One of these days has got to be 'earth day' - but I don't know which one. We've been subjected to earth day references, exhortations, imprecations, sales pitches and home remedies for months now!In the news today: the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at an alarming rate. It turns out that the original survey report of the Louisiana land purchase may have been correct:
I do not hesitate in giving the opinion that it is almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course, uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence.
We, of course, have found ways to grow things on the Great Plains for some time now, but it appears that time is running out. Dave Thier's article to that effect is here, together with the fearful implications of what happens when we can't grow things there anymore.
Meanwhile, I have been advised that one bean plant produces only about 12 beans per plant; twenty, at best. If I'm going to want to eat my own beans this summer, I'm going to have to have a lot of bean plants! And no, I had not considered having a bean-box-garden. There will be some beans, of course, but other things, as well! Tomatoes, lettuce, hot peppers, artichokes, carrots, radishes - I fear there will be no room for flowers. . . . I'm putting beans in wherever I can tuck one away, though.
It's harder to be self-sufficient on the land than one would think. Especially if one lives in a greenwood and wants keep the 'wood' part of it. This is a little depressing.
Happy earth day, whenever it is!
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