of some things that I have missed or can help me to get the ball rolling and fill in idea gaps.

Thanks in advance!

Comments (4)

  • novascapes
    12 years ago

    I can remember back to when I was a kid at grandpa's farm. It was pretty sustainable then and a lot more so before I came along.
    There are a lot of things you can Google up on growing vegetables and have a sustainable livestock operation. What I don't see a lot of is about what to do with the the meat and vegetables produced.
    My grandparents had a processing house which included canning and storage facilities. (The root cellar was one of my favorite places.) There was a smoke house not far away. A couple of large cast iron hanging pots just outside the back door. These were used for vegetables, scalding chickens, and even making lye soap.
    Just about everything seemed to be produced or made on the farm. (I still have grandpa's forge, anvil and tools he made using them.) What impressed me most is how vastly intelligent people had to be to survive being self sustainable.
    So I guess what I am trying to say is that you have a lot to learn. My grandparents grew up learning this stuff in everyday life. We have to aquire it some other way.
    First get the knowledge, next the infrastructure, then go for it.

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    12 years ago

    Ditto novascapes !

    Brings back memories! I had to get up at least by 5:30 AM to do my chores. I went to the smokehouse or saltbox to get meat for breakfast, then to the hen house for eggs. Bring them to Mama so she could start breakfast. Then go slop the hogs, throw out some hay for the cows. Then I got breakfast!

    While I was doing my chores, I thought it was pure torture! But when I sat down to eat breakfast, I realized that it was all worth it!

    Back to the OP! Try Google or the link below for The Foxfire Books,on the Appalachians of GA. They have a lot of good old time stuff about living off of the land. You can most likely find them in your local library or you can request that they borrow them from a GA library!

    I still subscribe to their magazine, but it is mostly old tales from the last of the true Sustainable Farmers!

    I used to have the complete set, I gave them to my nephew after reading them many times.

    Here is a link that might be useful: foxfire

  • dtrade83
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    My dad owns many of the Foxfire books so I will start there

  • ga_karen
    12 years ago

    I would suggest that you get a subscription to Acres USA. If you look them up on the web, they offer a free copy. It is directed at sustainable farmers and has loads of good info in it every month!

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