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How to Grow a Thousand Pounds of Fresh
Food (almost) Overnite
A simple balance of moisture; temperatures; and breathability.
Growing food faster than it can be eaten. The farmless farm.
"Feeding a country in a few days"
It is a method that allows a person to soak seed overnite;
drain it the next morning; bag it; and let it sit in an environment
(that isn't too moist, dry, hot nor cold) and it 'grows' on
it's own till done.
And it can ALMOST BE DONE OVERNITE (2 to 3 days for most
items, depending on season and temperatures). Needing almost
no tools what-so ever; maybe some material (simple cotton
cloth; even t-shirts will do).
In almost a completely controlled environment (where 'critters'
have a very difficult time crawling in) and there is 'little-TO-
NO threat' from the seasonal temperatures.
It is referred to as the 'farmless farm', because no soil
is needed; no electricity; no fertilizers; no pesticides;
no greenhouse lumber and glass; no pile of gardening tools;
NOR IS LIGHT FROM THE SUN NECESSARY.
At a cost, basically, of 'zero'; where the cost can be that
of the seed.
And what this is, is a way to sprout seeds into nutritious
foods, but without the old fashioned way of doing it. ( No
more daily rinsings are needed, meaning lots of water is no
longer needed, meaning lots of labor is no longer needed).
(Remember, sprouts are not sprouts, when they are ground up
(wheat) and made into fresh breads, cakes, pizza's, and much
much more).
I hope you enjoy the article.
How to Grow Massive Amounts of Great Food
Fast
This Paper is a 'How To' on a new method of growing sprouted
vegetables.
It is written for the purpose of allowing someone who already
has some experience with the older method, to further their
understandings and abilities.
To better understand the newer method of sprouting, it helps
to first take a look at the older method. With the older
method, seeds are first soaked overnite; the next morning
the remaining water is drained off, and the seeds are then
rinsed off with fresh water once or twice a day until they
are ripe. (Usually 2 to 4 days)
With the newer method, the seeds are soaked overnight;
the next morning the remaining water is drained off; then
they are bagged, set into a particular area, and they simply
grow until
they are ripe. (Usually 2 to 4 days)
Question: With the older method, why is the 'rinsing'
necessary?
Because with the older method, sprouting is generally done
either in a glass jar or in a plastic bucket, as this allows
these particular containers to act somewhat as a terrarium,
which in turn holds in enough moisture to allow the seeds
to grow without drying.
But, because of this 'warm moist terrarium atmosphere', there
is actually an over-abundance of moisture (Which in turn equates
to a lack of oxygen) therefore promoting stagnation, as a
light culture of souring begins to grow.
And, it is this 'light souring build-up', that is being washed
away with the continous daily rinsing's (to help keep the
produce fresh).
To better understand how much moisture is really needed for
a sprouting vegetable to grow, are these next two short scenario's.
First scenario: When a person tucks a seed into some
moist soil of the Earth, it is obvious that it doesn't need
to be watered one or two times each day (Especially when the
soil remains moist).
Second scenario: When a person starts some seeds to
be later planted in soil, they are first soaked overnite;
then they are placed in a moist paper towel to sprout their
'roots and shoots' over the next few day period.
If the parer towel is too moist, then the seeds stagnate,
sour, and later 'mold'.
If the paper towel is too dry, then the seeds too, will 'dry
up'.
The goal is to find that middle environment where the seeds
are 'moist enough', but not 'too moist'. A point of healthy
balance.
It is with this newer method of sprouting that a balance of
both moisture and breathability is used, so that the seeds
simply grow into nutritious vegetables, without the need of
excess water (and a lot of excess labor).
It is very simple, and there are many ways it can be done.
A quick brief description on the new method:
1) Seeds are soaked overnite.
2) The next morning the excess water is drained off. (maybe
3 minutes)
3) The seeds are then put into a dry cloth bag; and closed
up securly.
4) The bag is placed in a hole in the Earth (maybe 3 feet
or more)
5) The hole is then covered with a breathable cover such as
a simple cotton bed sheet, with a few rocks to keep it in
place.
6) Two or three days later the bag is removed and the sprouted
food is
ready for whatever stages are next.
The above mentioned method is subject to different conditions.
The geographical climate; the temperatures of the season;
the type of soil the hole has been dug in; the type of seed
that is being grown; and the particular maturity of the seed
you wish to get.
To get a deeper understanding of this new method of sprouting,
it will help to read through and see how this method was discovered...
