One of the reasons many homesteaders give for why we do what we do is to save money. Growing our own food saves us money. Cooking our own food more than we eat out saves us money, as does fixing up everything on our own as best we can. Raising animals for food also saves us money. This is what I hear over and over again, and honestly, I believe it.
Here's the problem: it doesn't always actually save us money. In fact, homesteading can be really expensive as a lifestyle, especially in the first couple of years. The up-front costs, even if you buy used or get free stuff as much as possible, can be quite high depending on the project and exactly how you do it. People laugh about the $50 tomato, but to be completely honest, that can be the case. It's about economy of scale. If you spend $50 on gardening supplies and only get one good tomato, then that tomato cost you $50. If you spend $50 on gardening supplies and get 2 bushels of tomatoes and a bunch of other veggies, then the price per vegetable is a lot lower. The problem with homesteading is that there is a limit to how much we can scale up production of any one thing we do. We might only have room for one pig, not the five or more it would take to make money, for example, and that goes for chickens, ducks, and vegetables, too. The first year or two of any project on the homestead means you need new tools, new materials, and stuff to replace what you thought would work and didn't. The initial costs can be quite high, though those costs go down as the years go on. For example, in rough numbers, it costs us about $3.50 a month to raise each duck and goose. This includes food, bedding, treats, medicines, and water (we're on city water and don't have our rainwater collection system up and running just yet). From our core flock of hens, we get about 1-2 dozen eggs every month. Therefore, each dozen, roughly, costs us about $3.50, half that from our heavier layers. Part of why the cost is lower, though, is that we have more ducks than we did when we started. Yes, we have to buy more food, especially during the winter, but in the end, it's still about the same amount of bedding, treats, and medicine. Meat ducks cost us a bit more, mostly due to the vitamin supplement that we have to put in their water when they're ducklings. By the time we raise them and get them to our butcher (who, due to economy of scale, can do it more cheaply per duck than we can here at home), those ducks will cost us this year with higher feed costs about $20 each (on the high end--I'm rounding up a bit, expecting feed costs to continue to rise). Ducks to buy in the store cost $25 each in our area, so if we compare like to like, we are saving money. But would I buy those $25 ducks in the store? Likely not. I'd buy the chicken that costs half that, less if it's on sale. So, are we saving money really? We still think we are due to two reasons: 1) ducks also provide great pest control and manure for the garden, increasing yields there, and 2) Muscovy ducks taste more like beef and so really are more of a replacement for that in our diet. Ducks, and all domesticated farm animals, are multipurpose animals on the homestead. They provide eggs, meat, manure for the garden, and pest control. The extra eggs we can sell for $4 a dozen, cheaper than they go for in the local stores, and they are a premium source of protein and vitamin B12, not to mention other benefits. I have found that I do better if I eat duck eggs regularly, and that's critical for my health. Add in the garden benefits, and it's worth keeping the ducks around for $3.50 a month each. As for meat ducks, we have found that we tend to use the meat more like beef instead of chicken, and duck meat (whatever breed) is far better for us than beef. Higher in omega 3 fats, lower in bad fats, still high in proteins and more, it's a very healthy meat, especially Muscovy duck. Now, with Muscovy ducks, I get about 4+ pounds of meat per bird, making for 4 pints and therefore four meals per bird, plus the bone broth I have to drink daily. So, roughly, they cost us about $5/pound of meat. In our area, most beef is going for more than $5 a pound, even at the cheaper stores, and that beef was not raised anywhere near as well or healthfully as our ducks. Compare that Muscovy meat to free range beef, and the cost savings is substantial. But is it really cheaper? No. I can get chicken or pork on sale for $2/pound, and I can get chicken eggs for less than a dollar a dozen in some stores. If I wanted to go with the cheapest option, it would not be raising our own ducks, even taking their garden benefits into account. Those aren't exactly a fair comparison, though, given the quality of the eggs and meat are nowhere near the same, but purely on a cost basis, it is not cheaper to raise our own than to buy the cheapest eggs and meat in the stores. Next, let's look at the garden. Now, my garden is not the biggest, only 690 square feet for the back garden with the other beds only adding another 300 square feet or so. This year, like last year, I'm on track to spend about $250 all told on the garden. For that money, I grow all the summer and winter squash, garlic, culinary herbs, green beans, tomatoes, hot peppers, kohlrabi, cucumbers, kale, daikon radish, collards, and dried beans we will eat for a year; in addition, I will grow some or most of the onions, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and broccoli we will eat in a year. Adding all that up, keeping higher food prices in mind, it saves money but probably not as much as I'd like. I still often end up needing to buy apples and other local tree fruits, a few cabbages for coleslaw and sauerkraut, onions and potatoes to get us through, and sweet corn because, no matter what I try, I can't get it to grow well here. It would cost more to buy locally grown, organic produce and then preserve it myself, but it likely wouldn't cost a huge amount more. Comparing like to like, my home-canned tomato products aren't always cheaper than organic products from Costco or a similar store. Comparing the lowest cost to what my costs are, and the garden is likely a wash when it comes to how much it saves us. So, why homestead if it isn't actually cheaper? For me, it comes down to one main reason: I need to eat healthier food due to my health problems, and if we grow or raise it, we know what went into that and that it's safe for me to eat. If I put up the food we grow and raise, then I know what went into that jar or freezer bag, and when I cook it up, I don't have to worry about allergic reactions or whatever. This is why I buy locally, too, whatever we cannot grow or raise, and try to buy as much as I can from farms I trust. When I take into account a true comparison of like to like, organic to organic, free range to free range, then the cost savings do become quite clear. As my husband also likes to point out, there are all kinds of intangible benefits to homesteading. The ducks and geese, while a lot of work and cost, really are fun to watch and get to know. We love having them around, even when shoveling out a pen in the spring is no fun. They make us laugh and get out of our heads and whatever depressing stuff is on the news. Getting my hands (and often bare feet) into the soil in the garden helps ground me and helps with getting beneficial organisms into my gut to help repair it. My husband fixing things in the barn or the cars gives him a satisfaction hiring someone else to do it just wouldn't. Homesteading forces us to live more with the seasons, too, which studies seem to be showing can really help with stress loads and health issues. It slows us down in some ways, too, as we can't always make it to things since we have ducks to care for and food to grow and put up. Homesteading may not always be cheaper, but in the end, it's a better life for us and does save us money in the end if we truly compare like to like. I really do believe that it's a critical part in managing my health issues, and we end up with better food and better lives because of homesteading.
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CarinaI'm a 40s something disabled mom living the life on our small urban farm. Archives
April 2022
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