Visitors since February 8th, 1999: 

CONTENTS OF MY GARDEN JOURNAL

     Introduction     Ecosystem of A Micro Farm

     No. 0001  January 1, 1999:  Resolved to Start Our Garden.

     No. 0002  January 3, 1999:  Y2K Victory Gardens

     No. 0003  January 8, 1999:  A Time to Garden or Why I Quit Radio

     No. 0004  January 16, 1999:  Breaking Ground

     No. 0005  January 17 to February 2, 1999:  Still, I Till

     No. 0006  February 3, 1999:  Dividing The Beds

     No. 0007  February 6, 1999:  Organic Matter for the Beds

     No. 0008  February 7, 1999:  Still Adding Organic Matter

     No. 0009  February 8, 1999:  More on Organic Matter

     No. 0010  February 10, 1999:  Still Going on About Organic Matter

     No. 0011  February 11, 1999:  More on Organic Matter

Ecosystem of A Micro Farm

      1.  GARDEN CROPS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
      2.  GARDEN CROPS FOR RABBIT CONSUMPTION
      3.  GARDEN SCRAPS FOR WORM CONSUMPTION AND COMPOST
      4.  RABBITS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
      5.  RABBIT SCRAPS FOR CATFISH CONSUMPTION
      6.  RABBIT MANURE FOR WORM CONSUMPTION
      7.  WORM BEDDING FOR COMPOST AND GARDEN FERTILIZATION
      8.  WORMS FOR CATFISH CONSUMPTION
      9.  CATFISH FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
     10.  FISH EMULSION FOR GARDEN IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZATION



      1.  GARDEN CROPS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

I believe that intensive gardening in raised beds, planting by the 
square-foot method, can continually provide us with all of the vegetables
we need.



      2.  GARDEN CROPS FOR RABBIT CONSUMPTION

Most resources tell you to purchase pelletized feed as the staple for 
your rabbit's diet.  An alternative would be to convert an area of your
lawn to a forage crop.  

Certain varieties of bahaia grass might be best, since they are an 
annual crop, and grow well with little attention.  Alfalfa is a 
leguminous hay that comprises the main ingredient of pelletized feed.

Clover is another leguminous hay, almost as nutritious as alfalfa.

Any leguminous hay can be used as a cover crop, a "green manure," to 
fertilize a vegetable bed in a fallow season as you rotate crops.

A fair amount of hay must be grown to meet the rabbit's nutritional
and fiber needs each day.

Complete your rabbits' diet with a couple of cups of vegetables and 
greens each day.



      3.  GARDEN SCRAPS FOR WORM CONSUMPTION AND COMPOST

Any leftover garden vegetables from the rabbits or the kitchen, can be
fed with the rabbit manure to the earthworms.



      4.  RABBITS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

Rabbits raised for meat production should weigh 4 lbs. at 8 weeks, when 
they should be slaughtered.

The young fryers will subsist mainly on mother's milk, but will also eat 
increasing amounts of vegetables, greens, and hay.

After four weeks, the fryers become less and less efficient at converting
feed to meat.

In commercial rabbitries, each doe is bred every eight weeks or so.  Each 
litter should average six fryers.

Of course, rabbit by-products, such as fur, bonemeal, and bloodmeal, can
also be processed.



      5.  RABBIT SCRAPS FOR CATFISH CONSUMPTION

Rabbit entrails and other scraps can be processed after slaughter to 
feed catfish.



      6.  RABBIT MANURE FOR WORM CONSUMPTION

Rabbit manure and kitchen scraps are added to worm bedding for worm 
food.  Finished compost and scraps such as damp cardboard or newspaper 
also supply bedding and nutrition for the earthworms.



      7.  WORM BEDDING FOR COMPOST AND GARDEN FERTILIZATION

The used worm bedding is set aside for worm harvesting.  After harvest, 
the composted bedding is used as a rich, fertilizing, garden mulch.



      8.  WORMS FOR CATFISH CONSUMPTION

Catfish quickly raised to "eating size" can be fed almost exclusively
on earthworms and rabbit scraps.  Each catfish will require 16 oz. of 
worms to produce 11 oz. of flesh.  This can be achieved in a 3 month 
cycle.  A 40 fish tank would require a fairly large population of worms 
to yield 58 lbs. of worms (and 40 lbs. of catfish) over 3 months.



      9.  CATFISH FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

The catfish will be raised in tanks that can be manufactured from large
plastic trashcans.  An aquarium aereator will oxygenate the water of 
each tank.  In raising caged catfish, extension services recommend a 
poulation density of 10 fish per cubic foot.  12 or will catch diseases,
whereas 6 or less will fight one another and catch infections.

One gallon is 0.1337 cu.ft.  A 40 gallon trashcan, filled to 30 gallons, 
will hold 40 catfish at a density of 10 fish/cu.ft.



     10.  FISH EMULSION FOR GARDEN IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZATION

Catfish raised in tanks must have fresh, aereated water to live in.

So, in addition to aereating the water, the water must be replaced.  
Caged fish are raised in a pond that has enough volume to keep wastes 
from reaching too great a concentration.  Every day, in a backyard tank 
system, you will have to siphon or drain about 15 gallons from the bottom 
of each tank and replace it with 15 gallons of fresh, aereated water.

This water can be used to irrigate crops in the garden, being careful
not to apply the waste water directly on the vegetable or the forage 
crops.  Always wash produce and forage before human or rabbit consumption.