Ten Acres Enough by Edmund Morris.

[DWSmith]

Quite a while ago I read Ten Acres Enough. I need to read it again.

The techniques used by the author seem to go along with the way my father gardened and the way I'd like to garden. Many people seem to at least attempt to garden the way the author farmed.

For those of you who have read this book do you know if the techniques used would be considered Integrated Farming today?

Do you know of any books or websites that elaborate on this philosophy specifically related to gardening?

I'd like to get my hay fields, farm pond, mini-orchard, berry patch, chickens, and vegetable garden all working together as well as possible. I already do some things but I'd like to do more. I also need some animal(s) to produce manure and considered getting a couple of Dexter cows but that would be a lot more work especially during the winter. I might be better off getting some horse manure or cow manure from neighbors. At this point I go around the hay fields (after the farmer comes in to hay my fields for shares) and collect the small piles of hay that were missed and add them to the compost. When my orchard begins producing I can put some fruit in the compost. We are keeping chickens again and I add the manure and bedding to the compost. I plan to allow the chickens to forage in the orchard eventually.

If I could water the garden with pond water it might be good for using nutrients in the water.

I'd like to find out some more ways to integrate the parts of my hobby farm. (I'd also like to retire so I could putter around with these ideas more. )

Thanks,
Dan

[Jeanied]

That's not a garden - that is a farm! How lovely.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I've not read the book, DWS, but I would imagine that the equivelant here is 'The Self Sufficient Gardener' by John Seymour. He advocates that a family can pretty much get round their food needs with 1 acre, although that only allows for a goat (for milk) and a couple of pigs (for meat); so unless you team up with a neighbour raising a cow who may swaps you some of their beef for your pork, you are going to have a fairly boring living.

He also suggests that growing grain for bread takes up a deal of land for the return in flour; but as long as you can barter some of your excess product, it could work.

Fascinating book - well worth a read.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Sounds like a good integrated set up, DWS - I'm guessing that space is not such an issue for you as it is here!

Goats are still regarded as hardy and fairly trouble free, I think, and you can make cheese and/or butter too.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hazel, that book sounds very interesting. I'll have to locate a copy. Thanks!

It's this one - I guess you can get it from Amazon US.

The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency: Amazon.co.uk: John Seymour: Books