bee in pumpkin flower
Very interesting infographic on how much land space would be required to keep your family of four self-sufficient. According to their bottom-line calculation, it would take about 1.5 acres, assuming you bought your own wheat, although almost 2 acres if you grew your own wheat.
I am left wondering, though, if they only calculated for one growing season. In the desert you can grow stuff literally year round, 12 months out of the year. Which means you can bring in at least 4 harvests a year of your typical veggie crops, and at least 3 harvests a year of your grain crops. Presumably that would lower the amount of land space you would need.
When you start talking about self-sufficiency on your own acre, it is important to think in terms of Permaculture principles. Chickens, goats, pigs, and fish are necessary for a functioning circular ecosystem, consuming waste while contributing fertilizers for the soil.
You would also need to re-route almost all your wastewater into grey water systems. A typical 20 minute show provides enough irrigation water to keep your garden soil moist even in the summer time.
Creating grey-water systems here in Arizona is difficult because most houses are built on concrete slabs. Finding or building a post-and-beam foundation house, or easiest of all, using a manufactured home, are the best alternatives.
The good news, if you follow these tips, you can have a functioning SELF-SUFFICIENT homestead in the desert ON ONLY AN ACRE. Quite amazing, if you ask me.
Here is their webpage with the infographic: http://1bog.org/blog/live-off-the-land-2/
The month that wouldn't cool off has finally, mercifully, ended. August reached record-setting levels of misery in many ways. To name a few:
- The highest average high temperature: 109.
- The highest average low temperature: 87.5.
- The hottest August day ever: 117.
- The average temperature for the month - the high plus the low divided by two - was 98.3 degrees.
That leaves August tied for the hottest month ever. The real surprise here is that it's August. Every other month in the top-5 list is a July.
Aside from growing your own garden, there's probably not an easier way to get your veggies than having them delivered to your door. That's what Queen Creek Desert Roots Farm offers families who purchase a share of the harvest for a 12-week season.
Desert Roots, which produces over 75 different pesticide-free fruits and vegetables throughout the year, is a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture farm.
According to localharvest.org, CSA farms exist all over the nation as farmers offer shares - typically a box of vegetables, but it might also include other products such as milk and eggs - to customers who buy a membership to receive a weekly bag, basket or box of produce during farming season. The website says the arrangement allows farmers to market their food early in the year before they start spending 16-hour days in the fields, receive payment early in the season to help with cash flow, and gives farmers a way to get to know the people who buy their produce. It provides consumers with fresh food, exposure to new vegetables and ways of cooking them, and the chance to learn more about farming.
In addition to produce, Desert Roots Farm offers customers the option of adding a Superstition Farms dairy box to their weekly home delivery, and the opportunity to buy Arizona-raised grass-fed beef, chicken, pork and eggs.
Home delivery is convenient, but if you'd prefer, you can pick up your weekly veggie bag at one of 12 Valley locations. For more information, visit www.desertrootsfarm.com or call (602) 751-0655
It is amazing: everywhere the water spilled, pigweed is growing now. Pigweed is quite distinctive because of its pink/purple underside.
As it gets bigger, pigweed stems get really tough, making them hard to tear down or tear out later. This is especially true of the "tumble pigweed".
Not to be confused with the Russian Thistle, which is the true "tumbleweed".
I keep my main gardening area bare ground, so I can just scrape a hoe over the topsoil, killing them while they are seedlings. I just leave them there to decompose on the ground, which has resulted in a nice layer of topsoil as well.
The common purslane remains soft as it grows, so it is less of a nuisance later. Sometimes I will even let it grow quite big for awhile, letting nature provide me with some good compost biomass.
The "prickly lettuce" weed will be big and seed-headed now, if it survived as a garden volunteer from your spring planting.
Lots of "puncturevines" will pop up in your watered areas now too. As you can tell from the name, you really don't want to let "puncture vine" mature. They produce those "sharpy thorns" that make your kids cry when they step on 'em.
"It is abundant, one of the most obnoxious weeds in southern Arizona, and is found throughout the state, principally in July and August. Each plant produces innumerable burs ... Home owners and their dogs probably dislike puncturevine more than any other weed because the stout spines can easily penetrate shoes, bicycle tires, and dogs' feet."
If you have an Palo Verde or Palm trees nearby, there is a good change you are getting tons of their seedlings pop up as well. Rip the Palo Verde seedlings out quick. As soon as they get just a little big they get barbs all over 'em.
For decades, cities figured that progress meant getting rid of agricultural land and replacing it with houses and businesses. But several East Valley cities are rethinking the urban-only mindset by allowing - and even encouraging - gardens to sprout in their downtowns and elsewhere.
The shift in philosophy is partly a reaction to the recession, which has left plenty of vacant land that's unlikely to develop soon. Communities also see demand growing for fresh, locally-grown produce sought by individuals, restaurants and nonprofits.
Tempe
But starting a community garden wasn't easy in some places. In Tempe, the city generally wouldn't allow developed land to revert to agricultural use. The city is moving to change that, hoping gardens will spring up on some empty downtown lots or within city parks. Tempe Councilwoman Onnie Shekerjian has worked to encourage gardens because she believes uncertain times make people crave a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. Residents tend the gardens themselves and some involved with a south Tempe plot have found other benefits, Shekerjian said. "They're shocked at how they got to know people," Shekerjian said. "It's the community building that has become more important than the fresh vegetables."
The city is testing gardens on city-owned land, turning over 15,000 square feet of land at Escalante Park to the Tempe Community Action Agency. That nonprofit started the garden this spring and splits food between neighbors who volunteer, the agency's food pantry and selling produce at a farmer's market to generate revenue. The garden allows the agency to distribute healthier food to needy families, said Beth Fiorenza, the agency's executive director. "Having the free fruit and vegetables really guarantees that families are getting a nutritious supplement, that it's not all canned goods," she said.
A new Tempe ordinance will allow gardens on private lots, with a $50 fee and hearing involving neighboring property owners. Shekerjian figures there's enough interest in several neighborhoods to establish gardens within parks. These gardens would be overseen by a nonprofit that would provide funding and manage the project with neighbors. The city's role will be limited to playing matchmaker between residents and nonprofits, Shekerjian said.
Mesa
Mesa made sure community gardens were included in a recent revamp of zoning regulations, said Christine Zielonka, development and sustainability director. Lots of up to one acre can become gardens in residential and commercial areas. Mesa does not require permits or fees as a way to encourage gardens on unused land.
"One would hope that over time vacant parcels will become more valuable and they'll have a more beneficial use, so certainly a community garden would be a wonderful transitional use for that property rather than let it sit vacant," Zielonka said.
Mesa is looking to establish a garden downtown on one of the many vacant lots it owns. The city wants to open it this fall, having a nonprofit work with neighbors to get it going.
Chandler
About $10,000 from the Chandler Kiwanis Club will establish a garden that will distribute produce to volunteers and to the Chandler Christian Community Center. Harvest for Humanity will manage the garden, and one of its missions is to teach people how to grow their own food, said Denise Phillips, executive director. There's an increased interest in growing food locally in part because of e-coli outbreaks and food recalls, she said. "People are looking for ways to save money and ways to be in control of what they're eating," Phillips said, "and it tastes so much better."
Contact writer Garin Groff: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com
