Turn a Broken Down Backyard Pool Into A Compact Farm

We created GardenPool.org to document our journey of converting an old backyard swimming pool in to a way to feed our family and live more self-sufficiently. When we purchased our first home in Mesa, AZ on October of 2009, it came with a large, empty, and run-down pool. Rather than spending thousands of dollars in fixing the pool or having it filled with fill dirt we decided to design an inexpensive & self-sufficient urban greenhouse. Initially, we had anticipated self-sufficiency by 2012 but we achieved our goal by mid-2010. Our family gets about 8 fresh eggs a day, unlimited tilapia fish, organic fruit, veggies, and herbs 365 days a year. _GardenPool

The GP combines:

• solar power – harnessing and storing the sun’s energy
• water conservation – using less water and recycling waste water
• poultry farming – raising chickens
• aquaculture – raising tilapia fish
• hydroponic gardening – growing fruits, veggies, & herbs without soil
• organic horticulture – using natural methods to control garden pests
• aquaponics – the symbiotic cultivation of produce and fish in a recirculating hydroponic environment.
• biofiltration – natural water filtration method using biochemistry and duckweed.

_GP.org

If you have a backyard pool you would like to convert into a permanent food source, watch the video and visit the website.

Here is a bonus concept to think about: Scientists at MIT are perfecting new cheap catalysts for converting any kind of water into hydrogen or oxygen -- using electricity from a photovoltaic array. With hydrogen and oxygen, you can power a home fuel cell which can provide your home power, heat, and hot water -- even pure drinking water from brackish or polluted water..

Combine the two ideas -- the permanent micro-farm, with the make-your-own hydrogen and oxygen for a home fuel cell -- et, voila! You are halfway toward self-sufficiency. You may want to locate in an arid part of the world where the sun shines regularly, at not too high a latitude, so as to assure plenty of sunlight year round.

The technologies are coming which will make quasi self-sufficiency much cheaper and easier for almost anyone. Keep your eyes open.