Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:

two more books for the reading list:

Sepp Holzer, _The Rebel Farmer_ and _Sepp Holzer's
Permaculture_ i'm reading them in reverse order, almost
done with the second. he's got many years of actual
experience with many things, so i appreciate his
writings. some things he's almost mystical about so
that isn't as much a science as a ritualized practice
but it seems to be working for him.

This here represents a problem. The local library doesn't have "The
Rebel Farmer", and even used it is way too expensive for me from Amazon.
In any event, I need to clear out my backlog of reading books. The stack
on the headboard could do some serious damage to me, if we had a
trembler.

perhaps a fault of an ex-librarian is to keep
recommending books as i come across them.

i'm adding them to my notes too so they can
be found later or used by others to add to their
own reading lists.

things are working ok here, most libraries are
interconnected in Michigan now (even without much
funding from the state these days) using several
catalog systems (and a mass delivery system so
they don't have to pay postage per item) and then
there is the national OCLC system we can also use
if we're not too crazy with the number of requests.


i haven't gotten into mushroom farming, but i did
enjoy the part of the book that gives that overview.
if i do get into it sometime i'll be sure to read up
on it.

It is something I should check out. We're on the side of a hill, and
there is a lot of dark enclosed space under the house.

for most of what he's doing he's using either
logs (he says fresh cut are best because they are
already moist) or straw bales, left outside, the
logs partially sunk in the ground (providing more
even moisture and trace nutrients). takes a while
(1-2 years before fruiting bodies appear) to get
going but productive for years depending upon the
type of wood used.


also how he talks about fruit trees and his
methods. very low input, but you need a varied
environment to pull it off. in a modern suburban
landscape with grasses, etc and few understory
plants that support beneficials it's a challenge.
then you may also have to deal with neighborhood
politics or town ordinances for weeds/lawn care.

his main property is upland enough that he can
work with microclimates and extending seasons of
harvest by using the warmer downhill areas and
cooler areas uphill along with using rocks, sun
catchers and ponds.

also the film mentioned: _The Agricultural Rebel_.

Film? What film? You didn't say anything about no stinkin' film. You
using Cliff Notes too? ;O)

i should have written that "also a film was mentioned".


...
Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization
by Richard Manning
....
i enjoyed parts of it. i have to conceed the
poorer health and starvation of some peoples under
the version of agriculture much practiced in the
past.

Famines every 10 years don't auger well for agriculturalists. It's way
past time to start humanities return to sustainable environmental
practices. It's probably an impossible dream with greed intrenched in
government.

wait until you get to the part where he talks about
China and famines (p. 71).

??????? It's the same deal, famines every 10 years.

no, he writes they have evidence of 1800+ famines in
about 3,000 years. that's a famine almost every year
to every other year.

OK, it's agreed, every other year, and we won't mention the cannibalism.

as someone noted, "it's hard to get a good night's
sleep." in that type of company.


....
The term is borrowed from the
militaryindustrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of in
his famous 1961 farewell address.

he was a smart guy.

And he seemed to be human.

I wonder what the U.S. would have been like if Major General Smedley
Butler, USMC had been President.

Ike was a politician, i think Butler rubbed too many
the wrong way.


Such groups include corporations that
contract prison labor, construction companies, surveillance technology
vendors, lawyers, and lobby groups that represent them. Activists have
argued that the Prison-Industrial Complex as perpetuating a belief that
imprisonment is a quick yet ultimately flawed solution to social
problems such as homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental
illness, and illiteracy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex

More specifically see "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age
of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander and Cornel West.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-I...dness/dp/15955
86431/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369114986&sr=1-1&keywords=The+New+J
im+Crow

gah! no, i'm not going there. it's all around me
already, i don't need to read more about it.

We have that option, for the time being, but people of color don't. It
gets shoved into their faces, like it or not.

unfortunate and worth fighting against.


....
Who would know, it has never been tried.

the first few years of Christianity were
supposedly communist in organisation and
sharing of resources, but that devolves like
any other system as soon as you put money
in any large amounts into the hands of a
few "leaders" or "organizers".

Ah, communist with a lower case "c", not an uppercase "C". In the middle
ages, at least in England, you would live in a village, and behind your
house you would have your garden, but beyond the garden was the
"Commons". There would be fields that were worked in common by the
inhabitants of the town for the good of everyone. There were also
forests where a person could hunt for game. Then came the closure laws,
and everyone was forced into the factories (more or less). Capitalism
seems like an extension of feudalism. Both require infinite resources.
Socialism (We the People) can be corrupted, as all can see, but it is
doable. First we have to get campaign financing out of private hands,
and everything else should flow from that, not that vigilance won't
still be required.


capitalism does not require infinite resources,
i dunno where you get that idea from.

socialism is fine in some parts. i still believe
that freedom should be primary in that many systems
should be allowed under a broader form of government
and those that wish to form socialist organizations
and societies within should be allowed as long as
their members are allowed freedom to leave if they
wish. an age of consent. some written bylaws and
a coming of age ceremony would be good. i still
haven't had much of a chance to see how the Amish
have managed to become the society they have in the
USoA and how they are treated in terms of taxes and
such, but an interesting side topic for the future...


however, i don't see any solution because any
system set up still has to interface with others
and that means some form of currency or government
to make sure the groups don't trample each other
or use false means of gain or counterfeit
currencies.

