I agree completely that planting out while they're still small is the best for their long-term development... However, I can also see a few problems, at least in my garden. 1) I have to be extra vigilent over slug and snail attack (it's much easier to protect containers than plants in the ground, and we have A LOT of slugs and snails). 2) Some areas of the garden are already fairly densely planted. If I put in my tiny WS seedlings, they'll be out-competed, especially for light, by more mature perennials. I don't have room for a nursery bed. 3) Until they're established, I have to remember to water them in dry spells. While it's easy to water a load of containers regularly, I find it harder to remember to spot-water various parts of the garden where seedlings are planted.

Crassla was once my speciality, this species I am very familar with, it likes the shade, it grows in the winter and the fastest you take off the babies once they have roots after it turns cold at night the longer they will time they will have to grow. They do not like the heat and must not be watered as soon as it turns hot, I live in Calif. zone 10 I stop watering by June 20 and don't start again until Oct 15 there about. If you repot with fresh soil yearly no need to fertilize. Be sure to give them the smallest pot you have until they are thoroughly established, then repot as needed, or put several in the same pot. Feel free to ask questions if I left something out. Now you know why Crassula are not grown, they are a mystery, and every one thinks they are easy, well that is how little they know. Ive have studied them for the past 20 years at least. There were no books available. The book I had set me behind 10 years, now I know that it is the worst book ever written on the subject. The new book is not available it sold out in just a few years, and now sells for over $400 and you can't but it for that used. If you can find one let me know I have a friend in Africa that is looking for it. I just looked at your zone you should have no trouble growing this plant leave the runners on, leave they root where they are, then gently pick them up with a tweezer roots, and all, make a pencil hole in the mix and set the roots in that by holding them with a tweezer to poke them in, water in immediately and set in the shade until they are established. NOrma (not proofed)

I've been starting small and extrapolating what I would need to be 100% self sufficient. The main problem is that I don't really know what I need, since I buy things from the grocery store all of the time. Note that I'm meaning 100% self sufficient for all food, assuming I'm on a vegetarian diet so I'd need a large range of things to get proper nutrition. These numbers are for zone 7, you being in zone 4 would change things significantly I think. My numbers are based on succession planting, ie peas in the early spring, something else in the summer, another started in the fall. At 4x4=16 square feet per bed, I estimate I would need 24 of these beds to support one person for their vegetable supply in one year. That includes some SFG compatible fruits like blueberries, currants, and other small bushes. 384 square feet just in the beds. You also need to add space for walkways, making sure that trellises aren't shading other beds, compost bins, fallow beds, losses to pests. So I would say about 500 square feet per person. This does not take into account larger fruit trees like apple/plum/peach. I've never grown them so I don't know what kind of space or harvest they produce. BUT!!! I am just a beginner and I've been making a lot of assumptions. Hopefully someone with more experience can post details.

Perfect example of science moving "two steps forward and one step back"... often times the choices in the design of experiments, methodologies, interpretations, etc. are affected by unconscious biases coming from preconceived notions, monetary incentives, lack of a key piece of knowledge, etc... the motivations are not necessarily all selfish evil but more often stem from hubris and ignorance than anything else... and then of course mix in the human condition of cognitive dissonance and thus the path of science regularly takes that one step back (think of it as science making a correction)... why does this happen? "Its because you don't know what you don't know"... Unfortunately too many people hail science as being totally unbiased and thusly safe to trust/follow with blind faith... I rather look at science as being just another human endeavor and thus fallible, so its safer to reserve a bit of healthy skepticism when it comes to cutting edge science pronouncements. Thus that quote from an earlier posting above "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Both of those quotes are very profound if one will truly expend some time to ponder on the deeper meanings. I've seen quite a few examples running through this thread where people don't seem to understand what those two quotes are referring to. Oh, and Ryan... have you added the rock dust yet? Ryan? Ryan? Ryyyyaaaannn.... (spoken like in that movie... Wilson!... Willlsson!!... Wiiiillllllllssson!!!... I guess Ryan too must have just floated away....)