[Ginger]

Coda - City regulations and safety hazards are a reason why those who choose to live these lifestyles live/want to live in rural areas, and they choose to be in the peace of nature where noise and pollution are reduced. This lifestyle isn't for everyone. It is the peace of mind concept. It is simple in the way of not having to work two jobs just to feed and house your family. I do understand where you are coming from, but there are ways to reduce the time spent maintaining your food supply. There are drip irrigation systems, and hydroponics like I have mentioned earlier. You also don't have to give up a full time job. Instead of all of your money going to bills, mortgage payments, and food, said money could be used to get out of debt, use for retirement, take a vacation, buy a new car with cash, whatever else there is to do with 20k extra per year. It generally won't be just one person tending to the entire homestead, unless the person is a lone wolf. It still depends on every person's individual comfort level on how far they are willing to go.

Chocobo - There will always be trial and error in the world of gardening. It takes learning and improvising to get the most out of crops. The way I see it, our crappy crops this year provides a good example of the importance to leading a self-sustaining lifestyle in one way or another. It doesn't have to be full-blown grow your own food or starve. You may decide to grow enough food for 2 months, 2 years, or 20 years. One doesn't absolutely have to exclude purchasing things from stores. Utilizing resources, recycling, and having a personal garden might be the comfort level of most people. There are more natural, cheaper ways to pest control. Pesticides aren't on my list of things to ingest into my body. It hardly takes money to grow and maintain your own garden. Collect rainwater to water house plants if you're worried about the water bill. If there's a stream or river near your house put it to use. If you live near a lake stop the car/truck and fill up a few empty milk cartons/100 gallon tank. As for the raw milk thing, it still depends on the comfort level of people. Wash the utters before milking if that is a concern. It's running the extra mile that enables us to walk for the next mile and a half.

Either way if anyone fails to have a good crop there is still the convenience of grocery stores. The basics to human survival include food, shelter, and clothing (well not really that last part, but modern times calls for it). What does money physically do for someone? It buys what we need/want. Would a starving child in Africa take a dollar bill or a piece of pizza?