How the newer method came about:
The setting is the desert; the days of the season were beginning
to get warm (90 to 95 degrees in the shade) yet the nights
still held a light coolness (68 to 75 degrees). The work was
being done in an 'open kitchen', meaning that all the basic
necessities of a kitchen were there, even a roof, only there
were no walls...so that a constant (light) warm breeze would
pass through this kitchen throughout most parts of each day.
Over the years it was common to sprout 10 to 20 lbs of wheat
at a time, to later grind up into fresh breads, cereals, and
pastries.
One day fatigue from the long week caught up, which usually
happens when you're constantly busy in the desert; and here
was this 10 to 15 lbs of 'just soaked wheat'...that really
wasn't calling to be done, and I simply asked aloud (To myself)
"If sprouted foods were such a 'gift', and the wisest
of the wisest supposedly ate these foods with the Essenes
(Also in a hot desert setting), then why was it that such
a gift needed so much water, when water was such a 'commodity'
in the middle of the desert?" And in time the answer
arrived...
Shortly thereafter, on this one particular day, for one reason
or another, instead of putting this soaked wheat into a container,
to grow in it's normal way, I put it into a cloth bag.
And, instead of the normal amount of water (about a gallon)
that would generally be used to rinse it, I openned the bag
up, and poured in about a quarter cup of water; then closed
the bag up so that nothing could crawl in, and hung it on
a nail in the kitchen.
The next morning I pulled the bag off the nail and opened
it up...and what I saw was very interesting, as all the grain
in the center of the bag was growing very healthily (just
as normal sprouts would do) and the grain closest to the material
of the bag had begun to lightly dry, and stop growing.
I smelled the center of the bag to register it's degree of
balance; it was very fresh with not even a hint of 'souring'.
This appeared to be the start of something special, simply
by the amount of water that was no longer necessary; and that
this was a very big step forward in the sprouting process,
and towards the production of food in general.
Upon realizing that the grain closest to the material of the
bag had 'lightly dried', I took one glass of water, and poured
about a third into the center of the grain; then closed the
bag up once again, and hung it back on the nail.
I took the remainder 2/3's glass of water, poured some into
my hand, and began to lightly splash water onto the outside
surface of the bag (trying to leave 'intermixed area's of
dryness', so that the growing produce within the bag could
still breath, yet not mold; and moist enough so that the seeds
next to the inner surface of the bag would not dry).
Later that same day, it was noticed that, with the warm winds
that were blowing through this open desert kitchen, the outer
surface of the bag had dried again; so again I re-moistened
large (scattered) portions of the outside of the bag.
This method worked very well, yet the seed that was nearest
the bag still grew a little slower than the center, or, lightly
dried without any ill effects.
The amount of water had now gone from 1 to 2 gallons per day,
to about 3 cups total.
It was about then that I remembered asking, why such a great
food had needed so much water; and realized, the answer was
coming.
A side note: After sprouting for years on the coast where
the air was much cooler; and sprouting in the desert where
the air was much warmer; it's generally known by people who
sprout foods, that the warmer the environment, the more that
the sprouts needed to be rinsed so that they would remain
fresh.
After getting such phenomenal results with this new process,
I was so energized that I kept using this new method for the
next week straight.
And, after about a week and a half, more thoughts began to
come to mind, such as "Why was I leaving them in such
a dry area if I constantly had to re-moisten the outside of
the bag?" And now the focus was on creating a more 'moist
and consistant surrounding environment'.
I threw around a few different thoughts, first picturing a
box, and, just within this box, would be a second box, small
enough that there was about a '3 to 5 inch space' separating
the inner box from the larger one. The purpose of this was
to put the bags of produce into the inner box, and then to
fill the space between the two boxes with something that could
hold moisture.
Throwing around thoughts, I pictured moistened shreded cloth,
lightly filling in the space between the two boxes; and then
pictured something a little more natural, such as dry leaves,
that could be 'remoistened' as needed; then the thought of
green leaves, something that already had moisture...then the
thought of soil came to mind...and as I began to picture the
soil in the space between the two boxes, I saw it...something
much better.
Instead of building a set of boxes to hold soil, to simply
dig a hole.
I grabbed a shovel, and within a short while I was standing
in front of a hole..3 feet deep; 3 feet wide; and about 2
feet 'front to back'.
I took two of the hardest things I could think of, to sprout...as
I had been having difficulty lately with corn, corn it was.
