Episode-160- HR875, Survival Gardening and The Square Foot Garden
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Well we are back from Arkansas and I have a lot to talk about today. A new bill called HR875 has come to my attention and while some are saying it may shut down back yard gardens I think the big threat is to the small farmer. If you are a gardener this still matters to you too.
I will also give my new take on square foot gardening as pioneered by Mel Bartholomew. As I spent the last week reviewing Mel’s new version of SFG, I have come to the opinion that it may be the perfect survival gardening method at least for many crops.
Resources for Today’s Show
- Short Video on HR 875
- HR 875 in its Current Form
- Campaign for Liberty Article on HR 875
- Another Article on HR 875
- The Official Square Foot Gardening Website
- Get a Copy of The New Square Foot Gardening Book
- Video of Mel Bartholomew on Square Foot Gardening
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We SFG and it is the best method I found to take most advantage of our tiny yard. It is very concentrated – more than I could believe at first but it does work. We did a single 4×4 experimental garden last year and were blown away by how much we could grow in that tiny space.
Another benefit is that if you use the “recipe” it removes the need for soil testing, amendments, fertilizer, etc. Essentially, a guy (or gal) could set up a great, productive garden in a weekend vs the years of soil prep and buildup normally required.
the recipe will work great ALA Lowes and Homer Depot remain stocked with the dirt stuff. What if you couldnt get there or they went under.. Or worse yet if the guvt said you cant grow anything
What would you do for long term sustainability..? I follow Farmer D and it doesnt sound like he has a revolving card at the local Lowes?
How do you prep now for that incident?? hmmm
Once you have the SFG setup, the only additives are seeds and compost. Vermiculite and peat moss are only bought once.
Plus, SFG can be done anywhere. Once you have the set up – and it is pretty easy to get really, you can get heritage or heirloom seeds and compost that you yourself have made. Your seeds are gotten from your plants.
You can even make a box with a bottom and TAKE your garden with you. Granted, it should only be as big as you can carry, but when I moved, I took my boxes with me and gave to my sister so she could try out SFG.
I heard mention of “vertical gardening” and HR 875 but, does anyone know about aquaculture? I’ve also been hearing that some “people” want to pass legislation similar to Iraq Order 81. This is all hearsay but, I was just wondering. I haven’t seen anything concrete. But, I digress… great cast!
Maybe in fertile land or useful ground but here in CO you are having to replenish/ replace the soil and peat almost on a 2-3 year cycle.The compost is an all year round process. and its still never enough.
Note however that if you listen to the podcast there is mention that if Vermiculite is inaccessible you can use alternates like perlite, Sphagnum or peatmoss can be acquired from nature itself, though there is the danger to the local ecosystem if you do that (and it takes a heck of a long time to grow the stuff) if thats unacceptable either, sometimes you make do with what you got, and actually spending a few seasons gardening and experimenting NOW when you can, then well… you might find a completely acceptable mix that you can store a good deal of the hard to get items, or make it with items that will always be easily obtainable. You make do, you read up, you experiment, and you learn.
Check out the thread about HR875 and disinformation from Urban Evolution:
“Remember that sooper-paranoid article about HR 875 that got everyone so spooked in the first place? That was from the Natural Solutions Foundation, written by Linn Cohen-Cole, who may or may not be real. ”
http://urbanevolution.org/thinktank/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=185
They can have my Tiller when they pry it from my cold dead hands!!!