TALLY HOE CONTEST | Little Homestead in the City

Urban Homestead Facts

LOCATION
Pasadena, CA
(Northwest Pasadena, one mile from downtown Pasadena)

PROPERTY SIZE
1/5 acre (66' x 132' / 8,712 sq.ft.)

GARDEN SIZE
~ 1/10 acre (3,900 sq.ft. / ~ 66' x 66')

GARDEN DIVERSITY
Over 350 different vegetables, herbs, fruits, berries

FOOD PRODUCED
6,000 lbs annually
challenging for 10,000 lbs in 2008 (read more)

URBAN HOMESTEAD SUPPORTS
4 full-time adults, volunteers, and many clients

ENERGY USAGE
6.5 kwh day (and going down!)

SOLAR POWER PRODUCED
9000 kwh ( as of 10/20/08)

GALLONS OF BIODIESEL MADE (since 2003)
1,500 gallons (as of 2/12/08)

"EARTH IMPACT FOOTPRINT"
5.2 acres per person

Steps Taken

Everyday Steps

Growing 99 % of produce
- 6,000lbs on 1/10 acre

Food Preservation/Storage:
- canning
- drying
- freezing

In the Kitchen:
- baking/cooking from scratch
- yogurtmaking
- breadmaking
- cheesemaking
- sprouting
- cast iron cookware
- no dishwasher or microwave

Food Choices:
- buying in bulk
- organic
- local
- eating seasonaly
- reducing "food miles"
- fair trade
- vegetarian(over 17 years)

Raising Small Farmstock:
- chickens (eggs/manure)
- ducks (eggs/manure)
- dwarf rabbits (manure)
- dwarf/pygmy goats (milk/manure)

Composting Methods:
- making/using EM Bokashi
- vermicomposting
- composting food, garden and green waste

Fuel:
- homebrewing biodiesel
- running diesel car on biodiesel(~4,000 miles a yr)

Energy Conservation:
- "powering down"
- cut daily energy use in 1/2 12 kwh to 6 kwh a day
- 12 solar panels
- "green" power
- rechargeable batteries
- line drying clothes

Energy Efficient Appliances:
- washing machine
- refridgerator
- water heater(gas)

Energy Efficient Electronics:
- computer/printer/copier
- TV(no cable)/VCR/ DVD

Energy Efficient Lighting:
- compact fluorescent bulbs
- olive oil lamps
- oil lamps filled with biodiesel
- homemade soy & beeswax candles
- daylighting
- solar tube

Non-electrical Appliances / Hand-powered
- blender
- toaster
- grinder(s)
- popcorn popper
- solar oven(s)
- hand washer/wringer
- pedal powered grain mill
- straight razor
- handcranked radio
- mortar & pestle

Natural beauty/no makeup
Homemade Non-toxic Beauty Care Products
- toothpaste
- deoderant

Biodegrable/Non-toxic Cleaning Products:
- vinegar
- baking soda
- lemon juice

Natural Health Practices:
- homeopathy
- herbal remedies
- prevention

Water Conservation Efforts:
- low flush toilets
- toilet lid sink
- reusing laundry water
- limit toilet flushings
- limit baths/showers - mulching
- handwatering
- clay pot irrigation
- solar outdoor shower
- front load washer
- food not lawns

Hand powered garden tools:
- push mower
- broom, rake
- trowel, shovel
- hand clippers

Self-employed Working at home:
- honey business
- produce/flower business
- craft business

Crafts & Skills:
- winemaking
- survival skills
- edible landscaping
- sewing
- leatherwork
- fiber arts
- animal husbandry
- holistic care
- tinctures
- carpentry
- plumbing
- building
- haircutting
- bicycle repairs
- soapmaking
- candlemaking
- herbs
- urban farming
- website design
- photography
- self publishing
- video & graphics

Living Simply:
- making use or do without
- bartering
- monthly shopping trips
- reduce, reuse & recycle
- second hand clothes
- salvage/thrift store
- consume less

Passive Cooling:
- no AC
- wood floors
- blinds
- windows
- screen doors
- edible forest
- "living" screens
- solar attic fan

Heating:
- no central heat
- woodstove that uses scrap wood
- dress in layers

Walking the old paths:
- tithing
- day of rest
- stewardship

Saving seeds
Unschooling
Beekeeping

DIY Projects:
- solar oven
- cob oven
- solar outdoor shower
- depaved driveway/patio
- installed solar panels
- roofing
- sheds, etc
- animal enclosure, etc
- this website
- urban homesteading

Using canvas bags on shopping trips / no plastic

Transportation:
- biodiesel "veggie" vehicle
- 4 "car free" days a week
- walk
- bike
- carpool
- mass transit
- cross country train trips
- 2 airplane trips in 25 years

"Green" Home Upgrades:
- metal roof

Outreach/helping others along the path

CURRENT TRAILS

Growing 10k on 1/10
Rainwater
Waste water recovery

2010
Jan	Feb	Mar

2010

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2009
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2009

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2008
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2008

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2007
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2007

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2006
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2006

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2005
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2005

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2004
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2004

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2003
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2003

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2002
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2002

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2001
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2001

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1973
			Jan

1973

Jan

« PRESERVATION HELPER | Main | PRESERVING FOR FOOD SECURITY »

September 5, 2008

By Anais | email author

Is back!

Care to wager a guess our harvest for the month of August?

Tally “Hoe” Contest

This year, we urban aggies here at Path to Freedom, are on a personal challenge to grow from our annual 6,000 lbs to 10,000 lbs harvest on a 1/10 acre garden – how close will we get to our goal?

How to Enter

It’s easy, all you have to do is enter the following information into the comment located at our sister site (click here to enter) for a chance to win

Your Freedom Gardens user name (not a Freedom Gardener, here’s how to join)
Your guess for the poundage harvested at our Freedom Garden for the month of August
There is a limit of one guess per person

Deadline: The contest ends on Friday September 12 at 9:00 PST . We’ll announce the winner on Monday, September 15th

Note: You MUST be a registered member of FreedomGarden.org (not a member, sign up!) If no one guesses within 50# of the LBS harvested, “the pot” will roll over until there is a winner! In case of a tie two prizes will be awarded.

Prizes: Gift certificate to the Peddler’s Wagon

1st $ 25.00
2nd $15.00
3rd $10.00

{Note comment box here will be closed - please post your guess here}

Good luck.

Keeping It Real

The point of this contest was to have fun and get others involved in keeping track of their progress.

Back in 2001 when Farmer D said that we start weighing what came from the garden we were blown away by the first year’s figures of 1 ton. Sheesh, what does a ton of food even look like - and we weren’t even trying. Of course, we all were shocked – could such a small plot produce tons of food? To make sure this wasn’t some sort of fluke, the next year’s harvested weighed in at a little over 3,000 lbs. A light certainly went off - the impossible was possible to grow food in the city!

When it comes down to it - it’s all about keeping records and the numbers. Weighing in the actual fruits of your labor you are not just spouting off concepts you are living a more earth based lifestyle. By following the entire process from seed to fruit year after year only then can you understand what it takes to truly be an urban homesteader.

Our earth, we dig it.