Planting hope, another round of summer crops

A cold front blew through on Saturday, bringing with it colder temperatures (30 degree drop) and even a bit of rain.  Temperatures will start climbing once again and by Wednesday we should be baking again with temperatures in the mid 90's.

This year, we've gone through so many flip flop changes in the weather leaves on feeling a bit whiplashed.  Of course the harvest suffered considerably thanks to the weather that couldn't make up it's mind.

We started the year on a high note, we high expectations but are now resigned to the fact that the weather has had the last word on this year's growing season.  We will not, I repeat NOT grow for 10k this year - unless some sort of last second "hail mary" of a miracle happens during these last minutes of the 4th quarter.

The September harvest were the WORST we've had in a long time. The economic downturn and our pathetic harvest have hit simultaneously.   I mean, even I was shocked to see the tally results.  Pssst, all you Tally Hoe contestants, I'm giving you hints here!

Like I said in previous post (below), we've had "bad" years before but this one takes the cake and our business has suffered because of it and we are now having to start cutting back on "unnessaries"   Asking ourselves "do we really need this" and "can we do without" or "what cheaper alternative is there for this or that."

Of course we've always lived pretty simply but now are having to make what little income we've made and have it go further. One thing that won't suffer is our PTF outeach work, we put this work above our personal needs and wants.

How are you changing your lifestyle during these difficult times?  Are you cutting back or what are doing without?

:: Field Hand Appreciation :: GM $10 donation.  Thanks to your support we are able to offer you sites like our new (hopping) social network for modern victory gardeners... and more to come!

Once again it's time for Freedom Gardeners to guess how many pounds we harvested in September.

Click here to enter and your chance to win prizes!  You must be a Freedom Gardens member to enter, contest ends this Friday, October 10th.

HINT: worst September ever, thanks to the wacky weather that played havoc with the summer garden = low harvest yields.

{Comments on this entry are off, you can only enter your guess along with your Freedom Garden user name here}

The harvest results are in!  Drum roll please....  about 500 lbs harvested in June.

For the year we now have harvested over a ton (2,100 lbs) of food from our .10 (1/10th) acre garden plot  - the amount we harvested our first year of keeping harvest productions records back in 2001.  Can we reach 10K?  We'll just have to wait and see since it really depends on how well the weather cooperates this year -- and how well we can keep on top of succession plantings.

Next month stay tuned for our first contest!  Yep, that right folks.  We are going to have you guess our harvest tally for the month of July.  The one who guess the closest lbs harvest will receive a prize.

We hope that with this contest we encourage you to tally your garden harvest too.

Care to share numbers, success stories, growing efforts.  How does your garden grow?

On the Food Front

Tis the season we see a drastic reduction in our food spending/bill.    I figure without putting pen to paper that we are eating/spending less than $2.00 a day per person.  But estimation isn't good enough in this urban homestead household - time to put up some numbers.  Sure you can say this, write that.  But in the end it's all about facts, figures and results right?  Folks want proof and that's what we believe this site is vehicle for -- showing productive results and publishing them for the world to see.

Today I'll be making a chart to tack on the fridge where we can easily jot down what we use on a daily basis.  We'll be tallying up homegrown produce used so we can figure out how much we are actually saving, how much we are actually spending on meals per person.

So we are shooting for the last two weeks in July.  How low can we go and still eat well?

Stay tuned for results.

 Looking out our front door

 Reuse of urbanite

 Another view of edible front yard

 Backyard intensive, square inch garden

1/10 acre producing 3 tons of produce Approx annual income from DerVaes Gardens ~$ 25,000 year

Of the 6,000lb we figure: 60% consumed by family, 30% sold and 10% consumed by animals (these figures are guessimates)

Since we grow 99% of our produce needs (in wintertime we occasionaly purchase extra organic potatoes and onions for meal stretchers) it would be interesting we could calculate how much our family the saves in not having to purchase any produce (fruits, vegetables and herbs).

For years now our family has never have to buy eggs (and hopefully dairy products soon since we'll have to breed the goats)  If bred Ms Fairlight would give about 3/4 quarts of milk a day ... more than enough for our family.

