Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Yes, you've been cautious, and in my view there isn't any one way out of
The Mess. Given how soft and spoiled our culture has become, there may be
no way out of it for much of the population. Sooner or later things will
just get very messy. 

What we already see in our society is a lot of doubling up in one house or
apartment, esp single mothers with their mothers, children and all. In
poorer families it's often unavoidable. It's also common in all classes for
relatives to live with immediate family if circumstances are pressing. And
I'd expect a lot more of this when things get a lot more pressing! And
true, it's also common for unrelated singles to live together in whatever
arrangements, to share rent if nothing else. We're not all Yuppies ... 

On  Heinberg's hyperbole - I doubt we'll have 50 million farmers. We don't
have 50 million people who know how, or who have the resources and
determination to grow food commercially. Or 50 million willing to get their
hands dirty. But the new farmers will have to be small farmers using little
fossil fuel and selling locally for the most part. I can forsee many big
farms being parceled out as small plot rentals or sales. 

It's likely the living arrangements will be whatever works at the time, but
the growing arrangements will need to be as productive and sustainable as
humanly possible. Tractor row farming with chemicals is too expensive for
startups. When it takes half a million dollars to get into conventional
farming today, it ain't gonna happen. Not that way. But we know that
startups can begin on a shoestring and feed dozens of customers on very
little land. We know growers can feed themselves and several others without
powered machinery at lower cost. We know that wide row or raised bed
growing can make far more efficient use of available space, when everybody
needs to grow what they can in any space they have, and no-till cuts labor
and expense.  But there is a learning curve, so we better get moving. And
there's that four-letter word - "w-o-r-k". 


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 5/13/2007 at 10:47 PM Bobby G wrote:

>hopefully i've been cautious enough in my comments
>here that nobody things i'm touting my ideas as if i
>were Jim Kramer touting some stock on the Mad Money
>show...
>
>when i say i "suspect" or "have a hunch" that the
>co-operative way "may have a part to play" in our
>muddling through the post-oil production peak period
>(which will be a long period, i suspect), that means
>i'm trying not to be categorical and claim there's One
>Way out of the Mess.
>
>i doubt there's any of us here who've lived through a
>previous global peak of petroleum production, since
>there's only going to be one of those, so i doubt
>there's anyone who can tell us categorically what's
>going to "work" or what "won't work."
>
>if, as Rich Heinberg says, we're going to need some 50
>million farmers when our "Special Period" comes, then
>i *suspect* again that there are going to be a number
>of different models, methods, schemes, organizations,
>etc. for these 50 million farmers to git 'er done as
>far as feeding themselves and all of us.  
>
>in the midst of a collapsing civilization, i sincerely
>doubt that people are going to be spontaneously
>putting back together the broken American extended
>family-farm with all five generations living under one
>roof happily growing to meet all our needs. it's
>likely to be more chaotic than that scenario.
>
>what if, like, single people no kids, or gosh, gay
>couples, or a single mom, wants to go into small
>agriculture?  will state constitutions be amended
>Focus on Family-style to prohibit such abominations? 
>really, i don't see the Focus on the Family folks
>stepping forward into the leadership on this
>post-petroleum living thing any time soon...
>
>if you've found some way that works for you as living
>on the land, that's great.  but it may not be the One
>Way for all of us... i have a few ideas, which may or
>may not work, can't say for sure...
>
>peas, 
>
>bobby g
>