Victor Johanson

It's the stark juxtaposition, combined with subtle cues, which make it objectionable--a sinister glowing red backdrop of evil chainsaws, jugs of petrochemicals, pollution belching truck and chimney, and a huge stockpile of murdered trees in the midst of a stump wasteland sets the tone, with a couple of miscreants looking self satisfied with the destruction they've perpetrated. But shift your eyes right; we have a solution!: a benign green world, where feminine (and therefore good and superior) values have displaced all that male generated toxicity. Examine the body language and facial expressions--a dangerous pair of brooding, scowling axe wielders, versus a sweet, harmless, smiling barefoot pixie, skipping by with her adorable trunk friendly loppers.

It would be different if the picture were of exhausted men sacrificing themselves to do what needs to be done to meet their community's needs, next to another panel of them being freed to spend time with their families and enjoy a less dangerous and arduous life. It's not outlandish at all for a man to look at this and, like I did, react instantly with "oh here we go again, white cisgender male=villain who needs to be removed from the picture." These pendulums can swing too far, and in my opinion this one has. Normal boy behavior (competitiveness, ambition, leadership, self assurance) is now classified as aberrant and undesireable, and Big Pharma zombifying "solutions" are being deployed at an alarming rate. Maybe there's such a thing as genuine gender dysphoria, but it seems to have sparked what in many cases surely constitutes a social contagion, with transitioning also proposed as a remedy to the societal obstacles faced by boys navigating a system arrayed against them. "Confused? Nothing a little castration and estrogen can't fix."

This isn't to imply that the messaging here is intentional, only that it is an indicator of how certain attitudes have become normalized, at the expense of men. The cure for sexism can't be more sexism. So, forgive me for broaching this delicate subject, but it's one that requires awareness. We could be Machiavellian, and employ any and all tactics effective toward achieving world domination, regardless of propriety, but that would conflict with the Permaculture ethos.

No hate, just frustration, and concern for the generation now forming.

Burra Maluca wrote:

Victor Johanson wrote:Nothing is more masculine than a couple bearded burly loggers, and the implication is that they are responsible for destroying the environment, while the next panel implies the virtues of femininity,  and the paradise that will ensue once all the nasty men are gone. Your filters are far different than a man's; we have to deal with constant innuendo of this kind, and it's not cool. If anything, women should understand what it's like to be stereotyped and marginalized, and show some empathy when it shifts to another demographic.

It breaks my heart to read this.

I guess I'm guilty as charged because I see that hunky great red-bearded fella doing a ton of work to keep his community warm, and then feel all glowy inside because my own hunky great red-bearded fella already built me a rocket mass heater (ok I know he built it for us, not just me, but I'd made it very, very clear that I wanted one!) and this year virtually all the firewood we have has been hauled from the tree to the wood stack by yours truly, and as most of it is lopper-sized I've also been the one responsible for cutting most of it to size.

To me, that image is inspiring because it means I can do the work that previously my man had to do because it was too much for me but now we have a way to keep warm on a smaller amount of sticks, then I can contribute a bit more fairly to the work load.

But not everyone sees things the way I do...

Nothing is more masculine than a couple bearded burly loggers, and the implication is that they are responsible for destroying the environment, while the next panel implies the virtues of femininity,  and the paradise that will ensue once all the nasty men are gone. Your filters are far different than a man's; we have to deal with constant innuendo of this kind, and it's not cool. If anything, women should understand what it's like to be stereotyped and marginalized, and show some empathy when it shifts to another demographic.

Anne Miller wrote:

Victor Johanson wrote:I don't like the negativity the first panel associates with masculinity.

I don't see any masculinity when I look at that page, maybe it is a feminine prospective?

All I see is that it takes tons and tons of wood to fire up a wood stove and only twigs to fire up a RMH.

I don't like the negativity the first panel associates with masculinity.

paul wheaton wrote:thumb if you likey this image

Derek Thille wrote:The only comment I would make to Victor's post is that you may not want to put in plants that you may want to dig up for the roots (horseradish and valerian from his list).  Now, if you don't want to harvest those roots, those two are good selections.

