On Wed, 30 May 2007 15:34:28 -0900, Jan Flora wrote:

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Wed, 30 May 2007 09:52:11 -0700, Bill Rose
wrote:


[...]

Stock was taken to a local or regional processing plant and was
processed and distributed to local stores. Stores sold local eggs and
produce, in season. You see what we have now. People were trying to
make a living and life for their families and communities, not trying
to become quadrazillionaires.

Some of us are still doing that. There are three gals right here in
my little neighborhood who sell our eggs. About 50 dozen eggs a
week, between the three of us, and we can't meet our market demand.

A couple of gals sell raw milk, but do it very quietly, because
it's not legal in this state to sell it.

Another neighbor is a truck farmer and a founding mother of our
local Farmers Market, which has grown exponentially in 5 years.

And all of my Old Believer Russian neighbors grow a huge amount
of the food they need for the year. Literally tons of spuds; cabbage;
carrots; broccoli; lots of beets (for borscht), etc. (Lots of food
crops thrive in our cool Alaskan summers.) They all have greenhouses --
typical size is ~20'x30', although one neighbor just built a new one
that's at least 40' long. (I'm very jealous...)

Those families average 12 children each. The kids help with the
garden, the milk cows, the chickens (meat & egg), the horses,
goats and other assorted & sundry animals. The kids also go out
commercial fishing with their dads & uncles, and they go hunting
in the fall for moose & caribou. The kids grow up with a real
understanding of where their food comes from and how to make it
all happen.


Back in the fifties and sixties, the local farmers also provided good
summer jobs for us kids. Before Monsanto, we walked bean fields,
cutting out the weeds. We made hay all summer.

We can't get "American" kids to work on the ranch, doing haying.
The Russian kids are happy for the work. I've never heard a single
whimper or whine, bucking square bales.


Funny thing though, before using crop rotation and farm manure, you got
2 food calories out for everyone put in and the environment was a hell
of a lot healthier.


We sell our composted cow manure like crazy this time of year.
The organic truck farmers and my Russian neighbors buy it.

We started selling the cow poop simply because we're always broke
in May. I needed money to pay the light bill & the phone bill.
Now we sell I don't know how many tons of it every spring : )

Jan in Alaska
Zone 3 and time to plant-out, right after this full moon
(we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow night)

Whoa.....are you alive? Is this post originating from heaven?

Hello, is this god speaking? Is this a vision of the afterlife?

Seriously now.....

Charlie, to whom the angel spoke