The author started way too fast and was surprised he would burn out so quickly. If you are trying to set up a small self sustaining ecosystem you don't dump everything in all at once. Anyone that's done an aquarium will tell you that. You start with one thing, stabilize it, add another thing, stabilize, rinse and repeat.
After reading this the only lesson he learned was how to waste $11,000. Off the mark he's growing tomatoes, corn, potatoes, eggplant, raspberries, etc. Nothing is mentioned about the watering and fertilizing cycles of the plants. Which is pretty damn important. And these aren't the easiest vegetables, except maybe the tomatoes and the cale.
I've started my own little terrace garden this summer and so far I've learned getting started is expensive and no matter how smart you think you are, read the directions. I basically spent $200 last month on what basically amounts to soil, pots, hand tools, and seedlings. And this is only to grow herbs.
My objective is to get out from under the thumb of my local grocery store. Last time I went shopping they were charging $3 for a bag of lettuce! If things work out by the end of summer I won't be paying for something like that again.
Now that I think about it it probably wasn't my wisest shopping. But I live in the city and to get to a gardening center would take a few hours by bus or metro.
But these are sunk costs, you only need to by seeds once, you only need to pots once, a big bag of soil costs almost the same as a small bag and can last a while. If this little experiment works out I will have learned a lot from the experience and have the required material.
But I'd never spend $11,000 on the first run. That's a really expensive education. If anything the guy proves that "his" urban farm is unsustainable.
Did you get a box (or whatever) to make compost in? I guess even now you have lots of kitchen waste, that will make for great soil. I heard used coffee powder is good for most potted plants.
A worm compost is fun, but other methods work as well. You can compost not only food wastes, but also most kinds of paper.
If you want to go really crazy, go the humanure route (http://weblife.org/humanure/default.html). Needs a bucket and some saw dust and a compost heap. Make sure you separate the phases.
By the way, what's the advantage of organic soil over just taking a shovel and digging up some dirt?
I'm not composting this year. If things work out I'll probably start a little later. My last heap turned to kindling since I never watered it, it was in a remote part of a farm and I forgot about it.
The city did send me a flyer saying they are starting a composting project and asking for interested citizens to respond.
The reason I went with organic soil instead of sticking plants in the ground is because our building is from the 1960. Lots of things were fashionable then like lead paint and asbestos. I already have a sealed ventilation shaft that has asbestos on my property. The dirt itself could contain anything. I've already picked out broken glass, garbage, rags. All of this is in the dirt. Like the Obamas, I don't want to find out my lawn has high traces of lead.
Going with my own soil I have control of what's in it and what, eventually, goes into me. BTW, my mints and basil have started to pop up. 2 fresh ingredients I no longer need from the store.
This guy's goal was apparently to get all his calories from home, rather than supplement his diet with fresh home produce. In that situation it makes little sense to grow anything but potatoes or yams. Nothing else is as easy, nutritious, and calorie dense. Subsistence farmers the world over know this. Throwing down a dozen different plants is fairly silly.
After reading this the only lesson he learned was how to waste $11,000. Off the mark he's growing tomatoes, corn, potatoes, eggplant, raspberries, etc. Nothing is mentioned about the watering and fertilizing cycles of the plants. Which is pretty damn important. And these aren't the easiest vegetables, except maybe the tomatoes and the cale.
I've started my own little terrace garden this summer and so far I've learned getting started is expensive and no matter how smart you think you are, read the directions. I basically spent $200 last month on what basically amounts to soil, pots, hand tools, and seedlings. And this is only to grow herbs.
My objective is to get out from under the thumb of my local grocery store. Last time I went shopping they were charging $3 for a bag of lettuce! If things work out by the end of summer I won't be paying for something like that again.