AlanK

This might not be directly related to being 'car free' but lately I've been thinking and reading about all the resources used to grow and transport food via the prevalent system (about 1/5 of all oil consumption in the US is used for the production and transport of food). For those who aren't familiar here's an admittedly cursory summary:

- The process of growing conventional industrial agriculture is costly because copious amounts of fertilizer and pesticides (derived from potroleum) are used. In addition to all the energy required to produce fertalizer and petroleum, the run-off from these chemicals causes significant environmental problems. And since much of this food is used to produce food animals of high-density operations, this adds another level of environmental degradation.

- Organic food is only moderately less detrimental. Most 'organic' food is produced on a massive scale similar to conventional industrial agriculture. In most cases there are only 2 significant differences: Instead of using synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, organic operations use naturally derived substitutes; Organic food animals are given organic feed and don't receive anti-biotics, otherwise they usually live in the same type of crowded, filthy conditions.

- Regardless of whether the food is organic or not, transporting food requires tremendous energy.

Thinking about all these environmental problems related to agricultural food production and transport, it seems a significant way to reduce environmental impact is to grow some of your own food. This eliminates most of the energy related to production (replacing synthetic fertilizer energy with infinite sun energy and crop rotation) and transport (if you live close to your garden the only thing you need to transport is seeds). Also, if a garden is well managed it will require little or no pesticide.

I realize it's probably not possible for someone to get all their food from their own garden, but do you think this can be an effective way to reduce environmental impact?

wahoonc

Yes I think it does help as well as "buying local" Try to only buy foods that are produced within a 100 mile radius of your home. We have a local IGA that actually owns a canning plant and buys local produce to can for his own store label. He also tries to feature local produce and products. I am fortunate to live in an area of the country where we produce just about everything food wise. The only notable exceptions being citrus/tropical fruits, and coffee...gotta have my coffee. With these I try to offset the impact by buying fair trade and/or organically grown. We actually run a couple of different gardens here. I have my squarefoot gardens and my MIL runs a 1/4 acre conventional garden. The SF gardening system really works. The only major issue I have had so far has been ants. I had to pull up two squares and redo them after the ants took over during the winter months I do mine organically. We don't strictly adhere to organic principles on the larger garden but we keep chemicals to a minimum and try to use the organic methods of pest control first. Also check out your local CSA's and Farmer's Markets. We just got a farmer's market in my nearby little town. I am waiting to see how well it works this year. The rules for it are very basic, it must be a local product produced within a 50 mile radius and no resellers. I also have several farms in a 15 mile radius of where I live that sell produce at their roadside stands. I usually don't plant much of the stuff they sell. FWIW we still live on the remaining 40 acres of my wife's family farm. We had chickens up until the foxes ate all of them. We live trapped and removed over a dozen red and couple of gray fox so we will give that a try again this year. We are also looking at getting a couple of dairy goats. We have also replenished the orchards with fruit and nut trees but we are probably about 4-6 years out on getting much out of them.

Aaron

gerv 

We covered a little of this in an earlier thread...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=282640

But YES!!!!! it is possible to do all of the above with a small vegetable garden. I have had one for the last 6 years and we normally grow enough tomatoes and lettuce and salad things for 4-5 months. Zucchini enough for 2 lifetimes... My wife also grows a lot of herbs and tomatoes from pots on the veranda. If you haven't witnessed it before, you'll never imagine how many cherry tomatoes you can grow from one plant.

One problem I had last year was that I did so much cycling, that I neglected the weeding. Tomatoes output from my 4 garden plants was hardly enough to keep me through September. I'm going to attempt this Square foot method thisyear using a much smaller area that I intend to work intensively. The garden should be less than 200 square feet

But to answer your question, the average suburban backyard has enough space to keep a family of 4 in vegetables. The key element is WORK. You need to put some time into it. Stop mowing the lawn!

heywood

I'm gonna grow tobacco in mine and make a fortune... I'm baaaaad

Did you know the number one cash crop in America is Marijuana..

Some good ideas on this forum...but isn't it hard to rotate crops in such a small area. You've got to fallow some space...

gerv 

I'm no expert on this, but the Square Foot gardening method does give a few good hints about effective crop rotation. I've been in the habit of moving my tomatoes from one are of the garden to another. I keep a good compost pile and mulch much of the leaves in the fall. It seems to have worked so far, except for last year's weed infestation.

ellenDSD

I've just started a garden myself... Never done it before so it's definitely a work in progress. As Gerv pointed out, it is work - sometimes strenuous, hard labor type of work - but I have found that I relish time spent "working" in the garden. I've lost a couple of pounds too!

becnal

Absolutely.

clancy98

you could buy a couple chickens for eggs too then maybe move up to a cow.

lyeinyoureye

Chicken!


