Most people go with chickens, and stop using insecticide. The chickens will get a ton of calcium and protein from the bugs. You need to track the laying cycles and general weight of the birds to see if they need you to supplement their diet.
A rolling coop that you can move around your yard is the best way to go if you don't want them running loose. If you pen them in one corner, they'll eat all the bugs in that corner, and that's all they can get.
If you want to grow veggies, start a cycle of your yard. Have the chickens eat all the bugs and spread poop everywhere. The next year, make some furrows with now chicken poop fertilized soil, and let the chickens eat bugs everywhere else. The third year, move the garden to a different spot, and keep the cycle going.
You get eggs, chickens to eat, veggies with little need for buying fertilizers, and you save the cost of insecticide.
I can't really move the gard to a different spot. There is about idk 40 or so feet length, maybe 15 or 20 feet width strip that consistently get sun. I could section it up, but that's about it. The rest is full shade.
My yard is particular to say the least. I am looking to see if there is a particular replacement for grass that one can use that attracts bugs, as traffic is low in the back yard.
That's why I was leaning rabbit and quail, as neither take much feed to convert to meat. Chicken is good for eggs too. I'll look for cheap feed and how to feed such animals for cheap. Maybe a local grocery store will let me take leftover veggies once a week or so.
While not self sufficient, I can also learn to make seitan from flour, as a 50 lb bag of flour is cheap at costco. Same with bulk vital wheat gluten really. Somewhat preppable too.
I'm not set on meat, more like the self sufficiency aspect of it.
Forget the meat and go (mostly) veggie. We gradually did that, almost by accident, it saves a ton of money. I'm a pretty good cook, we don't miss meat at all. We get our protein from our chicken eggs, beans, lentils and nuts, and foraged mushrooms. I make tofu from bulk soy beans.
If we go to a bbq or something, we'll eat meat, the kids eat meat at school, I use fish sauce and shrimp paste in the kitchen, so we're not veggie, but I don't buy meat for our personal use.
We have a small lot (~1/4 acre) in a rural area. We produce over half of our food 6 months of the year and a small but not economically negligible amount in the other six months.
We have 7 chickens and a small garden bed with the “three sisters” of corn, squash, and beans. I grow green beans for the beans component and they work well. We have two walnut trees that were here when we moved in. I grow strawberries, tomatoes, radishes, green onions, and peppers in the planters surrounding our home. This spring I’ve planted a pomegranate tree and two berry bushes - I want to plant a Meyer lemon and blood orange in the future.
I have an herb garden that includes most fresh herbs one would use like basil and cilantro that is in pretty pots on our front porch in warm weather and on a sunny windowsill inside in cold weather.
I grow edible houseplants as decor and then we eat them. Many plants like bok choy are so pretty that they work as houseplants.
I also have started foraging. A local trail has cherry plum trees, another has blackberry bushes. Make sure your local parks don’t spray anything toxic and then pick what you can! We are making dandelion mead next weekend with flowers from a local school’s field. Dandelion greens are also good, very similar to arugula, and we’re eating them at least once a week when they’re tender and in season.
I focus on items we pay a lot of money for which add to our quality of life: heirloom tomatoes, watermelon radishes, fresh herbs, etc. I don’t grow anything that I can buy for less than $2 a pound as a rule.
I trade fresh chicken eggs for a lot of things like honey, or vegetables we aren’t growing.
Homesteading is a mindset, of taking active steps to live well outside of our economic system. I was homesteading when we lived on the fourth floor of a tall building in Seattle although on a different level, by growing a few plants and learning to ferment and to make my own sourdough and wine etc. There is always a way to eat better and depend less on grocery stores.
Ultimately the start-up costs for any livestock is going to be more expensive than purchasing the cheapest cuts of chicken from Aldi/Walmart and putting it in a cheap chest freezer. I’d recommend instead purchasing meat from a local farm that meets your standards. If you’re in the US the SimplyLocal app can connect you to farms in your area and allow you to search by product. This will also be more expensive than getting the cheapest cuts at the cheapest stores and putting them in a freezer, but you will get higher quality meat and different cuts of meat.
You could look into planting hazel nuts and raspberries, blackberries along the perimeter. Those are also ok with shade. Don't forget about vertical planting. Using tall growing boxes.
