NonFarmersOnlyDirectory

The Non-Farmer’s Almanac · Vol. 0

An almanac for people who don’t farm.

Five cornerstone essays on the parts of the farm life that are actually worth a non-farmer’s Saturday afternoon. Edited by Roma.

Backyard chickens that survive a Phoenix August. A 4×8 raised bed planted on a Southwest schedule. The CSA questions that save you four hundred dollars. What “organic” really means at a farmers market. A first beehive without getting stung in the eye.

The cornerstones

5 essays

The Almanac · Vol. 0

Backyard Chickens for Non-Farmers — Your First 8-Bird Flock (Phoenix-Legal)

Phoenix metro (Maricopa County)11 min read

Backyard Chickens for Non-Farmers — Your First 8-Bird Flock (Phoenix-Legal)

You don't need a farm to keep chickens. You need a 200-square-foot patch of dirt, a coop that doesn't melt in July, and about ninety minutes a week. That's the whole job. I'm going to walk you through the actual rules — the ones the city writes down, not the ones your neighbor's HOA newsletter pretends are law — and the breeds that survive a Phoenix August without keeling over. By the end of this you'll know whether your lot is legal, what eight birds will cost you in feed,…

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The Almanac · Vol. 0

How to Plant a 4×8 Raised Bed for Year-Round Southwest Harvest

Southwest low desert (Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Albuquerque)10 min read

How to Plant a 4×8 Raised Bed for Year-Round Southwest Harvest

A 4×8 raised bed is 32 square feet of soil. In the Midwest that's enough to feed a family of four through summer. In Phoenix it's enough to feed a couple year-round, on a season schedule that's the inverse of every gardening book you've ever bought. The Southwest doesn't have one growing season. It has two, and they do not include July. If you can absorb that fact, the rest of this is easy.

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The Almanac · Vol. 0

Buying a CSA Share — What to Ask Before You Commit

Southwest + California10 min read

Buying a CSA Share — What to Ask Before You Commit

A CSA share is a pre-paid subscription to a farm. You hand the farmer money in February, and from May through October (or January through April, in the desert) you pick up a box of whatever's ripe that week. It's the most direct way to fund a small farm and the most direct way to a kitchen full of vegetables you didn't choose.

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The Almanac · Vol. 0

What 'Organic' Actually Means at a Farmers Market (and What It Doesn't)

Southwest + California (applies nationally)10 min read

What 'Organic' Actually Means at a Farmers Market (and What It Doesn't)

You walk up to a stand. The peaches look great. The hand-painted sign says "Organic — Pesticide Free." There's no green USDA seal anywhere. The vendor is friendly, knowledgeable, and doesn't quite answer when you ask if they're certified. Welcome to the most confused word in food. "Organic" at a farmers market means six different things to six different vendors, and only one of those things is regulated by federal law. The rest is on you to evaluate.

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The Almanac · Vol. 0

Your First Beehive — Urban Beekeeping in 5 Steps

Phoenix metro, Tucson, Las Vegas, Albuquerque11 min read

Your First Beehive — Urban Beekeeping in 5 Steps

Bees are not chickens. You can keep chickens with a bag of feed and a Saturday's worth of construction. Bees require an actual hobbyist's attention — about 15 hours a year of intentional work, an annual cost in the low hundreds, and a tolerance for the fact that in your first year you probably won't get honey. You also have to deal with the part of Southwest beekeeping nobody puts on the brochure: Africanized honeybees are real here, and they're the dominant feral genetic in…

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