Edward Lye

J Bentley wrote:      We also tried growing tomatoes, then corn, and then sweet potatoes in a damp bed near a small creek. None of those plants did well under my care in that location.

Every happy food garden is the same.
  Every unhappy food garden is unhappy in it's own way.

I have the same experience.

I live in the suburbs surrounded on three sides by neighbours who do not like
my plants touching "their fence".

While honing my skill and learning to read nature, I just collected - over decades -
tons of grass clippings from the grass farmers (yes I am being sarcastic) along the road
and corrugated cardboard (don't sigh, Paul) for the earthworms..

Then I learnt of compacted soil from the late Sensei Elaine Ingham (RIP 16Feb2026).
That explained the weeds in my garden. I have a lot of digging to do before planting.

My initial success at planting popcorn kernels spurred me to plant sweet corn - but
despite planting them in a ring and they grew gigantic, sometimes with 8 ears in a
single plant, I only found a couple of kernels in each ear, WTF. Excuse my French.

One tomato fruit per plant was a success!

But despite being in the suburbs, there are birds, bats, civet cats, squirrels and the
occasional monkey.

Enough about failures.

My soil had become rich - dare I say the richest among my neighbours.

Here is a list i compiled about plants that have no trouble thriving in
my garden with or without neglect.

Bananas.
Sugar cane.
Custard apple.
Passion fruit.
Mulberry.
Curry leaf.
Moringa.
Neem.
Papaya.
Birds eye chilli.
Jalapeno.
Chinese lantern.
Red spinach.
Ladyfingers.
Pennyworth.
Mother-in-law's tongue.
Ficus.
Indonesian bay leaf.
Ginger.
Pandan leaf.
Lime.
Yam.
Sweet potato.
Dill
Turmeric.
Beans.

It is hardly a life sustaining basket.

I gave up food garden envy.

When I watched this video, something clicked.



Here are two photos of my Chinese cleaver. BUT I don't use it
for cooking but to clear brush and small branches in my garden.

It wasn't hair whittling sharp and the angle was far from the
knives bought from stores that could cut through 5cm thick
sugar cane in a single stroke.

But a worker who came to help consistently asked for this knife.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer but it was more effective.

Sometimes you have to disobey the factory.

I bought it because I like full tangs and this had heft.

Lots.

I gave watched videos like this before that simply sound too good to be true
but when I did some research, published papers appeared.

I don't have a knack for chemistry but if I could find these chemicals, I would risk a try.
A small try.



And here are prior ones that are not AI slop but legit:

I WAS SKEPTICAL . . . but . . . then



Urine Turns Sand Into Stone — No Cement, No Heat, No Cost

I always wondered why there were no porta potties found near the pyramids.
[ tongue in cheek ]

I WAS SKEPTICAL BUT . . . . .

biocement

[  News Release 13-May-2022
NTU Singapore scientists create renewable biocement
entirely out of waste material
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Nanyang Technological University  ]



Electricity Turns Sand Into Solid Stone. No Cement Required! Could Concrete Become Obsolete?

I WAS SKEPTICAL . . . . but . . . . .      

fight coastal erosion with electricity

I WAS SKEPTICAL . . . . but . . . . .

carbon negative cement

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
BTW, One Straw Revolution is available online. https://archive.org/stream/TheOne-strawRevolution/onestraw_djvu.txt

My personalized copy comes with pictures.

Timothy Norton wrote:
I'm intrigued by the idea of a billhook but I have not found something to purchase quite yet.

I bought a small billhook recently. It is adequate but as the video below points
out, you will eventually look for a blacksmith and get a custom built blade to
your design and heft. I know I would. A hole like Fiskars so I can attach a second
handle to get a crude drawknife.

The website is now 404.

The internet is not eternal after all.

BUT I found it here:

inconclusive by Snopes