1/
A thread on permaculture.
...because @TheStalwart made the mistake of saying "that sounds interesting".
( #FarmTwitter friends, feel free to join in)
A thread on permaculture.
...because @TheStalwart made the mistake of saying "that sounds interesting".
( #FarmTwitter friends, feel free to join in)
2/
Brief history of farming:
* hunter gatherer
* "traditional" folk farming
* semi-scientific Enlightenment era improvements
* modern farming
Brief history of farming:
* hunter gatherer
* "traditional" folk farming
* semi-scientific Enlightenment era improvements
* modern farming
3/
Modern farming is what happens in Iowa, etc. 10,000 acre plots of corn. Feed lots. 4,000 cows. Manure ponds.
The transition to modern farming happened during / after WWII, but was really just a continuation of existing trends.
Modern farming is what happens in Iowa, etc. 10,000 acre plots of corn. Feed lots. 4,000 cows. Manure ponds.
The transition to modern farming happened during / after WWII, but was really just a continuation of existing trends.
4/
Modern farming has many downsides.
It can be cruel to animals.
It can have ecological impacts.
It can smell bad
It has one great benefit though: it lets lower class & middle class people afford to eat meat.
Enjoy you $1/lb chicken? Traditionally farmed, that'd be $10/lb
Modern farming has many downsides.
It can be cruel to animals.
It can have ecological impacts.
It can smell bad
It has one great benefit though: it lets lower class & middle class people afford to eat meat.
Enjoy you $1/lb chicken? Traditionally farmed, that'd be $10/lb
5/
A brief tangent: for as long as we've had industrial society, we've had our discontents. The Arts & Crafts movement in the early 20th century was inspired by medieval crafts guilds and wanted to use high tech productivity to LEVERAGE old craft back into existence.
A brief tangent: for as long as we've had industrial society, we've had our discontents. The Arts & Crafts movement in the early 20th century was inspired by medieval crafts guilds and wanted to use high tech productivity to LEVERAGE old craft back into existence.
6/
J RR Tolkien's mindset arose at the same time, from the same ingredients. Look at the Hobbit holes in the movies - they're fairly Arts & Craftsy. This is sort of an accident, but actually ties together two branches of the same medieval rooted tree.
J RR Tolkien's mindset arose at the same time, from the same ingredients. Look at the Hobbit holes in the movies - they're fairly Arts & Craftsy. This is sort of an accident, but actually ties together two branches of the same medieval rooted tree.
7/
The Arts & Crafts movement was just one such "let's get rid of the linoleum and the factories and the chrome" movements.
The 1960's hippie back-to-the-land movement was another. Very similar threads.
The Arts & Crafts movement was just one such "let's get rid of the linoleum and the factories and the chrome" movements.
The 1960's hippie back-to-the-land movement was another. Very similar threads.
8/
And just as fashion repeats on a ~20 year cycle, back-to-the-land movements do too. Young adults remix what they were exposed to as kids and put their own generational stamp on it.
And just as fashion repeats on a ~20 year cycle, back-to-the-land movements do too. Young adults remix what they were exposed to as kids and put their own generational stamp on it.
9/
In the 1990s the 1970's back-to-the-land got remixed again as a right-wing/gray-tribe engineering thing, lead by the magazine Backwoods Home, founded by one or two aerospace engineers laid off after the Berlin Wall / Peace Dividend. Remixed 70s movement w guns & computers.
In the 1990s the 1970's back-to-the-land got remixed again as a right-wing/gray-tribe engineering thing, lead by the magazine Backwoods Home, founded by one or two aerospace engineers laid off after the Berlin Wall / Peace Dividend. Remixed 70s movement w guns & computers.
10/
And in paralllel w that, you had the generation that had been kids during the first Earth Day (1970) go to college and create and join Ecology majors, etc.
So you had a 2nd generation left-wing back-to-the-land movement at the same time as a 2nd generation right-wing one.
And in paralllel w that, you had the generation that had been kids during the first Earth Day (1970) go to college and create and join Ecology majors, etc.
So you had a 2nd generation left-wing back-to-the-land movement at the same time as a 2nd generation right-wing one.
11/
Permaculture is actually the bastard love child of the left and the right!
