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Planning on adding horses to your farm or off grid homestead? Think again. It might be a lot harder than you think. Here's a list of things you will need to consider.
Before bringing horses onto your property, assess the land and facilities to ensure they can accommodate the needs of horses. Check for suitable pasture areas, access to fresh water sources, safe fencing, and adequate shelter options such as a barn or run-in shed.
Provide Ample Pasture Space
Horses require ample pasture space to graze and exercise. Aim for at least 1-2 acres of pasture per horse, depending on the type of forage available and the horse's needs. Rotate pastures regularly to prevent overgrazing and promote healthy vegetation growth.
Secure Safe and Sturdy Fencing
Install secure and sturdy fencing around the pasture area to keep horses contained and safe. Choose fencing materials appropriate for horses, such as wooden board, high-tensile wire, or electric tape, and regularly inspect and maintain the fencing for any damages or weak spots.
Ensure Clean and Fresh Water
Horses require access to clean and fresh water at all times. Install automatic waterers or provide large troughs that can hold an adequate amount of water for the number of horses on the property. Regularly clean and monitor water sources to ensure they are free from contamination.
Construct Adequate Shelter
Provide suitable shelter for horses to seek protection from extreme weather conditions such as rain, wind, or intense heat. Options include a well-ventilated barn, run-in shed, or a combination of natural and artificial shelters. Ensure the shelter is structurally sound and offers enough space for all horses.
Develop a Feeding Program
Create a feeding program that meets the nutritional needs of your horses. Consult with an equine nutritionist or veterinarian to develop a balanced diet based on hay, pasture grazing, and appropriate grain or concentrate feeds. Feed horses at regular intervals and monitor their body condition to adjust the diet as needed.
Maintain Regular Veterinary Care
Schedule regular veterinary check-ups and vaccinations for your horses. Establish a relationship with a local equine veterinarian who can provide routine care, administer vaccinations, and address any health concerns promptly. Stay updated on deworming protocols specific to your region.
Practice Regular Hoof Care
Establish a routine for regular hoof care, including trimming or shoeing. Schedule visits from a skilled farrier who can maintain proper hoof health, address any hoof-related issues, and provide guidance on hoof maintenance between visits.
Implement Pest Control Measures
Develop a pest control plan to minimize the impact of flies, mosquitoes, and other pests on your horses. Implement strategies such as fly masks, fly sheets, fans, and insect-repellent sprays to keep horses comfortable and protected from pests.
Provide Enrichment and Exercise
Horses need mental stimulation and regular exercise to maintain their physical and mental well-being. Incorporate enrichment activities such as toys, treat balls, or varied grazing areas to keep horses engaged. Set aside dedicated time for regular exercise, whether through riding, lunging, or turnout in a safe and adequately sized paddock.
Practice Good Manure Management
Develop a manure management system to prevent the accumulation of waste and maintain a clean and healthy environment. Regularly remove manure from the pasture and implement composting or proper disposal methods to minimize environmental impact.
Continual Learning and Education
Stay informed and continuously educate yourself about horse care, health, and management practices. Attend workshops, seminars, and clinics, and connect with local horse communities to exchange knowledge and experiences. Stay updated on the latest research and advancements in equine care.
...
Keeping horses on a farm or off-grid property is a rewarding endeavor, but it requires careful planning, commitment, and ongoing maintenance.
The name brings fear to the minds of many people in Ontario.
Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, and he is a jerk. A real nasty jerk. He wants to dump nuclear waste in Bruce County, close to the town of Teeswater. The Teeswater River (and the underground aquifer beneath the region) supplies the drinking water to:
Tens of thousands of people.
Dairy cows.
Water for agricultural farming (corn, potatoes, soy beans and more).
Water for Aquafina bottled water.
Cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Bruce County is the Beef Capital of North America, but it also produces a lot of other meat products.
If you live Ontario you've eaten food many times from Bruce County. Guaranteed. You've drank the milk. You've eaten the cheese. You've eaten beef, pork, turkey and chicken. You've eaten the corn, the potatoes, the soy products. You've drank Aquafina water.
Even if you are a vegan and don't eat milk and dairy, you should still care where your soy products and other vegetables are grown and where your bottled water comes from.
And that is why you should care.
If you care about what you eat, then you should protect what you eat. Learn more at:
The type of soil and rock present on the land could affect its suitability for building a log home or cabin. A proper foundation needs a solid, level base underneath it. Otherwise, it could shift and cause serious damage to the home over time.
People can often determine the soil present on the ground by a simple visual inspection. They may need to obtain soil samples from a few feet down to see how they can establish a foundation. Land buyers may encounter soils like:
peat
silt
sand
clay
chalk
loam
Experts often prefer loam for building/new construction, because it contains a combination of soils that are less likely to expand or erode. If people discover that the soil is sitting on a solid and fairly level bedrock, they may have the best arrangement.
