Decentralized Living- Part 1- Walking away from the centralized system

Note- This is a 100% Steem Power Post.

 As I have delved deeper and deeper into self-sufficiency and living  half-off the grid (or perhaps more like 30% off), I've decided to write a  3 part series on decentralizing your life, and steps I have taken to  rely less on fed notes, government and maintain my privacy and security  during a time which I believe will be the largest paradigm shift the  world has ever known. Welcome to Decentralized Living. 
LIVING OFF THE LAND I live in a home, which is paid off, and own a hair over half of an  acre. While this is not necessarily the ideal spot for a family farm or  huge tracts of gardens and orchards, I have been able to start providing  a small percentage of my diet by raising small livestock, gardening and  fruit trees.  On a small amount of land with city ordinances which prevent me from  raising any kind of large flock of chickens, goats or cow, I had to be  as efficient as possible in choosing my meat to raise. In the end, I  looked for 3 things: Yield per square foot, Yield per dollar of feed,  and ease of maintenance. I have made the following choices which I will  break down below: 

## Rabbit 

 I started off last year with a buck (male rabbit) and two doe (female  rabbits), and now I have 15! Yes, rabbits do breed quickly and provide a  valuable resource of quality protein as well as pelts (which I haven't  tried yet). Your typical litter of rabbit will be anywhere between 5 and  10 kits, or baby bunnies. My smallest was 5 and biggest was 7 so far,  but hey, it varies. Rabbit tastes delicious and it only takes me about  10 minutes to dress a rabbit once it is ready for harvest. I raise  California/New Zealand Mix and Silver Fox, as they produce the greatest  yield of meat per cost of feeding. My mixed litters have gotten up to 7  pounds while my Silver Fox have weighed in at almost 10! (They can get  up to 12 lbs if you get the right combination of nutrition and breeding  pair).  

## Quail 

Of all of the types of bird to raise, chicken is the most popular in  my area. But the bastards at city hall recently passed a law stating you  are only permitted to have 4 chickens on land less than an acre  (example of dumbasses passing laws on something they know nothing about-  heck one of the city council members thought you needed a rooster to  get eggs!). So rather than hassle with the bureaucrats, I researched the  most productive and efficient bird I could find, the Japanese Coturnix  Quail! 

 These little guys (and gals) are a multiplication machine as efficient  as the rabbits I tend to. The male Coturnix Quail isn't that loud,  shouting out "Coturnix!" only a few times a day, which, unlike a  rooster, which I am prohibited from owning, will allow me to use my  incubator (34 bucks at Tractor Supply) to hatch.  

 I put 1 male with 3 or 4 females and I am ready to rock and roll! And  unlike chickens, which don't lay eggs for 8-10 months after birth, these  little suckers are already laying as early as 6 weeks after hatch! (The  earliest I got an egg was 7 weeks though). Give em food and water, and  they will provide you with as many as an egg and a half each! Not only  is that good production, but they hardly take up any space and their  eggs are maaaad nutritious! For a complete rundown on how nutritious,  I'll refer you to this site: http://a-livinghealthy.blogspot.com/2012/11/benefit-of-quail-eggs.html  

#  Pheasant

 This was a throw in, as ringneck pheasant is one of the tastiest  birds that one can raise. I started ringnecks this spring, and won't get  my first egg until sometime in March or April.. (bummer). However, when  the ladies start laying, they will give you 50 to 60 eggs each during  the season!  I plan on keeping a male or two, then having the ladies for  reproduction purposes. The males have a beautiful color to them, and  make a kid's laser gun type sound when they sing! Pretty far out!  

## TENDING TO THE ORCHARD 

Over the past 3 years, I have established 5 apple trees, 2 plumb  trees, 2 Cherry Trees and plan on adding another Cherry and Plumb later  this fall (prices tend to be pretty great on trees in the fall). I chose  the trees that I did based upon the climate zone, and also  productivity. 

Here is the breakdown: Apple Trees 

 I have 2 Red Delicious, 2 Granny Smith and one Fiji tree of which all  but one of the red delicious gave me their first yield. Once  established, a fully developed apple tree can produce from an average  tree 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each! Can you say barter? I figure  between personal nourishment, charity and trade, once these trees are  all in full go (typically trees start to bear fruit in year 3-5,  reaching greater yield each year up until year 30, when they are done). I  personally recommend paying the extra dough and getting an apple tree  with good healthy branches at a quality nursery in the fall rather than  having them die on you from a young sapling age. 

## Plumb Trees 

Plumb trees were my daughter's choice, and I didn't hold back. I  bought a Santa Rosa plumb and a Methley plumb tree, which should start  bearing fruit in their 4th to 6th year (this was their second). It is  important when buying plumbs to get two different types for maximum  pollination and production. Orchards have been known to produce up to  1,000 plumbs per tree! 

 ## Cherry Trees 

 I have 2 new cherry trees, a Sherry Cherry and a Bing Cherry Tree, and  soon to add a VAN. It is important to get two totally different groups  of cherry trees in order for them to cross-pollinate. The following link  will help you make this decision: http://www.amherstnurseries.com/FruitTreePollinatorsChart-id-51.html.  One cherry growing station produces approximately 800 cherries. Besides, they are absolutely beautiful in the spring!

##  IN THE GARDEN 

 Due to space constraints, I have decided against doing a row garden  (I hate weeding anyway) and went with the square foot garden approach.  After reading Mel Bartholamew's Square Foot Gardening book (R.I.P., Mel)  I decided to build 4 square foot garden boxes. The beauty of the square  foot garden approach is not only does it look beautiful, but the yield  per square foot is RIDICULOUS! I planted 6 tomato plants and have 55  tomatoes! I planted ONE cucumber plant and already had 4 huge cucumbers, with  more on the way! Kale and Swiss Chard? I had so much I had to feed some  of it to my rabbits! The awesome thing about it? I planted from seed,  saving tonsthat I would've spent transplanting.  

 Tips if you are going to try a square foot garden: 1. Paint your boxes- Slapping a coat of paint on the wooden boxes  will save you YEARS on the life of your boxes... and it looks great! 2. The key is the soil! The consistency of the soil must be 1/3  vermiculite (or perlite), 1/3 Peat Moss, and 1/3 manure. Year after  year, the ONLY thing you need to re-add is the manure (which the rabbits  and quail supply me, as well as my fall leaf compost). The more  varieties of manure, the more nutrients your plants will get.  3.  Don't skimp on the peat moss and vermiculite- The beauty of these  gardens is the moisture retention that is created with the 2/3 of the  content being in the form of Vermiculite and Peat Moss. Forget to water?  No worries. These self sustaining gardens can wait til the next rain.  Perfect for a lazy guy like me... haha. 

I hope that you all have liked my story of how to be more self  sufficient on little amount of space. Go ahead and give it a try, and  let me know how you like that little extra bit of freedom that comes  from raising your own fresh food!    

(Note: This is a repost of an article I spent a great deal of time on and got zero dollars for.. Spread, repost and show love :))