#28 - Jun 2019 - Garden Stuff - © Sandy Lang - slang@xtra.co.nz
DOOMSDAY May/June: Winter. Most gardeners raise two crops a year in the same bed. Summer crop + winter crop.
This time of year, there’s overlap between the end of the summer crop, and when you should already have planted the winter crop. Same in spring but vice versa. Two, 7-month growing seasons.
So, start the new crop early in newspaper pots. Later, direct-plant the pots in the bed. Roots grow through soggy newspaper - no root disturbance, no transplant shock. Google newspaper pots
Doomsday: Forget the bomb. Forget about COVID. We’ve made an awful mess of the world in the last 100+ years. Can we pull back before it’s too late…? What’s stopping us…?
Population: There’s too many of us, and we can’t reduce our numbers. We’re still increasing, and we can’t even slow down.
Politics: The doomsday problems are technical and moral and global and complex. Politicians don’t understand them. Some ignore them. Some even deny them. Politicians must focus on the (short-term) problem of staying in power. They can’t focus on the (long-term) problem of saving the world. Politicians are myopic, nationalistic. Nobody is responsible for the planet.
Economics: With expanding populations, and a desire to improve living standards for the poor, all nations try to increase GDP. A child understands nothing can keep expanding forever - but we don’t get this…
Technology: We hope we can save the world by getting smarter - but can we get smart enough, quick enough? And can we afford the transition? A few rich nations might - but not the majority…
What if? Maybe our politicians, economists and technologists will let us down. Then we’re doomed. We’ll be OK, but not our grandchildren…
Grow your own: If our complex world-order collapses, maybe we can grow our own food at home. Like our ancestors did for 10,000 years.
But how? This ancient knowledge has largely been lost in a generation. Few now know how to grow food at home.
But where? Lower Hutt (like most cities) has been built on the best farming land. What’s left are the poor soils and poor sites. In WW2 many Europeans survived by growing food at home. With ever-higher housing density, the opportunity to grow significant food at home has been lost. Allotments are common in the USA, Europe and Asia, but not in NZ cities. Am I the only one who sees the naked emperor…?___________________________________
DOOMSDAY May/June: Winter. Most gardeners raise two crops a year in the same bed. Summer crop + winter crop.
This time of year, there’s overlap between the end of the summer crop, and when you should already have planted the winter crop. Same in spring but vice versa. Two, 7-month growing seasons.
So, start the new crop early in newspaper pots. Later, direct-plant the pots in the bed. Roots grow through soggy newspaper - no root disturbance, no transplant shock. Google newspaper pots
Doomsday: Forget the bomb. Forget about COVID. We’ve made an awful mess of the world in the last 100+ years. Can we pull back before it’s too late…? What’s stopping us…?
Population: There’s too many of us, and we can’t reduce our numbers. We’re still increasing, and we can’t even slow down.
Politics: The doomsday problems are technical and moral and global and complex. Politicians don’t understand them. Some ignore them. Some even deny them. Politicians must focus on the (short-term) problem of staying in power. They can’t focus on the (long-term) problem of saving the world. Politicians are myopic, nationalistic. Nobody is responsible for the planet.
Economics: With expanding populations, and a desire to improve living standards for the poor, all nations try to increase GDP. A child understands nothing can keep expanding forever - but we don’t get this…
Technology: We hope we can save the world by getting smarter - but can we get smart enough, quick enough? And can we afford the transition? A few rich nations might - but not the majority…
What if? Maybe our politicians, economists and technologists will let us down. Then we’re doomed. We’ll be OK, but not our grandchildren…
Grow your own: If our complex world-order collapses, maybe we can grow our own food at home. Like our ancestors did for 10,000 years.
But how? This ancient knowledge has largely been lost in a generation. Few now know how to grow food at home.
But where? Lower Hutt (like most cities) has been built on the best farming land. What’s left are the poor soils and poor sites. In WW2 many Europeans survived by growing food at home. With ever-higher housing density, the opportunity to grow significant food at home has been lost. Allotments are common in the USA, Europe and Asia, but not in NZ cities. Am I the only one who sees the naked emperor…?___________________________________