Well - I never knew that having my hands (no gloves) in the soil, gardening, made me happy because serotonin was produced!
Let me add one observation to this excellent essay on gardening: there's nothing in life like gardening, teaching one patience as well as flexibility - and there's nothing like gardening, eating the fruits of one's labour, which gives such contentment.
Let me finish with one of my favourite quotes, by the reformer Martin Luther who said: "Even if I knew that the world were to perish tomorrow - today I would still plant my little apple tree." Now go and get your hands dirty and plant one!
As my 'Millennium Project', I planted five dwarf apple trees in my tiny back garden. Their first leaf buds are starting to unfold, and the pink of the tight little blossoms are peeking out: a picture which has given me delight for 25 years now ... and then, of course, later there are the apples ...
We had a white Saanen goat once which I called Apple Blossom, because that's the most beautiful flower of all. She died in childbirth and I cried when I buried her.
Great introductory writeup. Who know you had such depth and knowledge. Whole heartily agree with all of your advice. The best ROI is herbs as one uses a little at a time, they are expensive in the store, plus don't last long after you buy them. Further, they are always on hand, no need to run to the story, if they are out in the yard.
The one addition that I would add to your advice, is get some chickens. The young ones will lay almost an egg a day. A small flock can keep a family in eggs for most of the year. If you are not sentimental, they can end up in the stew pot once they stop laying and start to molt (Ours all have names, so they can't be eaten). Chickens are easy to care for, just provide food, water, some egg or oyster shells for supplemental calcium and importantly, a safe place to roost for the night. They are great for recycling food waste too. And what they don't eat like banana peels go into our worm bin.
It's time for me to do a deep cleaning of the coop for my chickens. The pine flakes and chicken manure will be going to the raised beds in my garden. Chicken manure, because of its high nitrogen count makes excellent fertilizer.
Bees are also a great ROI. Look up top bar hives, as they are more resistant to hive beetles and verroa mite. They also don't require as much equipment, and you get stung less.
Hi--how do you find the economics work out with the chickens? I've read/heard that it's actually more expensive than just buying eggs, but also suspect the comparison there is with factory-farmed eggs and not pasture raised--which of course are better for you and also do not involve torturing chickens!
The only thing I'd add to your post is that they're also really fun to have around. Really charming. :)
The economics of home chickens depends on a few factors. 1) whether they are slaughtered for meat after egg laying stops for the year. Thereby avoiding the expense of feed while they molt and grow a new set of feathers. This is about a 4 month period. People then start with a new flock in the spring. 2) How much they can forage (they love to eat grass, weeds and other assorted greens, plus pastures provide lots of bugs and worms to eat). 3) How much one can supplement their feed with food scraps and waste.
Our chickens are pets, so economics are not an issue. Further, we find them endlessly amusing and they all get to live out their natural lives. As to food scraps, my wife’s firm always has excess food from events that ends up in the trash. So, she brings home plenty of salad, plus some rice and bread. The later two are feed to the chickens in moderation. A friend has made friends with a grocery store manager and some farmers at a farmers market. Her weekly haul of greens is impressive and accounts for a large proportion of her chicken feed need.
Feed prices in California start from about $21 for a 50 lb bag of conventional feed and about $27 for a 40 lb bag of organic feed. In our experience, a bag of feed last 2-3 months. We also supplement with as much oyster shells and recycled egg shells as they want to eat.
Playing with chickens for pets is a nice hobby, but we are talking survival here, and retirement for fowl is not really workable in such optic. I was a city boy, but when I was little, my parents used to supplement the few weeks of vacation time they could spend with me by sending me and a grandma off to a farmer for an additional month or so of vacation on a farm, way back before agrotourism was in vogue. It was cheap, but for a young city child a wonderful, exciting experience. I learned to milk a cow, I learned the fundamental difference between straw and hay that is such a mystery for townsmen. I helped with haymaking and observed the harvest done with actual hand scythes on a small, mountainside field (I was kept well away from scythes and such).