Homesteaders must buy Alaska land that is already fairly level, or plan to excavate it properly before they put in the foundation. Properties with a notable slope may pose concerns about soil erosion and water flow. People should confirm that the ground below the foundation is unlikely to shift with changes in the water table. This will help to guarantee a solid construction that will last for many years.
Potential Crops
Although people will usually have a number of options for growing crops on almost any kind of soil, the type will alter how they approach the growing season. Some soils, like clay, are hard to till, take a long time to change temperature in the spring, and do not drain very effectively. Because of its high moisture content and heavy texture, clay is often better for summer crops than spring vegetables and fruits.
Drier soils like sand or gravel will drain well, but tend to lose moisture and nutrients quickly. Because they are minimally compacted, they will change temperature rapidly in the spring. Root vegetables and spring plants may be an ideal choice for sand. Peat soil, which is soft and damp, offers similar options for growers. Loam, which is often a combination of sand, silt, and peat, provides a balance between the two extremes. All of these soil types may need replenishment of nutrients through composting or other means.
Most people can identify the type of soil on a portion of land by looking at it and watching it absorb water. Clay is sticky when wet, and may feel like a brick when dry. Moisture-rich soils like peat could feel spongy to the touch. These soils need additional drainage to avoid over-saturating the crops with water. Sand feels dry and gritty, and chalk usually looks like small rocks. Land buyers may want to research the type of soil on the property to learn more about its maintenance needs.
Livestock
Building a homestead that can allow livestock to grow and thrive requires enough space to support them, and, in most cases, soil that is ideal for grazing. As a general rule, people should keep in mind that the larger the animal, the bigger the space needed. Fowl such as chickens and ducks may require the least amount of space — as little as four square feet per bird for shelter. Rabbits are also a viable option for meat that demands only a small area. Although these animals are considered ideal choices for people just starting out, they also need protection. Homeowners need to build a fence to keep them in and predators from gaining access.
People should also consider how much land they will need to grow food for the livestock they intend to keep. Fowl, rabbits, and goats may be able to eat almost anything already on the property. When allowed to graze free-range, goats can help to clear out brush near the home. By comparison, pigs, sheep, and cows may need much more. For example, experts suggest that homesteaders provide at least one acre of grazing land per cow.
Proper testing can determine if the soil will support the grasses that most livestock need to survive. As a general rule, the grasses ideal for cows need soil that is a little more acidic. People can use natural components like lime or fertilizer to change the soil acidity. Keeping the soil at the right pH, properly watered, and covered will promote greater output.
Determining the benefits of solar energy requires a nuanced discussion. Solar panels, properly installed and maintained, can be a benefit in almost any region. The path buyers have to navigate shows them how to get the most out of the panels, and whether or not this method will provide enough energy in exchange for the investment.
Contrary to popular belief, solar panels do not necessarily require direct sunlight in order to capture energy. This means that the panels can still convert daylight to power, even if the sun is not directly shining on the panels all day. That said, direct sunlight is a more efficient and effective means of improving the panels’ output. Since the position of the sun varies throughout the year, homeowners may choose to install panels in a variety of places on the roof for maximum year-round exposure.
The climate and estimated maintenance of a system can also affect the solar energy yield. A region with many very hot days each year could actually decrease energy capture by as much as 30 percent. Areas of the country with consistent cloudy days may limit efficiency to 40 percent of the maximum. Panels will lose about 10 percent of their potential if they get dirty, so homeowners must prepare to keep them clean. These factors may not be significant enough to reject solar panels as an option. If people know that they will have to deal with these problems, they may want to consider more than one type of energy source for their homes.
Solar Energy for Growing Crops & Greenhouses
Growing crops successfully depends on a delicate balance of sun, necessary nutrients in the soil, and a good maintenance routine. Sun exposure is an important aspect to weigh in the purchase of property good for growing produce. Most land, especially properties that are somewhat developed with structures and mature trees, will have spots with a lot of sun and shady areas. Homeowners must understand and respect the unique plant’s needs to get the most from their investment.
When people start to select plant species, they need to know what the crop requires for sun exposure and whether or not they can guarantee it. Plants labeled “full-sun” need at least six hours of direct sun each day, although some need more. Those with a designation of “partial-shade” should have 3-6 hours of sunlight to avoid damaging them. Although some species are hardy and able to adjust to a range of exposure, not enough sun (or too much) often translates into a lower yield.
