How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres.

[EternalOne]

Hi all

I thought that you may enjoy this intresting story of how How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres with Aquaponics.

2 great articles on this particular farm doing this right now.

How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres.

Part 2 - How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres.

I think this is an amazing way to take back control of your food sources. There seems to be SO many benifits to this method of cultivating organic veg and it also gives you a supply of fish as well.

Other benifits are;
•Up to 10 Times More ORGANIC Plants! With aquaponics you place plants closer together on a float system above the water, therefore it fits 10 times more plants in the same space! The roots of the plants are always in nutrient rich water and there’s no over-crowding!
•There’s no more weeding! The system removes the need for pain-staking and annoying weeding. You get more freedom and enjoyment!
•No more soil pests! The need for pesticides is eliminated, which makes it that much easier for you to have amazing plants and fruit without toxic chemicals.
•No More Watering! The aquaponics system uses only 2% of the water normal gardening does. Because the water is constantly re-circulated, and you do not lose any to soil absorption. The roots of your plants are constantly submerged in nutrient rich water and you never have to worry about watering your plants again. If you pay for your water, imagine of how much money this can save you.
•Multiple Sources of Income! When you try the aquaponics system yourself, you’ll have more plants than you’ll know what to do with. If you decide to sell your vegetables, guess what.. you also have fish to sell as the aquaponics system produces both plants and fish
•Plants Grows Twice As Fast! Plant experts are shocked when they visit aquaponic farms at how fast plants grow. For example, lettuce which takes 60+ days to mature, takes only about 29 days with this system.
•You use up to 70% less Energy than conventional gardening!
•No More Back-Straining Planting! Planting normally takes a lot of bending over, but not with Aquaponics.

Seems like aquaponics can help change the world for the better

[Alex Barboza]

This forum should have a thanks button. I love this topic and I hope someday, not too far from now, I have enough land to grow organic food.

Thanks a lot

[ChrisGinsburg]

That's pretty cool. Your thread title immediately made me think of Dr. Evil. One MILLION POUNDS!?

[superfoodist]

You should look into Spirulina. You can grow a lot of that on a small amount of land too, and it quadruples itself everyday If I remember right.

[garentee]

As a vegetable farmer I can truly say I dislike the idea of not dealing with the soil. Part of what makes my life so amazing is feeding the soil as well as the plants.. perhaps the only thing that would be a positive about this would be less labor and more food, but it would not be all that interesting.

[Benton]

I wish I could find the article. Mother Earth News published a piece recently about a family in california that was growing something insane like 30k lbs of food on 3/4 acres by doing crop rotation and complimentary planting. I'll have to check out this article too.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by superfoodist

You should look into Spirulina. You can grow a lot of that on a small amount of land too, and it quadruples itself everyday If I remember right.

If that's true, then why the hell is it so damn expensive?

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Alex Barboza

This forum should have a thanks button. I love this topic and I hope someday, not too far from now, I have enough land to grow organic food.

Thanks a lot

There's not a 'thanks' button, but I don't know if you've noticed there's a 'rep' button, which is the second from the left at the bottom of each post

[firenexx]

I think that farming should deal with soil and not water. Growing food inside out of necessity (winter, etc) is fine; sometimes hydro/aquaponics has its place. But for large-scale production with minimal use of resources or dependency on an outside manufactured product (fertilizers, equipment, etc), earth is best.

Organic food is expensive because big organic farms are labour intensive. Many of them do not use the best techniques so they end up weeding beds by hand. Also, they till the soil, which costs money and ends up ruining the soil in the long run. The cheapest way to get organic food is to grow it yourself, using labour-saving techniques.

(If anyone read this before I edited it, I misread a quote and thought RR was referring to organic food being expensive and not spirulina, but I might as well rant about organic food.)

Proper mulching eliminates virtually 90% of labor and pests

Not only is it labour intensive due to poor technique, it's also a "niche market" at the moment, whereas 200 years ago it was 100% of the market.

This aquaponics thing sounds cool but in the end you have to add a nutrient solution into the water... does it really have all the nutrients you need or is it just a run of the mill NPK system? Even organic food doesn't often have the nutritional profile it should, because farmers must use cheap NPK fertilizers rather than relying on organic matter, which is mineral-rich and slow-release.