There I also had my first encounter with violent death, at the age of seven or so, when I observed the farmer chase down and behead chickens for dinner. It did not traumatize me for long; it was such a normal part of rural life, and treated matter-of-factly by everyone. And yes, these chickens all had names.
Looking back, the experience of taking part in actual farm life and work was an invaluable insight for a city kid, and it greatly expanded my understanding forever. And the chicken slaughter, unpleasant as it was at that time, was also a useful formative experience of the circle of life; I ate the chicken soup made from Spotty.
Varieties matter. The Spanish variety Aracana is an aggressive self forager and although not the heaviest layer has a good return on inputs. Also bantams and other smaller chooks. Plant a mulberry in their coop and plenty of protein rich leafy greens. And bugs. Always bugs
Thanks for the insight NO 1. Sadly, most of us live in pretty dense urban areas (including myself). While I'm in pretty decent shape for 74 y/o I'm a fair distance away from the athleticism required to do even half-ass gardening. I've had a woman, for years, come over and plant tomatoes in numbers we can rarely consume. This might be another alternative for people because of age and/or infirmity, just can't work in a garden. So, those with funds can have people with gardening talent do the work for them. I have the friends and funds to do just that but my urban space for planting is pretty pathetic. So, alternatively, I've been loading up on non-perishables at Walmart and COSTCO. I presently have 100 lbs of California Sushi rice in aluminum garbage cans in the basement. I will add to that shortly. Many varieties of beans and canned fish keep well for long periods. Kimchi and Sauerkraut are great ideas and we consume both at my house.
Also, if you aren't in good physical condition...START NOW. I regularly go to a gym for a fairly light but consistent workout. Being fit will help you think sharp and increase your chances of survival, generally. I graduated HS in 1969 and am at exactly the same weight as I was as a (mediocre) 17 y/o athlete. Think too of what you can barter when supply chains collapse.
If you don't have guns or know how to shoot...better get after it in my opinion. At least have a 12 gauge shotgun and .38 with many rounds of ammunition. I grew up in a post WW2 rural gun culture where shotguns and rifles were as common as screw drivers and hammers. You only have what you can defend. When things turn hungry and weird, no one is going to be polite and in an "asking" mood. Good luck to all because I think "luck" is going to be in short supply going forward.
Having at least one Russian friend will increase your chances of survival by 50% in pending zombie apocalypse.
Hydroponic system is more glamorous and more expensive than the soil based one, perfect for urban dwellers and weed growers which is the most rewarding crop out there.
If something I am officially procrastinating- there are trumpet vines to dig out and compost pile to mess with after seeing very graphic gardening pictures in this article.
Hydro planters are affordable for kitchen gardens, while square foot gardening is sexy.
Community gardens could be victorious for the community.
Knowing your neighbors and having trusting relationship with law enforcement.
I am slightly ever so slightly mad at "heroic" individuals posting videos on FB "confronting" police officers. Once human rights activists locate squatters or meth dealers in the close proximity to their families they start calling police like a white woman, forgetting about de-funding staff.
Hunger has always been here - check out local food banks, da. For less fortunate ones, and the ones who have means are donating not hoarding the food.
Ain't making assumptions on how to provide for and feed your family. It appears you did a good job on both accounts.
For areas subject to natural disasters it is normal to have emergency preparation kit and that includes good staff- like fully cooked beef stew or the types of food FEMA distributed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
My point here is about maintaining a rhizome network under certain stress conditions and the idea of waste linked in to the redundant people, 'human trash' standing at the back of the food chain, tolerated at best.
One of the best solution for slugs is a beer trap. They go wild for a jar half buried in dirt, 1/4 full of beer. They get drunk and drown in it. Was the only thing that kept my old garden alive. The cheaper the beer the better!
An excellent start to my day which will include a generous amount of time working my garden. I love my garden! It is emotional and spiritual therapy for my soul.
"One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth."
I am fortunate. I have space. Raised beds, compost, earthworms, praying mantises, ladybugs...and slugs. No chemicals at all, except what rains down from the sky out of chemtrails which I'm trying to find mitigation and solutions for.
