Comments on: An urban organic farm (supplying food on 1/5th of an acre)

By: Joel

Joel — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:00:29 +0000

laughing, this is so, so true..

Maybe to be more sustainable we should all have to move closer tot he equator..laugh…

I shared the same thoughtand know I couldn`t do what they`re doing here – but also thought about all the people in the same zone who could and still behave the way many here do… I can`t imagine a 10.5 month growing season…

Did you know that people in Northern climates tend to drive their motorcycles more in a year than those in the south… the seasons are shorter but they ride more, in part because they know the season is ending. It would be very curious to know if a similar pattern exists in overall gardening trends…

By: Mrs. Gryphon

Mrs. Gryphon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:09:57 +0000

Oops, a typo. I meant that their frost-free time is between February 3 and December 13. Makes a difference.

By: Mrs. Gryphon

Mrs. Gryphon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:55:12 +0000

My constantly recurring thought with this is … yea, but they live in Pasadena, CALIFORNIA. What’s the plant hardiness zone there? 10? I look at their site – they’re able to harvest 138 pounds of produce in *February*. They have a frost-free time between December 13 and February 3.

Of course I’m impressed with what they do. Even in California, I’m sure their harvests are impressive – and they do so many other things, too. I follow their blog and I try to figure out ways that our family can eventually do the same thing.

However … I keep coming back to “But they live in California. They have a winter of a month and a half.” There’s only so much info I can pull from their example except that “It’s possible to be self-sufficient, even on a tiny lot, if you have a 10 1/2 month growing season.”