The lefties want to do less with machines, live close to the Earth, etc.
And Righties want to Science The Shit Out Of Stuff, and did deep dives into the literature.
Permaculture is actually the bastard love child of the left and the right!
The lefties want to do less with machines, live close to the Earth, etc.
And Righties want to Science The Shit Out Of Stuff, and did deep dives into the literature.
12/
And then you've got some guys who literally bridged the gap themselves. Joel Salatin is one. Dude is a deep and earnest Christian, totally red tribe...and wants to be kind to animals bc God made us stewards of the Earth, and we should do His will.
And then you've got some guys who literally bridged the gap themselves. Joel Salatin is one. Dude is a deep and earnest Christian, totally red tribe...and wants to be kind to animals bc God made us stewards of the Earth, and we should do His will.
13/
So out of this ferment /cross breeding you get permaculture arising, which wants to generate good food, AT A FAMILY SCALE, with minimal inputs of cash (bc families aren't taking million dollar loans, or getting fedgov crop insurance, nor are they buying 1,000 acres)
So out of this ferment /cross breeding you get permaculture arising, which wants to generate good food, AT A FAMILY SCALE, with minimal inputs of cash (bc families aren't taking million dollar loans, or getting fedgov crop insurance, nor are they buying 1,000 acres)
14/
And so you get a lot of "make a virtue of necessity".
If you CAN'T AFFORD to run water pipe out to your orchard and put in a pump...well, you can dig a ditch, which catches rainwater, which brings it to the trees, right?
And so you get a lot of "make a virtue of necessity".
If you CAN'T AFFORD to run water pipe out to your orchard and put in a pump...well, you can dig a ditch, which catches rainwater, which brings it to the trees, right?
15/
And conversely, if you can't afford a 90' wide combine that harvests your crops...then you don't need to space your crop rows at exactly the same width as the combine manufacturer builds his machine to.
And conversely, if you can't afford a 90' wide combine that harvests your crops...then you don't need to space your crop rows at exactly the same width as the combine manufacturer builds his machine to.
16/
and on and on and on.
Focus on that phrase: "making virtue out of necessity". IT encapsulates all that is good, and all that is bad with the permaculture (which stands for "permanent agriculture", btw) movement.
and on and on and on.
Focus on that phrase: "making virtue out of necessity". IT encapsulates all that is good, and all that is bad with the permaculture (which stands for "permanent agriculture", btw) movement.
17/
As soon as virtue becomes part of the equation, some people start focusing on the virtue, and start virtue signalling, and playing status games.
** WE ** care about the Earth.
** YOU ** don't.
** WE ** are smart and realize that dirt erodes without crop cover.
YOU ...
As soon as virtue becomes part of the equation, some people start focusing on the virtue, and start virtue signalling, and playing status games.
** WE ** care about the Earth.
** YOU ** don't.
** WE ** are smart and realize that dirt erodes without crop cover.
YOU ...
18/
So, the three way argument about permaculture is "it's hippie nonsense / it's good ideas / it's what smart people are already doing".
All three are correct, from different persecptives.
So, the three way argument about permaculture is "it's hippie nonsense / it's good ideas / it's what smart people are already doing".
All three are correct, from different persecptives.
19/
What part is nonsense?
Two aspects:
* theory by people who aren't on farms. They learn that pigs dig up land as they search for food, and they conclude "tractors are bad - use pigs instead. ALL NATURAL!"
* people optimizing 1 variable, not all N that actually exist.
What part is nonsense?
Two aspects:
* theory by people who aren't on farms. They learn that pigs dig up land as they search for food, and they conclude "tractors are bad - use pigs instead. ALL NATURAL!"
* people optimizing 1 variable, not all N that actually exist.
20/
The theory people will tell you that you can use pigs to turn over earth. They don't focus on the fact that (a) pigs will run off, (b) it takes strong fences to keep them in, (c) it's a royal pain in the !@# to get a pig back home again.
You've got 4 acres you want plowed?
The theory people will tell you that you can use pigs to turn over earth. They don't focus on the fact that (a) pigs will run off, (b) it takes strong fences to keep them in, (c) it's a royal pain in the !@# to get a pig back home again.
