On another site I frequent, we have a section about food storage/gardening/hot houses etc. There are a number of us who have extensive gardens, hoop houses and cold frames. I am happy to share my hand saved open pollinated heirloom seeds with whomever wishes to garden food for themselves and family. Simply PM me and let me know what you are looking for, and I will send you what I can. We have a SHITLOAD of seeds, and since I am a world class enthusiast, I am happy to see anyone get interested to teh point they actually bust sod and start a garden. It is hard work, but also extremely rewarding. Remember, the first year is by far and away the hardest and typically the most disappointing. Get over it. By year four, you will feel like a freaking expert.
While I am by no means Farmer Brown, I can help anyone who grows with my insight and share my failures. We learned a tremendous amount in the few short years we have grown, but remember, I live in Florida and have four distinct growing seasons. Now that we have a hoop house, we're "first in the dirt" around here, so our few years actually equate to double that for a northern climate grower.
Don't be shy, because I sure as hell 'ain't!
Thanks Ancona for the offer of gerosity. I started vegetable gardening about 5 years ago. And it is very true about the first 1-2 years being the hardest work (but also very enjoyable if you like this kind of thing). You learn alot just from reading, but you also learn alot when you get in and actually start doing.
It took me 3 years to "discover" that aged horse manure worked into the soil was the gold that really made the difference in the productivity of the soil.
Other organic sources like leaves and grass clippings also helped, but nothing came close to horse manure.
In addition to that, I would mulch in between rows with a horse manure/bedding/sawdust mix. This kept weeds at bay, kept the mud down, and also decomposed and fed the plants throughout the growing season.
There is an art to keeping weeds at bay via cultivating the soil between rows with a hoe (lightly turning the ground when weeds are small), but I don't yet have the patience for that, so I take the somewhat more labor-intensive method of mulching between rows with the horse manure mix, or with whatever organic material I have handy at the time.
I started with a somewhat small garden area the first year and then hand-shovel dug to increase the garden area to ~ 4000 sq ft during a span of 5 years, adding as much organic matter each year as I could to the soil.
I found that saving seeds from the crops for next year's planting was a fascinating exercise in itself. The book "Seed To Seed" was a great reference for learning more about this. I only saved seeds from the easy varieties for which you did not have to worry about cross-pollination.
I only did the seed saving for one year, as it took more time that I really had available. If things get really bad, at least it is a learned skill that can be drummed back up if needed.
As far as the Talapia goes, it would be a small scale effort for an additional food source for family/friends rather than trying to do it for sale/profit. Talapia is one of our favorite fish, so it would make a perfect addition for the future farm.
