DIY garden challenge!

[BIXX]

First, some back story: I have been wanting to try and find a commune, and possibly even start one eventually, but I have run into roadblocks, for example, my father :laugh: He has however brought up some good points- for one, I have little to no farming experience, and if a commune is to be almost entirely self-sustaining (as I hope it would be), I feel that I should have some experience in making myself self-sustaining, and my dad challenged me to start a garden during the next growing season and try to grow my food for a year, and buy none of it. While I doubt what I have land-wise will be able to support me for an entire year (even with canning/jarring foods), I do intend to supplement this with a "dumpster diet".

However, this gave me an idea: it would be really damn cool if we all started our own gardens. It wouldn't need to be some amazing entirely self-sustaining masterpiece, or last forever, but trying and working hard at it is a start, and even a small garden bed can help you save some money.

So, my idea is basically to have a little challenge to as many people as possible to start their own garden. Especially those of us with free time, who can spare the extra time/effort to try and make a garden. Plus I think it could be really encouraging to anyone who tries it out to have others doing it as well.

What do you all think?

[ellipsis]

I accept your challenge!

[homegrown terror]

i dunno about growing crops, but my fiance and i are ridiculously good at growing aquatic plants in our aquariums, to the point that we've got enough overgrowth to start a sustainable income selling them to other aquarium owners. that's kinda along the same lines, although in a more indirect way.

[ellipsis]

i dunno about growing crops, but my fiance and i are ridiculously good at growing aquatic plants in our aquariums, to the point that we've got enough overgrowth to start a sustainable income selling them to other aquarium owners. that's kinda along the same lines, although in a more indirect way.

How petite bourgeois.

[homegrown terror]

How petite bourgeois.

not really. i have a particular talent, and by using that talent i can provide for my family while enriching the lives of others. yes, it takes place in the form of a cash transaction, but that's because of the world as it stands today. it's no more petit bourgeois than a musician who pays the bills with his guitar.

[ellipsis]

I'm just messing with you.

[homegrown terror]

I'm just messing with you.

haha okay. i was just a little caught by it since i've been accused of buying into rich people shit just for OWNING fish since they're a "luxury" pet (serve no utilitarian purpose the way cats, dogs and horses can)

[Leftsolidarity]

First, some back story: I have been wanting to try and find a commune, and possibly even start one eventually, but I have run into roadblocks, for example, my father :laugh: He has however brought up some good points- for one, I have little to no farming experience, and if a commune is to be almost entirely self-sustaining (as I hope it would be), I feel that I should have some experience in making myself self-sustaining, and my dad challenged me to start a garden during the next growing season and try to grow my food for a year, and buy none of it. While I doubt what I have land-wise will be able to support me for an entire year (even with canning/jarring foods), I do intend to supplement this with a "dumpster diet".

However, this gave me an idea: it would be really damn cool if we all started our own gardens. It wouldn't need to be some amazing entirely self-sustaining masterpiece, or last forever, but trying and working hard at it is a start, and even a small garden bed can help you save some money.

So, my idea is basically to have a little challenge to as many people as possible to start their own garden. Especially those of us with free time, who can spare the extra time/effort to try and make a garden. Plus I think it could be really encouraging to anyone who tries it out to have others doing it as well.

What do you all think?

First, your dad is more correct than you probably think he is because I was literally in this same discussion with my dad a few years back. That's not the point of this, though.

As to the gardens, I think that's a great idea. If you do some research you might be able to get a community garden started in your area and even receive funding from your city to grow stuff. We do this in our area and have a couple gardens we take care of.

[bcbm]

last time i gardened i accidentally flooded it cuz i left the water on overnight and then it all got eaten by rabbits, so


edit: oh no, sorry, i got one purple pepper out of it

[Charles Marxley]

While the idea of joining or starting a commune is slightly off-putting to me (something about it seems disconnected and something only possible for the privileged, but I would be happy to listen to counter-arguments), I think the idea of starting a garden is a great idea. It's a lot easier to get radical if you are food-secure, and I imagine that you can learn a lot through gardening. Plus it's good for the mental and physical health, self-esteem, all that jazz. I just moved into a place with a decent-sized garden space, and I'm looking to start one myself in the coming months. Perhaps you should start a revleft gardening group. I would join (and maybe this could somehow lead to an American peasant revolution. ;))

[Leftsolidarity]

I think having a gardening group actually might be a very good idea. Anyone with more knowledge on the subject can drop info in there for others looking to start a garden.

[The Jay]

I grow a lot of food during growing season. I have a pretty big compost pile since the soil is mainly clay around here. Once you mix in compost for a few years it can get to be that healthy black color, especially if you are very persistent about feeding the compost pile every time you eat something compatible with it. Be sure to turn the soil a few times a year and if you don't have worms buy some and let them do their magic. You could also buy pest killing insects. On a side note, bats are awesome for mosquito suppression. If only bats would be released into residential areas instead of thousands of pounds of pesticide.

[ellipsis]

I would recommend starting with kale and potatoes.

Op- what kind of space and climate are you working with. If its too winters now, I would start some seedlings in doors.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

However, this gave me an idea: it would be really damn cool if we all started our own gardens. It wouldn't need to be some amazing entirely self-sustaining masterpiece, or last forever, but trying and working hard at it is a start, and even a small garden bed can help you save some money.

So, my idea is basically to have a little challenge to as many people as possible to start their own garden. Especially those of us with free time, who can spare the extra time/effort to try and make a garden. Plus I think it could be really encouraging to anyone who tries it out to have others doing it as well.

