Urban Farming, Self-Sustainability, and Homestead

Moving towards being more sustainable with my mircor farm.  Articles are he to help: grow your garden, raise aniamals and show proof of concept projects.

[fireblossomfarm]

Easy Sustainability, Urban Farming, and Modern Homesteading Articles about: husbandry of animals, gardening in small spaces for high yield.

#garden #tomatoes

[purebushcraft]

Piptoporus Betulinus more commonly known as razor strop fungus or birch bracket. One of my favourite fungi out there but not for its edibility. Although technically edible this guy is way too bitter to eat but can make an ok tea.

This fungus is super common and has so many amazing properties. It’s both Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. By cutting the underneath and peeling off the thin layer it can be used straight away as a plaster. It sticks to itself and can be instantly applied with no processing. This fungus is also great at retaining water so in a desperate situation it may be able to provide you with a decent drink. The razor strop fungus gets its name from having a tough, fleshy outer layer that can be used to hone blades down to a razor sharp edge.

Otzi the 5000 year old man frozen in ice was found with one of these on his person. I wonder what he used it for.

[fireblossomfarm]

Awesome!

[shareyourfoodknowledge]

Carrots in the sand

Whilst researching new ways of saving energy in the kitchen and innovative kitchen design solutions, I came across your work and was struck by the many ideas and prototypes you have made. My children and I decided to conduct an experiment with carrots by storing them vertically in sand as you suggest. The result has been wonderful, with the carrots re-sprouting roots and leaves (as long as the sand is kept wet). Every time we use a carrot now it is as fresh as if it had just been picked. It has also become a point of conversation with visitors of all ages, providing an opportunity to discuss the real cost of food in terms of energy and waste. I look forward to incorporating more of your storage solutions into the new kitchen I am designing. Thanks,

Jacqueline, Sydney, Australia

[fireblossomfarm]

Well then, I’ll have to give it a go.

[bughaze]

bumble booty always so sweet

[fireblossomfarm]

teeheee

[diygabl]

How To Make A Milk Crate Garden Planter

Milk Crate Garden: Grow A Lot Of Veggies In A Little Space

A milk crate garden is a great way to grow a lot of produce in a small space. Gardening in a milk crate is pretty much the same idea as square foot gardening. It’s kind of amazing what you can grow in these happy little plastic boxes. Plantable, stackable and cute, repurposed milk crates grow great gardens.  A milk crate garden is such a clever way to grow a productive garden in a small space. Instead of growing vegetables, herbs and flowers inexpensive flower pots, grow them in stackable, repurposed, plastic milk crates. You can often find these crates on Craig’s List or freecycle.org, or at garage sales, thrift shops and other inexpensive (or free!) sources.

Keep reading

[fireblossomfarm]

much better than using tires #yummyofgas

[frigbob]

Very determined to swallow whole grape. Patience pays off

[plantyhamchuk]

March 2018 - V’s favorite grafting tape

Did I ever mention that we grafted some fruit trees? I assume so but this month is becoming a blur. V has tried all kinds of materials to graft with - grafting wax, parafilm, electrical tape, vinyl electrical tape (all types apparently), surgical tape, all kinds of stuff. He has settled on this 3M 130C Linerless Rubber Splicing Tape. It’s suuuper stretchy, very easy to work with, waterproof, it’s gentle and stretches with the growth of the plants so they don’t become girdled. 

This is electrical tape, but it’s super fancy electrical tape meant for high voltage. Online, electricians only have rave reviews for this stuff. 

It’s very expensive but he found a bunch on sale at ebay for 85% off.

It is made from EPM - ethylene propylene rubber. It can take temps up to 90C and down to -60C. Here’s a wiki clip -  “ it is resistant to heat, oxidation, ozone and the weather (owing to its stable, saturated backbone) and it is also not susceptible to color loss.[2]” 

[fireblossomfarm]

Awesome will have to try.

[aeropajita]

I’m watching a documentary on YouTube and the person who uploaded it didn’t edit out the commercials, but I’m glad they didn’t because I lost it at this one.

[arizonagunguy-deactivated201805]

Perfect

[ampervadasz]

[fireblossomfarm]

Because it makes smiles :)

[agritecture]

Why Rooftop Farming Is The Best Solution For Smart Urban Agriculture

By James Coffman, Director, Commercial Tower Garden Division

We lose more than 50 acres of American farmland to urban development every hour. And in that same amount of time, our population grows by 240 people. Less land to grow food + more mouths to feed = big problem. But, increasingly, forward-thinking farmers are eschewing the confines of conventional agriculture and growing on what’s traditionally been considered unusable space: city rooftops.

Keep reading

[modfarm]

High-Pesticide Fruits and Vegetables Correlated With Lower Fertility Rates, Says Study

The study adds to a growing body of research about the relationship between pesticides and fertility.

[bambuita]

Found this! I know it will help me and all of you guys!

