Yield: Wine

According to various sources, making wine averages between $1 and $3/bottle. My favourite bottle, Chateau St. Michelle Riesling, costs $7 on the west coast and $15 on the east coast. The Kniffen System of pruning, detailed in the ubiquitous Backyard Homestead, will produce 8-12-15lb of grapes per year per plant [depending on whether you read page 104 or page 106]. Page 106 tells me that I need 11-12lb of grapes for 1gal of wine. A gallon is 3785ml or slightly more than 5 average 750ml bottles of wine. At a rate of one bottle per week, I'd need to make 11 gallons of wine and so would need 13 plants [Rounding up to be safe]. This is of course after the plants reach maturity, 3 years after planting. The first two years yield nothing but mulch.

Further reading [suggested in TBH]: From Vines to Wines - Jeff Cox; *The Home Winemaker's Companion - Gene Spaziani and Ed Halloran; Making Wild Wines and Meads - Pattie Vargas and Rich Gulling; The Winemaker's Answer Book - Allison Crowe;

Yield: Eggs

When in my tip top form, I eat two eggs, fried, for breakfast daily. I like the protein early in the morning, and since various health peoples have told me it's safe to eat as many eggs as I wish, I can calculate my chicken and/or duck needs. Young layers [once they start laying at 8mo or so] can be expected to lay an egg every other day. In order to satisfy my breakfast desires, I need four chickens. Ducks are also an option, or so The Backyard Homestead tells me, but it seems like it would be a bit more difficult to care for them.

Yield: Milk

I don't like cows, apart from eating them. I don't feel comfortable with their size. The Backyard Homestead offered some ideas on substitutes, namely goats. Apparently, cows yield 6gal/day. Way too much for me. Goats yield 3q/day - a much more usable quantity. Minigoats, the Nigerian Dwarf in particular, maxes out at about 60lbs of animal and produces 1q/day, which is just more than I consume in all forms. As goats are companion animals, you can imagine getting 2q/day - perfect for milk, yougurt, ice cream, and cheese. Apparently goat milk is also indistinguishable from cow milk when raw. In order to provide all the milk I can think of needing I need 2X Nigerian Dwarf goats. She doesn't say anything about whether Angora goats can also be milkers. Doubling the function of my goats would be nice. Mini-Angoras would also be nice. [I imagine goats could also be included in the compost process of returning nutrients to soil]