Growing Spaces

[charlotte]

Hi.. :grin:
Im new to this forum and am hoping to get in contact with people about to start a new self-sufficient lifestyle and so I wondered if anyone here is about to do this and so are also looking at building a dome.
My reason for this is because I am working on a new Discovery TV series and we are looking to follow these people leaving the suburbs for rural self-sufficient living. On top of this, we will bring in local experts to help with things like building the home and getting the growing of crops started, along with animal husbandry, hunting/fishing etc.
So if this sounds like you or anyone you know, please get in touch, we'd love to discuss the series further and we hope that the series will be informative viewing and endorse the self-sufficient lifestlye of growing your own food and living off the land etc.
My contact details - voicemail: 1-323-692-3038 or email me (Charlotte) at homestead@ricochet.co.uk and to see other TV programmes we make, such as ABC's Supernanny, please go to our company website www.ricochet.co.uk
Best wishes,
Charlotte
Assistant Producer

[scakya]

Dear Charlotte,
My poor husband was wondering why I was chuckling when reading your posting. We certainly don't fit your criteria, but have the same goals at any rate.
We purchased 25 acres of over grazed range land in central New Mexico this past spring. Besides doing a massive cleanup of the land and working on cutting erosion we have worked hard at becoming self sustaining. Everything from power production to water harvesting and permaculture growing is included in our future plans. This summer I built 18 raised beds from used wood, many of which are at least 8'long and 45" wide. All but one are either growing something or prepped for sping planting. The remaining bed is experimental and with some luck will produce tomatoes this winter in our 5B growing zone.
Yes, we have our own milk, meat and eggs and always a supply fo fresh greens. This spring we will be planting several acres in garden, orchard and berries with all being on drip irrigation. We will also be installing a small group of green housesand domes to grow crops in year round for selling at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market.
To anybody who thinks we're nuts go ahead and say so. But one thing I can say is I grew it and my family is better for it. I even create my own compost from local materials and a variety of manures and use our marl rock to help remineralize our soils.
Going on won't be to anyone's benefit, but just want to say it can be done if the will power and desire are there. That and having sons that are healthy and a hubby going strong at 56....are what keep me doing this .
Pat
Earthwalker Farm

[scakya]

I received a notice that some one wanted me to prove what I was saying. It seems to have disappeared now, but I am going to post what my response was anyway.



Here is my link to my yahoo group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthwalkerfarm

I built all the beds from scrap and am working on my experimental bed being completed. We have several investors looking at funding my farm and have already started a handful of purchases on my seed for the garden.

My goats are due in February and are dried off at this point. I'm in the process of building a poultry barn and pig pen. We have 5 heirloom turkeys, 3 muscovey ducks and 4 chickens. This spring I am adding 100 pullets for laying, 25 guineas and purchasing some more turkeys to broaden the genetic aspect of what we have.

We started with nothing but a shell of a doublewide(badly trashed), 3 empty electric meter panels, and a broken down barn. None of this mentions the 4' of weeds we cleared or the multitude of trash hauled off from around the house and property.

Our garden will be 155' x 165' and will grow our winter squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, green beans, sweet corn and flour corn. Raised beds will have or do have garlic(planted 5 lbs in October), greens, tomatoes, peppers(both sweet and hot), numerous annual berries and several other items like onions and melons.

Greenhouses and domes will be used year round. The system I have set up for the greenhouses isn't ideal, but shows a reasonable effort to do things differently. Hydronic floors, infra red backup to modine heaters, wet walls and a multitude of circulation fans. This is wind country so one cannot take our vents seriously enough and they are automatic, but heavily reinforced for our often gail force winds.

The crops for the greenhouses are set up in such a manner they are planted based not on outdoor seasons, but what works for indoor environment. This is based on my own experience with home made greenhouses, commercial greenhouses and experiments of growing in less than perfect situations. In the greenhouses we will grow everything from tomatoes to blueberries(off season).

The domes will be used as looks like they should be, without power or heat. Here the daytime temperature gain will make many cold hardy plantings feasible during the winter. We will use the triple wall as this will afford the least amount of heat loss in our conditions. Shade clothe will be a must in warmer months as our sunlight can be brutal to greenhouse environements. Winter crops will include, but not limited to snow peas, cold hardy lettuce, swiss chard, kale, onion, chives, many herbs such as rosemary and parsley and a few other crops that do well in winters. Summers, domes will be used for the raising of heirloom crops we are saving seed from. And, to please hubby,a few koi in the pond.

All you need to do is see my plans and you'll understand that this is not a hope and a dream, but an ongoing process. Look at the pictures of the before and after and some of the things I've made do with. Much isn't mentioned here due to the complexity of what is planned, but if you know anything about self sustaining lifestyles, you will recognize the patterns being used to feed not only us but the livestock also.

Almost forgot, our farm is on the edge of an ancient seabed. The soil here is mixed. It is either sand, clay or rock with many variations thereof. The only consistent point is it lacks humus. Our job, to restore the land and help build healthy topsoil.

Pat
Earthwalker Farm

[solaris]

Hi, Charlotte,
I began to do this since last year in Romania,in the Danube Delta.