I am moving off of gaecoscapes.tumblr.com.  I think I will still post things here, but they are going to be more Farm based now.  We have been fortunate enough that some friends have let us use their land to start our farm, so I’m going to start the Farm Blog that I wanted to do in the first place.  I can’t wait to start making videos, and to show you what we have been doing out there.  I am very excited about the possibilities for next year.  Right now we are working on a business plan, so that maybe I can get some funding through grants or even a Small Business Loan.  I can’t wait to make some videos of things to do with the Veggies we produce.  We will be doing videos on building rain barrels as well.  This is going to be a great ride.  I look to putting a lot of content up here in the new year.  The next post should be a video from Parrish Family Micro Eco-Farm.

Jason

http://pffarm.wordpress.com

My compost piles are coming along nicely, and they are going to go a long way to restoring the natural minerals and micro-organisms to the soil. The only thing left to add to them is some Kelp. I have a lot of fun working on the farm and I think the videos will let you know why. Till next time, Keep it Green.

Jason

We put up the fence poles last week right before Thanksgiving, and we cleared out some bushes.  The bushes are still in this picture, but the space is definetly opening up.  Our 7 compost piles are working well.  It is nice to be able to turn them with the front-end-loader and watch the steam rise from the center of the piles.  When the steam rises you know the heat is doing its job.  I have been reading a book called “Micro Eco-Farming”.  It this book it talks about the importance of composting in replenishing the minerals and micro-organisims in the soil.  This makes me feel better about what we are doing.  The mention that adding sea Kelp vastly improves the mineral replenishment of the soil, and they talk about people seeing drastically larger results from using this material in the compost.  I can’t wait to find some and try it out.

Here is a layout of next years Farm.  Using the raised bed technique I can maximize yield while minimizing space.  Just on of the brown planting beds is 4 feet wide by 100 feet long.  Lets take Corn for example.  I will be able to plant 4 stalks of corn in one square foot.  If one bed is 400 square feet and I plant one entire bed with just corn, then I will plant 1600 stalks of Corn in one bed.  I have 24 beds and lots of ideas of things to do.  The bottom part of the property is a little shady and I haven’t decided if I will plant a dwarf Orchard or use the space for planting crops that can’t tolerate to much direct sunlight and high heat.

We have dug all the post holes to fence in the garden part of the farm.  Some of these guys are really hard to dig.  We used an Auger attachment on the John Deere, and some the ground was so hard it would not dig more than a few inches.  To get deeper we have to put water in the hole and come back later to try again.  We also have 5 compost piles set up on the field to improve the soil in the spring.

It’s after Halloween, and now you have all these pumpkins are littering your yard.  What do you do with them?  Well if you chop them up with a shovel, and add the leaves laying in your yard you get a great compost pile.

The Micro-Farm is getting a start.  Thanks to a very generous offer from a Church friend, we are going to be using 2 acres of their land to start the organic, sustainable, Micro-Farm.  This piece of the property will be transformed into a working farm.  We will step through the process of fencing it in, improving the land, harvesting water, building the beds, and growing the crops.  I am very excited to get going.  The first step is to start a bunch of compost piles.

Today on Ga ECOSCAPES I will show you how to grow some Lemon Trees.  This is an ongoing show.  We cover everything from cutting the seeds out of an organic Lemon to repoting the seedlings in a larger pot for the window seal made from a reused plastic mayo jar.  We have gotten organic seeds for free, we reused egg carton for a seed starter, and we have reused plastic mayo jars for this project.  We will continue this series until we have small trees that are producing Lemons.  Till next time.

Keep it Green

JP

Grey water is defined as water that is not fit to drink, but doesn’t contain any solid or toxic waste.  Lets talk about how much Grey Water a typical house hold sends to the Sewage Plant.  First on the list is a 5 minute shower.  According to Answer.com a 5 minute shower can flush 7-8 gallons of water down the drain with a low-flow shower head or up to 20 gallons with an older shower head.  If you have an Energy Star Dishwasher you send 5.8 gallons down the drain every cycle your washer runs.  For most houses that will end up being at least 11.6 gallons a day.  You know how that dirty clothes bin never seems to be empty right?  Every load of laundry you wash could be sending as much as 80 gallons a day to the Sewage Plant according to eHOW.  For the average American household that is just under 100 Gallons of water a day at least 5 days a week.  Do you think your lawn and or small garden need more than 100 Gallons of water a day?  I don’t think they will. 

        This water is carrying soaps and detergents to the Sewage Plant where it kills the bacteria that breaks down our solid waste.  This causes the Plant to not operate efficiently, and dump less than pure water back into the water system.  Now when we pull water out of our rivers and lakes for drinking, we have to treat the water with harsh chemicals like Chlorine to kill bacteria and other contaminants.  This feeds a harsh cycle of pollute and treat.  If our houses were equipped to handle Grey Water in a sustainable way, then we could help break this cycle and have a lawn that was greener and cost less green.  Next time you build a house or you need to replace the pluming, make sure you install a Grey Water system to Green up your home.  Till next time.

Keep it Green

JP

A lot of landscape is putting borders, edgings, and retaining walls around garden areas.  Buying landscaping timbers or lumber from your local home improvement store can prove to an expensive venture.  I have been researching some greener ways to accomplish these tasks.  A couple of books to look at are “Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies” and “Organic Farming”.  Some ideas for building materials include using Urbanite, broken up concert from local demolition sites or landfill.  Another option is using reclaimed building material.  There are two ways to this, the first is to go dumpster diving or search local renovation sites.  The second way is to visit a Restores shop.  You can search the web for shops around you that have these supplies.  Habitat for humanity operates some Restores shops.  You can search for a location near you by going to http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx .  You can pick up building supplies for cheaper than at other retail stores, and the added benefit of keeping that wood out of the dump.  Search the internet lists like Craigslist to find free building supplies.  You might go as far to put up your own ad on Craigslist advertising a free place to dump rocks or dirt.  Look for more helpful hints on how to save green while going green.  Till next time.

Keep it Green

JP