Also, Alex Barboza, you have enough land to grow organic food, I guarantee it. In fact I'd bet my life on it. Throw a couple pots on the porch and plant some lettuce or tomatoes or something. Even if it's winter, you can still grow dino kale/black kale (as long as you bring it inside when it's like -100) or even spinach under a little tent of sheet plastic. In the summer, you can grow tomatoes in pots, or throw a 8-inch layer of mulch/compost over a tiny area in your yard and grow some tomatoes/peppers/eggplant/ whatever. Start a window herb garden; basil and parsley are tremendously easy to grow and full of antioxidants. Compost and mulch are your friends, use them liberally!

[Benton]

Originally Posted by firenexx

This aquaponics thing sounds cool but in the end you have to add a nutrient solution into the water

The nitrogen cycle is just as valid in water as it is in soil. Flora, fauna and microbes all work together to make a fine ecosystem that grows plants just fine (and naturally).

[ChrisGinsburg]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

If that's true, then why the hell is it so damn expensive?

If it wasn't, most of the whole foods shopper types wouldn't think it was worth it and pass it up.

[firenexx]

The nitrogen cycle is just as valid in water as it is in soil. Flora, fauna and microbes all work together to make a fine ecosystem that grows plants just fine (and naturally).

This is true. However, decomposed organic matter that was grown in natural soil has an excellent mineral profile, and I'm talking mostly about trace minerals. So maybe they have a mineral solution that has everything that's in soil and more. But still - that costs money, and decomposed organic matter does not. I agree that aqua/hydroponic systems have their place, but for large-scale production it could end up being way more energy-intensive than it really needs to be.

I mean I guess it depends on the relative output compared to the energy input. I don't think the centralized food system will ever go away entirely, so perhaps this is the way to go (if it's cost-effective) until people go back to pre-WWII days and start growing most of their own food. In soil.

If it wasn't, most of the whole foods shopper types wouldn't think it was worth it and pass it up.

Little do those whole foods shopper types know that for the price of tag-sale aquarium equipment and a mail order culture + mineral solution, they can produce their own.

[garentee]

Originally Posted by firenexx

I think that farming should deal with soil and not water. Growing food inside out of necessity (winter, etc) is fine; sometimes hydro/aquaponics has its place. But for large-scale production with minimal use of resources or dependency on an outside manufactured product (fertilizers, equipment, etc), earth is best.

Organic food is expensive because big organic farms are labour intensive. Many of them do not use the best techniques so they end up weeding beds by hand. Also, they till the soil, which costs money and ends up ruining the soil in the long run. The cheapest way to get organic food is to grow it yourself, using labour-saving techniques.

(If anyone read this before I edited it, I misread a quote and thought RR was referring to organic food being expensive and not spirulina, but I might as well rant about organic food.)

Proper mulching eliminates virtually 90% of labor and pests

Not only is it labour intensive due to poor technique, it's also a "niche market" at the moment, whereas 200 years ago it was 100% of the market.

This aquaponics thing sounds cool but in the end you have to add a nutrient solution into the water... does it really have all the nutrients you need or is it just a run of the mill NPK system? Even organic food doesn't often have the nutritional profile it should, because farmers must use cheap NPK fertilizers rather than relying on organic matter, which is mineral-rich and slow-release.


Also, Alex Barboza, you have enough land to grow organic food, I guarantee it. In fact I'd bet my life on it. Throw a couple pots on the porch and plant some lettuce or tomatoes or something. Even if it's winter, you can still grow dino kale/black kale (as long as you bring it inside when it's like -100) or even spinach under a little tent of sheet plastic. In the summer, you can grow tomatoes in pots, or throw a 8-inch layer of mulch/compost over a tiny area in your yard and grow some tomatoes/peppers/eggplant/ whatever. Start a window herb garden; basil and parsley are tremendously easy to grow and full of antioxidants. Compost and mulch are your friends, use them liberally!

\
True enough, but using mulch on a large scale is A) Pricey and B) Labor intensive...A bale of straw at the very least is $4 and probably costs that to produce it, and really does not go very far..I used 22 Bales of straw to cover an area 3x 250 feet to mulch between my rows of tomatoes this growing season Extrapolate that out to an acre and it will equal 1277.76 bales of straw.. it is ideal to use straw as it is usually weed free.

