A cooperative in Switzerland is developing a consumer-supported agriculture system to which consumers pay a periodic fee. Consumers are also required to farm the land for a number of hours per year.

There isn’t much growing on the two and a half hectares of land in Ziplo, Geneva, save for small plots of lettuce here and there and a few herbal plants. As Switzerland  transitions from winter to spring, the activities of the Jardin du Chorroton cooperative are quiet as the farmers wait for prime growing season.

“This land actually doesn’t belong to the farmers or consumers,” says Irene (29). “Four years ago we claimed this land because it was abandoned.” She explains that in the past the land was used for conventional farming, using pesticides and other chemicals. “The farm next to us still uses these conventional techniques (pointing to the border of the two lands); the difference is like life and death.”

The land adjacent to Jardin du Chorroton is owned by immigrant workers from Portugal. The visual difference between this land and the property cared for by Irene is striking; it appears dry and barren.

There are 140 family members of the cooperative under the umbrella organization of Uniterra, a member of the small farmer organization La Via Campesina (International Peasant Movement). In 2007 La Via Campesina formed the cooperative with farmers to cultivate the land through consumer-supported agriculture.

The unique aspect of this system is that consumers must pay in advance a sum of 1,400 Swiss Francs (around US$ 1,475) per year. This capital is used to plant on the land, and the variety of crops to be planted is pre-approved by cooperative members. In this way, the farmers who work the land—there are around six people, Irene among them—receive a secure monthly salary.

The cooperative collective bears the burden of any risk to the harvest. Ipso facto if a surplus of produce is harvested, consumers receive more, and if output declines, as in the winter season, consumers will receive less. All the harvested produce is packaged in baskets and distributed by the cooperative each week to drop points around the city of Geneva.

Individual consumers retrieve their own baskets of produce. Additionally, they are required to spend 16 hours a year farming the land. “The consumers need to be aware [of the process] so they can really be a part of this system,” explains Irene.

Irene says that there are many families in Geneva who want to be a part of this new style of cooperative; but due to quality control measures and limited production on this small plot of land, the cooperative has had to turn down some requests for membership. Luckily, dozens of cooperatives in Switzerland have also adopted these consumer-supported agricultural systems.

At Jardin du Chorroton, almost all of the management employs mechanized systems for farming. Ten well-constructed greenhouses complete with irrigation systems are erected on the property. Farmers use a variety of tools, from simple hand tractors to large tractors and machines for turning and loosening the soil, and shape garden beds for planting are all employed.

Farming methods are based on sustainable farming systems; therefore, there are also mechanized systems for moving compost and processing waste. “One of my friends who works here is crazy about machines,” says Irene, laughing.

One traditional technique Jardin du Chorroton continues to preserve is horse-drawn ploughs. The horses they own plough the land, transport produce, and are even used during demonstrations. In fact, the cooperative’s name is derived from horse-powered farming techniques: In the local language chorroton translates to “horse-drawn carriage.”

This afternoon a consumer is harvesting sage herbs from one of the garden beds. Usually, on the weekends, consumers will bring their families, especially their children, to learn and play at Jardin du Chorroton.

This model of a producer/consumer cooperative for food production is actually increasingly popular all over the world. In addition to Switzerland, the countries of Japan, the United States, and Spain all boast rising Community Supported Agriculture movements. If product prices are compared with store-bought items, the cost of cooperative produce is similar; but cooperative farming offers the additional benefit of support for local products, allows consumers to know the quality of their food, and offers a short chain of sale.

From the farmer’s perspective, cooperatives provide a guaranteed income and, as a result, a secure source of livelihood hard to come by in today’s market. Farmers are also protected from risks such as crop failure or market price fluctuation.

Can a system like this be developed within our local farmers’ organizations? Is it possibly to spread this idea more widely across Indonesia?

Written by the Head of Foreign Affairs for the Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI – Serikat Petani Indonesia). This article was written in conjunction with in-country activities to advocate for small farmer’s rights during the 16^th Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Switzerland, March 2011.

Fill the seedling pots with potting soil, this can be topsoil mixed with manure, rice husks, and other organic materials. Make sure there are some holes in the bottom of the pots so that water doesn’t collect there.

Sawi (Chinese cabbage) seeds.

