Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

These kinds of conversations always make me question how much of our food I can grow.  Jeavon's work is the only quantitative information I have found on our needs vs. what a home gardener can do, and I'm not optimistic that I can produce a healthy, diverse, year-round, diet.  Most of us on this list are growing gardens; some are raising animals, but I'll bet most would like to have some discussions about what, and how much, we should be producing in order to feed ourselves.  Currently I only have about 10% of the garden space that Jeavons says I need, but I don't think I can add more than about 10% a year.  Yeah, I'm ahead of most folks, but I don't think that's good enough for this situation.

 

True, Tomatoes are the #1 market garden item, but they don't offer many calories.  I've never eaten a Turnip, or many other root crops.  Beans, squash, greens, tomatoes.  Corn is not a good use of space.  What else?

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: TradingPostPaul

To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:44 PM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Shattering Myths: ?Can sustainable agriculture feed the world?

In modern famines people don't form wild mobs and go pillaging. Hungry
people don't have the energy. What we see happening instead is gradual
migration from the havenot countries to the haves. We see it and Europe
too. What was the old saying - don't beggar your neighbor?

On so many lists people fret over what they'd do if hungry hordes came
after their own supplies. They stock up with guns and ammunition. Bunker
mentality. The last thing they worry about is learnning to produce their
own food in cooperation with neighbors. Yet they always seem to assume they
won't be one of the hungry themselves. Hmmm.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net