A few facts about a project of ecological gardening and animal farming, Beboergaarden.

  We have a small farm,'smallholding', farmhouse and outbuildings, and about one acre ef land.
  The farm is situated very close to some blocks of flats, home of about 3000 people in the outskirts of the town of Svendborg, Denmark. Svendborg itself has about 20.000 inhabitans.

  "We" are a club (or association) of about 30 people (Oct. 02). Most members have individual gardens or animals on the farm. (We tried to grow vegetables for common use or for sale, but we have given that up for the present - too much work and too few results)
  Among the members have this year been the local school and a local kindergarten, who have had gardens of their own.

  For now, we have 25 gardens, mostly with vegetables, some of which are very productive. We do not use pesticides or firtilizers. People can do what they want with their gardens, which makes room for experiments.

  On the farm, we have goats, sheeps, ducks, geese, rabbits, pigeons, and chicken. We have had pigs too, but we have none for the present.We have about 100 animals all in all. The animals are for looking at,- we have several different races, - but are also for use, - which is important for the place. We want to have a real 'living' farm, and to make a - small - contribution (or a start, maybe) to local self-sufficiency. And to make people concious of the fact that chicken and ducks which live in the best possible condition, also is food of a considerably better quality than those we buy in the supermarket.
  About 50 ducks and geese have been sold this year.
  We also hatch chicken and ducklings - this can be hard, because races used for hobby and display, og in professional poultry keeping, mostly can't brood.

  A few words about the project's background
  What we wanted form the start was to make some initiatives concerning ecology / sustainability in the area - which is quite a task in social housing estates like this. For quite a while, we were  2 - 3  people in the group... !!
  Then, quite by coincidence, we were offered to rent the farm temperarily for a rather low yearly amount. So we took the chance - and started finding members afterwards. A somewhat awkward procedure, which certainly has made the process og building the project - let's say interesting ...

  The essence of our project is:
  - Giving people who live in flats the chance to grow vegitables and to have animals, for hobby or consumption,
  - Making a meetingplace for people in the area, with a chance to do something together instead of just talking, - also people of different cultural backgrounds- "integration" (we have members of ethnic groups from literally speaking all over the world)
  - Promoting 'Green Culture' / ecology by showing and practicing a life a bit closer to nature, than we are used to in our highly specialized, highly industrialized society).(What was life like on the smallholdings in the end of the last century, when many combined jobs as workmen with small scale farming, for providing their family with food?. Our farm looks a bit like that .) (Animals - particularly goats - are really good 'promoters'. - Children love them.)
  - A tiny step towards independence and selfsufficency.

 The general experiance is, that in working with a 'city farm' project - be it on a small scale, such as ours - you are deeply involved with a very wide spectrum of topics - ecology, practical problems, culture, integration, social problems, psycology, organization, communication etc. etc. .. Which is just what makes it fascinating. But those subjects tend in our world to be very fragmented and have fear of contact with each other (F. ex., many 'ecologists' do not want to have too much to do with social problems - and you do not see many "ethnic" people in ecologic initiatives - not in Denmark, anyway - though many og those are used to live of what nature can provide).

  Many people pass by the farm every day - we are situated at an old, now closed road which is much used for strolls. Quite a few drop in for a chat now and then, and many stop to look at or feed the animals.
  In particular, child-minders and kindergardens use us a lot during the summer. We have a place for a bonfire and other places where they can sit.

  The project is run entirely by volunteers / members.
  Our budget is about  13000 DKr (about 1500 US$) a year.
  Most is covered by membership payment, but we get a little subsidy (about 5000 Dkr. pro year ) mostly for maintenance of the buildings.
  We use the money mostly for electricity, expenses for sewerage, property taxes, and a small rent.

  So of course, we have to keep expenses down. We use a lot of  recycling material for sheds for the animals, and for repair at the buildings.
 
 

Our Farm House.   The plants in the windows are mostly herbs, grown by our campuchean members.

 

Our ducks and geese by the waterpool on a beautiful autum's day. (The residental area I have mentioned is just behind the trees in the background)

 

A bunch of ducklings, hatched on the farm

 

A herb bed in one of our gardens (With a never finished Tipi in the backgound)

 

The goats coming to say hello

 

... and another crowd of chicken and ducks.

 
 

From our residental area, Hømarken. (The Hay Field)

Another view from a forest next to Hømarken.