Valerian flowers seem to be very good pollinator attractors.  Hollow stems should be valuable for overwintering insects.  They are not that tough though if you have windy conditions and grow quite tall (easily 6' / 2m in our part of the world) and they spread easily by seed.

Horseradish is tough as nails and will form a clump slowly spreading over time.  The leaves are edible as well and should make good mulch.  This is one plant that I wouldn't be concerned about if I wanted to walk over it to harvest apples.

Good points. I don't harvest the ones growing under trees; they're strictly companion plants. Valerian will grow tall and poke up into the tree; mind can top 8' here in Fairbanks. They bloom a little late here, during a time when most nectar/pollen sources are spent, so it's nice to have something to fill that niche. Be advised they will aggressively spread.

Anything but sod forming grasses. I plant all kinds of stuff to keep it away through shading and competition:

Comfrey
Raspberries
Tansy
Perennial Alliums (obliquum, altaica, schoenoprasum, nutans)
Dandelions
Caragana
Rhubarb
Horseradish
Yarrow
Mertensia
Lilies
Potentilla
Violets
Bergenia
Burnet
Monkshood
Valerian
Clover
Thalictrum
Iris
Peonies
Silene
Mint
Vetch
Plantain
Shepherd's Purse
Veronica
Veronicastrum
Centauria
Trollius
Dianthus
Bluebells
(and probably others that haven't come to mind)

Old school, no sugar, shelf stable apple butter, courtesy of Steven Edholm at Skillcult. Only ingredients are apples and apple juice. This stuff is amazing. I've made a few batches, and kept them on the shelf for a couple years without any deterioration (in fact, they improve like wine). Important to use non acid apples though, because the acid concentrates along with the sugar, making it pretty brash if you don't use bland fruit:

https://skillcult.com/blog/2015/12/30/in-pursuit-of-the-real-oldtime-apple-butter-shelf-stable-delicious-and-all-apples

Pursuant to the landrace project, I tried to source more Saskatchewan White flint corn seed. I couldn't remember where I originally got it, and had a very difficult time finding any. A Swedish blogger had planted some, and he told me he got his from the German germplasm repository. I ordered some, and got 11 kernels at >$3 each, after jumping through all the hoops to comply with the bureacurats. So I'm growing a few indoors to multiply it before summer.

No, but I have combined apple slices with cabbage in a sauerkraut ferment, which worked fine.

Wow, forgot I started this thread; it's been lively! My own landrace efforts have proceeded in fits and starts. I planted a bunch of carrot root to save seed a couple seasons back, but found nothing but chaff in the heads. However, the next spring, volunteers sprouted all around, so apparently I just missed the window and they'd all dropped. I saved the most promising roots from those, which are in the fridge, and will plant them in pots before long to give them a head start. Now I'm interested in propagating carrots that can be successfully fall sown, a technique that's never worked for me here in Fairbanks, Alaska. I do it with parsnips, which are feral in my yard, and they yield much better than spring sown plants, but until these volunteers came up, none of my attempts with fall sown carrots worked out, so hopefully that will change with these.

A few years ago, I started a cucurbit project, and got lots of seed that year. But the next year none produced viable seed, and this year I only got a few to bear, and the ones I've opened so far also didn't produce seed. I've got a few squash left, though, so maybe I'll still get some, which would be great, since the growing conditions were very marginal and these would be true survivors. I still have seed from the first year to work with also.

I'm also trying to get a landrace grinding corn strain going. A couple years ago, I got ears from Gaspé and Saskatchewan White flint corns. I planted seed from those this year. It appears Saskatchewan White cross pollinated with Gaspé, since the kernels were mostly yellow and the plants exhibited apparent heterosis. I also planted Morden, another super early cultivar, and several others, which failed to mature. This year I'll be planting all those, plus Saskatoon White, which didn't mature for me but which is supposedly earlier than Saskatchewan White, and I'm on the lookout for other early bearing cultivars to incorporate.

Consider the offerings of https://greatbasinseeds.com/ . This merchant specializes in seed for plants suitable for a very arid climate, and has an extensive collection of appropriate species that will thrive in those conditions. Check out their selections for xeriscaping and reclamation of land from such activities as strip mining.