Growing Your OwnJust like me everyone can be a farmer in their own small way.

Create you own Teeny Tiny Farm!

Hi, I am Amber and welcome to “Grow

your Own”. Part two of my series will share

with you my journey to grow food for my

family.In this episode I am going to show how you can do it too!

What Makes a Teeny Tiny Farm?

A Teeny Tiny Farm can consist of anything, from carrots to tomatoes,

spinach to lemons. It may have a horse or a chicken, fruit or vegetable.

My Teeny Tiny Farm consists of spinach, tomatoes, silverbeet,

lemons, nectarines, cherries, melons, grapes, lettuces, potatoes, worms,

chickens and strawberries. My Teeny Tiny Farm is teeny tiny, yet

I make good use of the space and grow produce in different areas of

my backyard.

Lettuce

Parsley

Strawberries

V

CeleryTomatoes

Chickens

Wor

ms

Cow

What could you learn?

Growing your own produce teaches you a lot about agriculture.

Growing fruit and vegetable often persuades me to further research my farm, finding extra information about

what I am consuming. Experimenting on different substances, conditions and species is very intriguing, and allows

me to observe the consequences of my decisions.

A Teeny Tiny Farm has taught me about soil nutrients, pests and diseases and

even different methods of farming (using various tools and equipment), which is preparing me for the country life on a large-scale production farm.

What have I learnt? What could you Learn?

Want to know some more about Teeny Tiny

Farm production?

Success is easy… if your happy with the fruit and vegies you produce than you are successful. But success does not come without planning,

preparation, research or experimentation.Research is very important (to learn about what

you are growing). Planning is essential to produce optimum fruit and veg, by simply

knowing where everything is and even when to harvest. Experimenting is a must on any farm… learning what works best and what best suits

you. The main key to success though is… enjoy it!!!

Keys to Success

Preparing

Soil preparation is the most important step in

maintaining your own Teeny Tiny Farm.

It is vital for plant growth, without it, plants will not

have access to the essential nutrients needed for

optimum growth.

On my Teeny Tiny Farm I prepare the soils by cultivating through compost. Compost is simply organic matter, which

assists in the soils ped structure, drainage qualities and quantities of nutrients.

Plants need to have access to nutrients in the form of ions in solution,

meaning that plants cannot consume

nutrients that are solid or atmospheric. Adding

compost also adds macro and micro

nutrients and organisms to the soil, benefiting

production.

Transplanting Transplanting seedlings rather than sowing straight into the soil, I found, is best

when starting off, as it guarantees a better survival

rate for plants. When seeds a sowed directly into the soil, birds are able access them, rain and wind

can wash the seeds away and the survival rate of plants

drops. At my Teeny Tiny Farm I

sow seeds into small pots for a few weeks before

transplanting them into nutrient-rich soils when the

weather is right.

MaintainingOnce the plants are transplanted into nutrient-rich, moist soils, the farm must be maintained. Plants need access to

water constantly and need to be observed for pests, disease, wilting, growth and production. Fertilisers,

pesticides and herbicides may be needed. Mulching is ideal to hold in moisture. Adequate sunlight is essential for

photosynthesis to occur, so the plant is able to produce its own food.

Worms Along with fruit and vegetables,

my Teeny Tiny Farm has worms.That’s right, a worm

farm! Worms are fantastic for soils and compost. Worms decompose all my kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich

compost. They are so easy to look after! I simply have a box of

compost and a handful of worms, I keep it moist and dark and everything else happens by itself. After every few weeks the compost and worms will go out into the garden and provide the fruit and vegies with even more

nutrients.

I love breaking

down all the nutrients for

plants.

ChickensA Teeny Tiny Farm is not just

fruit and vegetables, but animals too.

My chickens are Isa Brown hens who lay an egg each day. They are free to wonder around my

Teeny Tiny Farm and are free to use their natural instincts.

Now that I have my own hens, I can say, free range eggs have that extra flavour… and the chickens are happy too!!!

They are great family pets! My family of seven love the

chickens. They eat all our kitchen scraps too!

Chickens are great producers and family pets!

Great Companions!

My Experiment In 2011 I conducted a school assignment

experiment on how urea (a nitrogen fertiliser) effected the growth of leafy plants compared with pod plants.

Large quantities of urea killed the majority of plants, whilst small

amounts caused greenery and health. No presence of urea caused healthy, rapid

growing plants.

My Experiment

This experiment was a great experience in agriculture,

learning how soils, plants and bacteria react to one another in a

cycle of nature. I learnt about:

processes such as Nitrogen fixating using Rhizobium Bacteria (converting atmospheric Nitrogen into accessible nutrients in the soil for plants).photosynthesis, respiration and transpirationsystems on a farm using models and information to find weaknesses in my Teeny Tiny Farm.

Everyone should have

the opportunity

to know where their

food and fibre comes

from

Where our food and fibre comes from is an important

understanding every person should have.

We should be aware of the ongoing efforts of farmers, the

content of our food, the composition of our clothing and our impact on future generations

of our country.

An education in Agriculture shows just that.

I have learnt where my fibre comes from (from the animal or plant, to the factory and to me). I have learnt the farm gate to plate processes of meat, dairy,

vegetable and cosmetic products, knowing where they

come from, the history, the efforts of farmers, issues and

problems, processing, transporting, marketing and

consuming.

Food, Fibre and Environment

I have learnt the negatives and positives of each

industry and how we can help and

sustaining the future… This is definitely

something I believe every person should

understand

Food, Fibre and Environment

My Teeny Tiny Farm has taught me so much about

Agriculture and has allowed me to willingly observe the

processes in my own backyard.

In the end many of the vegetables grew healthy

and strong and made great spinach rolls, salad

sandwiches and afternoon snacks.

What if Everyone had a Tiny Farm?

Just imagine if every house in the world had a

Teeny Tiny Farm! Our communities would

have a deeper understanding of where our food and fibre comes

from and a greater appreciation of the

farmers who produce it.

So Go and Start Your Own Today!

You’ll Love it! Amber O`Neill - 2011 - Cream of the Crop

GOLD SILVERPLATINUM

BRONZE

WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE 2011 CREAM OF THE CROP COMPETITION