How Much Food Can We Produce in a Small, Urban

Back Yard? (Without flagrantly violating our lease, local

laws, animal welfare ethics, or general sanity, and still leaving us enough space to

grill, socialize and lounge?)

What Do We Eat Most Often? -Fresh Produce-Preserved Produce (canned, pickled, frozen, dried, etc.)-Grains-Eggs & Dairy-Meat-Booze

We’re probably not installing a wheat field or cow pasture anytime soon.

(They tend to frown on “pet cows” in Downtown, for some reason.)

I wound up with what I considered to be “food” and “food support” categories. These were the “food” cards; although I immediately realized that rabbits, beer and wine were outliers. Rabbits, unlike poultry, don’t produce anything but meat, and slaughtering in the city is extremely illegal; so we’d have to contract with a local slaughterhouse to get anything from them. With the size of our garden, I doubt we’d produce anywhere near enough produce to make it worth it to try brewing or fermenting alcohol.

These were the “food support” cards--ways in which the things we elect to raise or grow can support each other. I realize I don’t have any real “infrastructure” cards, but in a small, rented back yard, we can’t really build anything besides small coops.

We Currently Have: -A Vegetable & Herb Garden-Fruit Trees (In containers)-Quail-Ducks

This Provides Us With: -Produce, Pickles & Preserves-Eggs-Meat (theoretically)

They Require:

Garden: -Compost-Water-Sun-Seeds

Ducks:-Feed-Pond-Water-Shade-Minnows (for exercise & entertainment as well as food)-Bedding

Quail:-Feed-Water-Sun-Bedding

Problems-The duck pond needs to be changed every day because it’s so small, and it uses a LOT of water.-The ducks don’t have enough shade, and as a result, keep taking refuge on my back porch, and then there’s poop on my porch!-I have to purchase feed for the ducks and the quail (although they eat the same feed), which adds up quickly-I like to supplement the duck’s diet with minnows (and also to keep them entertained), but I’m having to make too many trips to the pet store, and I don’t want to invest in an indoor aquarium just for feeder fish. Additionally, because the pond is so small, any minnows I drop in are eaten IMMEDIATELY. It’s a dang feeding frenzy.-A gravel path bisects my yard, which makes expanding or changing the garden almost impossible.-I need ridiculous amounts of compost for not just my garden, but for my senior clients, and I’m concerned my current system (giant pile of rotting stuff, stirred frequently) isn’t efficient.-My garden is nice, but not producing as much as I’d like.

Larger Goals-Figure out how to support the birds and utilize their contributions more efficiently and effectively with minimum external purchases-Increase the efficiency of my compost pile-Increase the efficiency of my garden and container “orchard” in the space that I have available.