Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm
Product Review: Video: Backyard Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm, by Michael Z. Williamson By James Wesley, Rawles on October 29, 2010 2:44 PM   Backyard Food Production Systems For a Backyard or Small Farm is a great video and useful resource. Not only is it based on a lot of research, but on more than a decade of home farming in central Texas, which is certainly one of the tougher environments in America to farm in. Very clearly narrated and demonstrated. It s a little handheld and shaky at the beginning, which emphasized the small scale involved, but professionally filmed and edited after the intro. This is a farm for a family of four, run very efficiently and productively. It starts with a chapter on the most important aspect: Water. Subjects include collection and distribution, with some welcome attention to cleaning often overlooked in other publications. Rainwater, gray water, well and commercial water sources are all covered, with extensive discussion of catchment and cleaning of rainwater. Ponds and catfish are mentioned, too. The chapter on gardening covers critical issues such as shade mapping, soil types, compost production, including safe composting of human waste. The narrative is quick and clear, and mentions lots of documents, helpfully provided on Disk 2. Rabbits. Raising and butchering rabbits I d recommend adding a gut hook and shears to the demonstrated method, but it s good to learn how using just a basic knife. This section is professional and clean, but the killing and butchering of a rabbit is probably not something to show children who are not familiar with the realities of meat. Also covered is how to use the rabbit waste for compost, and the rabbits are fed off shade trees and garden waste, for a very efficient cycle. The chapter on poultry is almost exclusively about chickens, kept free range for eggs. While chickens are certainly edible themselves, the eggs provide a much more efficient source of protein and are useful for cooking or trading. Here again, the chickens serve another purpose, eliminating ground insects and weeds and providing fertilizer. Dogs are useful, even essential to protecting a garden from the predations of wildlife. There s a good discussion of socializing and raising them to respect the human and keep paws off the other animals. Perennials include fruit trees. It s important to work with fruits that thrive in the area, not try to force commercial crops to fit. Geese make a good adjunct to an orchard, providing fertilizer and winter eggs. The chapter on Essentials covers calorie rich foods, such as grains and tubers, natural pesticides, first aid, contour mapping and covers how to check imports (hay and other composts) for toxicity. There are summaries at the end of each section. Each chapter has great tips on saving power and resources by nesting and stacking various plants, animals and tools to minimize waste, labor and costs. Overall, it s very clear. It seems a little chaotic in spots on a first viewing, but there s a lot of inter-related information here that has to be covered. It s worth watching several times and keeping as a reference. In all, it was very watchable, very lively, and what a good documentary and summary instructional video should be. The second disk has the extensive documentation, references and recipes. There are sections on composting, companion planting for nitrogen fixing, acorn flour, tanning hides, soil amendments, processing of various plants for seed oils, root cellar construction, a solar food dehydrator, and various fruits that are uncommon these days, such as persimmons and pawpaws. I highly recommend this as an overview, aid and morale booster for anyone planning to do home gardening or farming to improve their sustainment and off grid capabilities. - S --SurvivalBlog.com on October 29, 2010 2:44 PMThis DVD has everything you need to know, from water collection, gardens, home butchering and more. Get the most important education that you will ever need. Alex Jone, host of Alex Jones Radio and TV Show. InfoWars.com --infowars.comUrban Survival DVD Review for Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm If you re thinking of growing your own food, you better know what you re doing. Farming is a skill set that s quickly being lost and forgotten with the new generation, and it s more important then ever to learn it now! Peak oil, resource depletion and the collapse of society is coming right around the bend and if you re not growing your own food now, you ll be multiplying the amount of suffering you and your family will experience when SHTF. Luckily it s not too late, and we have a great product for you, that will give you a great introduction to growing your own food. If you re interested in backyard food production, this is the DVD to get! whether you just want to have a few hens in your backyard or you re thinking of completely overhauling your property and implementing a completely self sustainable food production system, this DVD will have the information you need. I ve seen/read a lot of videos/books on homesteading and food production, and this DVD in my opinion is one of the clearest, no BS products out there. It definitely has our recommendation.  Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm is approximately 2 hours long with 9 chapter and numerous sub sections ranging in subjects like: water collection and treatment, garden logistics, rabbit and poultry raising and butchering, dogs, food forests, and much more. It s bookmarked and broken up in such a way that it s extremely easy to go back and review any particular subject. A single DVD is obviously not enough to teach you everything you need to know about farming which is why the DVD also comes with a CD loaded with .PDF documents covering the more advanced aspects of farming. There are 64 .PDFs and they cover a wide a range of subjects. This may not be the best product for advanced homesteaders and food growers, but this DVD is definitely the perfect product to start your journey into the homesteading, farming, gardening lifestyle. Marjory and her family have been growing their own food for many years and her experience shows with this well thought out, and articulate DVD that she s produced. I ll admit, it s a bit pricy, but worth every penny. Just read the amazon reviews and you ll know why this product has one of our highest recommendations. --Urban Survival Network.com