Organic food is expensive because it is labor intensive and sometimes there are no remedies to take care of specific bugs(though I am a low spray farmer and I do just fine without it) which means lower yields. 'For everyone who whines about organic food being too expensive ask yourself a question..are you willing to work about 85 hours a week working your fingers to the bone for little to no money? Do you really think farmers are laughing all the way to the bank? ..

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

If that's true, then why the hell is it so damn expensive?

Greed mostly. Many people don't even understand what spirulina is, thus they are totally willing to fork over way more than it's worth and most Health Food stores will happily take your money and raise the price as high as they can get away with without noticing a dip in sales.

[firenexx]

I use composted leaves and wood chips for mulch. Both of which are available in humongous quantities for free or for very close to free. Sure, it's labor intensive to spread it, but it saves sooo much labor in the future. The benefits that a 6-12 inch layer of mulch provide are outright ridiculous:
-Reduce/eliminate soil compaction
-Eliminate need for tilling, if wood chips are used
-Weeding is easier, and some weeds won't even germinate on top of a thick layer of mulch. When they do, the roots pull out easily
-Extend growing season (acts as insulation)
-Bottom layer turns into mineral-rich soil after a few months, reducing need for fertilizer, thus reducing $$ and labor.
-Greatly improve water retention while simultaneously improving drainage (mulch particulates absorb and store water, while allowing excess to pass by.) This reduces need for irrigation, again, $$ and labor.
I don't know, I think bare earth is usually a bad thing and I think there is still a lot to be learned about the most efficient farming methods.

[garentee]

Originally Posted by firenexx

I use composted leaves and wood chips for mulch. Both of which are available in humongous quantities for free or for very close to free. Sure, it's labor intensive to spread it, but it saves sooo much labor in the future. The benefits that a 6-12 inch layer of mulch provide are outright ridiculous:
-Reduce/eliminate soil compaction
-Eliminate need for tilling, if wood chips are used
-Weeding is easier, and some weeds won't even germinate on top of a thick layer of mulch. When they do, the roots pull out easily
-Extend growing season (acts as insulation)
-Bottom layer turns into mineral-rich soil after a few months, reducing need for fertilizer, thus reducing $$ and labor.
-Greatly improve water retention while simultaneously improving drainage (mulch particulates absorb and store water, while allowing excess to pass by.) This reduces need for irrigation, again, $$ and labor.
I don't know, I think bare earth is usually a bad thing and I think there is still a lot to be learned about the most efficient farming methods.

WIth the amount of carbon that you are putting into your soil, just be sure to add plenty of lime.. Growing things the way I do it makes it a bit difficult to mulch every thing that way.. I direct seed a lot of things...Plus I am a big fan of adding nutrients through green manure and regular manure...and eventually having cover crops in fallow areas that will feed grazing sheep(maybe) and chickens then will lead to vegetables after the fallow.. cause I am geeky like that..

[Beauregard]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

If that's true, then why the hell is it so damn expensive?

Large start-up costs, and a good deal of knowledge in the field and engineering.


In my opinion, Hydroponics is the way to grow food. Less space, less resources, more controlled growing environment.

For extremely large amounts though, you need pretty sophisticated systems, or else it won't really work without a lot of labor.

[Alex Barboza]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

There's not a 'thanks' button, but I don't know if you've noticed there's a 'rep' button, which is the second from the left at the bottom of each post

Jejejej I just noticed that. Rep given to the OP

[stanmrak]

Originally Posted by KaleidoskopicVision

Greed mostly. Many people don't even understand what spirulina is, thus they are totally willing to fork over way more than it's worth and most Health Food stores will happily take your money and raise the price as high as they can get away with without noticing a dip in sales.

Greed... really? If I was greedy and wanted to make a lot of money growing something, spirulina is NOT what I'd choose!

Is spirulina really expensive? A tablespoon of spirulina offers more nutritional value than 8 ounces of spinach or any other dark green leafy vegetable - and costs as little as 60 cents.

How much does 8 ounces of fresh organic spinach costs you?

Lesson: If you want the most food for your money, buy beans and rice. If you want the most nutritional value, buy spirulina or chlorella. With the money you save, you can buy some more beans and rice.

[firenexx]

Mmm, beans and rice. I think I'll make a website called "Beans and Rice for health and longevity."

