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Summary
part 2 of a 2 part podcast
Paul continues the discussion about GAMCOD with Mike, Tim, Rebekah, Stephen and Clay
They're addressing Paul's list of
gardening misconceptions which
Wheaton eco scale level 1 people believe:
1) costs more than buying food at the store
2) requires massive knowledge
3) takes an enormous amount of time, it'd be easier to work and buy food.
4) requires an established garden
5) provides a tiny amount of novelty, not your main food.
They continue with point 3 about time. The consensus is that none of the people in the podcast spent much time.
Moving on to point 4: the whole point of the GAMCOD
project is that you start from scratch - which is the opposite of an established garden. The whole point is to start with nothing. The different members started from different places: Rebekah started with a
lawn. Stephen built a hügelkultur at the labs using dirt and some logs. The dirt was silty clay stuff dug out from a handy point.
Next they move on to point 5: the focus of GAMCOD is to grow calories not just food - people tend to grow things like tomatoes or other foods which don't provide much calories per acre. Mike comments that many people don't cook much, they buy mostly ready meals. If you habitually do that you tend to grow just herbs and salad. Paul agrees, most of the high calorie stuff needs cooking. Tim mentions that
gardening allows you to try things that you might not normally eat. Stephen agrees with that and also comments that GAMCOD requires several different crops to qualify. By selecting the right crops you can grow plenty of food.
Paul reviews the requirements for GAMCOD: 200 sq. ft, clearly marked at the start. For this round, the climate has to have got to zero °F at some time in the last 10 years. Maybe next year other climates might be included. The core requirement is calories per acre. Need to grow at least 5 crops which are generally recognized as food. No Soy, because Monsanto own it all. No imports of fertilizer, no importing mulch etc. from more than 500ft away. Track time and money spent and minimize both. Also track how much you saved on buying groceries. Any video which is used in the final movie will earn $400 per minute.
Relevant Threads
GAMCOD forum
GAMCOD 2025: 200 square feet; Zero degrees F or colder; calories cheap and easy
GAMCOD: Video Submissions
GAMCOD - strategy C
PEP/PEM BBs to complete during GAMCOD
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Kyle Neath
Bill Crim
anonymous
Chris Sugg
Kerry JustTooLazy
Jocelyn Campbell
Bill Erickson
Sasquatch
G Cooper
Dominic Crolius
Penny McLoughlin
Mehron Kugler
Pasquale DeAngelis
havokeachday
Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
Greg Martin
Mark
Sean Benedict
Rita Bliden
Dana Martin
Candace Dahlk
Keith Kuhnsman
Leanne
Eric Tolbert
Nick DePuy
Nathan Hale
Opalyn
Rose
Polly Jayne Smyth
Todd Gerardot
Katie Young
Ivar Vasara
Brent Lawson
Weston prestage
Candice Crawford
Chris Holtslag
Song Zheng
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