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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

#521

Post by Melting_Harps »

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…

I like your initiative, the attention and how you've acted to the what I think has proven to be a DIRE logistical and production problem since at least 2008.

But, I noticed this part:

> Got a butternut squash in your pantry? Maybe a couple of tomatoes?

Both of those are out of season, the Butternut squash has decent shelf life, so could have been harvested and stored back in the Fall. However, most of the store stuff you get as a perennial, especially those tomatoes, are going to be hybrids that have sterile seeds.

I really do hope that this Outbreak is what makes Backyard and Community Gardens come back in a way not seen outside of Europe since WWII.

I agree that making clones is an awesome way to increase yield and maintain good genetic lines, this is actually how most MJ/Hemp people got their early genetic lessons--grandmothers and mothers who had spent time with them in the Garden telling them how to preserve desirable genetics.

And it paid off really well for those who could provide a steady and stable genetic line, I met a few of them.

I agree that potatoes are the best intro to gardening as its by far the easiest and if planned correctly can yield quite a lot of harvest for the limited space (think vertical planters).

Maybe its because I had to do this at large scale that my brain has shifted to outsourcing anything not deemed super valuable (fruit tree clones or High CBD experiments) to have in a Nursery, but I really am a fan of these guys:

https://www.rareseeds.com/

I was hoping to get the Catalog this year to share with others as the Gardening Season is coming up, so if anyone is interested in doing that I can buy/send you the money via BTC if you have the hardware to do that as its total Gardening-pr0n!

https://www.rareseeds.com/store/whole-seed-catalog/2020-whol...

> I'm thinking I'll have quite a bit of time to spend in the garden in the coming months. Hopefully I can make a small difference in my community.

So rad, I'll keep an eye on your posts this season! others as the Gardening Season progresses.

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

#522

Post by collyw »

hn23 wrote: post #485
ipython wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for both having the foresight to plan(t) as well as the willingness to help those around you. Otherwise you could end up like my neighbor with a strategic reserve level of toilet paper, proud to hoard yet share with no one even when the stores are empty.

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.

I don't understand it because between my girlfriend and me we seem to use about a roll per week. I thought it was because I usually take a dump at work, but even after lock down our usage doesn't seem to have changed significantly. And yes if it does run out then the shower is right next to the toilet and I have visited Nepal a few time where water is the way to clean.

(When I was young schools and public toilets always seemed to have horrendous tracing paper like stuff).

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

#523

Post by Tade0 »

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.

It was 6x back when Poland joined the EU in 2004, so a lot of progress has been made already.

It's a lengthy process, but it's happening.

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

#524

Post by collyw »

tompagenet2 wrote: post #499
Jorge1o1 wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 use my face and my arm to engage with people, and prepare and eat food. I don't generally use my arse for these activities.

Face is an exaggeration. Its unusual to touch peoples face unless you are very close to them .

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

#525

Post by littlestymaar »

Ruthalas wrote: post #487
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.

Not to detract from your overall point, but it's not like most people have newspaper these days.

Your comment immediately reminded me this commercial : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbMOLg-2SFw

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

#526

Post by whytaka »

en4bz wrote: post #389

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/

The obvious case of the epidemic in China progressing into a global pandemic wasn't clear to traders back in early February. I'm not sure the market is a beacon more than it is a barometer.

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

#527

Post by pvaldes »

Digit-Al wrote: post #515
pvaldes wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 jus…

I appreciate your correction and effort. Thank you.

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

#528

Post by collyw »

dsparkman wrote: post #288
Barrin92 wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nobody has to do the work, the work is voluntary. Eastern Europeans do the work because the wages are still higher than in Eastern Europe, so it makes financial sense for them to move to the UK. In contrast to the exploitation narrative this is actually mutually beneficial. The food is produced at low cost which is good for consumers (in particular poor ones who would otherwise not have access to expensive vegetables…

Time to get the "they're stealing our jobs" crowd out in the fields picking.

Maybe the "stealing out jobs crowd" are the ones competing for the lower wage jobs. I got the impression that Brexit voters were often towards the lower and of the earning spectrum. While I am for staying in the EU myself I can see why these people don't feel like they get much out of EU membership.

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

#529

Post by collyw »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #390
ginko wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>restaurants are one of the major sources of food going to trash Is that the case? I would have assumed that restaurant kitchens are a lot better at avoiding wastage and random spoilage than home cooks. I guess there's left-overs, but you'd also have that at home.

AFAIK catering (not eat-in/take-out restaurants) waste ridiculous amounts of food, because they overprovision for events and then throw uneaten food away.

There is an app here where you can buy up unsold restaurant food at a cheap price.

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

#530

Post by Melting_Harps »

bluGill wrote: post #386
booi wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Potatoes are easy to get started but can be a little finicky with soil conditions." mm have you tried fertilizing with poop?

That might make things worse, you can have too much fertility. Depending... Potatoes like sand soil. Beyond that I'm not a potato growing expert.

> That might make things worse, you can have too much fertility. Depending... Potatoes like sand soil. Beyond that I'm not a potato growing expert.

Potatoes are super forgiving, I've grown nice sized potatoes and carrots in very heavily compacted clay soil before (it was the farm's 2nd season amending the soil with sand but it was pretty bad) however, potatoes can be grown in many other growing mediums, straw or hay can be prepared if you don't want to go with a soil based system:

https://www.bettervegetablegardening.com/growing-potatoes-in...

The best part is its a closed loop growing system, as after harvest you can use it to add to the compost or even as mulch. I personally prefer soil gardening, and believe it determines taste enough to not want to do it, but if I would do it if I was first starting out.

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