5/27/17

[fireblossomfarm]

Helpful

[mellifexfarm]

eat berry

[plantyhamchuk]

Cover crops for WNC

@dandelionwhisperer: “ Winter is coming, haha. Anyway, I started a small (~30ft^2) vegetable garden (nightshades, herbs, nasturtiums and marigolds) this year and it suddenly dawned on me that I should probably be growing something in the area for soil retention and nitrogen fixing. However, I have next to no experience with such stuff. I remember some post(s) of yours I read at some point that led me to believe you are located in western NC, possibly around Asheville. Do you have experience/information you wouldn’t mind sharing about what kind of cover crops do well in Asheville over the winter, and when to plant, etcetera?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated :) “

There are 3 main cover crops for Western North Carolina. We have lots of different beds in our garden and are always experimenting and rotating plants. All these photos are pulled from google image searches for educational purposes.

Crimson clover is beautiful, and my favorite for the beds. The problem I have with planting crimson clover is that I always want to wait for it to bloom in spring, which means while it is doing it’s growing thing, the bed isn’t all that useful, unless you manage to leave enough spaces for a spring crop. Sometimes I manage to pull it off, sometimes not.

Austrian Winter Peas are human edible! They can also get huge, as seen here. We stopped growing sugar snap peas, and just grow these instead. They WILL crawl and take over a space, unless you provide them a trellising system. We cut off the top 6″ and add to spring salads. These are exceedingly easy to grow. Deer also enjoy these, so keep that in mind if you struggle with deer. You will also end up with lots of biomass to add to your compost.

Hairy Vetch. I have mixed thoughts on Hairy Vetch. It is originally from Europe and West Asia. Many people consider it to be a horrible weed that can poison animals like horses. Yet bees and butterflies LOVE it, and it may be even easier to grow than Austrian Winter Peas. I’m not sure why agricultural specialists recommend this particular vetch, maybe it is just for the sheer biomass it can generate. Farmers who use this can just spray an herbicide, or smush it down with machinery, so a home gardener may find themselves hand pulling, or having to put cardboard over it to smush it. I tend to pull it after the bees have gotten their fill, but I’ve really tried to remove this from most areas of the garden. This is really best in extremely degraded soils that will take several years to rebuild, IME.

For those of us in the mountains of NC, the recommended time to plant all of these is between August 10 - September 15th. 

Mulch is your friend!

Also, word is Sow True Seed doesn’t actually legit seed test their seeds; we’ve had really uneven results from their stuff. In case you’re interested in supporting quality nearby seed suppliers, I’d check out Southern Seed Exchange and Eden Brothers

[agritecture]

Greenhouses in the Ethiopian Desert

Use of dew water

According to a recent study published by the University of Aalto, Ethiopia is one of the countries with an insufficient and insecure supply of food. The extreme drought in the country, due to the weather conditions, and the unsuccessful strategy for the supply of food products are the main causes for this.

Keep reading

[fireblossomfarm]

We love this.  This could be used not just in Ethiopia but also in other deserts.

[bugbite7]

[plantyhamchuk]

Instead of shaming people with a picture of An Unattainable Garden Of The Wealthy Landed Gentry and blaming people for their health problems, let’s help everyone get access to resources and knowledge. Gardens aren’t actually healthcare. If they were, I wouldn’t suffer from #)$ing chronic problems with my immune system, GERD, and other things.

Note: I’m in the USA - these are USA-based sources. Apologies to anyone outside of the US - you might try contacting your nearest Botanical Garden or local garden clubs for info on how to find these things.

Information: Extension Service - a taxpayer funded project with Land Grant Universities designed to help people become more self-sufficient. You have a state and county Extension Service. At the state level they do research to learn about what grows best in your area, at the county level they will answer any questions you may have regarding growing and help you get high quality soil tests. Sometimes they offer affordable classes on things like gardening, food preservation, soil science, keeping chickens, etc. Don’t hesitate to contact them!!! Not only are they more than happy to help, their funding is dependent on how much people use them - b/c that’s how our government decides to funds things. Use it lose it (and seriously we don’t want to lose the Extension Service).

Free Seeds: wintersown, livemonarch, EdHumeseeds, seedlibraries.org. There’s probably more, these are just the ones I know of. You can also hang out on gardening forums and find generous gardeners willing to share, look for the seed swap section. Blogs and seed companies also do various promotional things involving a free seed packet, so just keep your eyes open.

Soil: this is the trickiest part. Your county MAY offer free compost, it may not. You can contact your County Extension Service and ask them if they know of any free compost or soil around. Craigslist is usually just unwanted fill dirt, although you might be able to get some mulch. Really good soil is actually something that one must make. A cheapie route is the cheapest bag of pine bark you can find at the garden center + home compost OR a bag of mushroom compost + fertilizer of your choice. Or the simpler route is some bags of Miracle-Gro organic.

Compost: biodiverseed has covered this pretty extensively, check out her archives for tons of ideas and suggestions.

Containers: have fun with this, almost anything can be a container if you can poke holes in it. You might be able to get food grade containers from restaurants for free or a cheap price. If you’re growing something to eat you’ll want food grade, but if you’re growing pretty flowers to attract pollinators to your veggies, then your container options are a lot more flexible.

[glasshalffullurbanfarm]

Thank you, Planty~

[fireblossomfarm]

Tomatoes getting ready to transfer to Dutch bucket in a few weeks! :)