Self Sufficiency Apartment Life! Ideas??

[austintgraf]

Hey guys! I'm a freshmen in college and after this semester I'll be moving into a new apartment. An eight hundred square foot one bedroom. Very small but practical for one guy. I grew up and helped transform our small holding of ten acres into a full on homestead. We also own a thirty acre beef farm across the road, and my grandparents are partial owners of an one hundred acre farm and cider mill. I own an extensive collection of literature on anything self-sufficiency based. With all this being said I would consider myself a well rounded agricultural enthusiast with a good deal of knowledge. I certainly know my way around the farm but my new one bedroom apartment has me stumped. City living isn't my cup of tea, and there is not roof top allotments available in our complex for planters or a bee hive, nor grounds anywhere near for planting. Self sufficiency however is so engrained into my being that I find it too difficult to give up on account of college. That said I have some cool ideas to turn my small apartment and small balcony into a bustling little hobby farm. The task seems like a bleak chance of success, and that's where ya'll come in! I'm in need of some ideas. Budget friendly, but esthetically pleasing. I'm a strong believer in the beauty of agriculture, and turning ornamental beds into productive beautiful gardens. I would love your input, ideas, pictures, anything. Also I've been thinking of maybe alternative livestock operations. I'm very untraditional and believe any means to expand and broaden ones range of production is a good idea. I have been thing perhaps even escargot. I realize that is not exactly the choice protein of many but the beauty of small holding is making use of ever available resource. I also thought perhaps the landlords would allow a few rabbits for meat or even fur, or perhaps some sort of aquatic animal I could raise in fish tanks. Just throw at me what ideas you have! Both Original and Unoriginal! I'm excited about the potential! Thanks for reading guys!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hi there, and welcome!

I have to admire your outlook!

I've recently started raising quail again - after many years away. Some Coturnix quail might fill in a gap for you. They hatch easily, but you do need an incubator. They grow fast and in about 6 weeks they'll start laying. They're small, quiet, don't eat too much, easy to house and taste great! With just a few trios you could supplement your meat supply, have eggs and fertilizer for some potted veggies!

I'll be watching your thread for other ideas that folks will have for you. Good luck!

 

[Emerald]

I can help a tiny bit on the fish tank experiment! I grew out about a dozen baby boc choi and then an 8pack of different lettuces on top of my gold fish tank.. I have grow light above my two 30 gallon(i think) tanks and I just took a thick piece of styrofoam and drilled holes in it(OMGOODNESS do this outside!.. I did not.. I think I still see bits of that stuff in the carpet ) and then used jiffy pellets that I kinda rolled thinner and put in those holes and floated the whole mess on top of the goldfish. I have to say that the baby boc choi was fantastic and I had no problems with it and the lettuce did very well until about the 4th cutting of lettuce(we harvested just the bigger leaves and had quite a few sandwiches worth too) for some reason when the lettuce got to a certain size and the roots were really starting to get big the gold fish started eating the roots.. within a few days we just harvested the whole heads as the fish had nibbled almost all the root off. I want to try again but with an ebb flow system on top of the tank but just haven't found the right container yet.. and yep.. I'm frugal and don't want to pay out the hinny so will not do it till I can do it cheaply..
YES! I found a photo of the boc choi when it was tiny. and yes I put more water in after this picture..


I have no doubt depending on the size of your set up you could grow tillapia in side with not much trouble.

 

[austintgraf]

Hi there, and welcome!

I have to admire your outlook!

I've recently started raising quail again - after many years away. Some Coturnix quail might fill in a gap for you. They hatch easily, but you do need an incubator. They grow fast and in about 6 weeks they'll start laying. They're small, quiet, don't eat too much, easy to house and taste great! With just a few trios you could supplement your meat supply, have eggs and fertilizer for some potted veggies!

I'll be watching your thread for other ideas that folks will have for you. Good luck!

I absolutely love the idea of quail! Relatively inexpensive and hardy providing both eggs and meat! Sounds great! Only draw back I foresee is space. A trio or a quad could fit in a hutch style pen o my balcony no problem, but I'm unsure about also fitting a finishing pen for batches of chicks to raise for meat. I had intended to primarily fill my balcony with the seasonal veg, even go so far as using part of my balcony guard rail as trellis for peas. I'll have to see how much space I'll have on my balcony, and whether the landlords would be willing to allow a few quail on the property, but excellent idea which I plan to implement if at all possible!

 

[austintgraf]

I can help a tiny bit on the fish tank experiment! I grew out about a dozen baby boc choi and then an 8pack of different lettuces on top of my gold fish tank.. I have grow light above my two 30 gallon(i think) tanks and I just took a thick piece of styrofoam and drilled holes in it(OMGOODNESS do this outside!.. I did not.. I think I still see bits of that stuff in the carpet ) and then used jiffy pellets that I kinda rolled thinner and put in those holes and floated the whole mess on top of the goldfish. I have to say that the baby boc choi was fantastic and I had no problems with it and the lettuce did very well until about the 4th cutting of lettuce(we harvested just the bigger leaves and had quite a few sandwiches worth too) for some reason when the lettuce got to a certain size and the roots were really starting to get big the gold fish started eating the roots.. within a few days we just harvested the whole heads as the fish had nibbled almost all the root off. I want to try again but with an ebb flow system on top of the tank but just haven't found the right container yet.. and yep.. I'm frugal and don't want to pay out the hinny so will not do it till I can do it cheaply..
YES! I found a photo of the boc choi when it was tiny. and yes I put more water in after this picture..
[url]http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb1/emeraldwitch_2007/364.jpg[/url]

I have no doubt depending on the size of your set up you could grow tillapia in side with not much trouble.

I really love this idea! I boc choi is possibly my favorite veg when it comes to cooking, and I a fish tank? Excellent Idea! Maintenance was low I'm assuming? Naturally you wouldn't have to water them or fertilize? Beyond clever!

 

[austintgraf]

Or did you water them and just let them float acting like a mini greenhouse?

 

[bubba1358]

If you have a balcony think vertical. You can get some 4x4 pieces of limber cut to 6' or so, brace the bottoms so the stand up, and add hooks every foot or so for hanging potted plants. Tomatoes and strawberries do well vertically, ir so i hear.

BTW i LOVE that fish tank lettuce idea.

 

[Emerald]

Or did you water them and just let them float acting like a mini greenhouse?

The jiffy pellet sucked water right on up and I forgot to say that I filled the whole floaty with plants that was just the best picture. I got the idea from watching "how they do it" on hydroponics lettuces that they grow in Canada. the big light above(and that little CFL in the reflector is what I used on the baby boc choi before I planted it into the floaty.) I think there were 10 goldfish in the tank. We brought them in from outside pond and filled it almost to the top and I can adjust light bar by hooks and links on the chain. I often put planks on the top of the fish tank and put my seedlings up there to start them. sounds silly but I have limited space for this kind of stuff.

 

[austintgraf]

It's an excellent idea and I think ill try it with my fish tank! Also I was thinking about using a vertical pallet wit an open front for growing strawberries. The 4x4 is a great idea though and I might construct one for hanging strawberry pots and use the pallet for other veggies. Any ideas on what other veg I could use?

 

[~gd]

If you try to grow to much in a college town keep your eyes open for the pot police [unless you live in a place where pot legal