| Anarchy Plots
Posted: 5/6/2008 5:24:22 PM | Gardening is political. I'm not talking about growing shrubbery, though for some people it will apparently disable them by repeatedly saying the word shrubbery, I'm talking about growing FOOD.
How is this political? During WW2 there was a government propaganda campaign which espoused the idea of Victory Gardens. The idea was that if people grew more of their own food we could use the resources that they would have used buying food to support the war effort, or OIL, as it's generally known.
So, I propose that we take that same template and place it here on this day. Growing your own food is an revolutionary act these days. If you do it organically, you say no to every industry that provides things that pollute this earth in the idea of growing food such as Simplot, Monsanto, Cargill, ADM etc.
Not only that but you also get to eat food that is GOOD for you. You are what you eat...pretty basic, but what if that is true then what you eat affects how you think too?
"But crash, I live in a city, where would I grow food?" and that is a good question. Just start looking around. You will be surprised to see how much open land that is being wasted may just be a good place to grow clean food.
...anyway you may as well get used to it. Start practicing now before you really have to know. What will it hurt?
Start your anarchy plot today! | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 5:44:12 PM | I live in smalltown USA, population 750. What I've attempted to convince people of (and failing I fear) is that one homeowner grows the tomatoes, the other homeowner grows the melons, the other homeowner grows the beans, etc. Our small town community could have it's own little farmers market. Now this town also has 4 apt complexes... the requirement to live there is you must be on Social Security, so the rent is sliding scale basis. Needless to say, 90 % of those renters are senior citizens. Wouldnt it be great for them as well, to be able to enjoy the town's little community farmers market, instead of having to find a ride to the local city for all there grocery needs.
Granted this idea wont work for large city apt dwellers... but it's a start! | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 5:51:28 PM | | ....liberal that I am, I send the extra food to the senior center..... | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 6:15:41 PM | So, I propose that we take that same template and place it here on this day. Growing your own food is an revolutionary act these days. If you do it organically, you say no to every industry that provides things that pollute this earth in the idea of growing food such as Simplot, Monsanto, Cargill, ADM etc.
Too bad I don't have the room for a cow. | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 6:31:12 PM | | but you might for chickens. Many cities are relaxing their laws for limited number of chickens. You can easily make move able pens that you can move around your yard and have the chickens fertilize and mow it at the same time.....and chickens eat EVERYTHING. You give them your compost and they give eggs and meat. | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 6:40:06 PM | I really hope this is an idea that catches on... and is encouraged by the high gas prices.
It's be nice to see all those pristine suburban lawns... that are pretty much an ornamental waste of space (and water) be turned into gardens full of great foodstuff.
Now I need to find a way to grow pineapples in the desert... cause I'm not gonna be able to go without em. | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 6:40:46 PM | I'm a homeowner with a small yard. I dont have room for a cow either! That doesnt mean I cant do anything at all!
Just because you dont have room for a cow, doesnt mean your just plum out of luck! That sounds like a 'victim' attitude to me. Even growing 1 tomato plant is better than not trying at all!
Granted apt dwellers that only have north exposure are sh1t out of luck... but a large percentage of people just rather cry 'victim', than attempt to do for themselves! Grrr | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 8:16:42 PM | Well of course everybody should have a garden. It's cheap, easy, helps the environment, fun, and nothing better than watching the butterflies that flock if you plant wild flowers around the garden.
Does it save much $? Probably not, but the veggies are better and they do save extra trips to the grocery store, eh?
As long as the Democrats won't let us drill in ANWAR, NC Coast, N Dakota, Rockies, California coast... and not allow refineries to expand? what choice to we have? | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 9:30:40 PM | Just because you dont have room for a cow, doesnt mean your just plum out of luck! That sounds like a 'victim' attitude to me. Even growing 1 tomato plant is better than not trying at all!
Actually I do like the idea. I live in an apartment so chickens are out. But I could do something small near one of my windows. I'm not sure what I'd want to grow. Maybe some potatoes. | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 9:31:10 PM | ...even so longbow people are going to need to start going there, and why not? People can EASILY grow at least half their food, with a freezer or some canning knowledge which isn't rocket science. They may even find time to make a nice longbow and be the next Fred Bear.