Ensuring adequate sunlight requires the ability to estimate direct sun exposure during the season in which the fruit or vegetable should be grown. It may not be enough to estimate peak summer light and assume it will work for all plants, year-round. Home buyers should also factor in their plans for trees and outbuildings to the shade of the space. For areas in which they intend to plant, people should confirm that they will get the minimum amount of sun necessary for healthy crops.
Like sun or water, wind is a natural resource that many homeowners can use to increase the amount of available electricity without having to rely on the local power grid.
Similar to microhydro electric power, wind can be harnessed to run a turbine that generates electricity to power a generator. If there is a lot of wind at the height of the turbine, homeowners may be able to generate some or even all of the power they need to run the homestead. Turbines appropriate for residential use yield a power output ranging from 20-100 kilowatts.
Homesteaders must first determine if the property is suitable for a wind turbine. Experts recommend that homeowners have land of at least one acre. Buyers should confirm that the zoning of the area allows them to install and use a turbine. Wind turbines are often quite tall, simply because taller towers can gather wind at a higher speed. Regulations often specify that there must be at least 30 feet of clearance around the spinning blades of the turbine.
To get the best output, homeowners should plan to purchase a turbine that stands at least twice as high as the tallest nearby object. If there are existing wind energy systems in the area, people may be able to get data about common wind speeds at the proper height. Most systems need regular speeds of at least 9 miles per hour. Greater speeds can improve energy output.
Potential Soil Erosion
While wind is a resource to homesteaders in many ways, it can also pose a threat to soil and vegetation. Soil erosion is a natural part of the life cycle for almost any property. However, people who rely on a particular patch of land to grow crops or plants to support livestock need to understand how erosion could affect the property’s sustainability.
Areas with strong winds can shift the nutrient-rich topsoil that homeowners need to grow plants. Overgrazing or clearing land could make this problem worse. To prevent erosion, people should plan to keep at least 30 percent of the land occupied with ground cover. Professional farmers suggest tilling plant remains into the soil when homeowners are done with the crops for that season. This helps to preserve necessary moisture, which can make it harder for the wind to move the top layers.
One way to prevent this erosion however is to build greenhouses.
So when it comes to building your own greenhouse, I firmly believe people should do more research about the type of greenhouse they are building - and pay attention to its architecture, because a lot of people are being lazy and ignoring various fundamentals of architecture and engineering.
And issues surrounding snow.
In the video below you will see the owner of the greenhouse explaining what went wrong with his greenhouse. His greenhouse is basically useless during the winter because he made the structure in the shape of a half cylinder, which means the upper part of the roof is almost flat and collects snow. What he should have done is made the roof peaked in a sharp triangular shape, so that the snow is forced to slide down the sides rather than collecting on top of the roof.
In the next video you can see how easy it is to build one of these half-cylinder greenhouses... which is great if you don't mind snow collecting on the roof. The clip is from "This Old House", an American TV show based in Boston, where they don't get as much snow as Northern Ontario does. Boston gets average annual snowfall of 43.5 inches. Sudbury meanwhile gets average annual snowfall of 103.7 inches. And then there is the issue of accumulation. In Boston, the snow is more likely to melt within a few hours or days. In Sudbury, the snow just piles up and rarely melts until Spring. Thus a greenhouse in Boston doesn't really need to worry about snow accumulation, but a greenhouse in Ontario does need to worry about it.
But there is actually a solution. DO MORE RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUILD!
And if you are living in northern climate, then you need to choose a design that will cause the snow to slide down the sides of the structure.
#1. The Shallow Peak Greenhouse
Take the example on the right. Is it an improvement over the half cylinder design? Yes. Could it be better, also yes. The top and sides of the structure could be a sharper and steeper peak.
The design is very similar to the one shown in the "This Old House" clip, but it can definitely be improved by making the roof taller with a steeper peak so that snow is more likely to slide off with ease.
Would it really cost that much extra to just make it 2 or 3 feet taller? Or take that much extra time to build? No and no. So just make it taller, as a shallow peak really won't be doing its job of keeping the snow off.
Plus the taller the structure is, the more sunlight/heat it captures and traps inside the greenhouse, and you have more room for shelves up higher for a 2nd layer of plants.
#2. The Sharper Peak Greenhouse with Vents
So the builder of this greenhouse went for a more wood design, but they also designed the peak with adjustable vents so they can control the amount of heat being trapped in the greenhouse.
The wood structure with bricks, gravel and cement around the base suggests this is meant to be a more permanent structure, so they decided to be more thorough with their design.
The roof has a nice 45 degree angle peak, which should be excellent for keeping the snow from accumulating.
The extra cost of all the wood in this design means that they likely chose to make the greenhouse smaller for budgetary reasons, but on the plus side this design should last a lot longer.
