On a similar note, it's amazing how much our untended garden gave us this year.

[conuly]

It's not even that big, either. I mean, we think it is, but we're in New York. And we didn't even use up most of it! I wonder if it'd be possible to have a small set of basically untended gardens (with more land). I remember reading about some people somewhere who set up their gardens on a five year plan, and don't cultivate beyond planting and picking - eventually, the garden reverts to forest and they start somewhere else, but in the meantime they have five years worth of crops in there (though some of them are gone after one or two years).

Edit: A semi-related post on the perils of the Green Revolution.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

We're not likely to starve. Two of its points contradict each other. We may not be able to keep making enough food to keep up with population growth with the resources at hand... but we have countless houses growing worthless grass in their yards. If we need more food, we have lots and lots of land that could grow food and isn't. We could go back to growing food more locally (which would be good).

Also, I'm a big fan of terra preta and want to see more research done in that direction.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, your views on agriculture are probably a bit warped by living in the Caves of Steel. (I will admit that we have what I summarize as a "big garden", but the long version is that we have four gardens--the front garden, the corn garden, the south garden and the potato patch--all of which add up to close on an acre.)

That said, you'd be amazed what you can harvest with benign neglect. (Watering is a must, though.) My ex-husband and I did this pretty much inadvertently one year and still got plenty of green beans, lots of lettuce, and enough carrots and onions to brag about.

[conuly]

So... you and leora aren't likely to starve, but I still might (if I don't drown first, that is)?

That said, you'd be amazed what you can harvest with benign neglect.

I am amazed! We didn't even plant in half our yard, and a huge proportion of what we *did* plant in was taken up fully with basil (more than I thought was reasonable, and now we've got a freezerful of pesto and then some), and we still had more tomatoes than we could shake a stick at, and zucchini (not the bumper crop I'd feared, though - I thought usually if you planted zucchini you got well too much, but that didn't seem to happen) and tons of okra (which would've been more if we'd picked it sooner) and an insane amount of sunflower seeds, and I think some green beans, and some lettuce (before they got totally overshadowed by the sunflowers and all died), and, of course, the nasturtiums.

[conuly]

Thank you. (I'd say something more, but I can't think of it.)

[conuly]

Waiiiiit... you mean "your views on a big yard are warped", not "your views that you might die of starvation by 2050 are warped", don't you.

[conuly]

(Does it still take a question mark if it's not really a question?)

[marveen.livejournal.com]

The former. (I'm reserving judgment on the latter.)

I know lots of citydwellers think a big yard is one where you can lie down without banging your head and/or ankles on the fence, but I like a yard where you can actually break into a run for more than a dozen strides.

[conuly]

How about 10 even? (And we only planted, I just looked, in *less* than half, more like a quarter, of the yard. The back yard. We've got yard on one side and the back and by the street a bit too - filled up with forsythia and mint and lavender and rosemary (now I understand the nursery rhyme!) and roses of doom and scaffolding too).

[marveen.livejournal.com]

What happens after ten, do you hit the fence? (I'm a powerlifter, I take a couple strides to work up to speed.)

What exactly are roses of doom, anyway? (I'm visualizing the rose briars from the movie version of Sleeping Beauty, but I'm handicapped by not knowing what sort of building you live in.) I myself adore Austin roses (http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/ ) and own four bushes so far.

[conuly]

The next door's garage. We're talking about buying it off of them and tearing it down, they don't use it and it's falling down anyway.

And yes, those are our roses of doom. Somewhat smaller, but just as briar-y, and they grow back from just roots every year - we have to trim them just to get up the stairs after a few weeks.

[leora.livejournal.com]

We're not likely to starve. Two of its points contradict each other. We may not be able to keep making enough food to keep up with population growth with the resources at hand... but we have countless houses growing worthless grass in their yards. If we need more food, we have lots and lots of land that could grow food and isn't. We could go back to growing food more locally (which would be good).

Also, I'm a big fan of terra preta and want to see more research done in that direction.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, your views on agriculture are probably a bit warped by living in the Caves of Steel. (I will admit that we have what I summarize as a "big garden", but the long version is that we have four gardens--the front garden, the corn garden, the south garden and the potato patch--all of which add up to close on an acre.)

That said, you'd be amazed what you can harvest with benign neglect. (Watering is a must, though.) My ex-husband and I did this pretty much inadvertently one year and still got plenty of green beans, lots of lettuce, and enough carrots and onions to brag about.

[conuly]

So... you and leora aren't likely to starve, but I still might (if I don't drown first, that is)?

That said, you'd be amazed what you can harvest with benign neglect.

I am amazed! We didn't even plant in half our yard, and a huge proportion of what we *did* plant in was taken up fully with basil (more than I thought was reasonable, and now we've got a freezerful of pesto and then some), and we still had more tomatoes than we could shake a stick at, and zucchini (not the bumper crop I'd feared, though - I thought usually if you planted zucchini you got well too much, but that didn't seem to happen) and tons of okra (which would've been more if we'd picked it sooner) and an insane amount of sunflower seeds, and I think some green beans, and some lettuce (before they got totally overshadowed by the sunflowers and all died), and, of course, the nasturtiums.

[conuly]

Thank you. (I'd say something more, but I can't think of it.)

[conuly]

Waiiiiit... you mean "your views on a big yard are warped", not "your views that you might die of starvation by 2050 are warped", don't you.

[conuly]

(Does it still take a question mark if it's not really a question?)

[marveen.livejournal.com]

The former. (I'm reserving judgment on the latter.)

I know lots of citydwellers think a big yard is one where you can lie down without banging your head and/or ankles on the fence, but I like a yard where you can actually break into a run for more than a dozen strides.

[conuly]

How about 10 even? (And we only planted, I just looked, in *less* than half, more like a quarter, of the yard. The back yard. We've got yard on one side and the back and by the street a bit too - filled up with forsythia and mint and lavender and rosemary (now I understand the nursery rhyme!) and roses of doom and scaffolding too).

[marveen.livejournal.com]

What happens after ten, do you hit the fence? (I'm a powerlifter, I take a couple strides to work up to speed.)

What exactly are roses of doom, anyway? (I'm visualizing the rose briars from the movie version of Sleeping Beauty, but I'm handicapped by not knowing what sort of building you live in.) I myself adore Austin roses (http://www.davidaustinroses.com/american/ ) and own four bushes so far.

[conuly]

The next door's garage. We're talking about buying it off of them and tearing it down, they don't use it and it's falling down anyway.

And yes, those are our roses of doom. Somewhat smaller, but just as briar-y, and they grow back from just roots every year - we have to trim them just to get up the stairs after a few weeks.