Pumpkin seeds.

Long beans and snow pea seed pods; peel and remove the seeds.

Plant the seeds with a happy heart and smile on your face. Think of the seed like your child. A child will grow healthy in a family that is filled with love.

Label the seedling containers so you don’t forget what kind of seeds you planted. Place the seedlings in a place that is protected from direct sunlight, strong winds, and heavy rain. Ants love baby seedlings, so to protect them from ant armies, place your seedlings on a raised platform or table and put the table legs in a container of water. Remember to water your seedlings every morning and afternoon.

Some rhizome plants, like ginger, bongkot, and turmeric, can be planted directly in the land. The same goes for plant and root cuttings, such as cassava, bamboo, and banana. Pumpkin and long bean seeds also grow well directly in the lands. Seedlings and extra care is most important for vegetable plants, such as sawi, lettuce, chili, and tomatoes.

After a week, cute baby plants will start to appear :)

After about two weeks the seedlings can be planted in the land. Carefully remove the seedlings from the containers. Make sure to not damage the roots. Add the remaining potting soil around the plant roots so that the seedlings can adapt well to their new environment. Different types of plants can be planted close together, and this diversity is good for your garden.

If your land or garden bed is in direct sunlight or it is too hot during the dry season, you can add some shade, like the netting used here. Netting works well because it still allows some sunlight to pass through. Care for the young seedlings well. Make sure the soil doesn’t dry out and there is enough mulch around the young plants.

A healthy, organic home garden will not only reduce your expenses, but can also provide nutritious food for the whole family. And the area round your house will be greener, cooler, and of course beautiful. Extra vegetable produce can be shared with your neighbors, and they will love you more for that. But, make sure not to make your neighbor’s wife jealous. Remember, urban farming is the realization of the slogan: the neighbor’s garden is always greener.

Welcome to the Urban Farming Syndicate! Follow @BaliUrbanFarm on Twitter.

Click here to read part 1 of this article.

Especially if there is unused land around your house; instead of letting this become a toilet for your dogs, turn it into healthy vegetables. Instead of letting the snakes nest there, plant some snake-like vine plants. Instead of wasting time, roll up your shirtsleeves and get to work: Plant your own food! Lift your hoe, my friend!

Following are a few simple steps on how to plant a vegetable garden behind your house. When you start your garden, please share your farming stories and photos with Akarumput.com. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a love-connection with someone who is on the look out for a do-it-yourself partner, who is kind, passionate, and smells a little like soil.

Prepare the soil. You can start with a small plot and slowly expand slowly.

Loosen up the soil with a hoe and clear away any rocks, plastic trash, or used condoms.

Raise the soil and shape it into garden beds. Use any shape you like, long, square, circular, star shaped, spiral. Leave some space to walk through the garden beds, because you need to avoid walking on top of the beds to make sure you do not compact the soil.

If needed, add some nutrient rich soil which has been mixed with manure. In Denpasar, this soil can be bought at plant-shops for around 250,000-300,000 rupiah for a whole pick up truck full. But it’s even better if you mix your own potting soil with fertilizer, because the kind you can buy usually only contains a small amount of cow manure. Look, my dog Backer wants to donate some manure to the garden ;)

Husss!! Backer!!! Stop following me!!

Add some fertilized soil on top of the garden beds.

Now you can also add a layer of mulch on top of the garden beds. Mulch is made up of organic materials which will protect the soil from too much sunlight and make sure it stays damp underneath, while providing additional nutrients to the soil. Mulch could be rice husks, hay, woodchips, coffee husks, or dry leaves and grass. If you have pets at home, like Backer or chickens, make sure to add a fence around your garden. Use cheap and available materials. The fence could be made from tree cuttings. Legumes like lamtoro, kelor, kayu santan, and dapdap make great living fences. These tree cuttings will grow up to provide shade for your garden and the leaves can be used as a vegetable. Legumes are really useful for the soil, because when they are cut back, the nodules in the legume roots release nitrogen into the soil. In this photo you can see we used kelor and kayu santan as living fence, because kelor leaves are one of my favorite veggies. The garden fence can also be used as a place to grow vine plants.

