Burra Maluca

Anne Miller wrote:I am surprised that the land was not taken over by eminent domain.

This was in Japan, not the US.

Different countries have different laws.

Auto-dubbed into English, though you might have to fiddle with the settings to find the right soundtrack.



Eugenio Monesma says

Thanks to La Cabaña Real de Carreteros, along with the Quintanar de la Sierra town council and other organizations, I was able to learn in 2009 about the ancestral burning of pine torches to obtain pitch, which was used to waterproof ships, among other traditional uses.

This one was interesting too.

"Every war-caused famine follows five links. Break any one and the food stops.

-  War disrupts energy.
-  Energy disrupts agriculture.
-  Agriculture disrupts transport.
-  Transport disrupts distribution.
-  Prices explode and savings become calories."


"The lone survivalist dies.
The connected community survives.
Your neighbour is not your competitor.
Your neighbour is your insurance policy."

"Now go plant something before you are forced to."

History shows us a terrifying, mathematical pattern: war disrupts energy, energy breaks the food supply chain, and grocery store shelves go empty. From the Turnip Winter of 1916 to the Siege of Leningrad and modern-day Yemen, this deadly chain reaction repeats every single time. Now, with critical global shipping routes restricted and massive fertilizer shortages hitting the agricultural sector, the next severe food disruption is already unfolding right before our eyes.

Will you be prepared when the system breaks? In this video, we explore the precise five-step chain reaction that turns conflict into famine. We also reveal the five proven historical strategies that kept families fed when currencies failed and supply chains collapsed. Discover why productive land, stored food, community networks, hard assets, and valuable skills are your ultimate insurance policy against the coming shortages.

I learned a lot from this. There's some discussion of politics and the history of artificial fertilisers, but the main focus is on ways gardening has saved populations from starvation, and how it can do so again.

"The land does not need to be large, it needs to be used."

Our modern industrial food system is a marvel of productivity, but it rests on a terrifyingly fragile foundation of synthetic fertilizers, patented seeds, and vulnerable global supply chains. What happens when the shipments stop? From the sudden collapse of Cuba's agricultural imports in 1991 to the resilient shadow economy of Soviet dachas and the millions of British Victory Gardens during WWII, history issues a clear warning: when the official system breaks down, survival depends on what you can grow yourself.

Discover why the humble backyard garden is the oldest and most reliable financial hedge in human history. We explore how heirloom seeds, local knowledge, and community agriculture offer profound protection against inflation, supply shocks, and economic collapse. It is time to rethink self-sufficiency and learn the skill that predates banking, money, and every financial instrument ever devised.

I didn't manage to harvest all the rose-hips last year and there are loads of them still on the wild rose bush above the house.

It doesn't care though, and it's flowering again anyway!

I'll do better this year rose, I promise...

Mart Hale wrote:Ok, Harvest right Freeze dryer now  $1,595.00 USD .....     with tax, shipping   about $2000.00     ( much lower than I remember them )
Dehydrator new $170.00   including shipping..

Or how about building a solar dehydrator...



There are plans available here

Is it the foot of a water bear (tardigrade)?

I treated myself to an audiobook about this a while ago.



Here's a video about it...

I tried some years ago, over ten.

I planted potato seed in pots, then planted out the plants when they were big enough not to get lost.

I planted seed potatoes in the next row.

I had pretty much exactly the same yield from each plant, seed potato or potato seed.

I haven't grown potatoes for years now though so can't give long-term results.

paul wheaton wrote:Maybe that's the true core:  save our apple seeds to plant in the neighbor plots.  Visit our neighbors to plant sunchokes, walking onions and kale.  

A couple of years ago I planted a load of quince seed and took cuttings off my best fig tree. I've given away a lot of the young fruit trees from that, and also planted quince in places on my own land where they might or might not survive with no help. If they do survive, there will be surplus to share.

I also heard from someone whose father used to work on the railway line that the railway workers used to plant fig trees alongside the line where they could pick them whilst working. I was inspired by that, as our access track passes between the railway line and my son's land, so I planted a couple of fig trees on the edge of the land where, in a few years, anyone walking past can help themselves to any ripe fruit. It's not quite guerilla gardening, but it's close.

I have some young apple trees that are nearly big enough to go out alongside the access track too, and I have a load of mulberry cuttings that I'm not quite sure if they've taken or not yet. If they have I intend to plant a few of those around the place and hand the rest out to friends and neighbours too.