permaculture

[lbsaltzman@aol.com]

Put that way I couldn't agree more.





-----Original Message-----
From: Marjory <forestgarden@gvtc.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tue, May 11, 2010 11:33 am
Subject: Re: [permaculture] How Much Land Does It Take To Become Food 
Self-Reliant


Larry,
I totally agree about the need for strong community.  But communtiy 
ithout members having self-reliance is in serious trouble.  Uh, like 
he situation we are in now, for instance.  You have to start 
omewhere.  Why not your own backyard?.
- Marjory

LBSALTZMAN@aol.com wrote:
 An interesting article but I see one thing missing and that is  community.  
 We should be thinking how communities whether neighborhoods,  villages, or 
 intentional communities become self-sufficient, not how individuals  become 
 self-sufficient.  

 Larry Saltzman
  
  
 In a message dated 5/11/2010 6:33:40 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
 forestgarden@gvtc.com writes:

 How much  land does it take? 

 When thinking of becoming self-reliant, the  questiona risies "how much 
 land do I need to be able to sustainably grow  enough food for my 
 family?"  The exact answer to that question  depends on several factors, 
 but you can learn a lot, and make a pretty  good estimate, by looking at 
 some scenarios that span the various  alternatives. 

 Lets start first off with the almost magical dream of  the pure 
 hunter/gatherer.  I often hear this one from those concerned  about a 
 collapse of civilization.  The shit hits the fan and you take  your rifle 
 and a few supplies and head out to the wilderness to live off  the land.  
 Just how much land does it take to support you without  destroying all 
 the wildlife and plant populations?  How much area do  you need in order 
 live /sustainably/ as a hunter/gatherer?

 Since  there are so few actual hunter/gathers left alive on the planet, 
 and the  few places where they do still exist tend to be jungles which 
 look nothing  like anything in North America, we will turn to 
 anthropological  data.  The quick and easy answer is that traditional 
 peoples used on  average, about 10 square miles per person.  10 square 
 miles is 6,400  acres - that is for one person.  There are numerous 
 studies and  authors that cite this number and one of the most accessible 
 is Jared  Diamond author of the popular title /Collapse: How Societies 
 Choose To  Fail or Succeed/.  Another excellent source is /Tending The 
 Wild:  Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's 
 Natural  Resources/ which is a wonderful book detailing how sustainable  
 wild-crafting is more about taking care of the land than simply taking  
 stuff.  California's lush and diverse landscapes were able to support  
 some of the highest native population densities known in North America  
 with the highest being almost 1.5 people per square mile living on the  
 coast of the Santa Barbara channel.  The plant and animal communities  in 
 the Santa Barbara area have been largely destroyed by modern peoples  and 
 that density is no longer possible today of course.  As another  
 comparison, desert regions of California had roughly 1 person per 12.5  
 square miles. 

 Before we head off into other more obtainable land  use scenarios, lets 
 pause for a moment to acknowledge that in addition to  having access to a 
 huge tract of land for living the hunter/gatherer  lifestyle, you also 
 need at least a decade to learn the many, many, skills  of living such as 
 tracking and hunting, trapping, botany, weather cycles,  fiber and 
 cordage, shelter, tool making, fire starting, tanning, and so  much more. 

 OK, so you won't be going that primitive.  What about  you growing your 
 own food in gardens, food plots, orchards, livestock, and  perhaps a bit 
 of hunting?  Agriculture has gotten us the these high  population levels 
 so far anyway, hasn't it?  Yes it has, and small  scale agriculture is 
 definitely the way to go for most people.  So  how much land are you 
 going to need for that? 

 The research to the  answer to that question was started back in the 70's 
 by a very forward  thinking man named John Jeavons.  The work has 
 continued since then  and a method developed into a system called 
 "Bio-Intensive  Gardening".  The Bio-Intensive method has been 
 implemented worldwide  to alleviate hunger and malnutrition.  There is a 
 wealth of detail in  the entire Bio-intensive method, but the short 
 answer to how much land you  need can be summarized as approximately 
 8,000 sq.ft. for a complete diet  for one person (you need 4,000 sq/ft. 
 of actual growing space and at least  4,000 sq.ft. for pathways and 
 access).  That is also assuming you  have four growing seasons per year.  
 So if you can only get two  growing seasons, then you need to double the 
 space needed per  person.  For reference, an acre is 43,560 sq.ft.  So in 
 a more  southern climate, you could theoretically support about 5 people 
 per acre.  

 The absolute best reference for the Bio-Intensive method is the book  
 /How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land  
 Than You Can Imagined /by John Jeavons.  And for another comparison,  
 with data taken from Jeavons book, the average U.S. diet with  
 conventional farming requires 15,000 to 30,0000 sq.ft. and is done in  
 such a way that it diminishes soil -- i.e. it is not sustainable.  

 So small scale agriculture is definitely going to be your best  bet.  My 
 personal experience is that 2 acres in a temperate region  will 
 completely wear you out and is enough room to comfortably support a  
 family of four with a variety of food sources such as gardens, orchards,  
 small livestock, and wild crafting.  You can still do a lot in less  
 area, and of course, everyone always wants more.  Some caveats I've  got 
 to throw in there is you definitely need about a decade of experience  to 
 homestead like this, and you also need enough water.  An excellent  
 source for seeing a what a diverse sustainable homestead on small  
 acreage looks like is the video tutorial package titled /Food Production  
 Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm./  The video they have created  
 shows in good detail the systems they've setup to generate a lot of  
 calories per year, how they did it, and why.  It is a good example by  
 folks who are actually living it.  



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