You've got 4 acres you want plowed?
21/
...and you're going to use pigs to do that?
OK, you have to either (a) fence in those 4 acres [ I can give you a cost for this, and it's not cheap ], or ... well, there is no b.
Also, pigs do not work on your schedule.
Might take 4 years to get that field "plowed".
...and you're going to use pigs to do that?
OK, you have to either (a) fence in those 4 acres [ I can give you a cost for this, and it's not cheap ], or ... well, there is no b.
Also, pigs do not work on your schedule.
Might take 4 years to get that field "plowed".
22/
So let's look at the other half of the "why it's hippie nonensense" equation: optimizing one variable.
[ I had a post on this back at tjic.com before my bantz got to spicy for the MA puritans! ]
So let's look at the other half of the "why it's hippie nonensense" equation: optimizing one variable.
[ I had a post on this back at tjic.com before my bantz got to spicy for the MA puritans! ]
23/
Pick up any farming mag (Grit for trads, Modern Pioneer for red staters, Modern Farmer for blue staters, etc.) and they will have a ton of articles on One Simple Way To Cut Your Bills.
All you have to do is 90 HOURS OF WORK and have massive piles of crap in yard to save $6.
Pick up any farming mag (Grit for trads, Modern Pioneer for red staters, Modern Farmer for blue staters, etc.) and they will have a ton of articles on One Simple Way To Cut Your Bills.
All you have to do is 90 HOURS OF WORK and have massive piles of crap in yard to save $6.
24/
These articles focus on cutting costs to the expense of everything else.
Other articles focus on 100% complete recycling of, I dunno, wood ash, or downed trees, or whatever. And they assume that other constraints (time, energy, space, aesthetics) don't exist.
These articles focus on cutting costs to the expense of everything else.
Other articles focus on 100% complete recycling of, I dunno, wood ash, or downed trees, or whatever. And they assume that other constraints (time, energy, space, aesthetics) don't exist.
25/
OK, that's it w the hippie nonsense angle.
Next angle (#2 of 3): good ideas.
Yes, Permaculture has MANY good ideas!
OK, that's it w the hippie nonsense angle.
Next angle (#2 of 3): good ideas.
Yes, Permaculture has MANY good ideas!
26/
I'm firmly in the Joel Salatin Christian farmer camp, and in the Backwoods Home red tribe / gray tribe techie camp.
I want to treat my animals humanely, I want my land to respect God's glory...and I want to Science The !@#$ Out Of Stuff, because that's massive fun.
I'm firmly in the Joel Salatin Christian farmer camp, and in the Backwoods Home red tribe / gray tribe techie camp.
I want to treat my animals humanely, I want my land to respect God's glory...and I want to Science The !@#$ Out Of Stuff, because that's massive fun.
27/
Also, I'm in the Robert Heinlein camp (already covered in red tribe / gray tribe comment) and want to learn to do everything myself: tractor maintenance, butchering, wood working, welding, making maple syrup, brewing beer, harvesting hay, remediating soil, etc.)
Also, I'm in the Robert Heinlein camp (already covered in red tribe / gray tribe comment) and want to learn to do everything myself: tractor maintenance, butchering, wood working, welding, making maple syrup, brewing beer, harvesting hay, remediating soil, etc.)
28/
So from this perspective, permaculture has many great ideas. If you're already putting down straw in the barn, then you've got waste...and you can compost that and put it on your gardens, and kill two birds with one stone (waste & fertilizer).
So from this perspective, permaculture has many great ideas. If you're already putting down straw in the barn, then you've got waste...and you can compost that and put it on your gardens, and kill two birds with one stone (waste & fertilizer).