(I like plains style, but the next bow I make, not counting my sons bow will be a juniper longbow).
as far as money savings you must consider that most agribusiness foods are often subsidized so we are not paying for the cost of what it actually costs to grow food. We in the west have more costs just because we have to water our gardens but certainly not everybody must do that. Costs are really minimal and you can always save seed, which is something people should learn before Monsanto releases terminators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_Technology | |
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Posted: 5/6/2008 9:37:28 PM | for you count, in your situation, I don't know that spuds are a good idea. They require a pretty good amount of space, but you can just put them on the ground and cover them in mulch and they will grow an produce more, and you don't even have to dig them, just reach in and pull out bakers. For basic indoor stuff you could consider hot peppers, or herbs. They can produce year round. Its not much but its a start.
I would really bet you could find something closer than you think.
Guerrilla Gardening!!! Find a place that is out of the way, little noticed, has auto sprinklers, and plant seed! Just try to know what was there, and what is put there now. Not everywhere is good to plant, but its common sense really.... | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 3:05:21 AM | Is this about Arnarchy?? 
I think this kind of thinking will most definitelycatch on, especially as prices go higher. And it very clearly the way to go if at all possible. The team neighborhood concept mentioned above, where each household has a specialty, is very interesting, but may not be able to be put into practice in a lot of cases.
In any case I hope to be able to do this this summer and I look forward to foods that taste better and are more cost-effective. (Back to the basics). I don't have a very green thumb, or at least it's way out of practice, but if I can chase off the black widows and the snakes, I'm sure going to give it a shot..
Maybe some good guidelines will be posted here as it goes along.. I.e. Different types of veggies at least. I want to have potatoes, tomatoes and hopefully head lettuce at least.
-Suth'nBoy  | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 5:31:03 AM | | It's pretty cool how we're all thinking the same thing, at least in this respect. I'm joining the rest of you in getting a little garden going. I've been thinking about it for the last couple of months. It would be great to get some regular gardening tips and advice as I've never done this before all on my own. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 6:46:59 AM | | What we really need are efforts to support small, local farmers and ranchers and getting their products to people, bypassing the big supermarkets. Growing your own is great, too, but thats what we really need more of. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 7:27:59 AM | ^^^ that's a good option for people who just can't grow due to whatever AND its a good way for folks starting out to learn. I know many of ogasmic farmers who would love to trade some food for help with weeding/planting/harvesting, plus you can pick their brains while you pick their/your food. I have offered programs here to get people to come help in my "weed for food" program. They come weed for a few hours they leave with a bundle of food.
I don't want to risk this threads deletion by getting too off topic with how to grow but it should be said that you will stretch your dollar way out if you grow long storage type foods. Think aboriginal american and what they grew and you basically have what will store for long periods (at least the winter) with minimal effort. This includes things like squash, spuds, bean (which of course you can dry the seed of and have a high protein food), corn, and then I would throw in carrots, onions, garlic.
It is also a good idea to start thinking in terms of foods that dry easily so there is no need for electricity for storage or for processing. You can dry spinach pretty well without losing a lot. Trick for stuff like greens is to keep them as whole as possible after drying. Carrots, spuds, onions, tomatoes, garlic all dry really well and will keep for a long time.
Basic rule of thumb for most gardening is locate your zone, (the world is divided into zones of general climate), find the appropriate seed and have at it. If you can, try to find heirloom varieties and even aboriginal seed stock sources. Variety is good, except when it comes to seed saving...but that is a whole other adventure.
I like the idea of different people growing different things but there are drawbacks. A single freeze might take out one persons crop and then everybody is screwed, for instance.
People who have some idea about growing food are going to be very popular, plus be healthier and have more money to spend on 100$ tanks of gas. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 7:36:45 AM | I think it's a great idea.
Time to read "Walden" by Thoreau.
http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html
We've had some great successes with community gardens in Montreal, which assist the people tending them, and also bring them together in a common cause. You CAN produce an awful lot of food, if you do it right.
Just look at the "old school" Italian families.
I used to live beside this Italian family, and I swear her tiny back yard garden could feed some COUNTRY'S' 
You can even grow "spaghetti squash" which, when baked, makes a natural pasta. You just scoop out the insides, and they look exactly like pasta....and it tastes great.
Preserving things isn't hard, and you can get a dehydrator for a very reasonable price. That can save you a ton of money, and allow you a far better diet.
If you compost, you can cut down on garbage...and have healthier soil to work with.
Personally, I'm all for it.