Rhubarb, blackberries, raspberries, asparagus, strawberries, two mulberry trees ordered for planting as soon as they arrive, and looking at getting elderberries, in addition to a good variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, which technically may be fruit, but are vegetables, IMO. I do have to cover my cabbages with fine mesh wire to keep them safe from the little white butterflies, otherwise, no sauerkraut this year.
One habit I have developed over the years is that when my salad greens (lettuce, spring mix, spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, etc.) develop, I grab two slices of bread, slap some mayonnaise on them, and head to the garden for filler. Mmmmmm! And there's nothing better tasting than a red, ripe tomato plucked off the vine and bitten into, with the juice dripping off your chin.
Thank you for posting this.
P.S. When planting asparagus, make sure to get female plants instead of male. They will produce many times more. And the easiest way to control mint is to plant it in a spot which you can mow completely around. Digging the roots out every year is not fun.
Roger, take it from an ex-pilot with thousands of hours - there's no such thing as chemtrails. It's just condensed water vapour which is caused by the pressure differences from the wings and/or engines at altitude as they pass through the local air and change the saturated vs dry adiabatic lapse rates. They linger simply because like high altitude clouds, temperatures up there are well into sub-zero and thus the water crystalises into ice particles, giving them persistence. Hope this helps! Cheers, Paul 😊
Hidden depths! I should not be surprised. Excellent advice, I totally agree on everything. People should also look up any amount of excellent resources on good practice. As a starter, take a look at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg Charles Dowding.
This article is just a little nudge to everyone. It's cheap, it's a great RoI and it pulls you away from the newscycle. All wins. I'm not going to go much indepth here because there are FAR better resources out there. All I'm hoping to do here is poke someone into action 😉
You have slugs. Different areas have different competitors for garden production, and most of the little bugs have predators upon them, which will appear the next year. It is all learning and adapting, and there are cycles. When the aphids are all over my kale, collards, cabbages and broccoli, as happened last week, I had better have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant already coming up in that row to succede them, as I did, so now it is the spring-summer nightshade row, not the winter brassica row.
As a working farmer it warms my heart to see someone recommending it to others. But in the current environment it's not just a feel-good way to save a bit on your groceries. Due to the US-Israeli war against Iran, we're now into financial and even personal survival territory. Yes, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is that consequential. True that the closure may not last, but if it does, the world is going to be a different place in the coming years. The abundance of reasonably priced food that we're used to is going to disappear. That's not speculation. It's as sure as winter following summer.
Putting some seeds in the ground is a dirt-cheap (pun intended) hedge against America's disastrous geopolitical activities. It's already bad, much worse than the western media is telling you. If the Hormuz isn't resolved - and the whole point may be that it doesn't get resolved - then taking rational steps to take care of you and your loved ones isn't a survivalist horror story. It's a lifesaver in a raging sea.
Exactly why I think it matters to send out this warning. Not to be a doomer, but to give hope to people that there is another way, and it's going back to our roots as humanity (pun intended).
On the size of plot needed to feed a family of four, historically in the UK this has been reflected in the standard size of an Allotment. Typically municipal spaces available to rent for gardeners, they lead to a thriving community around growing. In case you are interested, the standard size is 10 Poles. A Pole is 5.5 yards square so a standard allotment is 302 sq yards. About the size of a doubles tennis court.
An unexpected and wonderful essay. Thank you especially for your comments on the politics of seed saving and canning, as well as how gardens help us to stay sane. What an extraordinary contrast to consider, between scrolling the (fucking) phone and tending miraculous growing greenery.
I've been "preaching" this and acting upon my ambitions in a serious manner for going on five years now. But there is no way for it to happen unless an individual "commences the effort" and I concur - NOW is time before potential avalanche of food scarcity.
~
When it comes to "self-sustainability" it starts with FOOD, but then of course energy is needed as well. If one can be self-sustainable to a degree in that regard and also willing to barter with neighbors in mutual support, well I put forth one could actually have a decent lifestyle.
Been gardening since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, however most vegetables provide very few calories, one of the few exceptions being potatoes. It should also be pointed out that you can get a decent yield from a backyard garden planted in potatoes, which is not the case if you use that space to plant other high caloric vegetables, meaning pulses.
