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Well, you could live in an urban area and have a window farm. I also have friends here (NYC) who have pretty massive rooftop farms growing more carrots and tomatoes and other things than they can really use year after year (they do can and pickle and give to friends though).
I think it'd be great if part of the push for pushing local edibles in your yard was also pushing for edibles native to the area. There are a huge variety of plants and such that were formerly used for food and other things in pretty much all stretches of the US, but became less commonly or completely unused as time went on especially as the Native Americans met their demise or moved to reservations and government subsistence. I think with contemporary horticultural practices and culinary techniques, a lot of these plants can be revived, yields improved, and dishes explored. My favorite among the plants native to the US but having very little cultivation (due to them not being able to survive the industrial farm system since they must be eaten quickly after plucking from the tree) is the paw paw which was also the favorite of founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Here's a pic:
There are plenty of other plants that could be used out there and one good resource is the works of Euell Gibbons such as Stalking the Wild Asparagus which are also very entertaining reads.
Good is living in denser urban areas where you wont take up farmland
Tell me once more, good and faithful mod, that there aren't people on this forum "celebrating density".
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I once posted a link that showed there is no shortage of farmland. There is an over-supply of food in this country if anything. Farmers get paid to let their land go idle. This has been happening since the depression, and I mean the depression of the 1930s, not the recession of 2008.
Tell me once more, good and faithful mod, that there aren't people on this forum "celebrating density".
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I once posted a link that showed there is no shortage of farmland. There is an over-supply of food in this country if anything. Farmers get paid to let their land go idle. This has been happening since the depression, and I mean the depression of the 1930s, not the recession of 2008.
Can you repost that link? I know land is laid fallow for a while and then rotated, but I'm guessing that's not what you're referring to.
Tell me once more, good and faithful mod, that there aren't people on this forum "celebrating density".
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I once posted a link that showed there is no shortage of farmland. There is an over-supply of food in this country if anything. Farmers get paid to let their land go idle. This has been happening since the depression, and I mean the depression of the 1930s, not the recession of 2008.
is it even possible to survive on chicken and eggs and small game as your sole sources of protein?
Chicken + eggs + veggies? Not even difficult. Most small game doesn't have enough fat, but eggs should cover that. I think that lot is a bit small for a subsistence farm too; I'm just pointing out that small lots can yield meat as well as veggies.
Loquat tastes like soft creamy apples, really sweet. But I like a crisp apple myself. Didn't you or your parents ever grow fruits or vegetables in backyard? You don't need farmland. There's even vertical gardening now. And it's common in the 'burbs to share, but your neighbors are only as neighborly as you are yourself. Lots of gardening in O.C. but if you don't think so you can complain to Sunset Magazine headquarters in Walnut.
It's night right now and I'm gorging on sweet navel oranges from the tree and the juice is cold. It's a good crop but there's not enough to give away. BTW, until recently my sister kept two hens for eggs and as pets in Long Beach.
my parents used to have a small vegetable garden in their backyard. but they didn't share with our neighbors what they grew. as you mentioned, probably because we lived in the suburbs where people tend not to interact with their neighbors very much if at all (not to suggest that people in the city interact with their neighbors more because they generally don't either). my parents shared what they grew with people they knew who came to visit but these were not our neighbors they were friends and relatives who came from out of town to visit. or when we went to visit my grandparents in another city my mom would take some food from the garden to take to her. but again they were not our neighbors.
in contrast to suburbanites people who live in a classical small town where everybody knows each other are more likely to interact with their neighbors, share food with them, etc.
my parents used to have a small vegetable garden in their backyard. but they didn't share with our neighbors what they grew. as you mentioned, probably because we lived in the suburbs where people tend not to interact with their neighbors very much if at all (not to suggest that people in the city interact with their neighbors more because they generally don't either). my parents shared what they grew with people they knew who came to visit but these were not our neighbors they were friends and relatives who came from out of town to visit. or when we went to visit my grandparents in another city my mom would take some food from the garden to take to her. but again they were not our neighbors.
in contrast to suburbanites people who live in a classical small town where everybody knows each other are more likely to interact with their neighbors, share food with them, etc.
For pity's sake! We have a backyard garden. We often share our produce with our suburban neighbors, and/or take some to work. So do other people I work with, here in the burbs.
For pity's sake! We have a backyard garden. We often share our produce with our suburban neighbors, and/or take some to work. So do other people I work with, here in the burbs.
but you live in a small town though not a modern suburb.
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