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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Oct 4, 2017 0:49:24 GMT -5
What do you think? Is local food about to be really important again? To me personally, local food never stopped being really important. My tribe is all about local food. We bottle, dehydrate, ferment, slaughter, forage, freeze, root-cellar, etc. We treat local food like a sacrament. A sacred duty. A source of joy, self actualization, and peer bonding. We delight in feeding each other delightful local wholesome milk, eggs, honey, sugar, vegetables, breads, cheese, eggs, meats, ferments, preserves, pickles, nuts, meals, etc. We celebrate the food, and those that grow and prepare it. I sure used etc a lot. That's cause we put a lot of thought and effort into making a tremendous variety of local foods, and any list that I make only scratches the surface of what we actually make, or aspire to make. For example, we are working on winter hardy opuntia fruits, peaches, pistachios, and pecans because even though they haven't been all that winter hardy historically, we expect winters may become milder in coming decades. |
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Post by reed on Oct 4, 2017 5:03:16 GMT -5
There is nothing even resembling that kind of culture here. Most people are happy making the twenty mile drive to walmart and act like they think you are a little weird if you actually grow something yourself.
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Post by jocelyn on Oct 4, 2017 10:01:23 GMT -5
We do what's easiest.......and for those with a wage that covers the bills, shopping for all food is easiest. It becomes the norm too, and even those who would like to garden for food, usually have no access to land. Those who garden for pleasure...odd ducks, those, grin.
I hope we slide into more food grown at home, rather than lurch into it, as a sudden lurch, brought on by necessity, will leave a lot of people behind...and hungry. Hunger makes social unrest, not good.
I too am trying to get my daughter to grow a little. So far, she grows a tomatoe plant or two, not much else...but it's a start. I've asked her if she would like me to start a couple of walnut trees for her, they have room at their place....and all you have to do is mow around them, and then pick up the nuts when they fall. We had walnut butter on our toast when the kids were home, more 'planting the seeds', grin. Marketing can make a buck from selling the idea that you need a lot of stuff and started transplants to get started, scares a lot of folks off gardening. I come from a gardening family, so I already know how to grow out my own transplants, and break new ground by planting spuds, the easy stuff. $8 for a pot of three strawberries, nah, shave a strawberry and plant the seeds, grin.
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Post by fliver on Oct 4, 2017 11:24:25 GMT -5
My father lived during the Great Depression, he was born in 1931. He lived in the St. Louis area. He told me almost everybody had a garden and chickens in their backyard. If you raised your own food/meat it did n't take a coupon to buy it since food was rationed. Can you imagine people today raising chickens in their backyard in town? I can't. Some people also had horses so they could travel around.
In the last couple days I finished reading "Miraculous Abundance". It was written by a permaculture market gardening couple in France in 2014 and was translated since then. (I don't speak or read French). In the last part of the book they touch on their thoughts about what a post-oil agriculture will look like. They say that there will be small farms less than 3 acres since it will only be worked with hand tools and maybe animals. There will be more farmers and craftsmen. It is a good read.
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Post by jocelyn on Oct 4, 2017 13:07:00 GMT -5
Bluemeadow, you have a point. Stats Canada says my area has one in five households food insecure. Yet, I am not allowed to donate a chicken or two at the food bank, as they are not inspected...same with extra eggs, they need to go to the egg marketing board and be graded and have the sticker put on before I can donate them...and I am not a registered egg producer, so that can't happen.
Rules get made by those who are NOT food insecure.
So, what to do? Turns out nuts are allowed to be donated , and are a good protein source.
Produce is OK too, and you can include cooking instructions in the bag. Dry beans are allowed too. Proteins are in short supply at food banks.
Still, it IS a bandaid solution...many folks don't have access to land, don't know how to grow food, and don't know how to forage. Community gardens in Town go to the Yuppies and other high end gardeners, well, no, that's not totally fair of me, some gardens are set up for the Newcomers, aka, refugees.
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Post by prairiegardens on Oct 4, 2017 19:56:54 GMT -5
In one seed catalogue a bean is described as being provided by the government for food in the Great Depression but the family were smart enough to plant some seed rather than eat them all, and so the bean continues in existence. It's not so easy with the mindset that you can't grow anything unless from a seed packet with heritage emblazoned on it, I can't count the number of times I've heard you can't plant hybrids and everything at the store is hybrid or gmo (quoting). But there is a tsunami of information for those who look for it. The question is what happens between realization and a harvest, even if they take hold, nobody is going to live on radishes and baby lettuce until the potatoes etc come in. If they see any alternative at all, anyway.
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Post by steev on Oct 4, 2017 20:06:25 GMT -5
Backyard chickens/ducks are fairly popular in the Bay Area; you'd not know it unless driving around near sun-up.
Rules are made by those beholden to commercial producers.
I was thinking about living on the farm as I grow older, perhaps unable to drive, on a fixed income; I'm not too pessimistic: I expect a decent food supply, access to Medivac service, adequate exercise to keep my blood from settling in my feet and butt, and always something I can do to feel useful and productive.
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Post by jocelyn on Oct 5, 2017 6:19:27 GMT -5
Leave the everything must be GMO and hybrids won't grow crowd to their own, they and you will be happier, grin. I brought Island Sunshine spuds to a seedy saturday and no one wanted them, must be GMO, and we don't accept GMO here...ok. I explained, silly me, that these were from a local breeder who had bred up small resistances till there were enough gathered up in one seedling to be usefull, nope, still didn't want them.
Since that mindset will have to change on its own, I just left them to it, grin.