Regulation is needed to combat cheating.

which means enforcement and that means
enforcers, taxes, jails, or something meaningful
as a deterrent... which pretty much doesn't seem
to exist now.


....huge snip, too many tangents...
as to how to regulate banking, i don't see any good
coming from the government being directly involved.
i already am having severe dislikes to the feds
current practices of transferring wealth from the
responsible to the irresponsible, but put the fed in
the government's direct control and it would be even
worse as then they'd have no check on their abuse of
the money supply. not that there seems to be one
right now anyways. if i had a better place to put my
money i'd be doing it, but the rest of the world is
not looking much better either.

Credit Unions keep the money local.

i have a fair amount of my savings in a few
credit unions. unfortunately, they can bloat
just like any other organization.


....
When the "free market" reigns, corporations will own the seeds for our
food, the rights to the our water, and charge us rent for the clothes on
our backs. Of course the problem may be moot if Global Warming gets away
from us, or we meet another Chicxulub asteroid.

they don't own my seeds and i'll gladly share.

The natural, free seeds are becoming fewer, and fewer. As much as I like
open pollinated seeds, I know that hybridized squash has less of a
problem with mildew. Hybridized means that it is owned by somebody.
Usually that somebody is Monsanto.

i don't think you are right. perhaps you can find
an organic source for a similar hybrid and not have
to buy from Monsanto. as there are so many squash
varieties you might even find something better.

i keep finding seed sources way beyond what i can
ever possibly use here. i don't think seed-savers are
going out of business any time soon, and the expansion
of farmer markets and people putting in their own
gardens is also a good trend in the opposite direction.

As luck would have it, I misspoke again. I was thinking that Black
Beauty Zucchini was a hybrid, it isn't. Compared to Costata Romanesco
and Zucchino Rampicante it has little taste, but it sure does withstand
mildew. I'll have to find another example of skullduggery in high places.

no shortage there.


putting on some fertilizer, and then some potting soil, and lastly
the
plant, with what ever potting soil is necessary to make the ground
flush.
Today is sunflowers, lettuce, and potting some herbs.

i've been digging and burying more shredded bark
and wood pieces and then after filling it back in
and then topping it off with soil that is actually
topsoil (and not clay). into that went about 220
onions of three types and a small patch of turnips.

Ah, to be young again.

today is a day of r-n-r. very humid and in the
80s.

Mid 70s to mid 80s here for te last few weeks and the seedlings are
jumpin'

i'm glad they are coming along.

It's the earliest start I've had in 15 years. Usually I don't get into
the ground until the first of June.

we're having another rainy day here, which is good as
we've been a little too dry, but i'm not getting more
gardens planted. we went looking for raincoats yesterday
and the stores have already moved their stocks into summer
and fall items.


today looks pretty good for getting something
done outside.

Carp that Dium, baby.

finished planting the areas i got raised up last
week. peas, beets, a few onions, snap peas, soup
peas. no beans in yet. i think i can get some of
those planted tomorrow if the ground isn't too soggy.


....
I hope you make it to 60 without any chronic illnesses, otherwise it can
be a real pile of shit. Good luck.

heh, allergies have always been fun, motorcycle
accident broke and twisted things so i have to be
careful about some angles and bends and then i've
had chronic back problems since i was 15. for me
to say that it is doing better is a huge improvement
in how things are going.

The thought of getting killed on a motorcycle never bothered me. Then I
discovered getting mangled. They sure are fun on a hot day in the trees.

dirt-biking was fun as a kid, but my downfall is
that i like to go too fast. also why i refused to take
up downhill skiing. i just knew that would be a bad
idea. snowshoes are about the right speed for me.

my brother hit a deer at 60mph on his motorcycle.
he came out of it with some bad spots of road rash,
but the gal on the back had quite a bit more damage.
i should have learned from that but many years later
i wanted to try one of my own. learned the hard way
that they weren't for me.


every day on the right side of the daisy roots is
a day i never expected. for some reason as a kid i
never expected to live past 30. having relatives
with chronic lung or back troubles or diabetes i
can see the way it can be. i've been through my own
piles so it's just a matter of keeping on, finding
what is important and working on that and not getting
hung up on what i can't do. being a systems analyst
means being able to break down a problem and work
the parts until it comes back together again. keep
the big picture in mind.

My plan is trying to squeeze the last drop of pleasure out of this life.

grab each day by the balls... gently...


I'm down to the hard part now, which only makes it tougher.

hang in there and try to ignore the BS. sometimes
happiness comes in small victories and unexpected
places. like seeing a sundog or a pea plant sprouting
and flowering.


....
Peppers (28) are in. Now it's on to the squash, sunflowers, and more
lettuce. Then it will be beets, onions, and the misc. The seeds for the
green beans must have been too old. I'll have to try again.

luckily they can be planted in series.
i keep planting peas and beans as much as i
can, i like the flowers and foliage as much
as the edibles.

Onwards, and downwards. Have a good'un.

you too! happy dibbling...


songbird