Getting to the point where you are self sufficient is the goal; one you meet taking smaller steps and meeting smaller goals. I think this is a great post reminding people to plan ahead before jumping on the band-wagon, though. That is how we are approaching our ranchette. First we have cleared some land for the garden. This year will be the first installation of the garden, hopefully growing enough to sell at the farmer's market. Next year we will add fruit trees, and so on. Figuring out how to water is my biggest challenge at the moment, but we also plan on having a worm farm to enrich the soil, and learning canning and freezing skills for the harvest. One step at a time. Thanks for the post.