And since I had never been able to get 'long grain rice' to
sprout, it too was chosen. Both the corn, and the rice (About
3 to 5 lbs of each)
were put into water to soak for the night (seperately)
The next morning they were drained of their excess water (about
5 minutes) and put into dry cloth bags (Each in their own
bags), and the bags were tied tight so nothing could crawl
in.
A plastic milk crate was turned over and set into the hole,
to act as a breathable shelf; and the two bags were set onto
this overturned crate.
Also it was made sure to not let the two bags touch each other.
There was a small piece of carpet nearby, so it was used as
a cover to help discourage animals that might smell the food.
For fear the carpet might smother the growing food, it was
left 'cracked open' about a half inch on one edge, but even
grass mostly filled that half inch space.
Usually I try to watch things such as this very close, but
something inside said not to look at it the next day, so I
waited till the day after that.
After 2 days in the hole, I removed the carpet; grabbed the
two bags, and brought them into the kitchen.
First I opened the corn...beautiful healthy tails were sprouted;
then I opened the rice...again beautiful tails were sprouted;
with a big smile, I simply said "Yes".
No more daily watering was ever needed again; the grains,
beans, and seed, simply grew happily and healthy, content
to be in the perfect coolness of the earth; (even if it was
over a hundred degrees temperature right outside the hole).
The next day I dug the hole down to 5 feet (5 deep; 5 wide;
and about 4 feet front to back). And over the next few days
wire wrapped dry branches into a 3 tiered makeshift shelf.
The branches of the shelf were spaced about 3 to 4 inches
apart, to allow maximum breathability; (this also saved much
time and material in the building of it).
This little 'rack' was capable of holding 75 to 125 pounds
of produce, yet it only filled maybe about a quarter of the
space of the hole.
I used a simple cotton bed sheet as a cover for the hole;
wrapping a small piece of bambu into the 4 edges, (using a
few pieces of wire to hold them in place) and also setting
two more like an 'x' through the center, the cover now had
a little 'structure', to open and close very easily. A few
rocks on the surface edges kept the cover in place.
I'm not sure if it was truly needed, but on the underside
of the cotton sheet, a piece of garden material (the kind
that keeps birds out of your freshly planted seeds; the kind
of plastic that doesn't break down very easily; and has large
enough (tiny) holes that it is quite 'see thru') This was
lightly stiched to the underside of the cotton sheet cover-stucture.
A light roof structure was planned to build over this, with
a little bit of 'creative ground shaping' to keep water out
if it were to rain, but it was never done...and fortunatly
never needed.
Also if people were thinking of doing something like this,
it helps to keep in mind something that would make it safe
so children, (folks in general), and animals can't fall in,
should they wander in the night.
When sprouting (in 5 gallon buckets) in a warm climate area,
the warmer temperatures make the produce sour / change even
quicker, so that they need even more rinsings; which in turn
equates to a very large amount of labor.
But because this newer method is one which utilizes 'balance',
there is no more fear of 'buildup'(souring)...and even though
my trials haven't gone past the amount of 25 to 40 pounds
per bag, I don't see too mich difficulty in harvesting even
100 (plus) pounds per bag, or simply a cotton sheet tied shut...even
if it means a little trial and error to figure things out.
Over time, simple cotton t-shirts, and even pillow cases have
been successfully substituted for the cotton bags; but I have
found it best to use something with a 'looser grain knit',
such as "The tightest grain cheese-cloth that is available",
or (basically the same thing) and that is "The loosest
grained muslim" (preferably non-bleached, which usually
has less chemical treatment). Also, if you buy your material
'new', to rinse or wash it out first if possible.
This particular method of growing should allow astronomically
large amounts of food to be produced in a minimum amount of
space.
For example, a hole was dug, 9 feet by 9 feet by 9 feet; and
even though things didn't continue forward with it, it was
projected that it should have been able to handle 1000 to
1500 pounds per 2 to 5 day period; or, if divided into 3 sections,(one
per stage) then it should have been able to produce 300 to
500 pounds of fresh produce each and every day, nonstop.
Besides being capable of working with many many different
kinds of seed, beans, grains, just using one grain alone,
Wheat, is capable of making basically anything that wheat
can be made into...such as pastas;
breads; nutritious grain milks; cereals; pizza's; beers; cakes;
cookies; cinnimin rolls; sprouted flour; livestock foods;
pet foods;
extremely storable (dried) survival foods; and more.
Something to ponder, and that is the amount of food that can
be produced in an area the size of a small warehouse...
