freaky cheap gardening movie project - 200 square feet on YOUR property

Thekla McDaniels wrote:If it is up for a vote, then my vote is gam that rhymes with ham and cod like the fish. But I’m not particularly attached to that.

paul wheaton wrote:This idea comes from the gamcod project idea.  If it works well, I like the idea that we come up with lots of variations of this in the future.

This thread is for brainstorming and polishing this idea.  Hopefully, in four to seven days, we will create the official thread and get started.


Mark out 200 square feet of dirt (or maybe lawn).  There needs to be some way to demonstrate that it is dirt and NOT soil.  This has to be raw, unused land of some sort.  Definitely not something that has been used as a garden before.


For this first attempt at a movie project, if your garden is in an area that went to zero F or colder in the last ten years, then it qualifies. (if this works, later projects might be for warmer climates)

At least five crops that are generally known as food (you can find the foods in the organic grocery). No soy.  And the focus remains as "highest calories per acre". Polyculture is strongly encouraged.

Optional: an additional 200 square foot plot that is planted with perennials. A summary in late summer about what the productivity might be like in five years and ten years.  



monies

- for a kickstarter movie that brings in more than $50,000 (the "goal" will be $50,000)

 o $100 per minute if the kickstarter brings in $50k to $99K
 o $200 per minute if the kickstarter brings in $100k to $199K
 o $400 per minute if the kickstarter brings in more than $200K

- prorated, so if we use 22 seconds you get 22/60 of a minute of this dealio

If we use 30 minutes of video in the final movie, and the kickstarter brings in $100,000, that would be $6000.  


I am willing to sweeten the offer for "big names".



I know there will be people in warmer climates that wanna play.  Maybe that could be a thing we try next year.  But for this to work, I need to draw some lines for the first try.



The primary focus will be on highest calories harvested.  But air time will also go to projects that were almost as high in calories, but:

   - little to zero cost
   - very litte effort

So, keep track of

    - total time put in (try to keep this low)
    - total money spent (try to keep this low)
    - total money saved in groceries (try to keep this high)

Participants are encouraged to use a "ghost acre":  a place where mulches and fertilizers are grown, outside of the 200 square feet.  

I want to see practices far above organic.  

I want to see this done with zero imports from off-site.  I wish for the final movie to advocate NOT buying stuff, and NOT risking the import of things that could be toxic.


Most of all: I want people that watch this movie to KNOW to their core that gardening is:

   - easy
   - delightful
   - productive
   - thrifty
   - yummy

A lot world problems are solved in the garden.  And the #1 thing keeping a billion people from dabbling in gardening is knowledge.



What do we need to do to polish this?

Who will be submitting video for this?  

Ca n electroculture be used in this project?

Mike Haasl wrote:Due to a severe lack of snow and nice weather, I got out and took my first video for GAMCOD!  

How should we be pronouncing it?  GAM as in "Game" or GAM as in "Gamma"?   And COD like the fish or like "Code"?

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Last week I marked out my garden, mulched it, and documented it... with still photos! Ooops!

Christopher Weeks wrote:

Dian Green wrote:I'm a bit north of Lake Erie, so Canadian zone 6b, is that cold enough? ( not sure which type of zone range you are using and how it differs from the Canadian one)

This USDA zone map includes Canada. I think only the southernmost coastal BC can be too warm for Paul's cutoff.

Craig Lewis wrote:Why no cardboard?