Kickstarter of the Week - Ten Acre Organics

I know we escaped the Mayan apocalypse, but if the world is overrun by zombies (or Doomsday Preppers turns out to be right), you want the guys from Ten Acre Organics on your side. They’re preparing the kind of high-efficiency, low-impact green farm rarely seen outside the pages of golden age science fiction utopias. If they can make it work in Austin, they want to set up ten acre farms outside cities all over the country. 

On a mere ten acres, they plan to use the science of aquaponics (a symbiotic system of raising aquatic animals and using the fish waste to fertilize crops, as the crop roots in turn filter the water) to grow tilapia alongside a diverse range of fresh vegetables, with chicken coops, beehives, mushrooms and composting thrown in as a bonus. Despite having all that farm goodness crammed into such a small space, using careful balance and a lot of science they can come pretty darn close to running a zero-waste facility. If you’ve seen what comes off industrial farms, you know that last part is indeed impressive. 

Founders Lloyd Minick and Michael Hanan structured their Kickstarter rewards so they can help other people set up their own green gardening projects. For $200, they’ll come to your house and set up a composting system. Bump that up to $500 and they’ll build you a wicking bed garden. For $1,000 they’ll set up a mini “desktop” aquaponics system in your home. If you really want to go off the grid, for $2,500 they’ll set up a full-scale aquaponics system designed to feed one person indefinitely. If you’ve got a family, you can opt for either the $5,000 two-person system or the $10,000 four-person system, good for sustaining you through the apocalypse of your choice.

For people who want good organic food without the mess of growing it, they also offer a variety of support levels for different quantities of CSA baskets (wherein you buy a share of the upcoming crop and get a mix of in-season vegetables every week). If you’re not sure you want to commit, you can spend $60 to attend a fish fry where you’ll sample the aquaponically grown tilapia as well as the veggies grown on the farm. 

One of the things I like best about this Kickstarter is the use of aquaponics and organic technology for a bright, optimistic purpose. I normally see these things in a grim, survivalist context, but these guys want to make fresh, locally grown food cheaper and more available for everyone with a minimum of farm waste. That’s admirable. And as cities continue to grow, a ten acre farm could conceivably survive suburban sprawl, eventually becoming a green oasis in the middle of a sea of single family houses. 

If you’re in the market for a new CSA or if you just like to see science used for practical, optimistic purposes, show the Ten Acre Organics Kickstarter some love. 

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Curious how our previous Austin Kickstarters did?

The Ghastlycrud Zombies was fully funded! They earned over $6100 with an initial goal of $4300, so the book is in good shape.

The Live Action Jem and the Holograms Movie was over 250% funded! Mind you, they were only asking for $200. Go ahead and throw them a couple more bucks just to be part of something awesome.

Jumpshot made an amazing 500% of their goal! They raised more than $147,000, putting them in the top tier of all Kickstarters.  

My Education was fully funded!  Our instrumental band is set for their European tour.

Rockrgrrl Magazine’s GRL Talk Book was fully funded! They made over 120% of their original goal.

Strange Kid Comix was over 114% funded! They raised more than $2850 for their taste of pure pop culture nostalgia.

Wholly Kabob was 100% funded. They raised $15,250 to start a tasty new food trailer.

Texas or Die: An Anthology of Horror sadly didn’t reach its $7000 goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.

The Anachronist sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.

Stabil-i-Case sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.

The Doctor Who Review Project sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.

Taskbox sadly didn’t reach it’s goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.

The original Spinferno Kickstarter was cancelled and replaced by a new Spinferno for Android kickstarter.