Over a period of time, it was realized that these foods did
not have to be done underground; that the bags could be hung
in the underneath area of a thick shady tree...but surrounding
levels of moisture should be monitored to keep things in balance,
as to how fast the outer bag dried, or stayed too moist; (depending
on the climate, season, and how quickly conditions changed).
At one point a light bambu structure was set up in the shade,
but was still subject to the warmth of the desert summer.
It was about 5 feet tall; about 5 feet wide; and about 4 feet
from front to back. It had 3 large shelves, and was geared
to handle 3 hundred pounds of weight.
The reason it is being mentioned, is that large pieces of
plastic were hung all around it, so that they could be either
left down for maximum moisture hold-ability, or individually
rolled up to mix and match greenhouse conditions. Some of
them were filled with large gaping holes, while others were
left solid...this worked very well; some what of a 'mini greenhouse',
while conditions and light daily winds remained very very
dry.
To better understand the ability of using a hole in the earth...
I had to leave for about a week and a half one Summer; and
the temperature was well over a hundred degrees every day.
The hole at this point was 6 foot deep.
Again it was in a place that it had a few hours in the early
morning, but the rest of the day was direct hot sun.
As I was preparing to leave for this week and a half, general
production came to a temporary end, and all that was left
were a few trays of Rye grass, so I put them in the hole.
When I got back about 11 days later, I opened the cover, and
expected to see two 'very golden' (dried) trays of grass,
as it was that hot out.
But instead, to my surprise, the two trays were green and
lush...I quickly asked if anyone had watered them, and the
instant reply was, that everyone else, too, was gone for the
same period that I was gone; and I was told 'positivly, that
no one had watered them, or even went into the hole'. To say
the least I was quite amazed.
And so began the experimentation of growing greens down within
the Earth...but first, I couldn't put to rest the thought
of how the greens, had stayed so 'green' (considering they
were in a covered hole).
Over the next week, different things continued to come to
mind; it was soon realized that a very constant temperature
of 55 degrees (at the bottom of the hole) and 68 degrees(at
the top of the hole) were factors, in not allowing the Rye
grass to simply turn gold and dry.
Another thought was the transforming nutrient action within
the hole (The Earth) itself...to stray a little bit, and use
the anology of a 'rusting piece of metal'...that as the metal
'rusted', certain parts would simply 'vaporize' Thus, the
'smell' of rust).
And it was soon realized that the mother Earth, too, was made
up of the very same elements as the piece of metal, and when
you water a piece of Earth, that it would be moist for a while;
then, as it would 'dry back', it too would release nutrients
through a vapor...the same smell one could smell in a handful
of rich soil. "Colloidal vapors".
But colloidal vapors didn't satisify the question as to why
the Rye grass stayed green, as this was something done moreso
by the action of the Sun...then I remembered, back in the
studies of Sun and body nutrition...that different papers
had mentioned that when a person were to wear, 'light colored,
(non-tight weaved stitch) natural material clothing ', that
the nutrients of the Sun were able to pass right on through
and enhance the human body. Bingo.
The natural cotton sheet allowed the nutrients (and correct
colored solar wave lengths) to pass right through the cover,
and allow the Rye grass to remain green; and not grow tall,
skinny, and light in color, as it would do if it were 'reaching
out in search of light'.
It was quite a week of pondering; the learning of the exact
temperatures within the hole (even though temperatures were
scorching just outside the hole). The colloidal vapors (A
great place for meditation, wine, cheese, music and massage
in the massive temperatures of summer). The automatic continous
range of moisture levels (As no one had watered the Rye grass
for over a week solid in super hot temperatures) And what
a great place to grow sprouting vegetables, especially since
it's where they wanted to be in the first place, in the Earth.
After some thought, it was also realized that if proper conditions
were duplicated in a room of a house, that a spare bedroom
should be able to handle upwards of a thousand pounds of fresh
vegetables every 3 to 5 days.
Another concept that was tried for a while, (when growing
was again done within the warm, dry, open aired kitchen) and
that was to simply put a 'layer' around the cloth bag that
was hanging on a nail, such as a plastic bag with small holes...and
if the growing veggies were to mold, or start to smell sour,
then, to make the holes larger till balance was achieved.
(If the holes were too large, then the veggies would qrow
slowly, or dry).
Somewhat like a 'micro greenhouse'.