#3. The Asymmetrical Peak Greenhouse
The peak does not have to be in the middle of the greenhouse. Indeed, if you are building the greenhouse next to an existing structure, you could just make the peak on one side so that all the snow falls down the other side.
The two sides don't need to be even either. If one side of the structure faces south, it might make more sense to make that side of the structure longer. In the example below they reused an older brick wall from a previous structure.
#4. The Pyramidal Greenhouse
You aren't stuck using a single peak running the length of the greenhouse. There are many other shapes you might consider, such as a pyramid-shaped greenhouse. It will take more effort to design and build a pyramidal greenhouse, but the single sharp pointed peak will definitely keep the snow off of it.
#5. The Geodesic Dome Greenhouse
This particular design works well in warm climates, but it won't be so good in a northern climate because the top of the roof is not steep enough. A way to fix this would be to make the top of the structure a sharper peak rather than a rounded roof.
#6. The Hexagonal Greenhouse
The example below fixes the design problem mentioned above by adding an extra section for a peak at the top, which also functions as a vent. The design is also fairly easy to build, and part of the structure is brick for added permanence.
OFF GRID ISSUES FOR GREENHOUSES
Once your greenhouse is built, you will need to determine what amenities you want for it, such as water and if you think it needs electricity.
Rainwater off the sides of the structure could be collected into rain barrels, and thus used for the plants.
Ideally you should place any such rain barrels inside the greenhouse to prevent it from freezing during the winter, with pipes leading up to troughs. A valve and pipe system could be constructed to prevent water from freezing inside the pipes, but also for distributing water to the plants.
Some people will want electricity for venting the space, but that can be accomplished without using electricity by opening doors, windows and ceiling vents. If heat is still an issue you can also soap up the walls and ceiling of the structure, as the soap residue will block out sunlight.
Some people also talk about using a gas heater, electric heater or even a wood stove to keep their greenhouse warm during the winter, but if you are resorting to such things then you clearly designed a low efficiency greenhouse that is not insulated enough.
If you need more insulation, during the design process you could have simply added an extra layer of plastic with some space in between the two layers of plastic. This barrier acts as an insulator to keep the interior of the greenhouse warmer.
The guy in the video way at the top mentions adding an electric blower to blow air between the two layers of plastic, but this is unnecessary if you simply design the structure to have a few inches of space between the inner and outer layers of plastic.
The pros and cons of a double layer inflation are:
Improved insulation.
Protects from wind better.
Can sometimes push snow off the outer layer.
Costs more to build.
Costs more for the electricity to inflate the outer layer.
Requires you have access to electricity, which may be harder to get during winter months.
Having the 2nd layer of plastic with a space between already improved insulation, and helps protect from wind damage. If the structure has a steep peak then snow really is not an issue anyway. Using electricity to inflate it seems rather unnecessary to me if the structure itself is designed correctly to prevent snow from accumulating in the first place. Inflation seems more of a thing to do if you were lazy during the design and building process and didn't think to add a steeper peak to keep the snow off.
How to Fix a Half Cylinder Greenhouse and make it a Double Layer with a Peak
Basically all you need to do is build the 2nd layer and make the outer layer have a steep peak to keep the snow off. It doesn't matter if the inner greenhouse has a round roof because it is the outer layer that gets snowed on, and that is the layer that needs to be a steep peak to prevent snow.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Some people are just making things harder than they need to be.
So what design would I choose?
Honestly, it depends on the size of the space and the budget I have allocated for the greenhouse, but I would probably go for the Asymmetrical Peak Greenhouse design and have it facing south. I would make the roof very steep with lots of room for shelves above. By making the structure taller, it adds more room for square feet of shelves for "growing space".
To feed a family of 4* during the winter a greenhouse would need to be fairly big, roughly 80 sq feet of "growing space" per person. So a family of 4 would need 320 sq feet of "growing space", which does not include where you walk/etc. The more space you have to grow the better, so 360 sq feet would be even nicer.
* So that estimate for feeding a family of 4 during the winter is based
on the idea of each person consuming an average of 4 ounces of veggies
per day. 16 ounces is 1 lb, so you need to be growing an average of 1 lb
of edible food per day during the length of the winter. Different foods
grow at different speeds and yield different amounts of food, so you
really need to be smart/wise about which foods you choose to grow in
order to get a greater yield per square foot of greenhouse garden.
If you have 3 shelves on each side of greenhouse (6 shelves total) and the shelves are an average of 4 feet wide by 15 feet long, that is 60 sq feet per shelf, x 6 = 360 sq feet.
Giving myself 4 feet between the shelves to walk and carry tools, this greenhouse would need to be a minimum of 12 feet wide and 15 feet long, plus the dimensions of the structure itself. So lets make it a bit bigger and go for 15 feet by 20 feet, just so there is even more space.
