If people need to grow food to survive many are doomed

So one interesting part of this pandemic is the interest in gardening.

Let me tell you. I've been gardening a loooooooooooong time, and I come from a long line of farmers.
I have never seen so many crazy growing related things in my life.

My generation & the boomers really dropped the
ball and didn't teach enough of our kids how to grow things. I'm not talking about being a master gardener, I'm talking the
very basics.

I live in a very cold climate. We've had one nice warm weather day. You would not believe the amount of people that left tomato and pepper plants outside in 20 & 30 degree weather, and now wonder why they are all dead. Someone got a bunch of bare root strawberries and wondered if they should be planted all together... like 50 bare roots with rubber bands still on!! I could go on and on.

Don't even get me started on foraging. I saw several people tell an online newbie that it was ok to eat a poisonous mushroom! Thank goodness experts quickly stepped in.

Yes I'm making fun of these people, but it is really something we as a culture need to work on asap. Time to stop the mega mass production of foods and scale it back a bit. I almost wonder if it should be a required course in High school or middle school. Food production & growing or something like that. Maybe it should go into butchering and foraging basics too.

I have a funny story to add. I had a huge garden set up at my last house with TONS of perennials like asparagus, herbs, mature blueberry bushes, peach trees, cherry trees, apple trees. You name it. Probably enough to not have to buy many fruits and veggies for a large family. This wasn't some sloppy garden either, it was fully contained, and very low maintenance. We sold the house and the first thing the people did was took it all out and planted all grass. smh crazy

a reply to: JAGStorm

It is crazy that the towns and cities are usually the best ground for growing, then we pave it over.

Like what'll they do when they get the munchies lul

People have grown complacent and comfortable. Doom it is.

Agree. I've seen the same shenanigans down here.
That is a damn shame about your former garden-- heartbreaking!

originally posted by: Starcrossd
Agree. I've seen the same shenanigans down here.
That is a damn shame about your former garden-- heartbreaking!

It's crazy about the garden because all the work was done, it was literally just there ready to harvest & eat.
People are weird. Who takes out beautiful mature blueberry bushes? They can actually double as landscaping and look beautiful in the fall.

a reply to: JAGStorm

At this point, I'm OK with social Darwinism.

All the basics of gardening everyone has at their fingertips... on their cellphone.

The rest is just work and work and more work and a learning curve.

Most people won't do any of that.

Not because they can't.

But because they are lazy and intellectually stunted and complacent.

As to your funny story, that's horrifying.

Especially the asparagus.

I'm going to put in my usual potatoes again. I think I will plant a little extra, we stick our hands into the hills and start picking baby potatoes and when it comes to harvest, there aren't that many left. But, they are expensive in the summer so it pays.

a reply to: rickymouse

Nice, I'm about to plant some potatoes myself.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I'm going to put in my usual potatoes again. I think I will plant a little extra, we stick our hands into the hills and start picking baby potatoes and when it comes to harvest, there aren't that many left. But, they are expensive in the summer so it pays.

I got a potato story too. I saw someone complain that the potato (probably seed potato) was shipped to them was "dead" as in no greenery on it.
You can't even make this stuff up.

a reply to: JAGStorm
As Lumenari said-- Horrifying!
Unbelievable.. that was such a gift!.. and they bulldozed it.. makes me heartsick.
Reminds me of a peach tree that was here in town on a green patch by a store. It wasn't super mature but had produced lovely peaches for about 5 years. It was on a community space and people were encouraged to go by and pick some.
Well, long story short- I drive by one day and it is gone. I stopped in the store and asked what happened to it (thinking it had gotten sick or something) Nope, they just took it out because 'it made a mess' ! This was in a open patch and it wasn't even close enough to drop a peach into their precious parking lot! I guess they had the rights to the space or something.. People are stupid! I dreamed for a minute of doing one of those Food forests but since humans are so dumb I decided it would never work! People suck

a reply to: Lumenari

But because they are lazy and intellectually stunted and complacent.

As to your funny story, that's horrifying.

Especially the asparagus.

I used to honestly try to help people before. They don't want help. They say they do, but they are trying
to be cute or something.

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: JAGStorm

At this point, I'm OK with social Darwinism.

All the basics of gardening everyone has at their fingertips... on their cellphone.

The rest is just work and work and more work and a learning curve.

Most people won't do any of that.

Not because they can't

But because they are lazy and intellectually stunted and complacent.

As to your funny story, that's horrifying.

Especially the asparagus.

