DailyDirt: So You Want To Grow Your Own Food?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Jul 24th 2015 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Farming isn't a hobby. Gardening is a hobby. No one really expects to be able to grow enough food to feed hundreds of households from a garden, but maybe technology can help change that. Autonomous farming robots and other labor-saving devices might make farming a lot easier for a few people to be much more productive, but we're not quite at the point where anyone really needs to change farming techniques so drastically. However, if you think you'd want to become a post-modern farmer, check out a few of these links.

Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio might be a place to check out if you've ever dreamed of ditching everything and becoming a farmer. You'll have to apply for one of Cuyahoa's long-term farm leases, and agree to help educate the public about preserving natural resources and sustainable farming, and you get training support (no experience necessary!) and a place to live on federally-protected historic land. [url]
Maybe traditional outdoor farming won't be economically feasible in the near future, but will indoor urban farming with LED lighting actually be more practical? Maximizing food production per square foot might make indoor farming seem economically attractive, and if the food tastes just as good... same day fresh groceries delivered within a city sounds great. [url]
What happens if we run out of farmland? Could we grow food in underwater greenhouses? It's possible to do so. The scuba gear doesn't look like farming technology that can scale all that well, though. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

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Filed Under: cuyahoga national park, farming, food, food production, gardening, indoor farming, modern farming, ohio, post-modern farming, sustainable farming, underwater farming

6 Comments

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Darkhog, 24 Jul 2015 @ 5:54pm

Heheh...
Quality dirt is quite necessary for gardening purposes. I'm not sure though good crops can be yield by using TechDirt.
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JoeCool (profile), 24 Jul 2015 @ 6:01pm

War on gardening
Indoor gardening is almost impossible now. Back when I was a kid, it was possible, but then we started the War On Drugs. Many drugs are plants grown indoors, so this became the War On Indoor Gardening. Anything you need to grow plants indoors is now illegal or highly regulated as they assume that Grow Lamp bulbs (for example) are being used to grow marijuana. Best keep your gardens OUTDOORS to avoid nosey LEO breaking down the door some day.
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- I. M. Wondering, 26 Jul 2015 @ 7:33am
  
  Re: War on gardening
  If you are growing potatoes or ginsing indoors, why not invite law enforcement in just for the record.. then grow your carrots and peppers too free from fear of that broken front door?
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  - JoeCool (profile), 26 Jul 2015 @ 10:25am
    
    Re: Re: War on gardening
    Because an officer will think that's suspicious behavior, that you're protesting too much, and suggest kicking in the door later to see what you're REALLY growing.
    
    These days, the people in charge want to know every aspect of your life for every second of the day. If you complain, you're obviously a criminal because "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."
    
    So, no growing anything where they can't see if you don't want kicked-in doors.
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Warron All, 25 Jul 2015 @ 12:06pm

Nuts
To those crazies who want a War On Life," Pease On You!
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Watcher of the Sky, 26 Jul 2015 @ 7:27am

Dirty Rotten Rain
All of these great farmer's best efforts can be so quickly nullified by one tanker jet flying overhead spraying the atmosphere with the toxic waste of barium and aluminum and God Knows What Else. And believe what I am saying, these tanker jets are counting in the multitudes, dumping millions of pounds of Only God Knows (beside them). My water company from whom I receive water from every month doesn't even test for those chemical and radioactive compounds. Plants have to withstand that onslaught and still remain nutitious. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.
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