Agriculture



List the types of food you would like to see us grow and list any other details you can. Just don't write down "I like bananas!", spend a little time thinking about how it would fit into the island framework, how resource intensive it is, the nutrition provided back, is it native? Provide as many details as possible.

Geography
The type of island we decide to build on will most likely be in a temperate, Mediterranean or Tropical climate. As such we should plan any gardening, farming, apiary efforts, etc around what the local environment can support.

Amount of Land
The amount of minimum land needed to support one per person per year would be 0.07 hectares, however that is in an absolute ideal scenario, so I would suggest at least 0.10 hectares if not 0.15 to air on the safe side and allow the land to fallow.

Since most islands are listed in acres the size in hectares is alot less 50 acres roughly equals 20 hecatres. So 50 acres of farming land would be able to suport around 200 people.

"The minimum amount of agricultural land necessary for sustainable food security, with a diversified diet similar to those of North America and Western Europe (hence including meat), is 0.5 of a hectare per person. This does not allow for any land degradation such as soil erosion, and it assumes adequate water supplies. Very few populous countries have more than an average of 0.25 of a hectare. It is realistic to suppose that the absolute minimum of arable land to support one person is a mere 0.07 of a hectare–and this assumes a largely vegetarian diet, no land degradation or water shortages, virtually no post-harvest waste, and farmers who know precisely when and how to plant, fertilize, irrigate, etc. [FAO, 1993]"

Food/Farming Wish List

 * Bee Keeping (requested by megaproxy)
 * Fiber animals; goats, alpaca, llama, sheep, whatever is best for the situation(requested by glorfon)
 * Milk producing animals for milk/butter/cheese/yoghurt (requested by aedile)
 * Hemp cultivation
 * Rice. Processing is relatively easy. It grows well and is used a lot in tropical climates. It needs a lot of water. Fiber provided back, along with carbohydrates.
 * Chickens. They can make eggs which give us protein and fats.
 * Chickens are easy to raise. However you to hatch them you must need fertilized eggs. The ones that you get from the grocery store are not fertilized and will never hatch. There are special ones that you can buy that are fertilized.
 * You can feed them grains, grass, and some bugs.
 * Free range chickens don't need some supplements that caged chickens need (calcium, quartz, etc).
 * You want to let them roam around until it's feeding time. To feed them, spill some rice or grains on the ground and they will come to it. Then put a big basket over them so they will eat the food. When you go to sleep you should keep them in the basket.
 * Roosters will crow.
 * Hens need nests that are soft. You can make them in a coop.
 * Olives. You can make oil from olives.
 * Anything that gives a certain vitamin or mineral that people need.
 * Fruits. If it is tropical, we can most definitely grow the following:
 * Coconuts
 * Pineapples
 * Bananas
 * Various nuts
 * Citrus (vitamin C)
 * Kiwis
 * Lychees
 * Other stuff that isn't commonly found, so we can start a unique "reddit island cuisine" (with lots of bacon). e.g. mangoes, mangosteens etc
 * Potatoes
 * Cucumbers
 * Tomatoes
 * Yams and taros (taros are yummy when made with this one soup)
 * Carrots
 * Green, leafy vegetables
 * Brussel sprouts
 * Cabbage
 * Lettuce
 * Various Asian vegetables that I don't know the names of (Bok choy,Chinese cabbage, bitter melon (bitter but healthy ) etc.)
 * Onions
 * Garlic
 * Berries
 * Beans
 * Cauliflower
 * Soybeans
 * Celery
 * If we need dough, we can use wheat or rye or similar.
 * Pigs
 * They smell, need lots of food, and squeal really loud. They don't really need a lot of space though.
 * Mushrooms
 * Spices - expensive, and best if we grew it ourselves. uses little space.
 * Spices grow well in tropical areas
 * Pepper
 * Cumin
 * Turmeric
 * Fishing - meat source
 * We can either have aquaculture or fishing
 * Crabs and lobsters
 * Molluscs (clams, oysters, mussels)
 * Fish (in the ocean: mackeral, anchovies, ...)
 * Shrimp
 * Permaculture