And if we make it slightly taller, maybe fit in another set of 4 feet wide shelves to grow 33% more food, since 8 shelves is clearly better than 6 shelves.
Another way to improve the structure would be to make it square, say with an interior space of 20 by 20 feet. With that shape you could have 2 aisles for walking (4 feet wide each) with 3 rows of shelves. So instead of 6 shelves, 9 shelves... and if tall enough for 4 shelves per row, then 12 shelves.
By then you are looking at...
4 feet wide, 20 feet long shelves = 80 sq feet per shelf. X 12 shelves = 960 sq feet of growing space.
That would be more than enough space to grow all the veggies a family of 4 eats all year round, even if some of the plants have terrible yields. You could be growing it and giving away excess food to friends and family members and guests.
20 x 20 feet of space isn't unreasonable either. Many backyards in cities have 400 sq feet of space available. In the USA it is true that backyards are shrinking, but many people would not have too much difficulty fitting in a small or medium size greenhouse into their backyard if they wanted to - especially anyone who lives in the countryside and has ample space.
So yes, for my purposes an Asymmetrical design facing south, 20 x 20 feet, and I could have 3 shelves in the south row, 4 shelves in the middle row, and 5 shelves on the north row. That would provide all the veggies my family and I would need, with lots left over.
Anything left over I could turn into jams/pickles/etc and give away or sell.
How do you fit the Plants in?
There are many ways to organize your shelves and space inside the greenhouse, so you will want to consider your options here too. The design below use PVC tubes and works well with any greenhouse that has slanted walls.
You might decide to use normal shelves, you might want your shelves to be tiered like steps, or inverted tiers...
Or you might even want the shelves to rotate with a crank so you can get easier access to shelves that are otherwise harder to reach.
I have many vegan and vegetarian friends. Friends who are aghast that I am pro-hunting. For them they have chosen a vegan lifestyle due to often religious reasons and/or health reasons. So to that group of friends, the concept of hunting is basically a sin. They cannot comprehend it and see it as murdering animals.
However I am an omnivore. I like eating meat. I also don't have any emotional hangups about it either. I am pro-hunter and pro-farmer. I grew up on a farm in a community that frequently saw the comings and goings of various hunting seasons. As such I am quite accustomed to such things. To me, hunting, fishing and farming are natural ways to get food. And anything that is natural cannot be wrong.
I also don't believe in any higher powers. We die and it is just oblivion. I am not going to be reincarnated and punished for my actions. Karma is nonsense and superstition. No god either. Just oblivion.
Therefore I see nothing wrong with wanting to hunt and taking personal responsibility for where my food is coming from. If I buy my meat from a grocery store then the responsibility is out of my hands, as I was not involved in the killing or butchering of the animal. That is effectively lazy and shows a lack of responsibility for understanding where your food is coming from.
If someone were to give me a lamb, a cute little cuddly lamb, I would be faced with two choices:
#1. Eat it now (or soon), because I have zero interest in keeping a lamb as a pet.
#2. Raise it to adulthood and then eat it. Option 2 requires more work to raise it, but I get more meat as a result.
Honestly, I am leaning towards option 1. Lamb is very tasty. True, mutton tastes good too - and you get more of it, but it is a bit of a coin toss. It would be like asking me to choose between 1 lb of bacon and 2 lbs of pork chops, but I have to feed the darn pig to get the pork chops. I think I would choose the bacon in that scenario because it A. Tastes better and B. Requires less work.
So that lamb is probably going to be slaughtered and eaten. Poor little lamb. Why did you have to be so tasty and convenient?
Option #3. Raising it to adulthood and breeding more lambs is always an option I suppose, and then eating the older sheep / new lambs... well that would certainly be lots more meat, but also way more work. Not my priority unless I decide to deliberately become a shepherd.
Which brings me to the topic of livestock farming for feeding yourself (as opposed to selling the meat for money). I don't see anything wrong or unethical with farmers raising their own livestock, slaughtering / butchering them and then eating them. Makes total sense. They are intimately involved with the whole process and are taking personal responsibility for their own food.
Lets say I was a deer hunter and one day decided I wanted to become a deer farmer. My goal therefore would be hunt for and tranquilize deer, transport the sleeping deer to a fenced in farm built just for deer, feed the deer, give the deer a barn to sleep in during the winter, pamper the deer so they get nice and big... and eventually slaughter / butcher / eat them for my personal consumption (or my family's consumption).
True it is much more work that hunting the deer, but I would get way more reward for my efforts. And I have zero problems with ethics of deer farming.
Conclusions?
Livestock farming is not unethical.
Hunting is not unethical.