If more people did this, the entire country would be stronger for it. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:04:41 AM | msg13:"""...I'm joining the rest of you in getting a little garden going. I've been thinking about it for the last couple of months. It would be great to get some regular gardening tips and advice as I've never done this before all on my own."""
Here's a good start for you. A couple of folks on there have offered to let you mail them for more how-to's.
Off Topic > CONTAINER GROWN VEGGIES!!!!
http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts9831864.aspx
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:04:59 AM | We never called them Anarchy plots, just neighborhood garden plots.
Been doing it for years.
Now I have my own garden and excess vegies go to co-workers, friends.
Things I don't grow I obtain at the Farmers Market down the street on Wednesdays and Saturdays. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:15:20 AM | ...reminds me wolves....there's a running joke around here that the only time people here lock their doors are when zucchini's start getting ripe, otherwise people find zucs in their cars and inside their doors of their homes.....(oh yeah, to preserve zucs for long term storage you can shred and freeze them, I haven't tried drying them as I don't think it would work out so well but who knows, TAKE THAT EXXON)
and from the leaders of revolutionary acts....french intensive gardening...the use of small spaces as MG describes above and how much you can get out of a small space, but compost and good soil practices are key. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:24:07 AM |
but compost and good soil practices are key
So true.
Reminds me of my Grandad. He never threw anything that could decompose away.
It all went to the garden or to the fruit trees. He prided himself on the fact he did not take out a can of garbage in 20 years. Of course the City eventually told him he had to stop burning chit! | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:24:59 AM |
We never called them Anarchy plots, just neighborhood garden plots.
They're still plots! | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 8:54:12 AM | Hey, in 2008, it's all about branding.
Just think about that poor guy over at the National Security Agency, one of those non-existent people in that non-existent agency that's monitoring the internet with one of those information mining programs....that don't exist.
Starts off his shift on Monday morning, punches in, and opens the Thermos to pour himself a coffee to start his day off right.
He sits down, and presses " last night's report" on the software program.
And , at the top of the list ?
10,000,000 hits for ANARCHY PLOTS ........
I do hope the screen's coffee proof.  | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 10:44:56 AM | Gardening is good, but it might give you just 1% of your food in a year. "Better to light a single candle than curse the darkness.."
As far as the other 99% ... would if you could go to a place where all your fresh food was local and habitually buy there instead of the supermarket ......AND prices were less? I have that advantage here with Haymarket Square in Boston, also buy my fish and meat there, too. Community organizing around bringing such a place where local farms and ranches can sell and have plenty of buyers could affect 99% of what we eat.
Would if there was a way to know which foods were local and which werent so you can buy whatever foods were produced locally by small farmers and dairy. A local guide would be helpful. This can also aim at the 99% of what we consume. ..and not just food.
It all takes will and desire, though, to make those choices.... but making it convenient for people is the missing key. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 11:05:57 AM | steven - I'm a single dad and I manage to raise more than half of what we eat (without a tractor, using a roto tiller, and using spent grain from a brewery I pick up for free to feed my critters), probably close to 70%. We even raise enough to sell at our local grocery and give away to elders. Growing half your food is very doable, but it might require a change in diet too. We eat 3 months out of the year right out of the garden and the rest of the year eat what we've put up.
For instance, I TRY not to buy any greens from the grocery store at all. "But crash, where do you get your greens from in the winter?" well, we sprout seeds and eat them! You can buy a 50# sack of organic grain or bean for somewhere around 30$. Sprouting is easy, its a whole food, and its a live food which is way different than what you can find in most stores.
...but yes, supporting anybody who is doing ANYTHING locally is a good idea. Folks can just start asking their grocer to carry local stuff. Evey time you go into ANY store ask for local products. I used to do this back in the day before organic was as big as it is now. I would stop at stores I never even went to and asked them if they had organic foods. I'd ask the checkers, the bag boys, the people in the produce department, everybody who worked in the place. This sent a message that there was a demand. I wasn't the only one doing this for sure. Now, almost all stores have some organics in stock. but again, if the organics came from 1500 miles away like most of our organics here in Montana do then it sort of defeats the purpose of what this thread is about, reducing oil consumption by becoming more self reliant. | |
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Posted: 5/7/2008 11:44:27 AM | | I'd hardly call this a way to encourage anarchy, nor will it stick it to the man or to the corporations- but, that been said, growing your own vegetables is a good idea anyways, if you have the time and the space(and want to sacrifice the space) | |
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