[TellTheTruth]

Originally Posted by firenexx

Proper mulching eliminates virtually 90% of labor and pests

Thanks so much for sharing this! Brilliant. Where do you get your mulch at? I figure it'd take about $500 worth of mulch to put 3" inches on my garden. Probably worth it - but if you say cheap/free just hoping for some ideas.

All the best to you -

[russianrocket]

Anyone know where to find soil to grow organic food? The soil in my backyard, is horrid.

[Mariana Trench]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

Anyone know where to find soil to grow organic food? The soil in my backyard, is horrid.

What's the soil composition like? Clay, sand, polluted...?

Can you compost? Do you know any farmers?

Edit: oh, and what do you hope to grow?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Mariana Trench

What's the soil composition like? Clay, sand, polluted...?

Can you compost? Do you know any farmers?

Edit: oh, and what do you hope to grow?

Appears to be sand, rocks, and roots. A LOT of roots. I wouldn't doubt it's polluted. Too close to a road. And who knows what previous people have sprayed in the area.

I don't compost, but have been looking into it. Trying to figure out a cheap one to buy. Don't know any farmers.

I'm not 100% sure what to grow yet. Something I'd eat lol. Probably no root veggies, so I don't need it too deep.

[Mariana Trench]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

Appears to be sand, rocks, and roots. A LOT of roots. I wouldn't doubt it's polluted. Too close to a road. And who knows what previous people have sprayed in the area.

The easiest option here would be a raised bed, which you were probably thinking of when you asked about soil. You could also do a Hugelkutlure mound (HUGELKULTUR.COM) which isn't as pretty but has its advantages, especially since you really don't have to build anything and don't need as much soil or water, but it would be a rough option if you didn't have wood waste lying around.

I'm assuming you don't really want to rehab the whole area and soil, but it is possible, too.

And if you are concerned about toxins, certain types of fungi will break down petrochemicals into usable organic substances.

I don't compost, but have been looking into it. Trying to figure out a cheap one to buy. Don't know any farmers.

Compost piles are very easy to build with scrap wood. I did, with no building experience. It's strait forward as a building project could be. How you'd go about it would depend on the exact materials you have available, though.

If you find a place that sells local, organic beef (which I'm assuming you'd be interested in anyway), the actual farm is also likely to sell very high quality manure.

You can also compost just about any organic material with the right process--including animal products. You'd need to do a little research into "hot composting" and buy a turkey thermometer, but it's very simple once you get the basic concept.

I'm not 100% sure what to grow yet. Something I'd eat lol. Probably no root veggies, so I don't need it too deep.

Heh, with no root veggies you have to worry a lot less about soil quality in general. But, I'd still look into soil types more deeply once you've decided what you want to grow, as specific information will help you get a better yield. I'd also look into growing unconventional vegetables, as they can often be easier and just as good (comfrey comes to mind: grows like a weed and tastes like chard--great winter veg for the southern US).

[garentee]

Originally Posted by Mariana Trench

The easiest option here would be a raised bed, which you were probably thinking of when you asked about soil. You could also do a Hugelkutlure mound (HUGELKULTUR.COM) which isn't as pretty but has its advantages, especially since you really don't have to build anything and don't need as much soil or water, but it would be a rough option if you didn't have wood waste lying around.

I'm assuming you don't really want to rehab the whole area and soil, but it is possible, too.

And if you are concerned about toxins, certain types of fungi will break down petrochemicals into usable organic substances.

Compost piles are very easy to build with scrap wood. I did, with no building experience. It's strait forward as a building project could be. How you'd go about it would depend on the exact materials you have available, though.

If you find a place that sells local, organic beef (which I'm assuming you'd be interested in anyway), the actual farm is also likely to sell very high quality manure.

You can also compost just about any organic material with the right process--including animal products. You'd need to do a little research into "hot composting" and buy a turkey thermometer, but it's very simple once you get the basic concept.


Heh, with no root veggies you have to worry a lot less about soil quality in general. But, I'd still look into soil types more deeply once you've decided what you want to grow, as specific information will help you get a better yield. I'd also look into growing unconventional vegetables, as they can often be easier and just as good (comfrey comes to mind: grows like a weed and tastes like chard--great winter veg for the southern US).

