In uk.rec.gardening Oz wrote:
: Tim Tyler writes

:: Then you either have a very small plot, aren't trying or aren't growing
:: the right things.
:
:Size is the main limiting factor. I estimate I have about ten square
:metres to work with.

: 3m x 3m!

More like 10m x 1m ;-)

: Then throw out most of it and stick to 5 sq m of swiss chard and 5 sq m
: in runner and climbing french beans.

That would be contrary to my stated aim of getting more diversity -
and would massively up my bean consumption (I go pretty easy on
most legumes).

:I'm not really trying to get my calories from my garden. Indeed, I
:grow almost entirely very low calorie produce. My main aim at this stage
:is to increase the diversity of fresh, good quality salad vegetables I
:have available to me - not to feed myself entirely from my garden.

: That can be bought cheaply in the store.

I'm /trying/ to grow things I can't easily get in store. My best source
for all my chinese salad veggies - for example - is miles away - and their
produce is apparently imported - and freshness leaves something to be
desired.

I can't buy russian kale, american cress - or indeed most of my sprouts
at all.

: You obviously didn't find the ames link, or uncle al's.

You're right there - the only "uncle al" I am familiar with is
unlikely to be the one you are referring to.

::::I suspect that eventually mechanical barriers to pests will eventually
::::make many of today's pesticides redundant.
:::
:::: Dream on, you have no idea what you are talking about.
:::
:::Rather obviously, I'm talking about growing a greater proportion of
:::things "under glass" - or in controlled environments.
::
::: To feed the world?
::
::Yes.
::
::: speechless at the stunning level of ignorance
::
::Don't underestimate technological progress.
:
:: I don't, I do understand economics.
:: Just work out the energy cost of covering the UK arable area under
:: glass. Go on, have a go.
:
:I am not talking about glass. [....]

Not /just/ glass, anyway.

:And I am /certainly/ not suggesting do[ing] this today. See where I
:wrote "eventually". I even did it twice - to emphasize the point.

: So what DO you mean, if not under glass?

Well, it doesn't /have/ to be glass. For example, some of the operations
I know of use polytunnels instead.

The original idea of using mechanical - rather than chemical - barriers to
pests doesn't necessarily require completely enclosing the plants at all -
although enclosure is probably the most effective approach.

The scarecrow is a form of non-chemical pest control agent - as are
slug-moats, fences, and nets.

These are all things that attempt to prevent the pests and produce
being in the same place at the same time - rather than poisoning
them once they arrive.
--
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|im |yler http://timtyler.org/