Garden farming.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Hey comrades.

My father is very interested in using the space in our garden to farm vegetables. Do any comrades have experience with this? Can you pass on any tips? Also, do you know of any decent online material regarding the matter?

I think it'd be a great idea; we've got a bit of green space, why not use it?

[Zapatas Guns]

I have a lot of experience gardening. What you can grow really depends a lot of where you are. There are many different philosophies and approaches you can try. I suggest square foot gardening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_foot_gardening

I would get a large planter block. Which is basically a board with a bunch of small pots. In the pots you put your potting soil and seeds. After they sprout, you then transfer them to where you will keep them. When you decide what method you will plant I can help you and answer more of your questions.

[leftace53]

Whenever my family has lived in a house with backyard space, we always garden farm. While I can't give specific information (I'm a terrible gardener), I can say that if you have a small family, don't grow more than 3 tomato plants at a time. More than that, chances are you will have boxes full of tomatoes, and while that is fun and all, they do rot after a while. Then again, it could be a good way to donate produce to shelters if they need food, or to just share with your neighbours.

[The Fighting_Crusnik]

Yeah, make sure you keep things spaced evenly; do some research to see what will grow best and look for the darkest soil you can to top the garden, because the darker it is, the more nutrition is in it. Or just use natural or eco-friendly fertilizer. :p Also, depending on your area, it might be a good idea to put a small fence around it to keep critters from eating your food and a scare crow will help to keep birds away. And growing them in a planter prior to transplanting them to a garden is more of an idea I'd do if I wanted to start in the winter time. Also, make sure to keep stuff weeded, and if you notice chunks missing out of the leaves, get some "organic" or eco-friendly plant spray to fend them off. Oh, and beer attracts several type of beetles, so pouring some in a bowl and letting it sit under the plants helps too :p

[Angel.Torres]

I can't give you advice, but if you go forward with the gardening, I give you props. I believe growing our own food, or at least a portion of it, is great for lessening dependence on the capitalist system.

[ellipsis]

Start a food and yard/lawn "waste" compost. work it into whatever you are planting. Also lettuce is a safe and easy crop. ill try to take a picture of my community garden's small space demo.

[TiberiusGracchus]

The most easy thing you can do in a garden is to buy some rabbits. It's very cheap, rabbits cost almost nothing to buy and they feed themselves on your lawn, and they provide nice locally produced meat.

[ellipsis]

Rats also have high yield farming potential. I hear they breed like rabbits.

[Tavarisch_Mike]

Squash/zucchini is easy to grow and very often they become hughe. Spaghetti squash is extreamly good dont forget to eat the flowers aswell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_squash

[Pavlov's House Party]

I've heard that a lot of people are starting chicken coops in their backyards to sell their eggs, meat and fertilizer. It sounds really interesting, but I've lived with chickens once before and unless you're willing to wake up at 5am sharp every morning avoid roosters (that is, unless noise complaints get rid of them first).

I lived in a peasant farm in Peru for a while, where the family animals were kept in a small smaller than a regular backyard and have some other ideas for "livestock": guinea pigs are the easiest can be kept in simple brick&mortar pens in a shed or something, all they really need to eat is alfalfa or vegetables (good luck trying to sell this at market; most people are squeamish about them but I swear a half guinea pig on rice with mashed potatoes is great). Rabbits too can be kept in coops and don't require much care. Depending on how big the space you have you could also probably accomidate a pig or two, seeing how they'll eat almost any rubbish. Remember to keep their manure for fertilizer for your greens! ;)

If anyone wants to know more about this stuff, specifically the guinea pigs then just ask me:)

[Pavlov's House Party]

A visual for guinea pig pens:
http://i.imgur.com/xNAm7.jpg

[Bitter Ashes]

MOVE QUICK! They've only got about 2 weeks at the very most to start planting stuff, or they'll have to wait until January for most things.

What they want to do is break up the ground with idealy a hoe, but a garden fork, or spade will do in a pinch. Remove as many rocks as they can then get hold of some seeds. Supermarkets do them. Netto has a limited selection of cheap seeds, but Wilkos is the best for them really and they can get cheap gardening equipment from there too.

Because of the time of year, they'll want to be looking for things that can go in the ground now, but don't need "planting out".

Alternativly, they could just go and get a few spuds (the sproutier the better!), remove all but one sprout and put them in the ground. It's a gamble at this time of year, but they'll do all the work of breaking the ground up for you.

This time of year you're a bit limited. Try beetroots, turnips, lettuce, radish, onions, or peas. AVOID carrots for a first attempt. They need a lot of love to be edible.

Keep the area clear of weeds, well watered if it's dry and remove any flowers as they appear and it'll all be ready to harvest in 4-5 months. A little compost does wonders too and it's a great way to dispose of biodegradable waste.

Unless he's got acres of land or something that he wants to plant in, then there's probably up to around an hour's worth of work prepping the ground, maybe half an hour planting and then half an hour maintaince a week of the weeds, flowers, watering, etc.

Good luck :)

p.s. When you're sowing seeds, make sure you put them in nice rows and the proper distance apart. It makes weeding sooooo much easier. Also make sure that you bury each seed with about an inch to an inch and a half of soil, otherwise the birds and squirells will have them for breakfast, especially with them getting ready for autumn.

p.p.s. If you do see the bunnies and birds lurking around there too much then they might be digging for your seeds. A net will prevet them digging, but for stuff like lettuce where you're eating the leaves, you may need to invest in an .22 airrifle (.177 will only wound them which will be a slow death, which I'm sure you want to avoid). On the plus side, rabbit makes a lovely stew and they're really really easy to prepare. Slugs can be a problem too, but a dish full of lager will sort them out without messing up the whole ecosystem.

[MarxSchmarx]

^^
Also consider planting your seeds in a pot first and growing them indoors until they sprout, and transfer to the ground later if you don't have a lot of options for pest guarding.

And worms. lots and lots of worms. they turn over the soil, eat dead things that can sprout fungal infections and ask for nothing in return. don't need a lot of space and do well in most climates.


I've heard that a lot of people are starting chicken coops in their backyards to sell their eggs, meat and fertilizer. It sounds really interesting, but I've lived with chickens once before and unless you're willing to wake up at 5am sharp every morning avoid roosters (that is, unless noise complaints get rid of them first).

I have a friend who does this. Initially she liked eating chicken, but she says she ends up becoming too attached to her chicks to butcher them, baking them cakes on their month old birthday and whatnot. She gets really into the incubation thing too, but now she's thinking of trying to focus on just selling the eggs.