Not because they can't.
Your Avatar reminds me of someone close to me. lol, crazy!

a reply to: Starcrossd

Here's some pics from that garden, just imagine the bounty.
We're talking heirloom rhubarb, blueberries, tons of herbs
I experimented with three different types of raspberries and then grew a row of heritage raspberries.
A fruit tree grove, all gone! cuz you know, grass. The blueberries were Patriot and were the best I've ever tasted.
I've never been able to replicate the taste even with the same bush. Sometimes it's all about soil/location/sun exposure, a perfect combination. They were the best blueberries and so prolific, those people were crazy.

originally posted by: TGunner

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: JAGStorm

At this point, I'm OK with social Darwinism.

All the basics of gardening everyone has at their fingertips... on their cellphone.

The rest is just work and work and more work and a learning curve.

Most people won't do any of that.

Not because they can't

But because they are lazy and intellectually stunted and complacent.

As to your funny story, that's horrifying.

Especially the asparagus.

Not because they can't.
Your Avatar reminds me of someone close to me. lol, crazy!

Last month (April) in my world...

I expand my orchard by 6 trees every year.

Which involves expanding the fencing, which involves a whole lot because I have to deal with deer and elk and bears.

This year I'm at 84 trees.

I expanded my garden as well... 9 more 8x4 raised beds with the same fencing involved.

I'm kinda not happy now that you can see my garden from space.

Then I planted a 1/4 acre of buckwheat because I've never done it before.

I've made about $1,200 so far this year in selling starts from my greenhouse, which paid for the expansion but not our sweat.

So it is hard for me to feel sad about people who can't take the time to get something going as far as a garden.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Every time I see the, "we'll grow our own food", I think back to my grandparents' farm and how much you had to plant in terms of crops and how many animals you had to raise in order to keep a family fed. I also think of all the problems they encountered with failed crops due to weather, also threats from pests. There are always threats from predators and disease for your livestock.

In that theoretical world, I see people dying in great numbers because they can't actually live on produce from fruit trees, strawberries and tomato plants alone. "We had alot of salsa, but surprisingly, there wasn't enough protein in it to keep us alive." Unless you have some livestock going--or good plantings of corn, wheat and/or beans--good luck.

a reply to: drussell41

"We had alot of salsa, but surprisingly, there wasn't enough protein in it to keep us alive." Unless you have some livestock going, or good plants of corn, wheat and beans, good luck.

Oh, I had a lot of non-sexy plants too, beans, corn etc. But I agree, people don't understand the sheer volume it takes to really feed a family. The other thing people don't realize, by having fruit crops, that automatically attracts another source of food, deer/raccoons/birds/frogs etc. Deer cannot resist a good apple tree!

I should have added, people have no clue how to preserve food, which actually might be more important than growing it!

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: drussell41

"We had alot of salsa, but surprisingly, there wasn't enough protein in it to keep us alive." Unless you have some livestock going, or good plants of corn, wheat and beans, good luck.

Oh, I had a lot of non-sexy plants too, beans, corn etc. But I agree, people don't understand the sheer volume it takes to really feed a family. The other thing people don't realize, by having fruit crops, that automatically attracts another source of food, deer/raccoons/birds/frogs etc. Deer cannot resist a good apple tree!

I should have added, people have no clue how to preserve food, which actually might be more important than growing it!

Yeah, you get it. The amount you need to grow AND PRESERVE is unreal to someone who's never actually tried to feed a family from their own resources.

I gave up on gardening. Some groundhog would come along and take one bite out of every single tomato. When we got a German Shepherd Dog, he took care of the groundhogs....but then he decided he liked tomatoes too. It was the final straw when I watched him walk over, eat a tomato himself, then pluck one, bring it over and drop it at my feet. LOL! sigh

My back is too shot for any kind of gardening now, but.... fond memories.

That's really sad about the people destroying your crops.

a reply to: drussell41

One year I ordered some of those fancy Japanese super sweet corn.
I planted them, they grew so beautifully..

until that one night....
an entire group of raccoons came and ate every single corn cob.
It seriously looked like they had a corn on the cob party.
They were strewn all over the place, bare roughly eaten cobs.
I was furious, but sure looked like they had a good time.

a reply to: JAGStorm

OMG. I would have been so upset.

Crap like that happens. There are no guarantees when it comes to crops or livestock.

Your gardening was/is amazing. Much respect.

originally posted by: drussell41
a reply to: JAGStorm

OMG. I would have been so upset.

Crap like that happens. There are no guarantees when it comes to crops or livestock.

Your gardening was/is amazing. Much respect.

Thank you. I've been doing it for a very long time. I was very lucky to have the older generation teach me from
a very young age. I also know there is so much more for me to learn.