Six THOUSAND pounds of food … 1/10th of an acre

Probably most read Lew Rockwell fairly regularly, so you’ve probably seen this.  But, just in case you haven’t, here it is.

I mean … WOW.  I’m no farmer!!!  Is this really possible for the average homeowner??

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How to Produce 6,000 Pounds of Food in Small Spaces

Small scale farming will feed the world

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Survivalist communities and preppers all over America have learned that properly tilled land can produce tremendous amounts of food. Well-balanced soil is quite generous and will give back much more than it receives. A few organic seeds, adequate watering, and some rich compost can provide even a novice farmer with a bountiful harvest.

Ever since Big Agra took over the farming of America’s vast farmlands, most people are disconnected from the process of food production from seed to table. Agribusiness has so thoroughly monopolized farming and husbandry that many children in the cities think that the food comes from supermarkets and grocery stores, not grainfields and orchard groves.

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Now comes along a family just south of LA that has set the bar a little higher for the many residential farms that are popping up all over the place. Their track record is quite extraordinary by any standard. Here are the latest numbers from a family that farms just 4,000 square feet of land.

“If you try to do the math, it just doesn’t seem to compute. But somehow the numbers work out because the Dervaes family is able to produce about 4,300 pounds of vegetables, 900 chicken and 1,000 duck eggs, 25 pounds of honey, and further poundage of seasonal fruits on their 4,000 square-foot postage stamp of land just outside the southern California’s sprawling megalopolis. Beyond providing food for themselves, the family makes about $20,000 per year by selling their produce from their front porch.”
(Source: Inhabitat)

Read: UN Report – Small Scale Organic Farming is Only Way to Feed World

That kind of productivity would rival any highly mechanized, GMO-seeded, chemical fertilized Big Agra farm field. That the Dervaes family was able to reap such an extraordinary harvest from a tenth of an acre is actually the status quo where farmers really know what they’re doing. Especially when they avoid many of the pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and GMOs of modern farming.

Dervaes family farm

Not only does this family farm eschew all the modern techniques and technology of agribusiness, they run their farm off the grid in more ways than one.

“Every member of the family pitches on to make sure every square inch of their land produces as much as possible. In addition, beyond simply producing their own organic food, the Dervaes family is living almost totally off the grid. Many of the gadgets they use are hand-powered, and what isn’t hand powered gets energy from solar panels, which leads to power bills that max out at about $12 per month. They also don’t burn any fossil fuels, as their car is powered by biodiesel produced from used cooking fat—which restaurants deliver to their doorstep.”

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The real secret here is that a focused effort applied with the ancient wisdom about how to till the land and enrich the soil can go a long way. Survivalist communities, even in California in the midst of a 1000 year drought, have proven that farming can still be highly productive when you know the tricks of the trade and the land is genuinely respected.

Related: Russians Prove Small-Scale Organic CAN Feed the World

Conclusion

Many farmers, both small organic and Big Agriculture, have recognized that the rules have been changing. The nation may be entering a period where self sufficiency and independence from corporate farming could become useful. The drought in California and the ensuing water wars are providing a sneak preview of what may unfold wherever new weather patterns establish inhospitable climate trends.

Source

Author: Stucky

I'm right, you're wrong. Deal with it.

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hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

These guys have been doing it for a long time so they have the experience, they are a family working in harness and they are doing it as their vocation rather than as a hobby, but yes, of course it’s possible, they’re doing it.

Family working together is a force multiplier, using organic methods (no chemical or petro-chemical additives) increases soil fertility over the long term and reduces costs. I stumbled on these people before we started farming and they were an inspiration because they showed clearly that you don’t need a lot of land, just enough good soil and hard work to feed yourself and do it well.

And these folks seem truly satisfied with their lot in life, something a lot of far wealthier people can’t seem to manage.

Faux Queue
Faux Queue

An excellent example of maximum production from small spaces.

This is, however, a water intensive production method with all those raised beds, clay pots notwithstanding. “Well-balanced soil is quite generous and will give back much more than it receives. A few organic seeds, adequate watering, and some rich compost can provide even a novice farmer with a bountiful harvest.”