Because both of them take personal responsibility into where they are getting their food. However people who are lazy, get their food from a grocery store all of the time and never learn where their food really comes from and the process it takes to get there, then they have ignored that responsibility.
So why then do PETA / animal rights activists / vegans / etc always claim that livestock farmers and hunters are unethical?
Well to them they see animals as pets / companions / friends as opposed to a possible source of food. In truth they are both. A horse is both a companion and a possible food source. It is a duality.
Most animals however are not particularly friendly to humans. For the most part humans avoid eating animals we consider to be friendly: Dogs, cats, horses for example are often kept as pets and humans rarely eat them (although this varies by culture).
Animal rights activists also make a big deal about the whole "cruelty to animals" issue, claiming that farmers torture their livestock and are deliberately mean to them... And the analogy I am going to use here is the concept that "egg farmers are satan worshippers who torture their chickens in satanic rituals to get them to lay more eggs"... which is of course utterly false.
And why is that? Because there is nothing to be gained from torturing chickens. Happy chickens (hens) lay eggs. Unhappy hens don't lay eggs. So egg farmers have a primary goal of keeping their chickens warm, well fed and happy, which means they lay more eggs. Those eggs are then collected, sold and eaten. A few of them are sent to a chicken hatchery to be incubated and made into more chickens, perpetuating the cycle.
Now ask yourself, where is the torture or animal cruelty in that cycle? There isn't any. The eggs are unfertilized and will never become chickens. The chickens are warm, well fed and happy, which means they are laying lots of eggs.
Some chickens are eventually so old they stop producing eggs, so they are butchered for their meat.
And the butchering process is quite humane, because fear (which triggers adrenaline and other hormonal chemicals) will make the meat taste bitter. Thus the chickens are killed quickly and humanely so that they taste better. There is nothing to be gained by torturing the chicken before killing it, because that would just make the meat taste bad.
The same goes with hunting. A good hunter never lets their prey experience fear. The bullet or arrow kills them so fast that the animal is dead before it hits the ground. That way the meat tastes better. It also means the hunter doesn't have to track the animal over (possibly) long distances to try and get a second shot at it.
So again I don't see a problem here with the ethics of either livestock farming or hunting.
But the vegans do. And that is really a matter of opinion, not a matter of ethics.
Vegans are taking personal responsibility for their food, some even insisting on having organic produce which has not been exposed (directly) to pesticides. The problem is that organic food is often indirectly exposed to pesticides anyway, from neighbouring farms. But regardless, that is up to them to take personal responsibility for their actions with respect to food.
Farmers and hunters are doing the same thing. Taking personal responsibility for their actions with respect to food.
So what about the lazy people who buy their food at grocery stores, thus providing a living for farmers? Are they completely irresponsible? No. Because most of them have probably either visited a farm or seen a video of what it is like inside a slaughterhouse. So they at least have an idea of what is going on in there and yet still choose to eat meat.
Why?
Could it be because it tastes good and that weighing the options of either:
A. Eating meat and being happy about it.
or
B. Not eating meat and being unhappy about it.
They somehow decided to choose A, because happiness was considered to be more valuable to their own personal ethics, which means it comes down to the issue of freedom of choice.
Vegans obviously are unhappy with the slaughtering of livestock / hunting of animals, and they have chosen to exercise their freedom of choice by not eating meat. Not eating meat makes them happy.
However for us omnivores, the vast majority of humanity, eating meat does make us happy, and we have a freedom of choice to do so.
On the contrary however someone who comes along and says "No, you're not allowed to eat meat." or "You have to eat meat." that person is now behaving in an unethical manner because they are trying to rob people of their freedom of choice.
People have freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of choice - and those freedoms apply to their food choices and their thoughts / beliefs about what foods they should eat.
For example I choose to eat bacon and lamb. They both taste great and I have zero ethical issues with where the meat is coming from. Pigs and baby sheep, huzzah, give me more of that.
But what I do have a problem with is people asking me to watch a slaughterhouse video because they are vegan and trying to convince me to become a vegan too. To which I respond:
Why are you trying to rob me of my freedom of choice by trying to force me to do something I don't want to do?
It is my life. Not yours. Let me take personal responsibility in exercising my freedom of choice with respect to what I choose to eat. Good day to you!
If you shoot a deer and have it butchered for the meat, that is hunting.
But if you raise a deer, feed it, pay for the vet bills, slaughter it and then have it butchered for the meat, that is livestock farming.
Basically it is the difference between hunting for your food and raising your food and taking it to the slaughterhouse.
Deer farms and also buffalo / bison farms are becoming more popular, not just in Ontario, but in North America in general. Demand for unusual meat is going up and that means the prices of venison and "beefalo" are going up.
