Complete Diet Garden

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by jmygann, Aug 3, 2009.

  1. jmygann

    jmygann Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    Correct .. theoretically possible

    but when people say that 4000 or 2500 sq ft is all that is needed to grow your food because jeavons did it, it leads to a false ideology

    Like "food forests" or Biosphere 2

    But when tested ... did not work ...

    https://www.cityfarmer.org/albie.html

    That is why I posted this thread originally ... to see if anyone had done it , tried it or trying it.

    All the local Permaculture groups say read how jeavons did it or look into "food forests" ..... but are not really into gardening.
     
  2. PermaGaia

    PermaGaia New Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    jmygann,

    I have to gently disagree with your opinion that the locals in your area (pc or otherwise) are not into gardening; there are plenty of people in this area gardening and doing it sustainably, at least trying to supplement some of their groceries from their own space. I'm just not sure who is trying to do all themselves...

    For example: my husband and I have grown & harvested a lot of food for our family of 4 -1000's of pounds- the last 4 years on our rural 1/3 acre without any fertilizers and no heavy tilling; just working with the micros diet (OM) has kept most everyone happy. We still irrigate with fresh water but have designed our rooftop rainwater harvesting system to hold the water in our garden soil longer with the hopes of no irrigation at all next year til late Aug (also adding a laundry to landscape greywater system; though we are fortunate the water table is only 60 feet). We also have a drought tolerant food forest (species native or adapted to our climate) evolving which will supply us with native and exotics edibles and over time will become a self regulating system. The plant species we selected (and are still choosing will) provide a continual harvest all year. This small forest will feed us (and provide for local wildlife habitat) in addition to our intensive zone 1 & 2 crops.

    Yet our gardens do not provide ALL we need to eat; we trade/sell vegie starts, pomegranates, pecans and more to CNF (local co-op), buy/trade for locally grown produce/fruit/nuts we do not grow, buy/trade for meat/eggs (only from within 200 miles of us), buy/trade for grain crops (rice mostly) and buy/trade for straw/alfalfa (we plan to grow more accumulator mulch this next season once water is more plentiful in our soil...) Emphasis on trade!

    Animals are the next integration to our small "farm" (again only 1/3 acre); chickens for use as pest control and food and possibly a few rabbits too (for their poop, food if necessary but mostly for the kids to care for -they will have to grow the rabbits food!). Also in a pinch the manures can be used to make methane for cooking. Placing the chicken coop next to the greenhouse (which is off our home) will ensure heat for growing greens in winter extending our food bearing season (and for the home), provide us fresh eggs/meat and with enough space in the straw yard to grow most chook food. This greenhouse/coop placement will hopefully provide a micro climate needed to grow our new bananas too (we'll see this winter if they make it -their locally grown from Yankee Hill!). The greenhouse/coop materials are all reclaimed too, nothing virgin but a few screws and bolts. We only need a few chooks to help with our protein requirements (we are not vegetarian) and we can sell/trade the surplus eggs.

    FYI: We are not the only locals doing all this either; and we're still learning a lot! All the grain crops (be it amaranth, quinoa etc.) needed in our diet, beef or pork should we want it (we do have boars, deer and fowl to hunt but we don't), transportation (horses not cars), building materials (milling lumber) and fiber (wool and cloth) are the things I can see us never being able to provide for ourselves on a 1/3 acre. But in all we're relying less on purchased food than ever before and it's a start...

    Would you please consider joining us this Sunday in Chico at 3pm for the next Chico Permaculture Guild meeting at Cafe Culture? We welcome your presence and this discussion; there may be more local people to meet than you think who are doing more! Also would you please consider hosting a field trip for the local Chico Permaculture Guild to visit your property and learn from what you are doing? Maybe we can all find answers to these questions together.

    We do believe, and this is our opinion, that trying to grow food independently of each other is where we may fail with local food security; achieving self sufficiency is not work done alone (or by one family).

    Smiles,
    Stephanie
     
  3. Salkeela

    Salkeela Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    Excellent post Stephanie..... if you were round the corner from me, I'd visit :D
    Best growing!
     
  4. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    Seconded.
     
  5. jmygann

    jmygann Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    Thanks for the invite,

    hope to be there ...

    We also have the Chico Grange ...

    https://chicogrange.org/info/public_html ... 6150511125

    there is also the ... 100 Foot Diet Challenge

    https://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/ ... ment-35311

    Just thought it was an interesting concept (complete diet garden) and wondered if anyone else had tried to do it ??

    I was told by several groups to ask the Permaculture community, because they were food self sufficient/reliant and into sustainability.
     
  6. Pietro

    Pietro Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    Hello, I arrived a bit late, and had to catch up.
    I found the topic very interesting. I have to say I think you are a bit unfair respect to Biosphere 2.

    Biosphere 2 was not just achieving self sufficiency on the food level but on the air level. And this was where they failed. The infrastructure of Biosphere were so new that the cement was absorbing oxigen. They were able to achieve self sufficiency of food.

    Here is the talk:
    https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_poynter_life_in_biosphere_2.html

    Cheers,
    Pietro
     
  7. jmygann

    jmygann Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

     
  8. Pietro

    Pietro Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    oops, I didn't know about this document.
    Thanks for correcting me.
    I have a friend, Alex Penn, another Permaculturist -but a serious one, not like me ;-)- , who worked recently in Biosphere 2.

    I sent her an email, asking for light. We'll see what she will tell us.

    Regards,
    Pietro
     
  9. Pietro

    Pietro Junior Member

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    Re: Complete Diet Garden

    My friend answered to my email asking for questions about Biosphere.
    I post here her mail (for what concerns us):
    So it seems that at the end of the day I was wrong.

    Regards,
    Pietro
     

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