If you have the land (six acres or more), you may be better off investing in livestock. I recommend dairy goats, which will provide you with a source of meat and milk. (Learn how to make cheese and yogurt! It isn't complicated.) Also chickens or ducks for eggs (ducks tend to produce year round whereas chickens may stop laying in the winter) and meat, plus geese and turkeys. You can also get a fair amount of food from backyard chickens and rabbits if you have a small urban or suburban plot. If you live near water, be sure to invest in a fishing pole and tackle box.
I’ve been organic gardening year round in Seattle for some time now. Nothing helps my mind escape the day job better than dirt and fresh greens. There’s almost a primal pleasure making your own food. When you think about it, almost everyone knew how to do it until we became the modern mess. Growing your own food also keeps the bankers, the oil tankers and the political wankers out of the equation. A couple of greenhouses certainly helps but you can construct your own for a lot less. I grow a lot of brassicas, leeks, Asians greens and other cold hardy stuff mist if the year. I plant my tomatoes and zucchini in ten gallon containers so I can move them from greenhouse to outside then shift them around for optimal light as the light patterns shift in late summer early fall No1 said it best - the soil is everything It’s the mist important living thing in your garden if you have a moment check out “Singing Frogs Farm” on the web They do some amazing things with soil health
Well - I never knew that having my hands (no gloves) in the soil, gardening, made me happy because serotonin was produced!
Let me add one observation to this excellent essay on gardening: there's nothing in life like gardening, teaching one patience as well as flexibility - and there's nothing like gardening, eating the fruits of one's labour, which gives such contentment.
Let me finish with one of my favourite quotes, by the reformer Martin Luther who said: "Even if I knew that the world were to perish tomorrow - today I would still plant my little apple tree." Now go and get your hands dirty and plant one!
I don't know the author but there's a saying. "He who plants a tree has hope for the future."
Got a few trees, bushes, and a lot of plants 😉
As my 'Millennium Project', I planted five dwarf apple trees in my tiny back garden. Their first leaf buds are starting to unfold, and the pink of the tight little blossoms are peeking out: a picture which has given me delight for 25 years now ... and then, of course, later there are the apples ...
We had a white Saanen goat once which I called Apple Blossom, because that's the most beautiful flower of all. She died in childbirth and I cried when I buried her.
Great introductory writeup. Who know you had such depth and knowledge. Whole heartily agree with all of your advice. The best ROI is herbs as one uses a little at a time, they are expensive in the store, plus don't last long after you buy them. Further, they are always on hand, no need to run to the story, if they are out in the yard.
The one addition that I would add to your advice, is get some chickens. The young ones will lay almost an egg a day. A small flock can keep a family in eggs for most of the year. If you are not sentimental, they can end up in the stew pot once they stop laying and start to molt (Ours all have names, so they can't be eaten). Chickens are easy to care for, just provide food, water, some egg or oyster shells for supplemental calcium and importantly, a safe place to roost for the night. They are great for recycling food waste too. And what they don't eat like banana peels go into our worm bin.
It's time for me to do a deep cleaning of the coop for my chickens. The pine flakes and chicken manure will be going to the raised beds in my garden. Chicken manure, because of its high nitrogen count makes excellent fertilizer.
Bees are also a great ROI. Look up top bar hives, as they are more resistant to hive beetles and verroa mite. They also don't require as much equipment, and you get stung less.
Hi--how do you find the economics work out with the chickens? I've read/heard that it's actually more expensive than just buying eggs, but also suspect the comparison there is with factory-farmed eggs and not pasture raised--which of course are better for you and also do not involve torturing chickens!
The only thing I'd add to your post is that they're also really fun to have around. Really charming. :)
Heh, my oldest is scared of chickens... Something about the eyes 😂
The economics of home chickens depends on a few factors. 1) whether they are slaughtered for meat after egg laying stops for the year. Thereby avoiding the expense of feed while they molt and grow a new set of feathers. This is about a 4 month period. People then start with a new flock in the spring. 2) How much they can forage (they love to eat grass, weeds and other assorted greens, plus pastures provide lots of bugs and worms to eat). 3) How much one can supplement their feed with food scraps and waste.