Raised bed is your best bet.. I do not know about your area, but many landscapers can sell you a yard of super loam (soil and compost) for about $30 delivered... Set the beds up using a hardwood such as hemlock..A yard should give you a bed 40 sq feet 8 inches deep at most. Best to get more soil than you need. Figure out what you want to grow and how much space it takes to determine how much space you need

[firenexx]

Originally Posted by TellTheTruth

Thanks so much for sharing this! Brilliant. Where do you get your mulch at? I figure it'd take about $500 worth of mulch to put 3" inches on my garden. Probably worth it - but if you say cheap/free just hoping for some ideas.

There are many ways to get free wood chips/mulch. Often, your local transfer station/dump will have a big pile free to resident. The guys at mine are nice and they load up my pickup with the back-ho. Some transfer stations will require you to bring a shovel and load it yourself (no pickup truck? Tubs and bins.) If you have the $$ to spare and don't like manual labor, you can also buy it.
Another potentially free source is tree service companies. They go to a job, they take a tree down, and they chip the branches into a dump truck. If they are working in your area, often they will drop the chips off at your house provided it is on the way, and they will often do it for free as they may not have any other use for the chips. (Some companies bring the chips somewhere to be re-ground into a higher quality mulch and then sell it, though.)
Also you'd need more than 3" - I start with 6-12 inches and then will add less each year as needed. You generally need less each year as the bottom layer turns to high-quality soil.
It is better to do it in the fall. Adding wood ash or lime in the fall is also a good idea along with the chips.

Sometimes, for a lower layer, I go around and get curbside bagged leaves in autumn; usually by spring they are rotted if they are under a thick layer of wood chips.

Originally Posted by RussianRocket

Appears to be sand, rocks, and roots. A LOT of roots. I wouldn't doubt it's polluted. Too close to a road. And who knows what previous people have sprayed in the area.

Raised beds are a good option but for minimum labor, I recommend a no-till approach similar to the one outlined in the previously linked video. A load of topsoil is probably a good idea, and then see if you can get a 6-12" layer of mulch/wood chips on top. Let it sit all winter and in spring you will have a good planting area. You can still do raised beds this way, and I have a few, but I find that the problems that require raised beds don't really exist with a no-till approach using a thick layer of mulch. The soil will create itself at the bottom layer provided you add more mulch each year to stop compaction and aid with water retention. You can walk all over it or even drive on it and it will still feel like a sponge.

I don't compost, but have been looking into it. Trying to figure out a cheap one to buy. Don't know any farmers.

Get a few pallets from local businesses or junk heaps for free. They form a good compost heap wall.
A compost pile that does not contain any meat, oils, dairy, or carnivorous animal manure, and is turned every week, will yield black gold in about 6 months in ideal conditions, esp. if it is covered.
A compost pile that contains your typical veg/fruit scraps as well as meat, oils, carnivorous animal feces, biodegradable plastic, and is never turned, will yield a load in 1-2 years. It usually does not need to be covered, but a sufficient layer of "browns" (i.e. leaves, chips, dry material) needs to be on top at all times to prevent scavenging animals. You would not put this pile uphill from a garden growing edible food. Many composting guides say to NEVER compost meats, carnivorous animal poop, etc., but they are talking about the quicker style which requires more labor. A year or two is enough to kill any pathogens, unless you live in a poverty-stricken are of Africa and there are roundworms and ♥♥♥♥ going around.
Of course, with both styles of pile, you need the proper carbon/nitrogen ratio, which means to add a layer of "browns" over each layer of "greens."
Since I just started composting last year, I am doing the first approach so I get a few loads sooner, but I just started a low-maintenance pile (no turning, able to accept a lot more materials) that will give me a huge load about every year.

I'm not 100% sure what to grow yet. Something I'd eat lol. Probably no root veggies, so I don't need it too deep.

There are many plants that will grow in crappy soils. I had one bed this year that was on an area that used to be a driveway. So there was a few inches of soil and grass and stuff, and under it was compacted rocks and gravel. I grew tomato plants that did extremely well and had an impressive yield. Also, things like beans and peas and more hardy plants will grow well in crappy soil. Legumes improve soil quality by fixing nitrogen.
Beets don't go too deep, and there are some varieties of carrots that are short and don't require deep, loose soil. You could grow parsnips provided you picked them when they were still young.
I will assume that your soil is acidic. Blueberry bushes love very acidic soil.