There is no challenge to hunting deer or buffalo in a farm setting. The animals are so used to humans feeding them that have little or no fear of them.
The overhead costs of raising deer, feeding them, keeping them safe from predators (and poachers), veterinarian bills and so forth means that raising the animals for food is considerably more expensive than hunting, but with large numbers the livestock farmer can mitigate their investment and make good on them when it is time to take the meat to market. Making deals with local butchers / restaurants for the meat it will add more lucrative opportunities.
However if your goal is to raise the deer for your own consumption, then you really only need to worry about raising enough deer each year to cover your personal needs - and to keep X number of deer each year to be used for giving birth to a fresh crop of fawns.
I know I titled this post "Farming Livestock in the Wild", but what it really is about is "farming wild livestock", as opposed to traditional agricultural animals like chickens, pigs, goats and cattle.
There is a very strong argument for going Vegan or Vegetarian if you decide to live "off the grid".
Becoming self-sufficient using gardening - without the need to buy groceries, butchering farm animals, going hunting or fishing - means you will have a lot less hassle with hunting and fishing licenses, taking care of animals such as pigs, chickens and goats (and later butchering them for their meat) and you really only need to worry about one thing - GROWING PLANTS.
The problem with having your own garden is that a lot of people don't realize the sheer amount of food the average human consumes in a year.
I even had an argument with a friend less than a month ago while she was BBQing meat in her backyard, and her claim that her tiny backyard was large enough to feed a whole family for a year. So assuming she was talking about a momma, a poppa, and two kids (which might be teenagers and eat like pigs) stop and do the math on how much food she is talking about.
Well lets assume that the average adult consumes about the equivalent of 6 carrots per day. I say equivalent because they would be eating other things too, lettuce, cabbage, potatoes, beans, nuts, berries, etc... but for simplicity's sake lets use the "equivalent of six carrots" per day rule. Little kids might eat only 3 carrots per day and teenagers might eat between 4 and 6 carrots per day, so lets assume an average of 5 carrots per teenager.
Thus assuming 1 kid, 1 teenager, and 2 adults a family of 4 should be eating roughly 20 carrots per day. (Because 6 + 6 + 5 + 3 = 20.)
364.25 days in a year, x 20... 7,825 carrots. Or the equivalent thereof.
My friend's tiny backyard was a mere 25 feet long by 15 feet wide. There is no way she could 2185.5 carrots needed to feed herself - let alone a whole family of 4 people.
Lets pretend for a moment you decided to become a carrot farmer - and then sell / trade your carrots with other farmers for potatoes, corn, beans, flour, rice, etc, whatever you happen to need. Well then you are going to need a LOT of land to grow your intended crop of 8,000+ carrots.
Ideally you shouldn't be putting all of your eggs in one basket either.
Most subsistence farmers plant many different things because some years the weather will be bad for certain plants and you can have a famine of that one kind of plant. (Research the topic "Irish Potato Famine" sometime.)
Thus you will want to plant many different kinds of vegetables.
And you will also need to go berry picking, grow an orchard for apples, pears, grapes, etc.
It wouldn't hurt if you also researched edible flowers and wild plants too.
And if there is sugar maples nearby you could also tap them for sap for making maple syrup.
And once you've done all this, what about storage for the winter? Learning how to can and make preservatives? Making pickles, jams, jellies, etc.
The point I am getting at is, yes, you can go vegan or vegetarian and that will certainly save you time away from hunting, fishing, growing/butchering animals, milking goats, etc... but you will need to learn a lot about farming.
And lets face it, unless you grew up on a farm, you probably know diddly squat about farming.
For example.
Do you know what YIELD means when talking about farmland?
Yield means the crops you get off a particular piece of land. Typically measured in bushels per acre.
1 acre is 43,560 square feet. Roughly half the size of a soccer field.
When I was growing up and living with my parents the farm they lived on was 97 acres, but only about 70 acres was arable farmland (the other 27 acres was the house, barn, shed, grass, trees, wetlands, river, etc).
So with 70 acres of arable land - 3,049,200 square feet (enough to grow about 12 million carrots assuming a high yield rate) - then yes, absolutely, a family could grow enough food to feed themselves and still have lots left over to sell at the local farmer's market. Because lets face it, you might still need money for trips to the dentist, school supplies for the kids, new clothes (note to self, write a post about growing your own cotton for clothing), medical supplies, etc.
But what if your yield rate is really low during a particular year? The carrots could get blight, insects, thick weeds, and even wildlife like deer and ground hogs can destroy a lot of your crops.
The point is, with a small garden you're going to have a percentage of your crop that either fails to grow, is ruined by environmental hazards (too much water, too much sun, or not enough of either), plus pests, deer, rabbits, ground hogs, etc.