Our chickens are pets, so economics are not an issue. Further, we find them endlessly amusing and they all get to live out their natural lives. As to food scraps, my wife’s firm always has excess food from events that ends up in the trash. So, she brings home plenty of salad, plus some rice and bread. The later two are feed to the chickens in moderation. A friend has made friends with a grocery store manager and some farmers at a farmers market. Her weekly haul of greens is impressive and accounts for a large proportion of her chicken feed need.
Feed prices in California start from about $21 for a 50 lb bag of conventional feed and about $27 for a 40 lb bag of organic feed. In our experience, a bag of feed last 2-3 months. We also supplement with as much oyster shells and recycled egg shells as they want to eat.
Playing with chickens for pets is a nice hobby, but we are talking survival here, and retirement for fowl is not really workable in such optic. I was a city boy, but when I was little, my parents used to supplement the few weeks of vacation time they could spend with me by sending me and a grandma off to a farmer for an additional month or so of vacation on a farm, way back before agrotourism was in vogue. It was cheap, but for a young city child a wonderful, exciting experience. I learned to milk a cow, I learned the fundamental difference between straw and hay that is such a mystery for townsmen. I helped with haymaking and observed the harvest done with actual hand scythes on a small, mountainside field (I was kept well away from scythes and such).
There I also had my first encounter with violent death, at the age of seven or so, when I observed the farmer chase down and behead chickens for dinner. It did not traumatize me for long; it was such a normal part of rural life, and treated matter-of-factly by everyone. And yes, these chickens all had names.
Looking back, the experience of taking part in actual farm life and work was an invaluable insight for a city kid, and it greatly expanded my understanding forever. And the chicken slaughter, unpleasant as it was at that time, was also a useful formative experience of the circle of life; I ate the chicken soup made from Spotty.
Varieties matter. The Spanish variety Aracana is an aggressive self forager and although not the heaviest layer has a good return on inputs. Also bantams and other smaller chooks. Plant a mulberry in their coop and plenty of protein rich leafy greens. And bugs. Always bugs
Thanks for the insight NO 1. Sadly, most of us live in pretty dense urban areas (including myself). While I'm in pretty decent shape for 74 y/o I'm a fair distance away from the athleticism required to do even half-ass gardening. I've had a woman, for years, come over and plant tomatoes in numbers we can rarely consume. This might be another alternative for people because of age and/or infirmity, just can't work in a garden. So, those with funds can have people with gardening talent do the work for them. I have the friends and funds to do just that but my urban space for planting is pretty pathetic. So, alternatively, I've been loading up on non-perishables at Walmart and COSTCO. I presently have 100 lbs of California Sushi rice in aluminum garbage cans in the basement. I will add to that shortly. Many varieties of beans and canned fish keep well for long periods. Kimchi and Sauerkraut are great ideas and we consume both at my house.
Also, if you aren't in good physical condition...START NOW. I regularly go to a gym for a fairly light but consistent workout. Being fit will help you think sharp and increase your chances of survival, generally. I graduated HS in 1969 and am at exactly the same weight as I was as a (mediocre) 17 y/o athlete. Think too of what you can barter when supply chains collapse.
If you don't have guns or know how to shoot...better get after it in my opinion. At least have a 12 gauge shotgun and .38 with many rounds of ammunition. I grew up in a post WW2 rural gun culture where shotguns and rifles were as common as screw drivers and hammers. You only have what you can defend. When things turn hungry and weird, no one is going to be polite and in an "asking" mood. Good luck to all because I think "luck" is going to be in short supply going forward.
Having at least one Russian friend will increase your chances of survival by 50% in pending zombie apocalypse.
Hydroponic system is more glamorous and more expensive than the soil based one, perfect for urban dwellers and weed growers which is the most rewarding crop out there.
If something I am officially procrastinating- there are trumpet vines to dig out and compost pile to mess with after seeing very graphic gardening pictures in this article.
