Sorry the last window farm picture wasn’t clear.

This diagram will explain it a little better

Well I am finding this quest for more ways for each of us to be able to grow our own food is gaining a life of its own.

There is a movement coming out of New York city called window farms www.windowfarms.org.

They essentially grow veggys in the windows of their apartments using hydroponic methods. The containers for growing are just recycled drinking water bottles made into grow containers.

We will be exploring this more and will hope to have a demo at the Coombs fair August 13 and 14.

Stay tuned there is so much more.

Welcome to building an earth box. This is just an overview and when you come to the Coombs fair August 13 and 14 you will be able to see  a demo on putting them together.

The first step is buying or finding a storage container.

 Next is creating a shelf for a water reservoir.

I used some fencing material with 1 inch by 1 inch square mesh and cut it to size.  3 inch PVC pipe 3 inches long  were used for legs or support. Don’t forget to drill holes in the PVC pipes for legs for the water to pass through. The shelf has openings cut in for the wells in which the soil goes into the reservoir. An opening was also cut for the fill pipe a 1.5 inch PVC.

The cages for the soil wells were made of the same fencing material shaped into a circle and lined with landscape cloth.

 Next put the fill tube in you also need to cut the bottom of the fill tube on an angle to allow the water easy access to the reservoir, and make sure you have cut the openings in the landscape cloth for the soil to enter the wells in the reservoir.

 Make sure you drill a small hole just below the top of the shelf of the reservoir so you will know by the water coming out you are full.

Next fill with soil  and water and put a plastic garbage bag over top, cut the holes for the plants and insert. Fill the reservoir using the fill tube. Just refill the tank when needed and watch them grow.

So that is it for now. There are a number of ways to do these including five gallon buckets. Just search Google under making an earth box.

Watch for the upcoming information on  the best soil and how to construct it for use in the earth boxes.

We will also be exploring aquaponic growing methods.

Well today is my foray into pictures on the blog.

I will post some pictures on how I built the earth boxes or I like to call root boxes.

Yesterday was a journey tracking down locally produced product called grassoline a fish fertilizer. The only outlet is in Courtenay but what a drive I never get tired of that one.

The nursery was amazing I will post a picture later. What a treat to go to the nursery and it be in such a nice atmosphere it is in a sort of valley surronded by nature.

Well off to figure out the picture thing.

What is food security?

Food security is the ability to produce enough food in a local area to feed the the population using organic and sustainable methods.

Why is this important?

There are a number of reasons and more important I live on an Island off the west coast of Canada called Vancouver Island and at any given time there is only enough food on the island to feed the population for 3 days. Most experts on emergency preparedness estimate in the event of a disaster like an earth quake this island could be cut of from food and supplies for weeks if not months.

We sit in an area called the ring of fire just like Japan, Chile, and New Zealand.

This means at the present time we have set ourselves up for serious consequences.

Not only should we be concerned about an earthquake there are also a number of other looming catastrophes.

What are the other problems we face?

Most of our food not grown here comes from the southwest united states. The water supply that is used to irrigate the crops is rapidly depleting. The aquifer is drying up. No water no food.

The ocean where we get a large amount of fish is going through a number of crises. The acidification of the ocean is causing what is known as dead zones. The coral reefs that support tens of millions of species are dying at an alarming rate. The temperature of the ocean is rising  and there is another impending die off of animal life in the oceans. The pesticides, sewage and fertilizers are running into the oceans and producing abnormally high rates of growth of certain algae that chokes off the oxygen in that area and kills off  large numbers of  marine life.

As times get difficult for the fishermen they resort to drastic methods further destroying the very breeding grounds and habitat of the fish.

Peak oil

When the amount of work and energy required to extract the remaining oil from the ground gets so expensive it no longer makes it a viable fuel.

No fuel no fertilizers and now not able to use the large machinery to plant and harvest the crops food production cannot continue.

Not to forget the trucks to transport the food from long distances will not be able to afford the fuel

What about the threat of terrorism?

The Economic Crisis

Most experts suggest we are in for a big change in the money system. There are just too many countries on the verge of bankruptcy and no good answers in sight. The methods used are not solving the problems. House foreclosures are still rising in the US and unemployment is on the rise with few good full time  jobs being created. Food costs are going up and the quality and affordability of good healthy food comes into question.

What about the current state of health of the north american population obesity and type 2 diabetes almost at epidemic levels and closely tied to food and lifestyle including the ever increasing levels of personal stress.

So what do we do?

There are great examples of countries pulling themselves out of these crises and growing healthy organic food to feed their poulation.

My feeling is that each one of us can contribute and we can be the solution.

The purpose of this blog is to explore what has been done what is being done and each and everyone can use these methods to easily contribute to abundant organic healthy food.

The methods will be displayed at a local fair The Coombs fair on August 13 and 14, 2011 as well as on this blog.

We will along with the local help present Aquaponics and how this can be used, a method called earth boxes and the many ways of making them and using them along with updates on the progress of the food currently being grown with this method.

So come back regularly and watch the progress. We are all in this together.

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