29/
Permaculture also has tons of ideas that DO work on multiple criteria at once. Growing your own pumpkins to feed to your own pigs on top of the hay bales that are too musty for the sheep to eat:
* fun
* aesthetic AF
* harvest = nice outdoor labor in fall
* saves money
Permaculture also has tons of ideas that DO work on multiple criteria at once. Growing your own pumpkins to feed to your own pigs on top of the hay bales that are too musty for the sheep to eat:
* fun
* aesthetic AF
* harvest = nice outdoor labor in fall
* saves money
30/
And if farming is your hobby, then there are endless fascinating recursive aspects to it. You can start breeding your own local varieties of animals or plants to deal with your microconditions (Hayekian local knowledge!) or write code about dirt github.com/TJamesCorcoran…
And if farming is your hobby, then there are endless fascinating recursive aspects to it. You can start breeding your own local varieties of animals or plants to deal with your microconditions (Hayekian local knowledge!) or write code about dirt github.com/TJamesCorcoran…
31/
and finally, the third aspect of it: permaculture is stuff that people are already doing.
It's fun to be the young firebrand who says "the old timers JUST DON'T GET IT MAN".
...but you know what? The old timers often DO get it.
A lot of what permaculture fans criticize >
and finally, the third aspect of it: permaculture is stuff that people are already doing.
It's fun to be the young firebrand who says "the old timers JUST DON'T GET IT MAN".
...but you know what? The old timers often DO get it.
A lot of what permaculture fans criticize >
32/
Is an extreme or parody or outdated view of farming.
Farmers aren't dumb.
Farmers aren't immoral (any more than the rest of humanity).
Farmers are not ignorant of cutting edge tech.
A lot of "permaculture innovations" are not.
Is an extreme or parody or outdated view of farming.
Farmers aren't dumb.
Farmers aren't immoral (any more than the rest of humanity).
Farmers are not ignorant of cutting edge tech.
A lot of "permaculture innovations" are not.
33/
You think it's genius to compost animal waste from your barn and fertilize your fields with it? The market provides tools for this, everything from low tech manure spreader carts to deep ground liquified manure injection.
You think it's genius to compost animal waste from your barn and fertilize your fields with it? The market provides tools for this, everything from low tech manure spreader carts to deep ground liquified manure injection.
34/
A lot of permaculture fans, because they learn their stuff either in an academic (i.e. largely theoretical ) environment, or online, don't even KNOW about the world of professional farming.
A lot of permaculture fans, because they learn their stuff either in an academic (i.e. largely theoretical ) environment, or online, don't even KNOW about the world of professional farming.
35/
Anyway: permaculture has some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some stuff that everyone already knew.
1) get out there and farm...if you want to. If not, don't.
2) consider buying a copy of my novel to subsidize my farming lulz
amazon.com/dp/B005JPPMS6
/exeunt
Anyway: permaculture has some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some stuff that everyone already knew.
1) get out there and farm...if you want to. If not, don't.
2) consider buying a copy of my novel to subsidize my farming lulz
amazon.com/dp/B005JPPMS6
/exeunt
36/
First, there WAS MORE FARMING THAN IN MOST SF
slight spoiler.
Book 3 & 4 will have a minor farming thread
For two reasons:
1) tribute to Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky
2) the acronym FFA (Future Farmers of Aristillus) is just too perfect to ignore
First, there WAS MORE FARMING THAN IN MOST SF
slight spoiler.
Book 3 & 4 will have a minor farming thread
For two reasons:
1) tribute to Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky
2) the acronym FFA (Future Farmers of Aristillus) is just too perfect to ignore
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37/
For anyone still reading, some pix of my farm...
Icelandic sheep, some shorn, some not
For anyone still reading, some pix of my farm...
Icelandic sheep, some shorn, some not
38/
a cold day with pigs and sheet
a cold day with pigs and sheet
39/
pigs on a warm day
pigs on a warm day
40/
me, in front of firewood that I've cut, split, and stacked
me, in front of firewood that I've cut, split, and stacked
41/
Pumpkin harvest
Pumpkin harvest
42/
greenhouse and raised beds before planting
greenhouse and raised beds before planting
43/
Christmas goose, 6 months before Christmas
Christmas goose, 6 months before Christmas
44/
skinned and gutted pig
skinned and gutted pig
45/
starting to plant the vineyard
starting to plant the vineyard
46/
the vineyard one year later, as we start making wine
the vineyard one year later, as we start making wine
47/
making sausage
making sausage
48/
bottle mead
bottle mead
49/
dogs shortly after pig butchering
dogs shortly after pig butchering
50/
...and that's about it.
...and that's about it.
51/
Great question
Great question
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