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  • From: Leigh Hauter <lh AT pressroom.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Scratching My Head/praying
  • Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 08:06:40 -0500



Organic feed may be hard to come by for a very good reason ... it is not
necessarily economically cost effective to produce it, and so it is not
produced. There is only one way to get the production up with normal market
signals ... and that is price.

The market needs to reward the producers of the wanted product and if
Fieldale Farms can't get make it with input higher prices, they may need to
go out of business and let a few small family farms replace them.


We have a running joke out this way about 'the market' as if there was such a thing outside of politics. We are always looking for the god that operates this system. As in, 'the market god'. Or, as in 'the devil is in the details.'

Earth to Rick. The market is created by people, mostly these days created by people who live and work around Washington DC and/or Geneva Switzerland and/or a few other capitals around the world.

Now these people would like to think of themselves as priest of this strange religion, but I don't worship at their alter and I'm tired of them trying to push their particular scripture on me.

I for one don't have much faith in the market god or its church 'the market'. I've seen too many of this strange religions priests in action. Like the old Mayan priest they are serving their own interests when they tell us the rules their god says we should operate by.

As some examples of why this strange religion needs so much faith look at the stuff that is used to work 'the market'. That paper stuff. Who agreed that stuff meant anything? Some sort of god of the market? Not. Why do you use dollars instead of euros instead of seashells? Who decides that contracts means anything? That agreements on paper like corporations are to be treated just like people. How come oil companies don't pay taxes while this little CSA operator just paid a bundle last weekend. How come there are such a thing as off shore banking/tax havens? Does the market god really live on semi tropical islands in the Caribbean and that's why it rewards 'corporations' who come there to worship with their special banks?

(oh, back to the original point - how should 'the market' increase organic feed. We could do what we did for the oil industry. We could have the government buy a whole bunch of it and keep it in 'strategic reserve'. We can change the scriptures -of, excuse me, laws - and redefine what it is. We could change the scriptures so everyone has to use this produce -increasing demand. We could also interpreter the scriptures in such a way that no one could produce any other sort of feed).

The priests of the market, no doubt serving their god do this sort of thing all the time with literally thousands and thousands of products and services and trades. That's why the city where I do business is so full of market priests, and market worshipers who come to pray and give offerings in the hope that 'the god will look favorably on their prayers and give their special industry special benefits.

This has been fun but I have to go back out to the greenhouse and get to work.
From miranda AT tagoresmith.com Wed Mar 5 08:14:26 2003
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Subject: [Market-farming] Re: watercress
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Janet--We grew watercress commercially last year by seeding it in
groups (almost impossible NOT to, given the small seed size) in
50-cell trays, covered with a layer of vermiculite to hold moisture.
When plants have a little size, thin to the best few plants and move
it up to a 6-inch pot. The soil mix must be free-draining. Throughout,
it's going to need lots of water, but less that I expected. The trick
with it is light and heat--it wanted bright light but relatively cool
temperatures. This was no problem in late winter and spring when we
put it along the edges of the greenhouse and under benches. By summer,
we had to keep it under shade cloth and even then, got only a few
cuttings from a planting. Despite this, it was profitable--$15.00/lb
to quality restaurants because it was soooooooo much better than
anything else out there.

Miranda Smith


Anybody out there harvesting watercress for market? If so, how do
you
propagate, harvest, clean, package it?





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