So, for everybody else, it's a long slow re education, start with a rhubarb plant or two, if you like rhubarb. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, huge grin, but that's how it starts to get non gardeners thinking they can. Then, a few hills of potatoes, 'cause those early baby spuds taste SOOO good.......... It's NOT all or nothing, a little of this, a little of that provides a little bit to eat, and changes mindsets. Those wild apples beside the walking trails, good for sauce or jelly, the walnuts at the experamental farm, free for the taking, check with security first though, they always say YES.
I'm retired, and Hubby soon will be. We have a couple of acres on the home place, heavily planted, and we'll eat well...as long as summer comes, harvest will too........
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Post by MikeH on Oct 9, 2017 8:41:50 GMT -5
Our view of the future is a function of our view of the present. If I am happy and content, then I see the same for my future but I am unhappy and depressed then I see a very bleak future. I think that reasoning extends to our view of what we see happening around us. But then reality steps in to redefine our view: Recession = Seed Sales. Externalities, in general, are what matter. Because hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a one timer event, its significance diminished with time although its implications remained. 1995 was a terrible year as well but was quickly forgotten. This year with Harvey, Irma, and Maria making for the most expensive season in history, there is, for the first time, the potential for significant global consequence. The New York Times talks about cost, mentioning climate change and then closes the article with a gem: " [T]he number of people and the amount of wealth in the United State are factors as well. As both population and wealth continue to concentrate along the coasts, storms have been increasingly likely to hit populated areas and development." Forbes goes a bit further in The Hidden Costs of Hurricanes really summarizes the future: Imagine what would have happened in 2012 if the US drought had resulted in a some combination of failed soy, corn, and wheat. The first would have been financial as futures market contracts would not have been honoured. The rest? Who knows? Events will cause us to look to the kinds of society and activities being outlined in this thread. Prepping for some unknown future is virtually impossible. You can do a Richard Rainwater if you have the money. The Rainwater scenario works as long as you don't die first. But ultimately, I think that living a life of regenerative, simplicity today is the best preparation for tomorrow, whatever that may be. |
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Post by steev on Oct 9, 2017 17:00:15 GMT -5
Building my soil and learning what grows reliably without commercial input, in case I can't get it, while staying off-grid, is my plan; I think I'll be as ready as possible for whatever lurches down the road. Anybody got good recipes for zombie, or should they be processed through swine and poultry first?
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Post by StripedCorn on Oct 9, 2017 17:30:26 GMT -5
Building my soil and learning what grows reliably without commercial input, in case I can't get it, while staying off-grid, is my plan; I think I'll be as ready as possible for whatever lurches down the road. Anybody got good recipes for zombie, or should they be processed through swine and poultry first? Mix 50/50 with brown materials and mix liberally into any tall vegetable bed. Almost as good for adding nutrients as pure long pig, good for sequestering carbon too. |
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Post by blueadzuki on Oct 9, 2017 18:13:59 GMT -5
I would say it depends on type. Magically sustained Voodoo zombies are better suited to labor than fertilizer. Just bear in mind that, unlike other types this kind needs food (or more accurately, food other than human brains). A bland, high starch diet is recommended (ABSOLUTELY no salt). Consult your local hougan for further details.
Viral/Cosmic radiation zombies are good for fertilizer, but can cause cross contamination before totally decomposed, so wear appropriate anti-contamination equipment. And remember to pulverize all bones, this both prevents infestation by walking skeletons and frees up valuable calcium for the soil.
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Post by oldmobie on Oct 9, 2017 20:39:42 GMT -5
Building my soil and learning what grows reliably without commercial input, in case I can't get it, while staying off-grid, is my plan; I think I'll be as ready as possible for whatever lurches down the road. Anybody got good recipes for zombie, or should they be processed through swine and poultry first? Mix 50/50 with brown materials and mix liberally into any tall vegetable bed. Almost as good for adding nutrients as pure long pig, good for sequestering carbon too. I think you/we should take a page out of Paul Wheaton's playbook. Put the zombies in the willow bank, coppice the willows and use them where ever softwood is acceptable. Hugelculture beds come to mind. Great for the garden, but put some in the yard too. Grow sunflowers. Sing this. |
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Post by steev on Oct 19, 2017 22:32:57 GMT -5
Those horses can be a valuable source of protein, if one hasn't gotten all Amish about one's farm implements.
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Post by walt on Oct 20, 2017 16:00:28 GMT -5
The Land Institute did a 10 year study comparing farming with horses and farming with a diesel tractor running on soybean oil esterized into biodiesel fuel. In this study, they were quite even. This was done a couple of miles from Salina KS.
The study was done managed by Dr. Marty Bender, the smartest person I ever knew, and I've known some real brains.
The study used the usual crops now grown in central Kansas, wheat, soybeans, milo (grain sorghum).
The summer of 1999, with dire warnings of disaster coming at midnight new years eve. Y2K. Most have forgotten it.
I gave some thought to what could happen if the predictions came true. I didn't believe them but it gave me reason to think.
This area is more than half native prairie, cattle ranching is a way of life for those with the land. Maybe 1/3 of the land is cropland, in wheat, corn (for silage), milo, and soybeans. There are some people in town with huge gardens for their own use, and one couple is making a good living growing Korean vegetables that they take to Kansas City, 3 hours away by 75 mile per hour turnpike and deliver to Korean Americans.
There are lots of horses, quarter horses used regularly on the ranches. There are plenty of cattle that could be used as oxen. Oxen were used in Niger where I lived 3 years. They were the latest thing there. Having grown up on a dairy, I would prefer working oxen to working horses, though I ride well enough.
There are lots of pear and apple trees that have been abandoned. I have been given permission to help myself to fruit on many trees in town. That is besides having some myself. But mine are old and not doing well.
So this area is in better shape than most. But it is going downhill away from self-reliense and sustainability. Few young people are learning to garden, though farming and ranching is being taught to the children growing up on farms and ranches.
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