Planning for the Masses (your good deed for the day)

Madpaddy · Expert Joined: Jun 25, 2004 Posts: 1983

Granny-may,

Your neighbours are lucky they don't have me living next door. Comments like that about my garden would have me growing 6 foot high nettles all over their view. I would also put my manure heap upwind of them.
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Granny-May · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:08 am Post subject:

Madpaddy-

I like your subtle strategies. My compost has been placed in an optimal position.

Thanks- Charlotte

RonMN · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:34 am Post subject:

Granny May & Pops, I'm gonna try something new this weekend...I'm picking up a couple pounds of wild rice at the store & i'm gonna try scattering it where the cattails grow...with any luck it will start to grow & reseed itself year by year & grow more.

I won't know if it worked until sept/oct...but what the hell? it's not like it will cost me much to try. And nobody mows cattails so if they do grow, they'll still be safe at pickin' time.

RonMN · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:49 am Post subject:

P.S. i can't take credit for the wild rice idea...it was my moms.

She is the ONLY one i can talk with about serious preperations! atleast i have 1 person who takes it seriously!!!

julianj · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:20 pm Post subject:

I like this thread - thanks for starting it Ron -my view is that if we don't co-operate, we're really up cack creek minus paddle. I've been giving seeds, plants and my (bread machine's) fresh bread to my neighbours. Some have taken on board the idea that a recession is coming - I haven't gone overboard on the Peak Oil thing becuase it gets such a poor response.

I might be lucky, that all my neighbours are nice.

This may sound manipulative, but giving someone a loaf of bread or some seeds I got free, makes a remarkable difference to how they perceive you. I think it's the start of a social network which I'm working on. I thought about inviting them to a Solar Oven powered barbecue in the Block's Grassy area in the summer but I'm not sure. Then tell them about PO.

Granny-May · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject:

RonMN,

Lots of info on the wild rice. Minnesota seems to be the heart of wild rice country.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-235.html

Not to put a damper on your plan but you might consider this tidbit:

Quote:
Seeds of Z. palustris will not germinate for at least three months after reaching maturity, even if environmental conditions are satisfactory for growth. An afterripening period is required in water at freezing or near-freezing temperatures (3°C) before the embryo breaks dormancy and develops into a new seedling. This seed dormancy is caused by the impermeable pericarp that is covered by a layer of wax, and by an imbalance of endogenous chemical growth promoters and inhibitors (Albrecht et al. 1979). In the spring, seeds will start to germinate when the water temperature reaches about 7°C. Freshly harvested seeds can be made to germinate by carefully scraping off the pericarp directly above the embryo. Nondormancy has been found in seeds from plants of Z. aquatica that grows in Florida.

So you might not get a crop this September, but next year.
I still love your idea and will spread some seed about myself when I get a chance for a canoe outing.

-Charlotte

oowolf · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:56 pm Post subject:

Most "wild" plants require a "vernalization" period before they will germinate. It would be better to over-winter your seeds in a controlled environment (containers) so you can be assured of successful germination. Seeds scattered into the wild are subject to being consumed by rodents, birds, microbes, etc as well as mechanical destruction.
This process is sometimes referred to as "stratification".

born2respawn · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:47 pm Post subject:

It's about bloody time that "the masses" got mentioned in a context other than fear, suspicion and wondering how best to shoot them.

RonMN · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:53 am Post subject:

Thanks Granny-may! I'm still gonna scatter some today But with your info...i think i'll go out in late fall & do it again (just to be sure). It rained pretty heavily lastnight so the streams should be running fast...maybe i'll toss them directly into the fast running part so they go for miles.

RonMN · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 6:32 am Post subject:

After my scattering of wild rice yesterday...i also went out to a big field/woods & planted several hundred sunflower seeds (boy am I soar today)...my hope is that these sunflowers grow and reseed themselves next year & start to spread by themselves.

Right after i was done planting...it rained Smile

how perfect is that?

Leanan · News Editor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 4451

NiKfUrY69 · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:16 pm Post subject:

RonMN · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks Nick, I couln't agree more with guerilla planting! especially in areas nobody knows about or goes to (i just happen to know of a place like that) Smile

I'm sprouting fruit trees now & am going to plant them in my secret place soon.

and the wild rice really should be planted in late fall but i couldn't resist...i'll reseed in the fall as well.

I love the seed ball thingy...i wonder if i could make them just the right size to fire out of a paintball gun Smile

CeeCee · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 1:07 am Post subject:

Hi guys

I have only just realised this post was here- what an excellent one I think, and I couldn't agree more with Ludi (the first reply to Ron MN's topic) in that it is actually in all our interests to help others (the masses) plan for the future)...

However our problem is that 'the masses' just simply (and genuinely) do not recognise a problem (maybe they simply don't know, or maybe they are too afraid to allow themselves to believe it)...

So therefore we have to think a bit more strategically... and "re-package" the concept so that it does meet their needs... and one way which is actually working for me and the community in which I live is the concept of a money-free summer/winter school on "Back to Basics Living".

I ran one in February, successfully, and the next one is in the planning, (9 weeks to go). It will be an August winter school (southern hemisphere).

The concept of "Back to Basics Living" is something which appeals to many people, of all ages, it is non-threatening and it deals with the same subject matter as "Post Peak Skills". The fact that it is money-free makes it totally accessible to everyone, and at the same time generates confidence in people to become tutors for it.

Lat night I went to our local pub (with my husband to-be) and got talking to some of the old-timers there, and told them about the winter school, and asked them if they might consider tutoring some workshops to pass on some of their knowledge of traditional arts and skills... and their reactions were wonderful (though in the typical kiwi subdued way) and I could tell it got them thinking and enthusiatic... someone talked about doing horse shoeing because he used to be a farrier, another about wood cutting, another about handknitting guernsey jerseys… it is very exciting, there is so much knowledge in our local communities, it’s all there and people do love to be asked… I think people love to share what they know, and it is all so valuable and so relevant to a post peak world.

I feel like I’m unashamedly hammering at this money-free summer/winter school concept, and yes I am- I believe it can work anywhere, from rural areas to urban neighborhoods … so please consider it an option for helping the masses… and helping your self at the same time.

In terms of the awful “what’s in it for me” plague, think of all the amazing knowledge and skills that you yourself, personally, can gain from all the amazing people who offer to tutor workshops on your summer/winter school.

Cee Cee
See http://www.homepages.globe.net.nz/ceeceegl/winterschool/karameawinterschool.html for more info.

RonMN · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 7:23 am Post subject:

CeeCee...I think that's a fantastic idea! There's gurella planting...and now we have gurella teaching Smile

all of these thing will end up giving the "masses" a "fall back position" which will minimize the need to fear and panic.

If the stores close...no problem, we can gather/hunt wild food.
No heat? no problem, we know how to cut wood/bundle up etc...

and all the while building community so we can help eachother (one can gather food for the group while the other is cutting wood or hauling water).