Hydro planters are affordable for kitchen gardens, while square foot gardening is sexy.
Community gardens could be victorious for the community.
Knowing your neighbors and having trusting relationship with law enforcement.
I am slightly ever so slightly mad at "heroic" individuals posting videos on FB "confronting" police officers. Once human rights activists locate squatters or meth dealers in the close proximity to their families they start calling police like a white woman, forgetting about de-funding staff.
Hunger has always been here - check out local food banks, da. For less fortunate ones, and the ones who have means are donating not hoarding the food.
Scarlett, donating and hoarding are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Ain't making assumptions on how to provide for and feed your family. It appears you did a good job on both accounts.
For areas subject to natural disasters it is normal to have emergency preparation kit and that includes good staff- like fully cooked beef stew or the types of food FEMA distributed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
My point here is about maintaining a rhizome network under certain stress conditions and the idea of waste linked in to the redundant people, 'human trash' standing at the back of the food chain, tolerated at best.
One of the best solution for slugs is a beer trap. They go wild for a jar half buried in dirt, 1/4 full of beer. They get drunk and drown in it. Was the only thing that kept my old garden alive. The cheaper the beer the better!
An excellent start to my day which will include a generous amount of time working my garden. I love my garden! It is emotional and spiritual therapy for my soul.
"One is nearer God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth."
I am fortunate. I have space. Raised beds, compost, earthworms, praying mantises, ladybugs...and slugs. No chemicals at all, except what rains down from the sky out of chemtrails which I'm trying to find mitigation and solutions for.
Rhubarb, blackberries, raspberries, asparagus, strawberries, two mulberry trees ordered for planting as soon as they arrive, and looking at getting elderberries, in addition to a good variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, which technically may be fruit, but are vegetables, IMO. I do have to cover my cabbages with fine mesh wire to keep them safe from the little white butterflies, otherwise, no sauerkraut this year.
One habit I have developed over the years is that when my salad greens (lettuce, spring mix, spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, etc.) develop, I grab two slices of bread, slap some mayonnaise on them, and head to the garden for filler. Mmmmmm! And there's nothing better tasting than a red, ripe tomato plucked off the vine and bitten into, with the juice dripping off your chin.
Thank you for posting this.
P.S. When planting asparagus, make sure to get female plants instead of male. They will produce many times more. And the easiest way to control mint is to plant it in a spot which you can mow completely around. Digging the roots out every year is not fun.
Thanks for the tips!
Roger, take it from an ex-pilot with thousands of hours - there's no such thing as chemtrails. It's just condensed water vapour which is caused by the pressure differences from the wings and/or engines at altitude as they pass through the local air and change the saturated vs dry adiabatic lapse rates. They linger simply because like high altitude clouds, temperatures up there are well into sub-zero and thus the water crystalises into ice particles, giving them persistence. Hope this helps! Cheers, Paul 😊
Hidden depths! I should not be surprised. Excellent advice, I totally agree on everything. People should also look up any amount of excellent resources on good practice. As a starter, take a look at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1J6siDdmhwah7q0O2WJBg Charles Dowding.
This article is just a little nudge to everyone. It's cheap, it's a great RoI and it pulls you away from the newscycle. All wins. I'm not going to go much indepth here because there are FAR better resources out there. All I'm hoping to do here is poke someone into action 😉
You have slugs. Different areas have different competitors for garden production, and most of the little bugs have predators upon them, which will appear the next year. It is all learning and adapting, and there are cycles. When the aphids are all over my kale, collards, cabbages and broccoli, as happened last week, I had better have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant already coming up in that row to succede them, as I did, so now it is the spring-summer nightshade row, not the winter brassica row.
Explained here:
Deciding Where To Grow Vegetables https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/deciding-where-to-grow-vegetables
Preparing Your Kitchen Garden https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/preparing-your-kitchen-garden
Growing Food https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/growing-food
As a working farmer it warms my heart to see someone recommending it to others. But in the current environment it's not just a feel-good way to save a bit on your groceries. Due to the US-Israeli war against Iran, we're now into financial and even personal survival territory. Yes, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is that consequential. True that the closure may not last, but if it does, the world is going to be a different place in the coming years. The abundance of reasonably priced food that we're used to is going to disappear. That's not speculation. It's as sure as winter following summer.
