Figuring out the Homestead Food Security Plan

The great thing about getting undeveloped land is you get to decide exactly how it's going to be set up using your own priorities and vision.  The BAD thing is there's a significant amount of time before it's really operational (although the time to plan is probably good).  


Tony and I are working on a Food Security plan for our new homestead.  Sorry about the formatting,.... Tony asked me to mark the medicinal plants.  What have we forgotten???

Food Security Idea Board:

RED IS MEDICINAL

Meat:

Quail

Equipment - Cages
Incubator
Waterers
Brooder
Lights
Mealworm Farm
Worm Bin
Fodder System

Outside Inputs - Wheat
                               Feed

Inside Inputs - Mealworms
       Fodder
      Earthworms
      Nettle Leaves

Hatch - 18 days (24 eggs every 21 days for 2 meals a week - 8 quail)
Harvest -  8 weeks
20 hens - 5 roosters (breeding stock)


Rabbits

Equipment - Cages
Ballista
Feeders
Waterers

Outside Inputs - Wheat
                            Hay
    Mineral

Inside Inputs - Silvopasture (Mulberry, Willow, Blackberry, Black Locust)
 Fodder
 Nettle

3 does - 2 bucks  TAMUK


Goats


Equipment - Barn
Milk Stand
Jars
Filter
Keyhole Feeders
Waterer
Mineral Feeder

Outside Inputs - Wheat
                               Feed

Inside Inputs - Fodder
                               Silvopasture (Mulberry, Willow, Blackberry, Black Locust)
       Nettle


4 unrelated Nigerian Dwarf does - breed to juvenile bucks before butchering them.  Registered stock to increase doeling and buckling sales value.  Breed 2 every 6 months.

Chickens

Equipment - Feeder
Waterer
Lights
Brooding area/Pen

Outside Inputs - Wheat
                               Feed
       Oyster Shell

Inside Inputs - Fodder
 Nettle
 Mealworms
 Earthworms

6 hens, 1 rooster (Speckled Sussex)  Let hens brood chicks.  Eat and sell extras.

Eggs:

Chickens - 25 dozen per week
Quail - 80 per week (5 quail eggs = 1 chicken egg)

Dairy:

Goats 2 in milk - 5 gallons per week

Sweetener:

Bees (honey (wound healing))
Equipment - Hives
Smoker
Veil and gloves
Feeder
Birdbath and marbles

Outside Inputs - Sugar for feeding (temp)
       Pollen Patties (temp)

Inside Inputs - Local flowers


Fruit:

Shade Tolerant Varieties:

Currants
Gooseberries
Blackberries (diuretic)
PawPaws
Persimon
Plum
Chokecherry
Black Cherry (cough - chest congestion)
Rhubarb
Lowbush Blueberry
Wintergreen (menthol - chest congestion, sore throat)
Elderberry (Spring tonic)
Hardy Kiwi
Mulberry
Raspberries
Honeyberry
Bitter Orange (Antiseptic - Astringent)
Hybrid Willow - for fodder and coppice (Febrifuge - pain)

Vegetables:
Shade Tolerant Varieties:

Greens
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Cauliflower
Garlic (Immune Booster, antiseptic)
Horseradish (Diuretic, expectorant)
Leeks
Parsnip
Potatoes
Radish
Rutabega
Spinach
Turnip

Sunny Varieties (upper right of way):

Corn (Staple)
Beans (Staple)
Squash
Tomatoes
Peppers
Onions


Herbs:
Shade Tolerant Varieties:

Bay Laurel (wound healing - Antimicrobial - Insect repellant)
Borage (Fever, Cough)
Chamomile (sleep aid)
Chives
Cilantro
Comfrey (Wound wrap - poultice base)
Lemon Balm
Lovage (Durietic)
Mint (menthol - sore throat, cough, congestion, skin irritations, antiseptic, mice/deer repellant)
Parsley
Sweet Cicely
Sweet Woodruff
Sorrel
Thyme (Antiseptic - Insect repellant)
Golden Oregano (Antimicrobial)
Tarragon
Angelica
Meadowsweet
Spicebush (antimicrobial - spice replacement (clove, allspice)
Nettle (tonic - iron source)
Corsican Mint
Musk Geranium

Mushrooms:

Shitake
Outside Inputs - Spawn Plugs

Inside inputs - Oak Logs

Oyster
Outside Inputs - Spawn
       Sawdust

Wine Cap
Outside Inputs - Spawn

Inside Inputs - Garden Bed Straw (after use)
       

House Plants (indoor/outdoor):

Cinnamon  (Antimicrobial, antinflammatory)
Ginger (Antimicrobial, antinflammatory)
Tumeric (Antimicrobial, antinflammatory)
Pepper Vine (Antimicrobial, antinflammatory)
Avocado

Foraging:

Wild Asparagus
Acorns
Wild Blackberries
Wild Elderberries
Wild Grapes
Morel Mushrooms

Stored Staples(outside inputs):

Wheat
Rice
Beans
Oats
Sea salt

Books kid. You need books.

When I started learning about herbs, I got a book that taught about growing and using 100 herbs. It is a good book. I bought a bunch of seeds. I killed a lot of plants. I found the better approach for me is to figure out what action I need from an herb, then discover what herbs have that function.

Together these books do both of these things. (Stealing part of Nicole's recent post from here. about Sharol Tilgnor's books.)

Herbal ABCs goes ailment by ailment, offering treatments and herbs that help with each. It's organized by the different systems of the body, so it's really easy to look up issues and find remedies.

Herbal Medicine From the Heart of the Earth Lists herbs alphabetically and covers their side effects, advantages, how to use them, and tons of medical studies. It's very easy to look up something you're taking or thinking of taking and see if it's a good idea.

I often have several herbs growing on my acre that will take care of an issue that are available at different times of the year. For example, I planted great burdock for food. I now have a naturalized patch. All I have to do, is make sure the patch isn’t mowed down. The leaves (which taste icky fresh) make a pleasant tea, then are tossed in the next day’s eggs. Chickweed grows most of the winter here. Mulberry trees are weedy here, the leaves are diuretic, turns out so is the bark.  So, now i know that I have access to a diuretic durring all seasons.

Next thing to do is study wild foods. it turns out that many of these foods are also medicinal, such as the afore mentioned chickweed. Though as it is not the focus, medicinal properties are likely not mentioned in these two books. I suggest anything by Sam Thayer. But best is his feild guide. His other books are very detailed on how to use each plant. I own 3 others. if you must choose, choose this one.

Just finally published, (and on its way to me) is Green Dean’s long awaited feild guide available here. If you are maxed out in your book budget, here are a couple of his free resources. This is a link to his youtube library. Here is his archive of articles. His book is said to contain nutritional info for all covered plants. I don't think that information is in any other foraging book.

And here is a crop calorie counter. Make sure you read the whole post, there is a budget option in there somewhere.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:And here is a crop calorie counter. Make sure you read the whole post, there is a budget option in there somewhere.

Thank you so much for the references! I'll definitely check them out.  😊