Food: worksheet

Lesson 34: How much land feeds a person

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• Estimate how many calories a person eats in a year.
• Tell high-calorie staple crops from low-calorie vegetables.
• Set a realistic food goal for your land, time and climate.

1. You want your garden to supply more of your winter calories. Which change helps most?

   Key: Give more beds to potatoes, winter squash and dry beans

2. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Lesson 35: The kitchen garden

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• Pick a good garden site for sun, water and access.
• Plan a season around your frost dates.
• Use succession planting and season extension to stretch the harvest.

1. Your last spring frost date is May 10. When should you plant tomato transplants outside?

   Key: After May 10, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed

2. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Lesson 36: Perennials and food forests

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• Explain how perennials differ from annual crops.
• Name the layers of a food forest.
• Choose and place perennials for your climate and site.

1. You plant a full-size apple tree on the south side of your vegetable garden. What problem might you face in 10 to 15 years?

   Key: The tree will shade the garden, and its roots will compete for water

2. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Lesson 37: Small livestock: chickens and rabbits

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• List the daily and yearly inputs of a small flock of hens.
• Estimate eggs and feed for a flock size.
• Diagnose a common cause of hens laying fewer eggs.

1. Why should fresh chicken manure be composted before it goes on a vegetable bed?

   Key: Fresh, it is strong enough to burn plants and can carry germs

2. Diagnose it: “Our five hens laid almost every day in June. Now it is December, and we get one egg every few days.” What is the most likely cause, and what clue tells you?

   Key: Short days and a seasonal molt

3. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Lesson 38: Growing indoors

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• Pick crops that suit indoor growing.
• Estimate the energy a grow light uses.
• Decide whether hydroponics or aquaponics fits your homestead.

1. Your tomato seedlings on a windowsill are tall, pale and falling over. What is the most likely cause?

   Key: Too little light

2. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Lesson 39: Storing the harvest

Open the lesson

By the end you can:

• Match each crop to the storage conditions it needs.
• Compare root cellars, drying, freezing and canning on energy, labor and risk.
• Explain why home canning must follow tested recipes.

1. A friend says you can safely can green beans in a boiling-water canner if you boil them long enough. What is right?

   Key: False. Green beans are low-acid and need a pressure canner with a tested recipe

2. Name one trade-off from this lesson. What do you gain, and what does it cost (money, time, space, upkeep or risk)?

Homestead Lab activity