Putting some seeds in the ground is a dirt-cheap (pun intended) hedge against America's disastrous geopolitical activities. It's already bad, much worse than the western media is telling you. If the Hormuz isn't resolved - and the whole point may be that it doesn't get resolved - then taking rational steps to take care of you and your loved ones isn't a survivalist horror story. It's a lifesaver in a raging sea.
Exactly why I think it matters to send out this warning. Not to be a doomer, but to give hope to people that there is another way, and it's going back to our roots as humanity (pun intended).
I agree and expound on that in my recent post, with links, excerpts and a short introductory essay. https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/the-actual-military-objectives
On the size of plot needed to feed a family of four, historically in the UK this has been reflected in the standard size of an Allotment. Typically municipal spaces available to rent for gardeners, they lead to a thriving community around growing. In case you are interested, the standard size is 10 Poles. A Pole is 5.5 yards square so a standard allotment is 302 sq yards. About the size of a doubles tennis court.
I did not know that 😉. Thanks for sharing!
> 10 square poles = 302 sqy = 252.93 square meters
An unexpected and wonderful essay. Thank you especially for your comments on the politics of seed saving and canning, as well as how gardens help us to stay sane. What an extraordinary contrast to consider, between scrolling the (fucking) phone and tending miraculous growing greenery.
"Revolutionaries" have to eat. It cannot be assumed.
;-(
Thank you so much. Been thinking along these lines and youre giving me a great start.This will be very useful!
Gold and Geo - proving to be a true renaissance man with this article.
Gold, Geo, and Growing
🤣
I've been "preaching" this and acting upon my ambitions in a serious manner for going on five years now. But there is no way for it to happen unless an individual "commences the effort" and I concur - NOW is time before potential avalanche of food scarcity.
~
When it comes to "self-sustainability" it starts with FOOD, but then of course energy is needed as well. If one can be self-sustainable to a degree in that regard and also willing to barter with neighbors in mutual support, well I put forth one could actually have a decent lifestyle.
Regards,
BK
Been gardening since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, however most vegetables provide very few calories, one of the few exceptions being potatoes. It should also be pointed out that you can get a decent yield from a backyard garden planted in potatoes, which is not the case if you use that space to plant other high caloric vegetables, meaning pulses.
If you have the land (six acres or more), you may be better off investing in livestock. I recommend dairy goats, which will provide you with a source of meat and milk. (Learn how to make cheese and yogurt! It isn't complicated.) Also chickens or ducks for eggs (ducks tend to produce year round whereas chickens may stop laying in the winter) and meat, plus geese and turkeys. You can also get a fair amount of food from backyard chickens and rabbits if you have a small urban or suburban plot. If you live near water, be sure to invest in a fishing pole and tackle box.
If you live near water, ducks will pretty much feed themselves for much of the year.
Yes, they will, but first you have to make sure they know where home is.
"An unexpected and wonderful essay," as someone said below.
Thank you for this useful, inspiring post! Comfrey is great but also spreads and is very tenacious once it does.
I’ve been organic gardening year round in Seattle for some time now. Nothing helps my mind escape the day job better than dirt and fresh greens. There’s almost a primal pleasure making your own food. When you think about it, almost everyone knew how to do it until we became the modern mess. Growing your own food also keeps the bankers, the oil tankers and the political wankers out of the equation. A couple of greenhouses certainly helps but you can construct your own for a lot less. I grow a lot of brassicas, leeks, Asians greens and other cold hardy stuff mist if the year. I plant my tomatoes and zucchini in ten gallon containers so I can move them from greenhouse to outside then shift them around for optimal light as the light patterns shift in late summer early fall No1 said it best - the soil is everything It’s the mist important living thing in your garden if you have a moment check out “Singing Frogs Farm” on the web They do some amazing things with soil health