Hello from the bottom

[Infidel]

hobes i got raised beds using Mittleider gardening method. I can pretty much grow anywhere.

[Hobes]

Infidel, i had a look at this method, seems you need to add stuff.. what happens when you run out of stuff to add.... the whole idea of sustainable gardening is to not need to add stuff. the garden provides for its self along with natural manure from chickens, cows, horses etc etc..along with natural water retaining walls and burmes. i agree on the principle of small gardens needing to be fed, but in the longterm, if it all goes shit up , then you have to think smarter.
i have tried my hand at hydroponics, and aquaponics, both are good for what they are, but stuff still needs to be added. aquaponics is the better of the 2 IMHO, but, if you run out of fish food, then again back to square 1.

of course this all goes with, you need land to do this, which unfortunately, most people dont have..me included. but with what little yard i have, i manage 4 chooks, and a few smaller garden beds. i dont use town water, i use all my grey water, and to feed the gardens i use chook scrapings, the chooks of course get fed food scraps and what ever else we can find, with some grain, again, i know stuff needs to be added, but chooks are pretty self reliant if let go in the yard, the little buggers eat just about anything, including meat scraps.

[Infidel]

Infidel, i had a look at this method, seems you need to add stuff.. what happens when you run out of stuff to add.... the whole idea of sustainable gardening is to not need to add stuff. the garden provides for its self along with natural manure from chickens, cows, horses etc etc..along with natural water retaining walls and burmes. i agree on the principle of small gardens needing to be fed, but in the longterm, if it all goes shit up , then you have to think smarter.
i have tried my hand at hydroponics, and aquaponics, both are good for what they are, but stuff still needs to be added. aquaponics is the better of the 2 IMHO, but, if you run out of fish food, then again back to square 1.

of course this all goes with, you need land to do this, which unfortunately, most people dont have..me included. but with what little yard i have, i manage 4 chooks, and a few smaller garden beds. i dont use town water, i use all my grey water, and to feed the gardens i use chook scrapings, the chooks of course get fed food scraps and what ever else we can find, with some grain, again, i know stuff needs to be added, but chooks are pretty self reliant if let go in the yard, the little buggers eat just about anything, including meat scraps.

honestly i substitute the chemical fertilizers with manure and vegetation compost cause Im big on not using unnatural stuff as much as possible. other than that sand and sawdust are all over the place here in south florida. Im not worried at not being able to find sand. as for maintaining, any raised bed you need ot maintain to some degree. even a straight dirt bed you need to refill every change of growing season to make up for settling and mineral depletion. hydroponics you are doing more maintenance than with mittleider. watering my beds comes from 6 x 55 gallon rain barrels that grab rain from roof gutters on both my and my neighbors houses. It rains enough here that the barrels are always full and it doesnt interfere with my water supply.

I also started growing mango and Avacado trees in 33gallon pots, a couple im ready to put in the ground cause they are over 5ft already, just debating location cause they grow wide and I dont want to have fruit over the edges of the fence but also dont want to lose too much open land for my animals.

[gpwelding1]

Welcome from S.C. Infidel.