391–400 of 589 posts
Maybe Americans can experience a few days of hunger here and there and finally get a glimpse into what a lot of the world they invade goes through regularly.
We've had to ask you this repeatedly before.
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Thanks for this! Can you recommend some simple concise instructions on growing tomatoes? I’ve explored a little in the past, but always seemed to run into fairly impenetrable instructions. A basic list of what to buy (in non-gardeners’ terminology) and some simple instructions would be great.
> Can you recommend some simple concise instructions on growing tomatoes? Simple and concise: Don't start with those. Tomato is not the more easy crop to grow. I would suggest to start with Cucurbitaceae like Cucumber or Zucchini, much more easier as long as they have lots of nitrogen. If you provide some support to climb, Cucumbers can be raised even next to a window. The other need much more space. You pick them co…
The concise method is, start them indoors in a starter kit in the window(right now is the time to do this), move them to a raised bed in the sun after they’ve sprouted and are healthy with roots, and make sure they get a lot of water. That’s it. Always had way too many tomatoes.
In the US I expect prime meat to be considerably cheaper than usual. With restaurants not buying there will be a glut and I expect regular stores (instead of just speciality shops and suppliers) will be getting it for awhile. If there’s 1 thing the US has it is food and the supply chain is excellent. If anything this is an opportunity for the US to make a move on trade with Britain and possibly the EU to export our A…
I hope you’re right. What’s the situation at the southern border though? Aren’t most of our workers migrants (often undocumented)?
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>> And people were saying that we will never see a famine in Asia in the 21st century. That optimism was premature... I wonder whether people will decide to take their chances with the coronavirus if faced with famine? Something tells me that people will risk it with the coronavirus rather than die of starvation.
At some point enough harvests will be missed because of lockdown that famines become inevitable. The choice to risk it will probably me made too late. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted. Food takes months to grow and needs to be harvested within a short window. By the time people realize there's a famine coming it will be too late. Just look at how we could have prepared in January for this virus if people weren't so…
So we have labour shortages in countryside and unemployed people in urban centers. Problem?
The only reason people are unemployed is that they are confined in their homes. Once they can head to the countryside to pick strawberries, chances are they can just head back to their regular job too.
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They don't want to do it because of the salary.
I don't know about the UK, but I've talked to California farmers who (off the record) tell me they quit advertising locally for workers because at $25/hr they still couldn't get people to work (most wouldn't apply, the ones who did quit after less than a day). Immigrants (not always legal I'm sure but I know better than to ask that question) are happy with $13/hour.
I don’t know why everyone assumes that manual labor only deserves near poverty wages.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening) In Britain and Germany, allotment gardening was promoted as a social measure and by all accounts it was successful.
It's successful at giving people the option to occasionally put some fresh produce on their plates. It's not enough to keep yourself fed all year round, let alone your family or everyone else who doesn't have an allotment. If an acute food shortage hit right during harvest season I might be able to hold out for a few weeks, but any other time of year would be pretty bad.
In 2019 I produced almost 300 Kg of my own food at home without really trying hard, so maybe not all year round, but is possible to notice a difference. The garden had provided me with at least a piece of fresh fruit each day of 2020 and this point is covered until june-2020 at least.
The problem is trying to obtain your food without space, without feeding your plants, and relying in magical products. This never works as intended.
People needs to understand also that producing food at home is more expensive (but the quality is better).
Got a butternut squash in your pantry? Maybe a couple of tomatoes? Cook it up for dinner and save some seeds! Wash off the pulp and dry them out on a paper towel. It's not too late to start some seedlings, and it's a nice way to pass the time. I've also been experimenting with different dried beans that we stocked up on, and most of them have a pretty high germination rate. Roma beans are super tasty and high in prot…
Is there any simple way to speed up / increase chances of germination (of tomatoes, beans, peas, lentils, pumpkins)? E.g. by covering the soil (where the seeds are) with paper / plastic / cloth (as a makeshift greenhouse, to increase temperature and/or humidity), or something similar?
Beans sprout super fast! For very dry seeds (lentils, beans, peas, edamamme) you could soak them in water overnight and just use the seeds that settle down after they've absorbed some moisture.
This doesn't really track with Agricultural futures. They are all down in the last few months [1]. Either this is bait for retail investors or the pros are asleep at the wheel. [1] https://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/
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Interestingly, it's a shift-by-one kind of situation. I.e. while British or German crops are picked by Poles, Polish crops are picked by Ukrainians... It seems that agriculture everywhere relies on underpaid migrant labor. I wonder if even Ukraine imports some migrant labor for this purpose.
Russia does, from the former Soviet 'Stan republics. I assume Ukraine does as well.