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From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

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Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#511

Post by jamil7 »

hn23 wrote: post #504
xabotage wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's different because I don't use my ass to open doors, type on computers, prepare/eat food, or scratch my eye. Your face and arms, however, get involved in those activities sooner or later. I don't care if my poop cannon has a bit of residue around the rim that paper can't quite remove, handling shit is literally what it does every day, and it's otherwise stowed away safely. Granted, I bet a warm-water bidet feels…

BTW: You can use something like a small washing towel (I do not know what the proper english word is - in German it is Waschlappen). So you do not have to touch your shit:)

Waschlappen would be something like “Wash Cloth”. Lappen is one of my favourite German words.

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#512

Post by jamil7 »

Jorge1o1 wrote: post #492
hn23 wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really do not understand this toilet paper thing. I mean as long as there is water, why people do not wash their asses. It is cleaner anyway... When I was young and we visited grandparents, we used newspaper.

That’s what I’ve always said. If you smeared a bit of poop on your face or arm, you wouldn’t be content with just wiping it down with a thin piece of toilet paper. You’d probably shower! So why should your ass be any different?

I've thought the same thing and after spending time in Asia I got really accustomed to using a water hose. This whole thing (among other things) has made me question the practicality of toilet paper even more, strongly considering installing a hose in the bathroom.

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#513

Post by xienze »

random314 wrote: post #343
xienze wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it’s seemingly impossible to pay farm workers real money but fast food workers? No problem!

The minimum wage would apply to everyone. Both fast food workers and farm workers. What is your point?

So let’s break it down like this, since apparently HN isn’t smart enough to see the hypocrisy of the situation.

Liberals: pay fast food workers $15 an hour!

Conservatives: that will dramatically increase food prices and lead to layoffs.

Liberals: no it won’t! Fear mongering!

Conservatives: let’s stop illegal immigration.

Liberals: who’s gonna pick vegetables then???

Conservatives: Americans

Liberals: impossible! That will lead to dramatically higher food prices!

That’s why I get a kick out of this. It’s the same arguments repeated by both sides.

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#514

Post by pvaldes »

prawn wrote: post #454
jdmichal wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ditto. The only downside to this method is having to transplant twice: once to soil pots after sprouting, then to the ground.

If the seeds are in paper towel, wouldn't you just plant it as is and let it decompose?

You want the roots finding real food as soon as possible before exhausting the seed reserves.

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#515

Post by Digit-Al »

pvaldes wrote: post #357
mft_ wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is not a criticism, nobody knows until they are taught, just trying to help you improve your use of English (which is otherwise excellent).

The phrase "much more easier" is incorrect. The word "easier" loosely means "more easy" so "more easier" would loosely mean "more more easy" which sounds wrong :-)

Correct usages are "easy", "much easier", and "even easier".

In your case above you can lose the "more" and just use "much easier". If you were to add another suggestion that you thought was easier than cucumber or zucchini then you would describe that third set of options as "even easier".

(Yes, I am stuck home alone; and yes, I do have too much time on my hands lol)

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#516

Post by kubav »

You can make your own "vegetable" even in big cities. Tomatoes and peppers are really easy to grow on window or balcony. You can seed them yourself but much easier is to buy young plants.

I am also using sprouting jar [1]. Just buy any bio quality seeds and you have you own sprouts grown in 4-7 days, Bio quality is important as normal seed are often chemically treated.

I also like garden cress which you can easily plant on paper tissues or cotton wool. It is really delicious with bread and fresh cheese.

It is far from 100% vegetable replacement but it is tasty source of vitamins. Especially home grown tomatoes are way more tasty than those sold in normal groceries because they are picked too early to last longer.

[1] Something like this https://boulderlocavore.com/sprouting-101-homemade-sprouting...

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#517

Post by williamdclt »

abraxas wrote: post #431
scanr wrote: post #233

Fruit and veg 'will run out' unless Britain charters planes to fly in farm workers from eastern Europe. UK urgently needs 90,000 labourers to pick crops that will otherwise die in the fields, warns charity. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/28/fruit-an...

I sincerely hope that Eastern Europeans will not fall for it. After being discriminated, ridiculed and targeted with Brexit now they are being seen as indispensable all of a sudden. English people have no shame. As a Pole I find their xenophobic two faced culture repulsive.

To be "fair" (definitively not the right term here), it's not exclusive to English people. As a frenchman in England, French people have a disgusting xenophobic culture towards eastern europeans too

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#518

Post by boudewijnrempt »

hn23 wrote: post #504
xabotage wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's different because I don't use my ass to open doors, type on computers, prepare/eat food, or scratch my eye. Your face and arms, however, get involved in those activities sooner or later. I don't care if my poop cannon has a bit of residue around the rim that paper can't quite remove, handling shit is literally what it does every day, and it's otherwise stowed away safely. Granted, I bet a warm-water bidet feels…

BTW: You can use something like a small washing towel (I do not know what the proper english word is - in German it is Waschlappen). So you do not have to touch your shit:)

Face flannel, I think. The Dutch is "washandje".

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#519

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

mft_ wrote: post #315
jagger27 wrote: post #309

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…

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.

Simple? Live in the US? Go to Home Depot and buy a tomato plant: cost about $4. While you're there get a 5 gallon bucket and a bag of topsoil.

Go home, transplant the plant into the bucket of soil and water it. Put it in a place with lots of sunlight and water it periodically. You'll have tomatoes in about 3 months.

Yeah, you can start from seed, but without experience that can be tedious and it requires far more care and attention. Also, end of March is about as late as I'd want to be starting tomato seeds.

Re: From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages

#520

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

touristtam wrote: post #507
Tade0 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's one thing missing in your picture: Those workers aren't necessarily unskilled. Those who come from my country(Poland) at least are often college graduates. How do they end up there? Well, the pay is obviously better - especially for a seasonal worker. After all, the GDP per capita difference between the UK and Poland is close to 3x. The unemployment rate here is(or was before the virus) considerably l…

> After all, the GDP per capita difference between the UK and Poland is close to 3x. That's a shame it is still the case, as the promise of entering the EU was for wages to normalise across the Union. I guess it will take further integration for that to happen.

Even if that approach was to work, it takes a long time.

Ireland joined in 1973, but didn't really become "rich" like the rest of Western Europe till the turn of the millenium.

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