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Thread: 6,000 lbs. of Food on 1/10th Acre

  1. #1
    Quality Control Director Ken's Avatar
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    Default 6,000 lbs. of Food on 1/10th Acre

    6,000 lbs. of food on 1/10th acre - Urban Farm - Urban Homestead - Growing Your Own Food

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    Senior Member Winter's Avatar
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    Awesome. Money saving independence.
    I had a compass, but without a map, it's just a cool toy to show you where oceans and ice are.

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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Yes, fantastic!
    Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Yeah, this is all good stuff....have had a little background looking in to this.....as I was a "Homesteader" before I was a "survivalist" .....LOL
    Anyway another take on the subject......
    Quote>


    Aibreán Ó Gréacháin Pankratz

    Created:
    2/28/2013 10:58:15 PM

    pretty silly artical i worry about how many folks have taken this to heart and bought just one acre only to be living in nasty feed lot conditions...


    Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homes...#ixzz2cj4VRvxD

    Be sure to read the comments........nice thought, but not real practical.....
    Last edited by hunter63; 08-22-2013 at 03:00 PM.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    That's really cool. That sure takes gardening to the next level.
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    Very impressive. Looks like a lot of work, but rewarding!

  7. #7

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    Hunter63, that's a funny article. Just from the picture you can tell they are dreaming. I live on an acre now, in a small ranch and there ain't no way that illustration is of an acre.
    Maybe more like three.

    Nice video Ken. I wonder what his neighbors think though... LOL. Can you imagine someone trying to do that in Cambridge?
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    Member SLVRBK's Avatar
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    That is ultra cool! I have a very small garden (12X12) behind my garage and love to grow my own vegetables. I wish my life was simple enough to live like they do (I guess I could make it that way) but in order to do that I would have to make major changes in my family's lifestyle including my kids education. I'm not a material person but do appreciate a nice vacation and a night out with the wife.
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    Wish I could do that here on the Gulf Course.

  10. #10

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    That's awesome.

  11. #11

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    I have a quarter acre of undeveloped property in Western WA, we get plenty of rain, but my place also has two gigantic cedar trees, I mean the biggest one has about a ten foot girth, I bought the property sight-unseen, took a bit of an educated risk by looking at it on Google Earth before I committed myself, and visited it 6 months actually later to find I had a couple old growth cedar trees I would feel like a heel if I cut down and who knows how much it would cost anyway.

    So unfortunately I wonder if I will get enough sun to do anything.

    Rain on the other hand is not a problem, but I would want to filter it and feed it to my garden which would actually be covered in clear plastic to insulate it from the rain.

    If I don't have enough sunlight, I thought about planting in the forest, I do "guerilla gardening" in the town I live in now. Another possibility is buying an acre or more down in the valley to plant in.

    But that vid was good to see, and $20K on the side? Not bad at all.

    Thx

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Everything you just said about gardening is actually wrong. The trees are using the water and nutrients. You don't need to filter rain water and clear plastic isn't needed and a waste of time and money.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Everything you just said about gardening is actually wrong. The trees are using the water and nutrients. You don't need to filter rain water and clear plastic isn't needed and a waste of time and money.
    Well, I don't like the idea of mercury from Chinese coal-fired power plants raining down on my food.

    Now, I don't know if I said much about gardening in the first place to be so wrong about everything, are you trying to say the shade the trees provide will not be a hindrance to my tomatoes for instance?

    Also, as far as the rainwater, should I just drink it untreated?

    Can you elaborate a little more please?

    Thx
    Last edited by Thx; 11-10-2013 at 09:38 AM.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    If your concern is mercury in the rain water of Western Washington - how do you propose to remove it?
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    If your concern is mercury in the rain water of Western Washington - how do you propose to remove it?
    By filtering it.

    There are several that filter out mercury and what do "off-grid" folks normally do, drink untreated rainwater?

    Tap water, after learning how many pharmaceuticals are in the water, I'd prefer not to use it anyway.

    We get plenty of rain in Western WA, and it's supposed to be during deluges when it is worse.

    Now, I'm going to build planters kind of like the ones in the vid only these are raised a bit off the ground, I don't want the plants rooting in the soil on the ground.

    My land has never been developed and is as it has been for many, many years.

    But like I say, I might have to limit my gardening because my land only gets so much sun...

    Now, if covering the garden is wrong... are greenhouses useless? Why do people use them?

    Thx

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I rain water is a concern, I would get it tested.....but unless proven to be bad, is about the safest to water with, rather than tap or city water.

    Green houses are generally used to extend seasons, or grow industrial, veggies...meaning they plant in bags of media, water with added chemicals/fertilizers, and use artificial light with filters....The idea is to get a major crop, all at once or Discriminate varieties, and means that the plant bears fruit and fruits ripen at the same time.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Everyone has mercury in their rainwater. It's not just from China. It's in the atmosphere from California to the Carolinas. The levels are probably higher in the Carolinas than California since Mercury has a much longer time to ionize in its route from China and Japan. The Carolinas get theirs straight from the factory...if you'll pardon the pun. But if you want to filter it be my guest. You're welcome to drink it unfiltered if you choose. It doesn't much matter to me.

    You didn't bother mentioning container gardening. Just that you were gardening in with the Red Woods. That little detail might have helped.

    If you're covering the plants to protect them from the mercury then be my guest.
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  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    Everyone has mercury in their rainwater. It's not just from China. It's in the atmosphere from California to the Carolinas. The levels are probably higher in the Carolinas than California since Mercury has a much longer time to ionize in its route from China and Japan. The Carolinas get theirs straight from the factory...if you'll pardon the pun. But if you want to filter it be my guest. You're welcome to drink it unfiltered if you choose. It doesn't much matter to me.

    You didn't bother mentioning container gardening. Just that you were gardening in with the Red Woods. That little detail might have helped.

    If you're covering the plants to protect them from the mercury then be my guest.
    Well, how about mercury from any source? I realize any coal-fired power plant produces mercury, not just Chinese ones, but I mention them specifically because they build a new one every Tuesday it seems.

    So see, I don't want to filter catch water to put on my garden, while the garden is open to be rained on getting mercury anyway... hence the cover and I'll see about making it removable so on sunny days I can get more of the sun.

    We have a unique weather system here and can get rain through half the summer.

    No, I didn't mention building elevated planters, but to be fair I didn't say "planting in with the redwoods" either.

    Thx

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