To save space, use vertical gardening techniques, like pergolas for vine plants such as pumpkin, passion fruit, and long beans. Our garden uses bamboo weaving which leans against our neighbor’s wall so the pumpkin plants will grow vertical, not horizontal which takes up much more space.

While preparing the land, pots or polybags can be used to plant seeds. Again, use materials that are easily available. You can even use left over materials or rubbish as seedling containers, such as old soda cans, sardine containers, water bottles, milk cartons, or broken buckets.

Wow, urban farming serves so many purposes. Mmm, and this article is getting way to long. So stop back soon and follow @BaliUrbanFarm on twitter for more urban farming techniques.

Look at all the land around your house. What is growing there? How much land is unproductive?

In big cities, people spend large sums of money to create gardens around their homes. Many home owners fill their garden with ornamental plants like Anthurium (flamingo flowers) or Aglonema.

A few years ago some species of ornamental plants become very popular, and the prices for them skyrocketed. But this trend didn’t last long due to price speculation. Still, it’s amazing that ornamental plants, which so easily reproduce and serve little function, can sell for the price of a car.

Those who got caught up in the trend of ornamental plants, now can only kick themselves. They spent a lot of money, but the plants they own no longer hold economic value. On top of that, the plants are not even edible. But by utlizing just a small plot of land around your own house can provide so much healthy food. The trend of growing edible plants in an urban environment is catching on: it is called urban farming or urban agriculture.

Urban farming is a social movement with the goal of achieving food sovereignty. Of course, this is accomplished on a microlevel or household scale. On the national, macro level, Indonesia’s food production system is still oriented toward food security: In response to the threat of famine or food crisis, the government’s solution is always to import food. This is detrimental to the independence of this nation.

Urban farming doesn’t only apply to horizontal residential areas. It can also be used in vertical homes, such as apartment buildings. As long as there is air and sunlight, plants can grow. There are other advantages as well: plants add oxygen to the air, and gardening can be a relaxing hobby, contributing to a decrease in stress. Urban farming leads to the actualization of a truly green lifestyle.

The idea that success is based on the level of income is a concepts that must be changed: With the same level of income, one household can be much more successful than another by reducing its expenses. A small plot of land around your house can produce a large percentage of the vegetables you use, thereby reducing the amount of food which needs to be bought. With a little effort, urban farming can even be an additional source of income.

For those who prefer organic food, urban farming is the easiest way to make sure the food you eat does not contain any chemicals, such as commercial fertilizer, insecticides, and pesticides. Purchased organic food is usually more expensive, and not always guaranteed to be chemical-free. Urban farming also helps vegetarians fulfill their need for vegetables, which they can pick fresh at home.

Urban farming can also become an integral part of household waste management. In Indonesia, efforts to encourage separation of organic and non-organic waste have failed, mainly because of the government’s current system. Households may choose to separate their waste, but the waste trucks then dump all the organic and non-organic waste together.

But urban farmers can turn their organic waste into compost, which can then be used to fertilize their gardens. Producing compost can also be assisted by simple, affordable compost-making tools which are sold through the Internet. The composting process can be sped up by adding microorganisms or EM4 bacteria, and this bacteria can also be made at home.

My friends and I rent a 500-square-meter office-home space on Jalan Drupadi in Denpasar. About 3 ares of the space is vacant land that can we use for urban farming. We plant tomatoes, chillis, lettuces, sawi (Chinese cabbage) and pok choy. We can harvest the sawi and pok choy around 40 days after planting the seeds. Maintenance of these two types of vegetable plants is not difficult; they just need to be watered every day.

Before planting, you will need to prepare the land. Soil can be mixed with manure, compost, or rice husks. Before planting vegetables, planting a legume ground cover to help improve nitrogen levels and nutrients within the soil. Ground nut plants can also be planted in between vegetables.

Around harvest time recently, we had an oversupply of vegetables. To avoid becoming bored of eating the same type of veggies, we sold some of the harvest to a restaurant in Renon, Denpasar. They paid us double the market price because the vegetables were so fresh and were grown without the use of pesticides.

We aren’t planting vegetables for the profit, but for the sustainability of having natural fertilizers and a beautiful plot of land. We continue to work on our land so the results improve and the yummy vegetables look good and bring us happiness. Yes, this is the real goal of urban farming: happiness.

Now lets have fun harvesting our backyards.