a good one

[chelidon]

An optimistic view of things to come:

Cows Grazing in the Rumpus Room

(excerpt, full article via link above)

O.K., the planet is officially out of (or back in?) alignment: American farmers are making money hand over fist while the hedge fund guys are wishing they’d put a little more cash under the mattress. Corn growers in the United States can no longer keep pace with the staggering global demand for the raw material of corn syrup and ethanol and so, seemingly out of nowhere, there’s a demand for more farmland.

That just looks wrong on the page!

But it’s true. We are running out of farmland and some people, like finance guru James Cramer in his recent column for New York magazine urging readers to invest in farm supply equipment, are suggesting — only a little facetiously — that housing developments may need to be razed to clear the way for more farmland.

That sounds crazy, but it really shouldn’t come as much of surprise: for decades, we’ve systematically razed nearly every patch of land we’ve been able to in an effort to create more room for industry, technology and people, without really paying attention to what’s being lost in the process. With scores of homes being abandoned because of the current mortgage debacle, some innovative rethinking is going to have to happen around overbuilt subdivisions, master planned communities and urban high rises.

Not long ago, any visions of an agrarian return would have been chalked up to nostalgia: today, such conjurings don’t seem so far-fetched. And indeed, the purposeful reclamation of urban and suburban lands is serious fodder for artists, architects and academics alike.

Comments

[roy-batty.livejournal.com]

. . . the purposeful reclamation of urban and suburban lands is serious . . .

Even taken (slightly) out of context . . . even in the face of the less than stellar reasons behind the demand that might drive it . . . let's just bask in that phrase for a moment, m'kay?

[jennlynn-green.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this - it gets me looking forward. I am so looking forward to getting out and planting my food gardens this year.

But today that seems thousands of miles away as the snow falls...falls.

Why did I move to the midwest again?

In Tennessee the buttercups are probably blooming...*sigh*.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

*lol* Well, we may get some little snow showers here today, and it's presently 24 degrees and quite blustery (gusts up to 40mph). On the other hand, it's getting above freezing daily (high 30s to high 40s), there's less and less snow on the ground every day (last few weeks of skiing, I suspect!), and the red-winged blackbirds are starting to nest, so Spring's definitely coming! And after this winter, boy is it welcome (one of the benefits of a hefty Old Man Winter is that it makes Spring all the more luscious!) Of course there's mud season in there, too.... ;-p

I'm hoping to put in more raised beds this year, we really need to expand the gardens. Whether we plant in them this year or next, though, we'll see... And I can't wait to see how this year's bulbs did (or if the critters ate them all over the Winter!)

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yes, let's.

[jennlynn-green.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to put in more raised beds this year, we really need to expand the gardens. Whether we plant in them this year or next, though, we'll see... And I can't wait to see how this year's bulbs did (or if the critters ate them all over the Winter!)

I too want to plan some new beds and restructure this year. It gets hard unless you've got a crew of folks to help I think. And with you all having events in April and June - I'm sure that a lot of time and work go into preparing for those.

yezida seems to get the fae to do housework and gardening for her. When I ask them, my requests seem to be met with humor (or perhaps disdain)...mostly I'm ignored. ;>)

I hope your bulbs made it too...here's to lots of little green shoots - oh how I am ready for them!

Happy Freyja's Day.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Same to you, a very meet day to honor the good Lady Herself!

Yes, I am...quite labor-constrained, I have waaaay more clever plans than hands to do them. *sigh* Forest is getting older, but I really do understand why farm families were so big! The tractor helps (I'd prefer draft horses, which are big out here, but that's a long-term project), but really, much of what needs to be done takes willing hands to do it. And yes, a lot of our "land time" went into converting the barn into dorm space, and other big land projects. This year there's some more work on the barn, showers to be built, a couple of platforms to be put up (for yurt, showers, etc), plus the usual firewood-chopping (for 1-2 years out), general maintenance, and all of the ongoing projects (kitchen island, wood floors, finishing the office/guest space, etc etc)

Still, a little at a time, it all gets done, but sloooowly. I'm working on the negotiations with the local fair folk to help out, still working it out... ;>

The new Green is coming...you can feel it, just below the surface, pushing, stretching, yearning to burst forth, open, yawn and stretch out lazily in the luscious warmth of the growing sun...

Ah-yup. It's coming, soon, soon.

[jennlynn-green.livejournal.com]

Do you think that folks would come and help with the work in exchange for the skills they'd receive if you hosted a couple of work weekends?

I know they've done some wonderful stewardship work at Diana's Grove, where folks have come out to do work in exchange for learning gardening, building, design techniques etc.

In the end - I don't know if the labor done actually saves time, given the planning time for those that facilitate the work (time you may not have)...but perhaps it does. Regardless, it seems like it would make the work much more fun; working in groups and in sacred space.

If you're interested, you might ask artemis112 to hear more about work weekends at the Grove.

Again, I don't know if it would be desirable or feasible - but I thought I'd throw the idea out.

Farmland disappearing

[(Anonymous)]

There is also much discussion in NZ about how lots of good farmland is eaten by development. Here the "lifestyle block" has become very popular- a few acres with a house. Problem is this takes lots of the best farmland and so chops it up that its use for pastoralism really drops. And with all the hosues and all the price per hectare becomes so high that converting back to pure farmland is prohibitive (unless we get a Great Depression-like drop in prices).

Farmland disappearing

[(Anonymous)]

There is also much discussion in NZ about how lots of good farmland is eaten by development. Here the "lifestyle block" has become very popular- a few acres with a house. Problem is this takes lots of the best farmland and so chops it up that its use for pastoralism really drops. And with all the hosues and all the price per hectare becomes so high that converting back to pure farmland is prohibitive (unless we get a Great Depression-like drop in prices).

Stephen in NZ

Re: Farmland disappearing

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

Something's going to have to give...I guess we'll see what that ends up being!

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

We've done a couple of work weekends, not many though -- mostly RTITs, though the NE Feri group offered to help out in return for our hosting, and we never really got it properly organized.

There is that problem of all the up-front organizing so you don't gave people standing around, and coming up with tasks that don't require a lot of frequent supervision or very specific skills (driving a tractor, mixing concrete, chainsaw work, etc), but for sure, every time we've had a few friends over to help and been able to pull it off, it's always quicker AND more fun.

Thanks for the idea, that's one thing that River and I haven't talked much about, and the Grove sure has worked out some wonderful systems and processes!