Ok, back to the urban ag aspect of the urban homestead. Not only does our garden provide us with but also income to purchase food that can't be grown (staples like flour, rice and oil). So we are, in affect, directly and indirectly living off and from our little plot of land. We are growing for freedom and that is a full time job and lifestyle.

Tally Ho

Upping the urban agriculture anti, the latest tally on the Grow for Ten Challenge

As of April 30, TOTAL: 1,130 lbs.

We are making a statement not in words ( or book just yet)- but striving instead to make a proactive statement by the "fruits" of our labor. So only 8,870 more to grow!

Can we dig it?

Yes, No, Maybe So?

How many of you have been inspired to liberate your yard and grow more? Raise your hands... er trowels that is. Extra points go to folks weighing their produce - onward garden soildiers!

The homegrown revolution is on.

So, we kick off the new year with a new challenge - growing more food than ever thought possible on our small plot of land in the city. We've had inklings for some time now that our property could be even more productive but how much more was the question.

For those of you who are just new to PTF. Here's how it works: We can't raise enough rice, cheese & butter, dried beans, wheat, or toilet paper (grin) for our small clan, so we sell our surplus specialty produce to clients. Money earned goes to buy the staples we can't grow. So, directly or indirectly, we are living off our tiny piece of land.

Are you as excited as we are over this challenge? Of course, we had our initial burst of excitement - then reality hits as doubts start to creep in. A legendary golfer said "I never learned anything from a match that I won."

Latest Vegas odds are at a 1/10th chance - what do you think?

Stay tuned for "Grow for Ten" developments and much more. Thanks to yoursupport we are slowing Growing the Future

GROW FOR TEN THOUSAND

Our readers know that that we've been hinting for months about a great new project in the works. As we start the new year, the moment has come to reveal our plan, along with a new logo exemplifying the revolutionary spirit of PTF's Homegrown Revolution™: To harvest 10,000 pounds in 2008 from 1/10 acre.

We had wanted this announcement to coincide with the launch of our new website, but it looks like the new website won’t be online for a few months yet. And nature won’t wait for the new site.

Once again, the driving force behind PTF, Jules Dervaes, has led the way with a radical challenge. Can we urban homesteaders deliver? PTF will be trailblazing a new path as we ask: How much food can be grown on such a small scale?

Back in 2003, we at PTF first shocked ourselves and “the world” by growing 6,000 lbs (3 tons) of fruits, vegetables and herbs on our 1/10 acre growing space and proved that we could approach a high level of self sufficiency both directly and indirectly from our city lot.

Learning through years of self-taught, hands-on growing experience, none of us has any agriculture accreditation or has taken permaculture or master gardening courses. From firsthand knowledge, mixed with a passion for the environment and growing things, Jules has dramatically upped the ante on the urban food movement. Living by example, we use our "hands as weapons of mass creation™" to create a better present and a real future.

Can 1/10 of an acre (about 4,300 sq ft) grow a cornucopia of 10,000 pounds without using ANY organic NPK fertilizers? We are talking about a piece of land equivalent to 66'x66'! Such an urban food production feat has not been undertaken and documented with stats to prove its possibility. Are we crazy? Crazy, you say? Yes siree, bob. Whether or not this happens all depends on the weather. God willing, we hope to be blessed with abundant rainfall and good weather to reap a bountiful harvest! Stay tuned to this journal for the out-of-this world developments.

Join us in our mission to be the change by living the solution! The seeds of PTF's Homegrown Revolution™ have been growing for nearly seven years now and are reaching maturity. You can contribute your support through purchases from our online store or making a timely (tax deductible) donation. We need your help to spread the word to friends and family and throughout the cyber world (via message boards, blogs, etc.). It's our mission to Grow the Future™, and you can help support our efforts in launching a new site to document this project along with our ongoing urban homesteading adventures.

We want to extend the challenge to grow for 10,000 pounds to our readers and propose that you pledge to match us penny for pound (or whatever amount you’d like to contribute). By donating one, half or more penny for each pound of produce we harvest ($100 over one year—if we meet our goal), you can help us purchase the necessary technological tools and services needed to document, publish and publicize this sustainability challenge! You can be involved directly in reaching others with this radical solution to save the people and the planet.

Also stay tuned for the final harvest tally for 2007!