Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

Jealous? Wellll ... yes and no. Our four/four & 1/2 months frost free
pushes us. Got our first snow Friday and down to 2 degrees Sat nite. On the
other hand, we can grow what most can't in this climate, and very few have
what we have at the market. Squash bugs got all their squash, hail did a
number on their tomatoes, too dry, too windy, yada, yada. And like you we
have projects to start, much less complete, already. Have to re-cover the
plastic on the starter plant section of greenhouse, and dodge the cold
mornings and windy afternoons to get that behind me. 

About the world at large, that's too big for me to worry about. Just try to
be part of the solution, not part of the problem. For the less fortunate
one-third of our population in U.S., "smooth transition" is already a cruel
joke. Just read someplace 6,000 people showed up to apply for 300 Wal-Mart
jobs, no full time, minimum wage, no benefits. It's that bad out there.
Soup kitchens are turning people away. 

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 11/27/2007 at 9:49 AM E. E. Mitchamore Jr wrote:

>Lomberg's book was printed in 2001, before the latest run-up in prices. 
>Since my first email on the subject, I started his chapter on energy, and
>was amused to see his prediction of $17 - $30/bbl oil through 2020.  The
>current price increase doesn't make him a complete idiot, any more than
>Brown's earlier predictions of failure that did not materialize.  It does,
>however, emphasize his assumption of continued energy availability for
>agriculture.  That seems unlikely, if not because of absolute scarcity,
>then because of our crazy economy.
>
>Is there a good analysis of a global transition to sustainable
>agriculture?  Mostly I see it framed in a shortage of farmers,  rather
>than a shortage of land, water, or anything else (though there are clearly
>concerns about all those things).  It's a lot easier to see steps that we
>can take for ourselves and our families, but what about the world at
>large?  Is there any possibility of a smooth transition?  Looks like we're
>running full speed until some disaster intervenes.
>
>Meanwhile, back on the ranch...Central Texas hasn't had a freeze, yet, and
>I did manage to put the ends back on my Hoop House yesterday, having
>ripped them off when it got too hot.  So I'm sort of ready.  With such a
>long season, it's hard to get in the mood to plan gardens and order seeds.
> I'm not through with Fall chores, yet.
>
>Since my trees are grown in containers, my biggest concern is managing
>moisture and nutrition to the plants.  Top-dressing is too much work, so
>I've just procured a compost tea brewer and injector pump for the drip
>irrigation system.  The plan is to add fish emulsion and compost tea to
>the irrigation water, feeding more or less continuously.  Got to get that
>system built before Spring.
>
>Right now, I'm going to go plant some seeds.  It's clear and 60
>degrees....Jealous?
>
>E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
>www.hillcountrynatives.biz
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: TradingPostPaul 
>  To: emitch@att.net ; livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org 
>  Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:49 AM
>  Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] The Skeptical Environmentalist
>
>
>
>  Well, they tell us that oil-derived pesticides and gas-derived
fertilizer
>  going up so high is gradually driving industrial agriculture to the
brink
>  of extinction. At some point very soon those of us who grow sustainably
-
>  and profitably - without fossil fuels will actually be able to undercut
>the
>  poisonous storebought garbage. But you decide.
>
>  paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>  *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
>  On 11/27/2007 at 6:15 AM E. E. Mitchamore Jr wrote:
>
>  >In an attempt to be as well informed as possible, I grudgingly felt
>  >obligated to read Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist (TSE).
> I
>  >haven't finished, but am finding it so tedious that I wanted to get
>  >reactions from others that may have read it.