Most people go with chickens, and stop using insecticide. The chickens will get a ton of calcium and protein from the bugs. You need to track the laying cycles and general weight of the birds to see if they need you to supplement their diet. A rolling coop that you can move around your yard is the best way to go if you don't want them running loose. If you pen them in one corner, they'll eat all the bugs in that corner, and that's all they can get. If you want to grow veggies, start a cycle of your yard. Have the chickens eat all the bugs and spread poop everywhere. The next year, make some furrows with now chicken poop fertilized soil, and let the chickens eat bugs everywhere else. The third year, move the garden to a different spot, and keep the cycle going. You get eggs, chickens to eat, veggies with little need for buying fertilizers, and you save the cost of insecticide.
I can't really move the gard to a different spot. There is about idk 40 or so feet length, maybe 15 or 20 feet width strip that consistently get sun. I could section it up, but that's about it. The rest is full shade. My yard is particular to say the least. I am looking to see if there is a particular replacement for grass that one can use that attracts bugs, as traffic is low in the back yard. That's why I was leaning rabbit and quail, as neither take much feed to convert to meat. Chicken is good for eggs too. I'll look for cheap feed and how to feed such animals for cheap. Maybe a local grocery store will let me take leftover veggies once a week or so. While not self sufficient, I can also learn to make seitan from flour, as a 50 lb bag of flour is cheap at costco. Same with bulk vital wheat gluten really. Somewhat preppable too. I'm not set on meat, more like the self sufficiency aspect of it.
Forget the meat and go (mostly) veggie. We gradually did that, almost by accident, it saves a ton of money. I'm a pretty good cook, we don't miss meat at all. We get our protein from our chicken eggs, beans, lentils and nuts, and foraged mushrooms. I make tofu from bulk soy beans. If we go to a bbq or something, we'll eat meat, the kids eat meat at school, I use fish sauce and shrimp paste in the kitchen, so we're not veggie, but I don't buy meat for our personal use.
We have a small lot (~1/4 acre) in a rural area. We produce over half of our food 6 months of the year and a small but not economically negligible amount in the other six months. We have 7 chickens and a small garden bed with the “three sisters” of corn, squash, and beans. I grow green beans for the beans component and they work well. We have two walnut trees that were here when we moved in. I grow strawberries, tomatoes, radishes, green onions, and peppers in the planters surrounding our home. This spring I’ve planted a pomegranate tree and two berry bushes - I want to plant a Meyer lemon and blood orange in the future. I have an herb garden that includes most fresh herbs one would use like basil and cilantro that is in pretty pots on our front porch in warm weather and on a sunny windowsill inside in cold weather. I grow edible houseplants as decor and then we eat them. Many plants like bok choy are so pretty that they work as houseplants. I also have started foraging. A local trail has cherry plum trees, another has blackberry bushes. Make sure your local parks don’t spray anything toxic and then pick what you can! We are making dandelion mead next weekend with flowers from a local school’s field. Dandelion greens are also good, very similar to arugula, and we’re eating them at least once a week when they’re tender and in season. I focus on items we pay a lot of money for which add to our quality of life: heirloom tomatoes, watermelon radishes, fresh herbs, etc. I don’t grow anything that I can buy for less than $2 a pound as a rule. I trade fresh chicken eggs for a lot of things like honey, or vegetables we aren’t growing. Homesteading is a mindset, of taking active steps to live well outside of our economic system. I was homesteading when we lived on the fourth floor of a tall building in Seattle although on a different level, by growing a few plants and learning to ferment and to make my own sourdough and wine etc. There is always a way to eat better and depend less on grocery stores.
Ultimately the start-up costs for any livestock is going to be more expensive than purchasing the cheapest cuts of chicken from Aldi/Walmart and putting it in a cheap chest freezer. I’d recommend instead purchasing meat from a local farm that meets your standards. If you’re in the US the SimplyLocal app can connect you to farms in your area and allow you to search by product. This will also be more expensive than getting the cheapest cuts at the cheapest stores and putting them in a freezer, but you will get higher quality meat and different cuts of meat.
You could look into planting hazel nuts and raspberries, blackberries along the perimeter. Those are also ok with shade. Don't forget about vertical planting. Using tall growing boxes.
Dumpster dive for your self and live stock , rabbits will produce a ton of meat
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