Sustainable Suburban Garden

Sustainability to me means creating a full cycle from soil supplementation to harvest - meaning that one is able to provide the nutrients needed to produce the fruits and vegetables within a closed, reliable system. A truly sustainable system works best on a fully functioning farm, but you can get kinda close in a suburban/urban environment as well.

To get the nutrients we need, we can just start composting kitchen scraps from our own kitchens. We need a large compost pile - the larger the pile, the higher the temperature, and the faster the compost breaks down into a usable form. I've worked in several restaurants in town, and am going to take the kitchen scraps that they produce while prepping the vegetables in the morning. Using my bicycle, I can ride to the restaurants and transport the scraps in buckets or containers that I find or already have - my bicycle is designed for load bearing, but any bicycle can hang a bucket on the handle bars - or, you can search the thrift stores and craig's list for old baby/dog trailers that hook onto bicycles. For your compost carbon needs, riding one's bike around richer/nicer neighborhoods should do it - folks that take care of their lawn will have leaves and grass clipping on the side of the road. Take note of these places, so that you'll consistently get some good carbon. A large sack or reusable high mil. plastic bag should work to get the it home.

To build a compost bin we're using an old black 30 gallon trash can. There is no lid to the trash can, so we have to create one by turning the bin upside-down and cutting a lid. This also ensures that there will be easy access to all the good eats for the ground critters, because the bottom is wide open, allowing us to bury the bin about 2 inches into the dirt. We used a hinge and screws from a door found in the shed behind my house - any site where they are renovating an area should yield some good hinge hunting. The bin will help regulate the temperature of the compost - keeping it nice and warm.

For mulch, we will get rolls of unprinted newsprint from the Tuscacloosa News - located under the Lurleen Wallace bridge to North Port. The paper contains no inks, and is free for any to take. Pine straw can be gathered (from those rich/nice neighborhoods) to put on top of the newsprint to protect if from heavy rains and other harsh weather.

To actually continue the growing cycle, seeds must be purchased at first. But after that initial purchase seeds can be harvested and saved for the next growing season.

Seriously, some folks don't know what they're throwing out! I can get almost all the materials needed from the scraps of modern living - helping create a semi-closed use cycle. After all, sustainability is about spending only necessary energy, and not money.