Many of you know my somewhat unhealthy obsession with wanting to have a farm. I think it’s a mix of growing up visiting my Grandfather’s California farm and vegetable gardening. Regardless, It might be time to take that more seriously as an occupation. Jim Rogers, who started the Quantum Fund with George Soros, was recently interviewed in Business Week and said:

I really think agriculture is going to be the best place to be. Agriculture’s been a horrible business for 30 years. For decades the money shufflers, the paper shufflers, have been the captains of the universe. That is now changing. The people who produce real things [will be on top]. You’re going to see stockbrokers driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors, because they’ll be working for the farmers. It’s going to be the 29-year-old farmers who have the Lamborghinis. So you should find yourself a nice farmer and hook up with him or her, because that’s where the money’s going to be in the next couple of decades.

Now if I only had 7 figures to buy the acreage…

Last spring, after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which came recommended by way of a blog post by Waldo Jaquith, I decided to join a community supported agriculture program here in Northern Virginia run by the Hauter family at Bull Run Farm. Learning to cook with the seasons and trying a variety of new vegetables I’d not had before was quite a rewarding experience.

I had a basil plant that grew to be quite large (3’ tall) and some sage but nothing of a real garden. I decided that this year, it needed to be done up a bit more properly. But lacking more than the 5′×8′ concrete balcony floating 80’ off the ground, I am limited as to how extensive I can make it. But I’m going ot give it a good run for the summer and see how it progresses. I plan to keep extensive track of it via the blog, so apologies to those expecting some wonderful insight to usability or design on a regular basis. For the next few months, the order of the day is… dirt.

The basics were laid last week: an onion that had taken to sprouting on my counter was put into a pot, the Aloe Vera plant transplanted to a larger container, the sage given it’s own pot proper. And today, with the arrival of a variety of heirloom sees, the mini greenhouses have been sown with arugula, basil, lavender, thyme, and carrots. Tomorrow, I’ll plant some various lettuces, radishes, and beans in their pots outside.

I plan to put in tomatoes, lettuce, white eggplant, and squash by next Monday. I have also ordered a dehyhdrator and plan to attempt to do some pressure canning as well (with much direction from Lisa King, I’m sure!)

So, does anyone know of any good self-watering drip irrigation systems that would be deployable on a balcony?