[Mariana Trench]

Great post, firenexx!

[TellTheTruth]

Again, thank you for sharing. We moved our family to
Tennessee last year to start growing more/most of our
own food. It was a tremendous amount of work to dig
out about 3000 square feet of grass - then a lot more
work to water and weed.

The mulch idea just makes great sense. We've already
discovered that even on 5 acres it's tough to produce
enough organic "waste" to compost as much as we could
use - and honestly we never considered this kind of mulch.

Maybe it was a coincidental blessing that the power
company was just at our property a week or two ago and
I asked them to leave the wood they cut down on our
property - they asked if we wanted wood from other places
too - and then they asked if we wanted any wood chips.

I really had no clue what we'd use wood chips for but I
said, "Sure, we'll take some." Now I'm thinking "Bring us
everything!"

So much to learn . . .

Thanks again

Originally Posted by firenexx

There are many ways to get free wood chips/mulch. Often, your local transfer station/dump will have a big pile free to resident. The guys at mine are nice and they load up my pickup with the back-ho. Some transfer stations will require you to bring a shovel and load it yourself (no pickup truck? Tubs and bins.) If you have the $$ to spare and don't like manual labor, you can also buy it.
Another potentially free source is tree service companies. They go to a job, they take a tree down, and they chip the branches into a dump truck. If they are working in your area, often they will drop the chips off at your house provided it is on the way, and they will often do it for free as they may not have any other use for the chips. (Some companies bring the chips somewhere to be re-ground into a higher quality mulch and then sell it, though.)
Also you'd need more than 3" - I start with 6-12 inches and then will add less each year as needed. You generally need less each year as the bottom layer turns to high-quality soil.
It is better to do it in the fall. Adding wood ash or lime in the fall is also a good idea along with the chips.

Sometimes, for a lower layer, I go around and get curbside bagged leaves in autumn; usually by spring they are rotted if they are under a thick layer of wood chips.



Raised beds are a good option but for minimum labor, I recommend a no-till approach similar to the one outlined in the previously linked video. A load of topsoil is probably a good idea, and then see if you can get a 6-12" layer of mulch/wood chips on top. Let it sit all winter and in spring you will have a good planting area. You can still do raised beds this way, and I have a few, but I find that the problems that require raised beds don't really exist with a no-till approach using a thick layer of mulch. The soil will create itself at the bottom layer provided you add more mulch each year to stop compaction and aid with water retention. You can walk all over it or even drive on it and it will still feel like a sponge.


Get a few pallets from local businesses or junk heaps for free. They form a good compost heap wall.
A compost pile that does not contain any meat, oils, dairy, or carnivorous animal manure, and is turned every week, will yield black gold in about 6 months in ideal conditions, esp. if it is covered.
A compost pile that contains your typical veg/fruit scraps as well as meat, oils, carnivorous animal feces, biodegradable plastic, and is never turned, will yield a load in 1-2 years. It usually does not need to be covered, but a sufficient layer of "browns" (i.e. leaves, chips, dry material) needs to be on top at all times to prevent scavenging animals. You would not put this pile uphill from a garden growing edible food. Many composting guides say to NEVER compost meats, carnivorous animal poop, etc., but they are talking about the quicker style which requires more labor. A year or two is enough to kill any pathogens, unless you live in a poverty-stricken are of Africa and there are roundworms and ♥♥♥♥ going around.
Of course, with both styles of pile, you need the proper carbon/nitrogen ratio, which means to add a layer of "browns" over each layer of "greens."
Since I just started composting last year, I am doing the first approach so I get a few loads sooner, but I just started a low-maintenance pile (no turning, able to accept a lot more materials) that will give me a huge load about every year.


There are many plants that will grow in crappy soils. I had one bed this year that was on an area that used to be a driveway. So there was a few inches of soil and grass and stuff, and under it was compacted rocks and gravel. I grew tomato plants that did extremely well and had an impressive yield. Also, things like beans and peas and more hardy plants will grow well in crappy soil. Legumes improve soil quality by fixing nitrogen.
Beets don't go too deep, and there are some varieties of carrots that are short and don't require deep, loose soil. You could grow parsnips provided you picked them when they were still young.
I will assume that your soil is acidic. Blueberry bushes love very acidic soil.