A common mistake worth mentioning, is that in the earlier
times of hanging the bags on a nail in the kitchen, I had
taken the top of the bag, and instead of wrapping a string,
or twist tie, that I simply tied the top of the bag into a
tight knot and hung it up...and when I would check the bag
for freshness, I would put my nose to the top of the bag and
'smell'...and I would get this strong smell of 'sourness';
(and when this occured, I would either transfer the contents
to a container and rinse them, or would simply feed it to
the birds) After about a week or two of this, I realized that
because I was tying this moist knot so tight while the bag
material was still 'damp', that it was the bag itself that
was smelling of this 'sourness', (not the grain) and each
time I would check the bag for freshness, I would put my nose
right into the opening of the bag where the knot had just
been tied...(this was a good laugh).
Something else that might be worth mentioning, is that when
I dug the hole in the hot Sun, I made sure to not let the
Sun simply bake the open bottom of the hole, and open Earth...so
that it would moreso remain a viable living culture, versus
'a dry parched hole'.
In light summation, and in comparrison to generally known
methods of farming, benefits of this procedure include:
No soil is needed; no pesticides are needed; no fertilizers;
no pile of gardening tools; no electricity; no greenhouse
lumber and glass; almost non-existant is threat from bugs,
birds, crawling creatures; and, because the growing produce
is enclosed in cloth bags nestled within the Earth, there
is security from a wide range of 'hot day and cold night'
temperatures.
Because of simplicity and efficiency, the entire setup can
be put together within a few hours, at a cost of a few dollars
(or simply pieced together with a few items that are sitting
around, such as a cotton bed sheet; string; pillow cases;
t-shirts; and a little digging).
Speculation suggests that a small setup (using a hole about
5 feet deep, 5 feet wide, and 4 feet front to back) should
yield 75 to 125 pounds every 2 to 5 days; or 30 to 50 pounds
every day, nonstop.
Speculation on a larger setup (9x9x9 feet) should yield 1000
to 1500 pounds each 2 to 5 days; or 300 to 500 pounds daily,
nonstop.
Remembering, that 9x9x9 is only the sixe of a very small bedroom;
it is quite staggering to guess what a small warehouse sized
area could produce.
And, one of the greatest benefits of all, is that once the
grow area is better understood (as to moisture levels, and
temperatures for the different types of seeds grown) then
there should be no need for daily watering, keeping it a 'very
low maintenance operation'.
"The Farmless Farm"
For the folks who are creative and wish to advance these
processes, here are a few more ideas...
A few other concepts :
Instead of a 'rack' to hold the bags, to put nails into a
2x4, or 2x2 piece of wood, and then to set it into the Earth
(vertical) maybe a few feet deep, inside the hole. The nails
to be used as hooks to hang the bags.
Another thought was to suspend a 2x4 across the top of the
hole, horizontally, and either put nails into it as hooks,
or, maybe drape the bags over it so that the food part hung
down into the lower (cooler) part of the hole.
Also, to try 100 to 300 pounds in one cotton sheet tied closed
like a big bag; (or maybe two or three thick to allow it to
maintain a particular strength and not rip).
Note: when done for the purpose of comparison, one
bag was filled half way, and set by one that was filled all
the way, and, the one that was filled 'all the way', grew
best.
To try a hammock, either suspended within the hole, or to
set the two ends outside the hole, allowing the middle of
the hammock to drape deep down within the hole, acting as
a big breathable net.
Another concept, one that would simply eliminate all the racks,
hooks and inner structure, would be to double or triple the
bags, and to simply place them on the floor of the hole.
Another way, is to place them on a layer of clean dry hay
(Rotating the hay for 'fresh' when necessary) ...or using
dry leaves (it is suggested to use leaves from a tree you
know to be safe for foods and food consumption)...or to try
a thin layer of dry branches laid down on the bottom of the
hole, then the bags on top..and possibly a second and third
layer of these branches and bags; or a combination of the
dry leaves, and branches, then bags, and then maybe continueing
upward in 'stacked breathable layers'.
And this last thought, which might be the best one of all,
and that is to put the soaked seeds into a dry cloth bag;
then to put it into a second dry cloth bag (And possibly a
third, or more) and place the bagged produce into a small
shallow hole, and gently fill in the small hole surrounding
the bag...you might want to leave a small portion of the top
of the bag (maybe only an inch or two) extending into the
open air. This particular method might be best tried in more
of a
'flat bag-shallow hole' system.
May everyone's plate be full
Robin
Raw and Living Food Articles and Links to Articles:
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Fruits, Roots, Stems, Greens, Flowers, and Nuts
Growing Food
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