Neosubsistent Agriculture Model

Objectives

• Full, year round diet for 12 people
• Non-food products (fiber, medicine, fuel) sufficient for 12 people
• Facilitate regenerative cycles that sustain themselves
• Create a replicable, self-funded enterprise to sustain participants through transition towards complete self-sufficiency.

Conceptual Ideals

• Closed loop systems
• Permaculture
• In alignment with OSE Specifications, Core Values, and
  • Flexible enough to be replicable across multiple regional climate and geography
  • Modular to promote scalability
  • Works in parallel with current resources, population size, product demand
• Food swadeshi: growing food for your own self-sustenance, for your community or for a "grow food locally" business.

Seasonal Data Points:

Summer, 2012

• FeF produces its own dairy, berries, grapes, 3 pears, a few pounds of apples, edible weeds (purslane, lambsquarter), chicory, mustard seed
• Challenges:
  • Extreme drought
  • Began growing season late
  • Lacking agricultural equipment
  • Tractor isn't designed ideally for field work; breaks down frequently, isn't designed for hitching implements to back, poor weight distribution for dragging, skid steering is awkward with hitched implements, and tires compact the soil
• Foresight gained:
  • Lifetrac 1 needs better wheels that provide traction and structural integrity, a new battery, a back hitch, and I think it will be much better suited for field work that the skid-steering version
  • Mulch saves lives

Fall 2012

• Dairy continues, grew lettuces, mustard greens, choy, turnips, arugula, radishes, spinach, swiss chard. Harvested and processed rose hips, black walnuts, dandelion greens, wild arugula.
• Challenges:
  • Drought continues, prevents pond digging
  • Frost came 3 weeks early, preventing many vegetables and beans from being harvestable
  • Production runs, infrastructure development, and construction distracts from agricultural priorities
  • Rabbits difficult to house
• Foresight gained:
  • Prioritization is key, as is manpower so that infrastructure development does not detract from agricultural operation
  • Plan for unforeseen weather and have a Plan B being implemented concurrently with climate-dependent crops
  • More use of the greenhouse
  • Have things organized and clean to increase production efficiency
  • Use animals that require minimal housing effort (ideally free ranging)