A question that I have been asking myself lately is: How much land does one need to live self-sustainably? How will one go about living if many modern conveniences and conveyances were to disappear or seriously diminish in the near-future?



I am not a 'peak-oil' alarmist or a collapse-of-society survivalist. I am simply concerned with the further existence of my current quality of life and that my quality of life adds to the slow destruction of the planet and its resources. If I can live simply and self-sustainably, it might help in prolonging the availability of resources to those who need them. That those in need might have adequate electricity, food, or medicine if we in the fat west weren't hogging it all. So, there is my impetus for making inquiries into a simpler lifestyle.

So I ask myself: How much land does a man need? I am thinking only incidentally of Tolstoy's great short story of the same phrasing. I say incidentally because in the end, Tolstoy was referring to the amount of cubic space required to bury someone. I am referring to life. But I suppose death is that great hovering inevitability that we constantly struggle against. Like gravity. But really, how much land? And how much work? And how much struggle? And with how many people? And and and.

I am inclined to believe that anything more than five acres would be superfluous. Were I one who wanted to not only sustain myself, but to also make a living from the land, more than five acres would probably be justified. But orchards, berry patches, herb garden, garden plots, and animal areas couldn't possibly take more than five acres. I am not thinking about fuel, though, either. I am not thinking about gathering enough wood for heat. Heat is an important element to consider up here in the Northeast, and it cannot be take lightly when considering self-subsitent living. But ignoring that for the moment, five acres is enough land (unless you live on a commune or in a communal situation - which is something I just thought about - then more is warranted).

I refer myself to Scott Nearing's classic "The Good Life" for small amounts of inspiration. Also Richard Proenneke's "One Man's Wilderness." Yes. More thinking. But it is always so much easier to think about something than to just go and do it. Always and without fail.