Hope they have a good well. The verdant plants in the pictures, given the number of raised beds (counted around thirty in the first picture) , as well as the livestock, would require many thousands of gallons of water per month in the southern California heat. So this system is indeed “sustainable” if the water is there.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” Water will become a serious issue for the highly populated areas in the western U.S. as the drought intensifies. Whether you’re “self-sufficient and independent” or “corporate” your bottom line still depends on having an adequate supply of water. Without it one has nothing of any value.

These folks are truly trendsetters for small scale production, and one hopes that they continue to have access to ample water as they buck the agri-industrial complex.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

FWIW by using the Back to Eden system water usage is cut by 75% or more.

I agree about Cali though, the population there is 10x what is sustainable.

P.M.Lawrence

That is either meaningless or ludicrous, as it doesn’t specify the time taken. Even one square foot can yield that much – eventually. That yield in a single year would be impressive (even if favourable conditions allowed several harvests in that year), but if this is just a report of how much that family harvested in all, it could be much less impressive as we don’t know how many years they’ve been at it. (Yes, I know that it would be ridiculous to offer up a total for several years when readers could jump to a conclusion about this being a yearly figure – that’s my point, and why things like that really do happen.)

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

That’s their annual production. I know these folks, they’re telling the truth. We produce even more, but we have livestock producing manure for amendments to soil that they don’t have. I think they have chickens and a couple of goats.

SSS

They’re all vegetarians???? Bah, humbug. I bet they hid their backyard grill in the compost pile right before this film clip was made. You can’t smell burnt meat in a hole full of shit.

And the film mentioned they made about $20,000 per year from the front-porch sales, probably all cash sales, of their fruits and veggies. I wanna see their income tax returns, if they even exist. Bunch of tax cheats, for sure.

Heh.

Rick Caird
Rick Caird

I suspect that being in Southern California helps a lot because of a year round growing season. This would not work in Minnesota.

IndenturedServant

This will be my first full growing season using the Back to Eden method HSF mentioned. We have been planting outside for a couple of months now and I am astonished by several things I’m seeing so far.

We put the wood chips down late last summer and the rate of decomposition just above ground level is unreal. This decomposed matter is dark black and fluffy. The number of worms and other “critters” down there indicates there is one seriously healthy environment where the soil meets the wood chips.

My native soil is well drained and in years past keeping it sufficiently moist has been a challenge. Not this year. Moisture content right above the decayed black layer is high enough that the chips are shiny wet and and you can squeeze water out of them with your hand. The top surface of the chips looks bone dry but down below the moisture is extraordinary. Even in the raised beds which are notoriously difficult to keep wet, the moisture levels are much better than anything I’ve ever seen. We actually snaked soaker hoses throughout our raised beds on top of the soil but under the chips. So far it looks like this was a waste of time. It has been a very dry winter and spring and I’ll be interested to see how moist things are in the height of summer but as of right now, I don’t think I’ll need to water at all past germination.

As a bonus, I found an amazing crop of blond morel mushrooms*** growing in the chips a couple of weeks ago! Big ones too! I’ve never found morels in my garden before. We made beef stroganoff with some fresh ones and dried the rest of them for later.

*** Do not eat any wild mushrooms unless you are 100% certain you know what they are. Many shrooms have similar looking, yet poisonous cousins so be damned careful. Most will make you sick but a few will kill you.

IndenturedServant

I was just planting the last of the potatoes in my garden and found two earthworms that were over 16″ long! The back to eden method has increased the number of soil based critters in my garden several thousand times compared to what I had going on before. They say not to expect huge results with your plants the first year but every year after that the results are noticeable and lasting. I’m impressed so far.

SSS

Rick Caird says:

“I suspect that being in Southern California helps a lot because of a year round growing season. This would not work in Minnesota.”

I suspect that your comment is not welcome on this site, as it is infected with Doomers. Exhibit A is Indentured Servant’s comment on 16″ earthworms in his fucking potato garden. Whoop-de-fucking-doo. He’s growing fucking potatoes in Spokane, Washington. Shit, that’s like growing corn in Iowa.

God forbid someone such as you comes forward with a comment that encompasses reality.

IndenturedServant

Fuck you SSS! If you had any fucking idea what you were talking about you’d know the back to eden method reduces the amount of water you have to put on your garden. In S. Cal or even AZ you might only have to water your garden once or twice all season once the seeds germinate. In WA I doubt I’ll have to water at all. And the comment re earthworms has to do with how this method enriches the soil not only for plants but for all the other critters and microbes that go into making healthy soil. It requires no tilling, very little to no watering, utilizes a product that is generally free or considered waste, replaces nutrients in the soil which are very likely missing and practically eliminates weeding.

