GAMCOD - strategy C

strategy A:  hire five gardeners for decent pay, plus a manager and a videographer.  Budget of $300k.  Couldn't get enough gardeners.

strategy B:  Same, but everybody gets paid much more.  Budget of $850k. Still cannot get enough gardeners.


Strategy C:  100 gardeners from all over the world send in their video of their attempt.  Maybe the first episode will feature the best 12.  And those 12 will get some coin.  Maybe the last episode will have five finalists and each of those five will get more coin.  Maybe a total budget of $100k.


Maybe some of the requirements for the acre will be a looser.  

So if $50,000 goes to the gardeners, and there are 14 episodes, then maybe there is $3000 per episode going to the gardeners for the first ten episodes and $5000 per episode for the last 4 episodes.  Each gardener would get a prorated amount for the amount of time they end up in each episode.   So a gardener featured in the first episode might get $100 to $400 for that episode.  And a gardener featured in the last episode might get $600 to $2000 for that episode.  A really good gardener contributing a lot of good stuff to all 14 episodes could get something like $10,000 for the whole series.

If this idea seems like it could get legs, then we would need to put together a new questionnaire for potential gardeners and see if we get a better response rate.



For now:  what do you all think of this strategy?

Wow!

Big change, could be great! No way I could go to Wheaton labs, but I could consider that (just need a video camera and an acre...)

I think you may have to rethink the rules to make it 'fair' (or not). When located at Wheaton labs everyone starts with the same conditions - same dirt (give or take) same weather (give or take). This wouldn't be the case if it was opened out worldwide. Also some of the core crops just wouldn't grow here on Skye without significant protection. For example maize and tomato would have very little hope of a crop, let alone establishing apricots (although I could manage nettles no trouble!). Others will have better temperatures or soil but less rain.

How to level the playing field?

I think people won't have the same dirt, nor climate.  But I do like the idea of favoring colder climates.

I think there are a lot of homesteaders that have an acre that really hasn't been touched yet.  There might be some people that want to do this that have, say, an existing quarter acre of gardens and this will be what they need to expand to a full acre.  So maybe part of the requirements is that there can be an existing quarter acre.

Note that we take out the "race" for a million calories and the "race" for the most calories.  Although I do think the whole thing is "calories per acre" combined with a fair bit of permaculture.

This is a fabulous idea.  Permaculture in action around the world.  The most usefulness category could be managed by up votes.  From what I see, each gardener would have their own set of challenges with soil, weather, insects, etc.  This would enable Permies and other interested gardeners to see not only what is possible in their own region but how others around the Permies world go about problem solving.

I think that we will never get a totally level playing field but some rules could be introduced to make it a challenge.  Things such as raised bed, mulched bed, lasagna garden and grow certain universal vegetables such as brassicas or spinach from landrace seeds. Plant an area of Sepp Holzer seed.  I think the competition would probably need to be divided into three zones - for example, above the Tropic of Cancer, below the Tropic of Capricorn, and between the two tropics.  This will ensure that folk in the north are not competing with the folk in the south where one is summer and the other winter; 6' of snow probably is not conducive to summer cropping 😂

Paul your pro-rating scheme for "participation" has me wonder about accounting for area as well. Could the net be widened to include non-acre sized plots? Thinking of 1/4 or 1/2 acre and up to maybe 2?
The possibility to do this on one's own property might be really motivating to many, considering not travelling/living away for a growing season, and literally reaping the benefits of your work and enhancing your own place.
The chances of a longitudinal participation would likely be higher, as most of us have a long term relationship with our properties. You might get way more year three participants/data.
But, if you had less than an acre to work with...

It might also be cool to see calories/hours/area relationships that would be missed in a strict "one acre" version. Could there be a sweet spot for one farmer to manage in both space and time?

Less cost, more participation, and maybe more brains infected with permaculture! Sounds like a winner to me!

Suppose 100 people submit for the first episode.  Maybe the editors will choose 20 submissions, or maybe just 12.  I suspect that plots that are a full acre starting with just dirt will be preferred over half acre plots that were gardens last year.  So I guess it kinda depends on what is sent in. And, of course, it depends on the overall quality and fit.

Interesting idea! I would be concerned about the quality of video clips being sent in... Some people don't know what to film, and might not produce watchable stuff. I wonder if the project manager could provide some ideas or examples of good quality content to get people something to work off of. Would also be concerned you'd get a ton of submissions off the bat, and follow-through would taper off, so there's reason to design the payment or contracts to incentivise sticking with it. Maybe a list of requirements and expectations for ppl after first ep.

I think it would pose some challenges that the other plans wouldn't, but would also overcome the challenges the other plans couldn't, so certainly worth considering. Also means project manager doesn't have to be on-site, which is great.
It's something I wanted to do real bad, but I couldn't manage going down to the labs, so this would make it actually accessible for me, aside from the fact that I don't have a whole acre for gardening...

I wonder if you could have categories based on land size or something. Like "Most produced on 1/2 acre" "Most produced on 1/4 acre" "Most produced in a community garden plot"
Would be a way to show people they don't even need tons of land to grow a good portion of their own food. Show a spectrum of circumstances, and the abundance possible in each.

I love the idea of seeing gardeners work from a variety of areas. My 2 cents would be to rethink the 1 acre requirement and reinstate a calorie (or other growing) goal. Many viewers won't be able to relate to gardening on a full acre, and I think changing the goal allows gardeners to show more creativity and ingenuity. It's not a level playing field, but gardeners would be able to play to their strengths. Instead of asking what can be done on an acre, the question becomes "what does it take to grow 1 million calories" or something similar.
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First time I am even hearing about this project. Sounds very interesting, would love to know more. Someone mentioned it being for more northern climates. I would love to see more information and more done with northern climate gardening.  We have the property, although it is not cleared yet. Would love to learn more about possible participation, Though we have a very short growing season in our zone 3b Alaska climate. We are planning to start a good sized garden though it is just my husband and I and we don't have any equipment to work with unless we rent it. Everything is done by hand, and in between many other projects and full time job.

I like the idea of farmers farming their own land. When I heard Paul's latest podcast, a garden consultation with Samantha in which they discuss GAMCOD, made me think of an added bonus to GAMCOD/ a twist. Paul could give a consultation to each participant at some point in the season, much like the advice given to participants in Project Runway by Tim Gunn. (Don't judge me. I'm not a fashionista. I just like the creativity.) Of course, the participants can take it or leave it. But people could learn a lot from hearing the advice. The participant would get the bonus of having a consultation with Paul, which I think would be quite a enticing.

https://richsoil.com/permaculture/81924-podcast-639-samantha's-consultation-part-1