Iirc, even without transportation, organic food still requires ~40% of the fossil fuel inputs most food requires. That 40% is pretty much the labor overhead. If you feel you can do it, go ahead, but it's very time/labor consuming. In terms of emissions, there are many more low hanging fruit imo.

AlanK

What about a goat? I think they require less space and can eat just about anything. Good points everyone, sounds very doable, even for an urbanite like me.

As for the crop rotation, I've read that if you rotate between legumes and leafy vegies, this will keep a good balance of nitrogen and other nutrients (leafy vegies remove N from the soil, while legumes add it).

noisebeam

Can we share what we grow?
Tepary beans, a wide variety of lettuci, amaranth, brocolli, several basil varieties, tomatoes, many pepper varieties, squash, garlic, fennel, artichoke, radishes, okra, mandarin tangellos and more!

Al

gerv 

Perhaps you are right, but I would argue few of the other "low hanging fruit" would provide as much personal satisfaction as a garden. You should probably do those other things, too, but plant a garden if you can. It will save you from at least a few hours in front of the boob tube.

Roody

I'm just doing tomatoes and basil this year. This is the first season when I've had space right outside my house for gardening. I don't want to freak out my new landlord by doing too much the first year. I'm betting he'll beg me to plant more next year, after he samples the bounty this year.

In the past I've used community gardens. This is a good option for people in apartments or condos.

Of course we got 3.5 inches of snow yesterday, so it's a bit early to start planting!

ModoVincere

I've got 6 tomatoe plants started from seeds, 3 jalepeno plants from seeds, about 6 onions that came back from last years crop (last year was very dry, so they never really even grew at all).
I'll add some green beans, mustard greens, okra, and some cucumbers. This should provide about 2/3 of the families vegetables for the next 5 months or so.

lyeinyoureye

That's true. But so would raising sheep or growing cotton, creating fabric, and knitting socks...
To each their own. I'm just stating that validating a garden from an emissions perspective isn't exactly reasonable if we're really concerned about emissions, unless we're the .00001% that's minimized them in all other aspects. Simply wanting to grow something otoh, is just that, and can stand on it's own w/o any superfluous motivation.

Roody

In the grand scheme of things, and I'm talking like 50 years or more into the future, I think gardens will be a mainstay of the economy, just like they were in past centuries and as recently as World War II. There are two reasons I think this. First is the obvious environmental advantages. Second, like you say, is the sheer joy that most people get when they raise their own food. And especially when they eat it with loved ones in their own community!

One of the great things about the current crises we face is that we will have a chance to start over again, and rediscover the joys of living in small sustainable communities.

wahoonc

No cows here, they are too expensive in more ways than one. I do vote for the goats though. We are going to be adding a couple of dairy goats in the next year or so. So homemade cheese is on it's way. I really enjoy the time I spend at home in my gardens and on the farm.

Aaron

Roody

Cows fart methane, a greenhouse gas.

Just sayin'.....

ModoVincere

So do people

Roody

True, but not in the same quantities. Really, I remember in global warming discussions 30 years ago, cow farts were mentioned as a "serious" issue. I guess we've gotten beyound that now!

wahoonc

My issue with cows is the amount it takes to feed one and do you want to guess how much a vet visit costs if the freakin' thing gets sick? My grandparents were dairy farmers and ran some beef cattle on the side...goats however are a lot less prone to sickness than cattle and are small enough they could be transported on a bike trailer if necessary

Aaron

TimJ

I'm betting things turn out a little more Mad-Max than all that. Maybe after the oil wars, the water wars, and the we-don't-have-any-ideas-other-than-war wars, some great, great, great grandchildren might be groing a bean or two... but I wouldn't count on it.

AlanK

That's something I'd love to see - a goat being transported on a bike trailer

You're other points about goats are especially salient. They are heartier than cattle and capable of a more versatile diet (isn't it true that goats can eat almost any form of vegetation that isn't poisonous, or is that a common misconception).

Platy

From what my grandparents told me, subsistence household gardening here in Texas was mostly about corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, chickens, blackberries, strawberries, figs and peaches.

gerv 

Sounds like a great diet, especially the figs and peaches. Do you know how large a typical subsistence garden would have been? Would it fit in the back of a suburban nightmare house?