This is part two of our response to the challenge: "What are you doing to claim food sovereignty for yourself or your community, and why"?
I waited a little while before posting this second part of our response to the challenge so that other folks could get their entries in.
Our response to the issue of food sovereignty was just too much for one reasonable and readable article. Part one was really about community and the actions we've taken to strengthen ours. You can read Part One here
This, second part, is about what we've done in our garden and home.
Our whole block is approx 360 square metres or 0.089 of an acre for those who still prefer the old fashioned system.
That weighs in at a lot less than most of the videos I see that are on 1/4 acre (about 1000 sq metres). That makes us about 1/3 of that standard size.
With a block that small we do still rely on our community and local shops and, of course, supermarkets.
When you take the square metres of the house out of the eqation, you aren't left with a lot. Then there's the driveway for 2 cars. That leaves about 60 square metres (0.015 acre) to do a lot with.
So now, where do the 150 odd varieties of edible plants go... Into that 60 square metres, that's where!
Until last year, when the trees weren't big enough, we got about 20% of our food needs from the garden, mostly through annual plants . This year, it's about 60% as the trees and bushes are beginning to yield and we have made the small, experimental aquaponics system into a big one. Even with the big extension to the aquaponics, that only adds a bit less than 10 square metres to the equation but it does allow paved and fence space to by utilized.
So, 70 square metres yielding 60% of a family of three's food needs...that's not bad. I don't think we'll ever get to 100%, it's a bit hard to raise a cow on such a small block!
We do have rabbits and chickens but they're for compost, mulch and fertilizer production. At the moment, the only thing we need to buy is potting mix and 4 times a year, liquid seaweed concentrate for those little nutritional bonuses that our mini livestock can't provide for the plants.
Meat is the biggest thing that we need to go outside of the garden for. I'm trying to get my family to eat rabbit so that we can buy and trade from local producers such as @minismallholding
We do buy most of our meat from local, family run butchers so that our purchases help the local economy. Fish too come from a local seafood business though I have taken up fishing to boost our family diet with fresh caught, almost local fish. Now that I've got plant growing in the aquaponics under control, we will move to growing fish for our table next season.
We also grow mealworms for chicken and fish food, giving us a little more sovereignty when it comes to producing our own food. They are always an option for our food too. I'm investigating other edible insects at the moment too.
So there you go, a lot packed into a very small space. Not enough for total independence, but who would want that?
This is #originalwork. The pics or videos were taken by yours truly.