Fucking shit for brains………you’re starting to sound like bb. Got anything relevant to say? I thought not!

Zarathustra

SSS says:

Rick Caird says:

“I suspect that being in Southern California helps a lot because of a year round growing season. This would not work in Minnesota.”

I suspect that your comment is not welcome on this site, as it is infected with Doomers. Exhibit A is Indentured Servant’s comment on 16″ earthworms in his fucking potato garden. Whoop-de-fucking-doo. He’s growing fucking potatoes in Spokane, Washington. Shit, that’s like growing corn in Iowa.

God forbid someone such as you comes forward with a comment that encompasses reality.
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Thumbs up for grumpiness

SSS

“Fuck you SSS! If you had any fucking idea what you were talking about you’d know the back to eden method reduces the amount of water you have to put on your garden …… Fucking shit for brains………you’re starting to sound like bb. Got anything relevant to say? I thought not!”
—-Indentured Servant

Yes, I did have something to say, or rather Rick Caird, whom I quoted …..

“I suspect that being in Southern California helps a lot because of a year round growing season. This would not work in Minnesota.”

He’s right. You’re wrong.

IndenturedServant

Wrong about what?

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

I put in 18 tomato plants today. I “garden” about 100 sq ft , and tomatoes are about the only thing I can’t manage to kill. I plant them in a trough of a row so I can just run some water down the row like an Israeli. Not that we’re short of water here. What’s amazing to me is how much produce the Hmong farmers generate so early in the season. They own or rent small plots way out in the exurbs. The farmers’ markets open in a couple of weeks and they’ll have stuff. By the fall they’ll sell you about huge amounts of tomatoes, peppers, etc for a pittance. Seems like a lot of damned work for an entire family to sell probably $200 of produce on a Sunday. Good for them. They’ve been here for forty years and they haven’t gotten lazy. They’re also crazy about snowboarding.

Zarathustra

Iska Waran says:

I put in 18 tomato plants today. I “garden” about 100 sq ft , and tomatoes are about the only thing I can’t manage to kill. I plant them in a trough of a row so I can just run some water down the row like an Israeli. Not that we’re short of water here. What’s amazing to me is how much produce the Hmong farmers generate so early in the season. They own or rent small plots way out in the exurbs. The farmers’ markets open in a couple of weeks and they’ll have stuff. By the fall they’ll sell you about huge amounts of tomatoes, peppers, etc for a pittance. Seems like a lot of damned work for an entire family to sell probably $200 of produce on a Sunday. Good for them. They’ve been here for forty years and they haven’t gotten lazy. They’re also crazy about snowboarding.
_________________________________

Hmong – badass Vietnam hillbilly tribe, supported the US during the war because they hate Vietnamese.

IndenturedServant

Iska, I’ve got Hmong neighbor and his garden looks like it’s mid-summer. He gave me some kind of pepper seed I grew over the winter. They are way too hot for me.

Try lettuce, peas and spinach. They grow themselves. Plant lettuce every two or three weeks to have it all season.

IndenturedServant

Zara, my neighbor says he worked for the CIA helping to rescue downed American pilots. He tried to get permission to move to the USA back then but was denied. He later escaped to Thailand where a church group sponsored him to come to the states. He’s about four foor nothing, funny as hell and built like a brick shithouse.

Zarathustra

ndenturedServant says:

Zara, my neighbor says he worked for the CIA helping to rescue downed American pilots. He tried to get permission to move to the USA back then but was denied. He later escaped to Thailand where a church group sponsored him to come to the states. He’s about four foor nothing, funny as hell and built like a brick shithouse.
___________________________

IS, the only problem we had with our Hmong allies is that they killed ARVN and NVA without discriminating between the two.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

I think the Hmong were originally from central China before they moved into Laos and Cambodia. Maybe that explains the affinity for winter sports.

SSS

Back on subject, we’re never going to feed ourselves without Big Agro.

Live with it.

Zarathustra

SS says:

Back on subject, we’re never going to feed ourselves without Big Agro.

Live with it.
______________________________

Fuck the original subject. You must have some knowledge of the Montagnards from your Vietnam days…

bb

IS ,you live in Spokane Washington . I will come take you vegetables shit for brains.16 inch worms.I got those in my front yard.

