If you had one acre to grow on, what would you grow to feed your family?

Question

I was thinking mainly wheat or rice with some fruits and vegetables on the side. What do you think?

Answer 1

i would get a government subsidie to grow corn and feed my family on steaks and lobster. what a racket that is! then of course i would grow and sell corn to the greenie weenies that make alcohol out of it.

if i didnt do the corn thing and i could get the acre of land declared/certified organic, i would grow organic vegetables that fit the climate and sell them through the local co op. if there wasnt a local co op, i would start one.

Answer 2

If you are serious about growing a complete diet, you need to check out Ecology Action and their publications: One Circle (How to grow a complete diet on less than 1000 square feet); One Basic Mexican Diet, One Basic Kenyan Diet and The Smallest Possible Area to Grow Food and Feed (African family of 8 plus one cow). You can find these books at www.growbiointensive.org. If I had a true acre of good soil I think I could feed my family of 6 plus a few chickens and a goat. I am working with 5000 square feet right now and an acre is 40,000 sq feet! A market gardener friend has said that he thinks all you need to supply a farmers market is 1/4 acre. This all assumes that you are using intensive plant spacing in beds - not rows, and that you are doing a fair amount of the work by hand (can get closer spacing than with a tractor).

Answer 3

I like Walter's answer. Corn is a heavy feeder and will rob the soil of nutrients. I think a variety of veg, some soft fruits (blueberries etc) and take a section of it for an orchard of fruit and nut trees. Perhaps some wheat or rye. Plant beans as a protein source. Have a section put aside for chickens and perhaps a goat or two for dairy products. There's a good book out by John Seymour that talks about producing on one acre called The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It.

Answer 4

I think a variety of veggies is best because food can get boring, even though it's good. I have several kinds of tomatoes already. But I like the standard stuff- peppers, corn, squash.

I've also grown more unusual stuff- artichokes and hops (for beer). One year I grew a few tobacco plants as well. I intended to make some cigars, but I couldn't roll the tobacco.

I've never tried growing rice or wheat since they're so easy and inexpensive at the store.

Plenty of stuff available from Gurney's, though I just don't have a lot of time to work in my garden. Thanks for asking this wide-open question

Answer 5

Legumes. Chickpeas and lentils would be excellent. They are higher in nutritional value than starch crops like wheat or rice. They also dry and store very well. Also, I would grow a selection of vegetables, several of which were good in storage, like potatoes, onions, and pumpkins.

It takes far less energy to generate food from vegetables than it does from meat. Meat is very wasteful. You can get almost everything you need from plants. Save the planet. Cut back on meat.

Answer 6

on one acre, you don't plant things that take up a lot of room and return little.... what you should plant is things that will last a long time or be 'put up' for winter food.... potatoes, apples, berries, tomatoes, some corn,green beans and lentils, that kind of thing... nothing that is so tender that it won't keep... or just a little for immediate use.. like lettuce and radish.... things that will freeze is good, too... like squash and zuchinis...

Answer 7

i would grow mustard greens, green beans, red,green peppers, spring onions, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pototoes. rice would be a good idea but one has to keep grown flooded to grow rice................ i would set aside a area to raise chickens for eggs.....

Answer 8

Vegetables,
but we would need meat, fruits,
grain, and diary.

Answer 9

something i could sell