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food_farming

Food & Farming

Permaculture

Permaculture is a practical design philosophy intended to help us live and prosper in an environment, while working with nature in a positive way, using solutions based on careful observation of natural ecosystems and common sense.

Principles

How-Tos

  • Hügelkultur - A mound garden bed made of nothing wood covered with other compostables and dirt. Requires no digging, tilling, watering (except in droughts), or fertilizing.
  • Keyhole garden - A raised bed incorporating an active compost bin in the center, removing the need for fertilizing. Designed to work even in harsh climates and with poor soil.
  • Ruth Stout method - Also called “no work gardening,” it only requires a thick layer of hay or another mulch over your seeds and… that's it. No digging, tilling, watering, or fertilizing, and the weeding process is easy and rare.
  • Herb spiral - A very productive and time-efficient raised garden design, creating a series of different micro-climates perfect for a variety of herbs.
  • Three Sisters - A traditional Iroquois technique where corn, squash, and beans are planted together, increasing production of all three while reducing labor and material input.
  • Food Forests - a video (14 mins) exploring how to grow 200 perennial vegetables in the cold climate of Massachusetts, on one tenth of an acre.
  • Plant Guilds - Bryce Ruddock
  • Slow Food Foundation - for the preservation of biodiversity in foodstuffs

Plants

General Guides

Simple foods to grow at home

Sprouts

Sprouts are very easy to grow at home. Alfalfa seeds, mung beans, chickpeas and many others provide great nutrition while costing very little and taking almost no time at all to get started.

Soak the seeds / beans in water overnight, then put them (damp) into a clean jam jar and rinse at least every day. They should start sprouting pretty quickly and can be eaten after a few days (at whatever stage you want really). If kept in the fridge once ready, they should keep longer as it slows their growth.

Be aware of salmonella and E. coli: unclean practices and leaving the sprouts too long without rinsing increases the likelihood of getting food poisoning. Keep jam jars clean and rinse the sprouts often.

Basil

Basil is a plant that under the right conditions can exponentially propagate. Take cuttings of a plant, with some yield, and put them in water. Once the roots have grown long, transplant each of the cuttings into pots. This can be repeated enough times to quickly grow more than you can eat.

Greenhouse

Afforestation

Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no previous tree cover.

How-Tos

Vertical Farming and Hydroponics

Planting

Water Management

Composting

Guerilla Gardening

Warnings


Animals

Beekeeping

Chickens

Goats

Goats are versatile, hardy, and smart. In addition to their meat and milk, they are excellent at clearing brush. Their resilient nature and browsing habits make them perfect for dry areas.

There are two main types of goat breeds: meat, and dairy. Below are the most common breeds in each category:

Some helpful links about raising goats:

Veganism

  • Add resources on veganism here.

Mushroom farms

  • Add resources on mushroom farms here.

Aquaponics

  • Add resources on aquaponics here.

Cricket Farms

  • Add resources on cricket farms here.

Tools


Preservation and Preparation

Techniques and Equipment

Bread

Canning


Fermentation

food_farming.txt · Last modified: 2023/02/06 18:21 by ajeremias