The biggest threats vary from year to year. One year it might be drought. Another year you might from problems with insects and wishing you had sprayed pesticides, another year several families of rodents might move into your farmland and start tearing up all your lovingly planted carrots.
I am personally a fan of intercropping. Intercropping is a method whereby you plant certain things in rows next to each other and they form a symbiotic relationship in order to keep certain pests and blights away. It raises the yield per acre of the different crops, but you have to harvest everything either by hand or use special machinery.
That is the reason why most modern farmers don't do intercropping, because its easier - machinery wise - just to plant an entire field with only 1 crop.
Then there is the issue of rotating crops. You can't plant the same thing every year in the same spot, because it will eat up the nutrients in the soil and then after several years most of the nutrients will be gone - especially if its plants like corn, which suck a lot of the nutrients out of the soil.
Even with small gardens you should be rotating your plants every year.
I argue therefore that if you have a large field that you would be better off sectioning it into 4 different quadrants and planting 4 different plants each year in that field, rotating the crops clockwise every year.
If you are serious about gardening and farming, well then I strongly recommend you research the topic a lot more so you have a better idea of how much food you will need, what kind of yield you can expect, how much land you will need to accomplish a minimal yield (assuming bad weather and conditions), what plants you will need to grow on a yearly basis and how much of each.
Its a lot of things to research - and a lot of things to grow. Have fun!
Making and maintaining a garden will be a mandatory part of your daily living if you want to live off the grid and be self sufficient. You could of course hunt and fish, but eating fish and meat all the time isn't very healthy for you - or your kids.
Children need lots of vitamins, a variety of them, in order to grow up healthy. This means lots of fruits, veggies, berries and nuts.
Now depending on the season and where you live in the wilderness you can gather nuts and berries. But be sure to learn which berries are edible and which are poisonous. Same goes with mushrooms, although to be fair less than 1% of mushrooms are poisonous.
Also, in addition to nutritional value, you can't always rely on hunting or fishing. Sometimes there is very little game available, during the winter months. Or maybe the fish just won't bite. Either way, you are going to need a more reliable source of food.
Here is some tips for growing your own garden!
#1. More is Better. Why? Expect some of the food to spoil. It is better to have more than enough than not enough.
#2. Pests and insects will be a nuisance. You need to find a way to deter pests and keep your plants insect free. Now you might think that pesticides is the easy solution, but another easy solution is to either plant something which is poisonous or repels numerous insects. For example, Chrysanthemums are poisonous to bed bugs... So if you get a bed bug infestation go buy yourself some Chrysanthemums potted flowers. A variety of insects all have vulnerabilities to certain plants which either kill with poison or repel them due to their smell. #3. If possible build a greenhouse. You can regulate the control of water and sunlight, heat and cold, more easily inside a greenhouse. For discounts on heating lamps / daylight lamps if you have excess electricity, go try police auctions because the police seize equipment from grow ops and later sell them. So its a cheap way to get extra stuff for your greenhouse. #4. Variety - You can't live on potatoes alone. Try to get as much variety in your planted veggies as possible. For fruit this will be more difficult as apple trees / etc take decades to grow and produce lots of fruit. #5. Storing fruits and veggies. You will need to learn how to store your food for the winter. Some of this may require canning, or you may need to make a cold cellar where you can store food in a dry environment during the winter. Do NOT store onions and potatoes next to each other! The onions do not react well with other vegetables, causing them to grow rot on them. #6. Weeding is a necessary part of growing a garden. You will need to weed it regularly so your plants grow efficiently and aren't losing precious water and nutrients to rival weeds. Plan to weed your garden every 2 or 3 days, because weeds grow very quickly. NOTE: Weeds would be ideal for terraforming Mars for an oxygenated atmosphere because they grow quickly, are hardy plants, produce oxygen, reproduce quickly and could turn Mars into a green planet in a short number of years. 2nd Note: Reminder to Self, write a post about settling Mars / terraforming Mars / Living Off the Grid on Mars. #7. Get input from your kids about what foods to grow. Try and grow more foods that your kids like and will eat. But try to keep a variety at the same time. #8. Think yield per square foot. Try to allocate equal space to plants based on yield per square foot so you get a roughly equal amount of various foods. If you eat more of one type of food, try to plant more of that so you have adequate amounts. #9. Learn patience. Gardening is a great way to learn patience, but you also need perseverance to stick with it. You reap what you sow! #10. Get your kids involved in the planting, weeding, watering and harvestingn process. They will enjoy the food more if they know they helped grow it. BOOKMARK THIS SITE FOR MORE FUTURE GARDENING TIPS!
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