

Small Businesses Doing Well Building and Maintaining Backyard “Microfarms” - mcantelon
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-farmers-for-hire-20100502,0,5980031,full.story

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thaumaturgy
I really enjoy having a backyard garden. Although it doesn't produce much in
the way of food value -- if I'm lucky, I'll get some potatoes, onions,
zucchini and corn this year -- I find working in it a few minutes at a time to
be stress-relieving and therapeutic, and it's nice to look out the window and
see green things growing.

I hope this is a trend that continues for lots of families, actually.

On an unrelated note, I got a kick out of seeing that his revenues jumped "to
$54,000" last year. That was my business's second-year gross, and I didn't
think it was all that noteworthy.

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ctd
"Farmscape pulled in about $54,000 for the first four months of this
year--$22,000 more than last year"

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thaumaturgy
Whoops -- well, that's a horse of a different color. Thanks.

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jmm
Here's the site if anyone is curious about Farmscape:
<http://www.farmscapegardens.com/#home>

The cost saving argument is probably a stretch: "In many cases, installing a
Farmscape garden in the place of an existing lawn can lower your monthly yard
maintenance and irrigation expenses. Depending on crop selection, most
customers can expect to break even against the installation cost of the garden
with the savings over organic grocery or farmers market purchases and the gas
and time for the errands. This also depends heavily on how you value high
quality fresh-picked produce and how you value your own time spent inspecting
fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle."

But as another commenter points out, this is more about keeping up with the
Jones than saving money. There's a chicness in CA these days in having a
bountiful garden (chickens provide an extra level chicness in some places).
And whereas the DIYers have set the trend and have embraced the dirt and sweat
of the enterprise (see [http://www.amazon.com/Farm-City-Education-Urban-
Farmer/dp/15...](http://www.amazon.com/Farm-City-Education-Urban-
Farmer/dp/1594202214)), the green-leaning elite are willing to buy their way
to the promised land. Another version of the same old story, no?

In terms of urban harvest, I think this is way cooler, although who knows if
it's successful from an environmental-economics standpoint:
<http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2009/57477/>

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sethg
The cost saving argument might not be _that_ much of a stretch, if you
consider that

(a) as human-vs-nature struggles go, playing at subsistence agriculture might
be less arduous than trying to imitate a British lawn in the Southern
California desert climate

(b) the people in Farmscape’s target market are probably people who would
otherwise be hiring a gardener to maintain their lawns

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terrellm
I think this kind of thing is great - people gaining a closer connection with
nature and also knowing where their food comes from.

My wife and I have a small ranch near College Station Texas (home of Texas A&M
University) where we raise a herd of Texas Longhorn steers, for natural lean
beef as well as their beauty. I can't tell you how relaxing it is to walk
through the pasture at the end of the day. It's not only relaxing, but a great
opportunity to get more "think time".

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slapshot
Feels like a fun hobby and stress release, not a cost-efficient way to grow
food nor particularly environmentally friendly (they're using drinking water
irrigation in the Los Angeles desert instead of agricultural water or
graywater, the guy has to drive from plot to plot, etc).

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orblivion
Wait a second, if this is getting popular because of the recession, why is it
more expensive than _Whole Foods_?

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matrix
A quote comes to mind:

"[She] lived in the kind of poverty that was only available to the very rich,
a poverty approached from the other side."

    
    
        -- Terry Pratchett, in "Men at Arms"

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johnohara
Container gardening is far more efficient and cost effective than yard
farming. It yields an equal amount of satisfaction, is easier to manage and
allows for a better balanced landscape.

Large planters, raised beds and strategically located pots seem to me
preferable to hiring someone to come "tend the lower 400 sq. ft."

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ebiester
Looking at the picture, it looks like they were doing container farming. If I
wasn't sure of moving within the next two years, I'd be doing it myself.

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karzeem
Fascinating stuff. It would be nice if after harping on how expensive it is,
the author put the cost in perspective, maybe by giving a rough $/pound
comparison between, say, this, a farmer's market, a CSA, and the grocery
store. $20 a week isn't bad at all if it's getting four people the majority of
their produce. And I know a lot of people who'd pay a premium for this.

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bmj
Agreed. We pay ~$24 a week for our CSA share (which is generally plenty for
our family of four, and often includes other stuff like eggs or cheese each
week). During the winter, I pay at least that much in produce at the local co-
op.