What do you all think?

Way ahead of you!
I already have a garden in my backyard, where I am growing lettuce, cabbage, and trunip. They are still very little plants, but they are growing to be strong, especialy the trunip, the lettuce is the weakest one. They might actualy grow to become big, unless a sudden but violent plague of snails awakes one day.


I grow a lot of food during growing season. I have a pretty big compost pile since the soil is mainly clay around here. Once you mix in compost for a few years it can get to be that healthy black color, especially if you are very persistent about feeding the compost pile every time you eat something compatible with it. Be sure to turn the soil a few times a year and if you don't have worms buy some and let them do their magic. You could also buy pest killing insects. On a side note, bats are awesome for mosquito suppression. If only bats would be released into residential areas instead of thousands of pounds of pesticide.

I don't use pesticides, but that is probably why the plants all keep getting eaten.
Thankfully I planted the seeds at the right time, and they aregoring well, with only small catterpilers to worry about. Most should grow to maturity, unless snails appear...


Op- what kind of space and climate are you working with. If its too winters now, I would start some seedlings in doors.

If you decide to plant in winter, or worst autumn, all of your little plants are going to be eaten by snails.

Damn snails!

[The Jay]

I don't use pesticides, but that is probably why the plants all keep getting eaten.
Thankfully I planted the seeds at the right time, and they aregoring well, with only small catterpilers to worry about. Most should grow to maturity, unless snails appear...

Damn snails!

If you have problems with snails then you should scatter egg shells in your garden. It is explained in this article (http://www.greenideareviews.com/2012/04/29/using-eggshells-as-a-slug-and-snail-barrier-review-does-it-work/). Another thing is put petri dishes with beer in them on the ground as recommended in in this article (http://oregonorchidsociety.org/cultivation/orchid-pests-disease/slugs-snails). There's plenty of other methods but they are the ones that work for me. I also put orange peels on the ground in the garden to ward away certain animals.

[ellipsis]

Also if you put on a cup with beer in it, slugs and snails love it, cause who doesn't, and drown themselves in it.

[Jesus Saves Gretzky Scores]

I'd love to start a garden, and I'm moving into a house soon, so I'll be able to do it.:tt1:

[BIXX]

I'm just moving into the spring time, working on starting a small garden in my yard now, also trying to get one at my school :) sorry I kinda lost this thread a while back, but I have a good climate right now, I just need to wait for the heavy rains to stop (I think today was supposed to be the last one).

[BIXX]

While the idea of joining or starting a commune is slightly off-putting to me (something about it seems disconnected and something only possible for the privileged, but I would be happy to listen to counter-arguments), I think the idea of starting a garden is a great idea. It's a lot easier to get radical if you are food-secure, and I imagine that you can learn a lot through gardening. Plus it's good for the mental and physical health, self-esteem, all that jazz. I just moved into a place with a decent-sized garden space, and I'm looking to start one myself in the coming months. Perhaps you should start a revleft gardening group. I would join (and maybe this could somehow lead to an American peasant revolution. ;))

I have a rather loose definition of communes which might make it seem more acceptable to you, and it is simply making communities no longer require the state. This way when they no longer need a state, they will not feel the need to hold on to it so hard (at least in theory). I would wanna be starting urban projects so that it wouldn't have to relocate people. The only problem is that it's hard to get away with earthships in the city. But that way it wouldn't be so disconnected. And honestly, it's more just about building community.

[ellipsis]

Earthships? Where can I buy a ticket?

[TheRedAnarchist23]

My plants are growing very well. The snails haven't been active, so I only have to worry about those tiny green caterpilers.
The dirt is very fertile, it even has worms now!
There has been much rain lately, so I don't even have to water them.
Me and my mother have planted some more around the ones already there.
I might take some pictures of them and post them here.

[BIXX]

I'm beginning the work to remove old plants from my growing area on Monday, and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a small garden in its way to success.



Earthships? Where can I buy a ticket?

As soon as I learn how to make them (it's part of my plan after highschool) I wanna make as many as possible before the zoning committees or whatever notice and get me in trouble for building "untested structures"! But I think if I do things right I'll be able to get away with it.

[ellipsis]

I had to google it. Are you talking about building a small sustainable house?

[Lobotomy]

I have a lot of plans for my yard but I'm waiting until the PNW weather stops making me want to die. Also I'm just planting flowers this year I think.

[ellipsis]

I have a lot of plans for my yard but I'm waiting until the PNW weather stops making me want to die. Also I'm just planting flowers this year I think.

Get an early start on soil amendment.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Re: "Communes are for the privileged" - I think they can be, but it's pretty contextual. Certainly, "Run away to the mountains and leave the world behind!" is at absolute best some piss-poor revolutionary strategy. On the other hand, grouping people around an increasing number of communal projects is possible not only with limited resources, but in a way that can save time/money/etc., and relate in concrete ways to ongoing struggles. I think that's the key - asking, "How can our 'commune' contribute to an authentic commons, and not just be an example of collective private ownership?" About the latter there is nothing revolutionary or communist.

Anyway, some thoughts, having done a bit of gardening:

Chives are impossible to kill, are a perennial, and discourage pests.
Raspberries are impossible to kill, start producing in their second year, and, with proper pruning, can basically keep themselves going forever.
Currants are impossible to kill, start producing in their second year, and, with proper pruning, can basically keep themselves going forever.
Some weeds - lamb's quarters, dandelions - are ridiculously healthy, and can promote soil health. Why throw away what you can harvest?