Zarathustra

16″, pshaw. Llpoh has larger ones crawling around in his compost pit.

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EL Coyote
EL Coyote

This year is the year of regaining lost honor, the church lady said I only got a few pitiful tomatos last year. Last month I bought some tomato plants on sale, 3/$10 at HD. I put them in 5 gallon buckets, buried 3/4 of each plant, they have doubled in height already.
I selected some odd plants with purple knotty tomatos, Cherokee, German Queen.. My mother in law waters them every day (she also feeds both cats and the dog, those animals are almost 14 years old!) so it’s a can’t miss deal.
Last year I also bought a poor apricot tree, it was on sale for $5, I planted it expecting the cold would kill it but the darn thing survived and though it is still less than 4 foot tall, it is thriving. I had been dreaming of getting a persimmon tree but hadn’t gotten around to ordering it online, what with all the busyness of last month. Today, I found they have several Fuyu at HD. I got one and planted it by the apricot because they are on the mud side of the yard which is also the sunny side
The first time I saw a persimmon tree, it was growing wild in an empty field in Panama. I had a bad experience early on with persimmons, I must have tasted one of the bitter kind and I hated persimmons forever until the church lady brought a bagful from her sister’s house. Their persimmons taste like pumpkin pie, I loved them.
My sister in law also used to give us a lot of grapefruit until her hubs trimmed the grapefruit tree back severely. The church lady talks of avocados and mangos growing wild in Salvador, she says poor folks eat avocados over there so that being called an avocado eater (aguacatero) there is the same as being called a beaner here.

IndenturedServant

Zarathustra says:
“16″, pshaw. Llpoh has larger ones crawling around in his compost pit.”

Damn! Now that’s a worm! The two I saw were almost that big around but half the length. I’ve never had worms like that in my yard. The last time I saw worms that big was at a railroad siding in Great Falls, MT where they cleaned out cattle cars.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

I am thrilled that the Back to Eden gardening is working for IS. We’re six years into it for more than gardening- we use it to build pasture as well- and we’ve had astonishing results.

Yesterday a chef from the city came up to talk with me about his new restaurant that will be opening this Summer. He brought his wife and 4 daughters and I gave them the tour to show how we raise our animals, discussed the history of the place, what we’re doing, his desire to get the best possible fresh/local/seasonal ingredients for his restaurant, etc. They were intrigued by the Back to Eden concept because we literally farm new soil- black, rich, moist and yes, filled with worms and countless unseen decomposers simply by adding layers of wood chips/carbonaceous wastes. I showed the girls how to find worms by flipping over a cow patty at just the right stage of decomposition (they thought it was disgusting at first, turned into a competition before the end) and then our 7 year old took them on his own tour which included fishing in the trout pond with the worms- they got 2 beautiful brookies to take home, big smiles, nice visit all around.

All I need to get people interested in looking at what we do as admirable or desirable is to take a walk with them and talk about food. It’s something we all have in common, anyone with children has a predisposition to want to see them happy and people have an innate connection to the land that they may sublimate if they live in the city, but they never get away from.

By the time they got in the car they wanted to move out of the city and raise their own food. Now I’m not saying they will, but they had changed the way they were thinking from that single visit. My wife spoke with the chef’s wife under the big maples out front and afterward she shared with me the concerns she had about raising her children in the city (it’s a small city by US standards) and the tensions she felt there lately. Her big concern was what her children were being exposed to and she could see our kids, running around comfortably with cattle, being able to fish for fun whenever they feel like it, and doing all these things without having to be hovered over. This wasn’t my wife’s idea of how we’d wind up living, but she has come to love it as much as I do for her own reasons and together we are able to raise up our children to be independent, self assured, and to experience what liberty means in practical terms rather than ideologically. I don’t think that there is much more a family can do in this world to make things right than that.

SSS

HSF

I admire what you and your family do. Honest. And I was just pulling Indentured Servant’s chain. It worked. F-o-o-o-o-m. He went off like a Roman candle. Ticking people off on this site is what I do. I love my work.

Zara and I_S

Had no experience with the Yards in Vietnam. Knew plenty about the Hmong’s work in Laos, though, including Vang Pao’s mountain-top military compound. He and his soldiers were good allies.

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