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vahtryn
10-24-2011, 05:59 PM
Well thought I'd toss up some pictures on my urban farm. I don't have any of the plants right now as they're still sprouting and growing. Also in the process of figuring out how we're gonna do container, vertical and aquaponic gardening completely with in the yard. Things change daily.

Mind you we're doing this with as many reclaimed, recycled and found materials as possible. We're doing this dirt (pun intended) cheap. Just about everything so far has been from recycled materials or found materials. Once we finish up how the garden is really going to work and do the plumbing for the aquaponics I'll have more pictures. Can't wait to raise 40 tilapia!

The thing is we also have a terribly small yard so trying to figure out how to produce as much food as possible in as limited space there is is key to this being successful. That is why we're going with multiple routes of creating types of food. The aquaponics is my dream and I want to utilize that to create a nonprofit and take over abandoned lots. Rabbits work better for our yard than say chickens because they're quiet and their crap is easier to clean up than fowl. As this continues to grow (yes another pun) I'll add more pictures.

I'll also add the plans and parts for the aquaponics system and take pictures as we build that out fully. It's a process and a fun one at that. Definitely a learning curve on it as I haven't actually lived on a farm since I was 16 and moved out on my own. Have a lot of things to remember.

So here's what we have so far in order to sustain ourselves by growing and raising our own food in a small *** yard of a ware house near down town San Diego.

The Fish tank
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/9293/2011092813460247.jpg

The Grow Beds
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/400/20110928134611569.jpg

Grow beds and fish tank
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/4695/20110928134618175.jpg

Meat the meat, the buck is aptly named Buck, the two does are named Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/4521/20111023142523583.jpg

Daffy's first experience with rabbits.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/7076/20111023145248674.jpg

Here's the entire hutch.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2883/20111023145253563.jpg

Winnie
10-24-2011, 06:18 PM
Looks good, It's all a learning experience, will you be using compost for the beds or aquaponics? The reason I ask is you will need to have drainage holes if you are using soil. BTW, the Dog seems to be waiting for it's dinner.

vahtryn
10-24-2011, 06:32 PM
Going to be using a rock medium for the grow beds. Going to be composting the rabbit poo since we already converted an old dog house into a compost bin (gotta get a picture of that).

My dog had never encountered rabbits until then, she's a funny one that's for certain. Best alarm dog ever but if someone did break in she'd probably help carry the television out with the robbers.

Rick
10-24-2011, 06:52 PM
If you have a very small area pick up the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. He has some great ideas on how to plant in a small area including companion planting.

Here's his web site. You might pick up an idea or two.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Don't forget to visit the Square Foot Gardening Foundation:

http://www.squarefootgardening.org/

vahtryn
10-24-2011, 08:07 PM
I've actually read that book, it's on my ipad (yeah I'm one of those nerds). It has some great ideas but with what we have to grow with isn't exactly optimal for anything. We have to figure out interesting ways to get around everything. The next round of pictures I'll try to capture the space we have which is covered in concrete and bricks. Though that will probably happen after we build a grow bed against the deck and put bamboo against the walls as a lattice sort of thing for peas and what not to grow up on.

For those that don't know I live in a neighborhood in San Diego (city not county) called Barrio Logan. It's dirty, it's ghetto and cheap to live. It's also where I feel people should learn how to take care of themselves and save money in various ways. One of the big reasons I want to start my 503c1 and take over the abandoned lots and create more of these "urban farms."

I currently rent the upper portion of a warehouse and am lucky enough to have a separate fence from the rest of the lot. Once the neighbors see us providing food for ourselves they'll want to get in on it and I can use the rest of the lot for aquaponics, vertical gardening or what ever. The only rule is you don't get a damn thing unless you put in sweat labor or provide materials. I'm not going to feed everyone unless they're willing to put that in. If I have to I can easily lock up everything since the property owner really doesn't care what I do anymore. I tend to fix things before his maintenance man can show up and allows me to provide receipts from home depot on the materials and 25 bucks an hour for the labor. Win win if you ask me.

It's a project that I've wanted to start for ages and it's now just starting to come to fruition.

hunter63
10-24-2011, 09:22 PM
Kudos on the project....seems you are off to a good start....Thanks for posting.

Tried rasing rabbits a long time ago, kids named them....Never name anything if you plan on eating them.
Got rid of them, alive and well, after feeding the growing herd for a year or two.

vahtryn
10-25-2011, 10:01 AM
Kudos on the project....seems you are off to a good start....Thanks for posting.

Tried rasing rabbits a long time ago, kids named them....Never name anything if you plan on eating them.
Got rid of them, alive and well, after feeding the growing herd for a year or two.

We named every animal on the farm I grew up on. Never really made a difference to us. Grass fed cows are premium. Very tasty :)

vahtryn
10-25-2011, 09:24 PM
bunny scrumpin'. I put the second doe in the buck's cage and then took my dog for a quick walk so she could crap outside the yard. Less than five minutes I get this:

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/6402/20111025171938908.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3129/20111025171944219.jpg

Rick
10-26-2011, 08:11 AM
Is a crate of bunnies a good thing or bad?

vahtryn
10-27-2011, 02:03 PM
The crates with some plywood behind them made decent hiding holes for them for free. They tend to sit on top of them during the day and sleep in them at night.