While we were looking to give a out of the box solution to our community members for a fully sustainable lifestyle at our farm House / Farm plots projects near Bangalore and Chennai,
We asked to ourselves, “How many acres of land is required to lead a fully sufficient Life?”
That led us to question “ What is a fully Sufficient Life?”That question is a philosophical one and a topic for discussion some other time.
In our interactions with other micro farmers and own experience, we have seen that a quarter acre may be sufficient to produce enough food and some surplus for a family and a little more.
There are several things that you can do on a quarter acre. Here are some ideas for what you can do on a quarter acre and be self sufficient.
Growing Vegetables on Permaculture raised beds.
Permaculture if a system of living and agriculture conceived by Bill Molison and David Holmgren. Permaculture started becoming popular after the publication of the book “Permaculture One” and later“Permaculture Two” in the year 1978.
One efficient and popular concept from the permaculture practice is growing vegetables on a raised bed. In this system you make raised beds, which are made by creating the borders using wooden planks or any similar locally available material.
The pit within this enclosure is filled with different layers of compost, natural plant matter, ash from the burnt wood matter, soil etc. Over time, the soil in this enclosure increases in fertility value. This system is also efficient in protecting the plants and produce from various small predators and worms.
You can find a detailed guide to creating a raised bed vegetable garden in the below link.
Growing Vegetables using the Square Foot Gardening system
Square Foot Gardening is the system devised by Mel Bartholomew in1981 when he coined the term “square foot gardening” and wrote a book with the same name.
In this practice the growing area is divided into small square sections (typically 12″ on a side, hence the name).
In this system, an intensely cultivated vegetable garden is created in a very orderly manner. This is a simple system that has Each square planted with a different crop species based on a formulation of either one, four, nine or sixteen plants per square depending on its overall size.
When a “square foot” is harvested, a different crop is planted immediately for a continual harvest. It is encouraged to plant different crops in succession, this process discourages pests, each square is used for a different kind of plant (crop rotation) within the growing season.
You can get started with “Square FootGardening” from the below link…
http://www.squarefootgardening.com
In future Blog posts we will explore the other types of activities that can be carried on a quarter acre. As we forwards let us explore ways of creating abundance from a quarter acre farm.
You can have your option to own your quarter acre in afarming community near Chennai and Bangalore You can check this link for more information.
