Yes that is true, the lack of education (and pervasiveness of propaganda) about the detriments of store bought food is widespread. As for the laziness, stagnation and apathy (which I too observe and acknowledge is present in the minds of a pretty sizable chunk of the population there in southern Ontario) some people …
Yes that is true, the lack of education (and pervasiveness of propaganda) about the detriments of store bought food is widespread. As for the laziness, stagnation and apathy (which I too observe and acknowledge is present in the minds of a pretty sizable chunk of the population there in southern Ontario) some people have to learn the hard way. I offer an open hand to many of them (as our Mother Earth has been at key moments in their lives) but if the invitation to take responsibility for their own lives, health and ability to feed themselves and their loved ones goes unanswered, they will have to learn the hard way when those hyper-centralized systems they depend on to get all the junk they eat implode (and they will).
Yes that is fascinating isn't it, people eating the toxic modern western diet and then being mystified about the skyrocketing instances of degenerative health conditions, cancer, etc. My current approach to help break that cycle is to get to the little ones and help them to know what real food taste like and offer them hands on experience growing, harvesting and enjoying crops before the propaganda of the corporatocracy gets to them (via community gardens we set up and after school programs etc.)
Thank you for being the lovely anomalous and determined person that you are. You give me hope that a select few human beings that are choosing courage, hope, determination and love/respect (for themselves and the living planet) will create enough pockets of regeneration and abundance to weather the storm ahead.
I watch very little tv but Jeopardy is an addiction. It's amazing the number of pharmaceutical and fast food ads shown in a half hour. The irony of that is not lost on me.
I just signed up for your newsletter. Sigh...more to read.😉. You look young in that tiny picture, so that gives me hope, and hope is in short supply these days. I see you live in Canada which is just as totalitarian as the US. We visited Ontario in 2008 and found it beautiful and the micro culture of farming fascinating. I look forward to reading your newsletter, and learning more.
:) Thanks! Yes, unfortunately, Canada's government is descending into totalitarianism quite swiftly now (as was exemplified with the very Caesar/Hitler-esk move of our PM to use a modified version of the War Measures Act to crush peaceful protestors in Ottawa using an army of militarized police in early 2022). I cover more of how Canada is on a slippery slope towards totalitarianism in this article: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/lest-we-forget-war-is-a-racket
While I have found pockets of motivated and courageous people here in Ontario (looking to regenerate abused land and create decentralized food systems) there is also a huge push by government and corporate interests to chop what little is left of our forests down for either GMO corn/soy or massive hydroponic Greenhouse farming ( see: https://archive.org/details/263651027-1022933871888354-1580058608248963347-n for more info).
My wife and I strive to plant the seeds in the youth's minds and hearts here so that they can regenerate the land and provide for themselves but we will eventually be moving northward to get away from the populated areas and GMO farming devastation so we can start a homestead and a school close to the wilderness. We will set up hands on classes (weekend programs and more in depth classes) for cultivating, companion planting, harvesting, seed saving, preserving, herbalism, foraging and food forest design.
I'm certainly glad we visited Canada in 2008, because I wouldn't go there now. I saw how shabby the government treated peaceful resistance and I was appalled.
I got your newsletter, 23 reasons, and was amazed at all the information; too much to digest at once. Obviously, you are devoted to gardening and it's definitely your calling. If my husband and I were younger we would do things differently, but you don't know what you don't know. Our yard doesn't have a lot of sun, but we are using what we have to good advantage. We have a rain gutter garden that is attached to water barrels and grow the majority of our veggies there, plus we have two large waist high boxes that we grow spinach, baby pak choi and other herbs. We have 2 small areas that we planted last year; one had snow peas early and late, with cucumbers in the hot months. We grew okra and onions in the other. Okra did great; onions did not. Our biggest disappointment last year was squash and zucchini; fought a losing battle with vine borers. We don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizer, but the bugs and worms try my patience. Financially, it's a losing proposition, but it's a pleasure to eat fresh, nutritional veggies. I find grocery store produce, even organic, far less satisfying.
Thanks for responding, and I look forward to reading and learning more from your newsletter.
I suppose the one benefit of the Ottawa situation is that our puppet government (and their corporate/central banking cartel bosses) seem to have overplayed their hand when they started freezing protestor's bank accounts. Those people who were paying attention now have a very vivid understanding of what may be coming with the whole CBDC/social credit system (and hopefully woke up quite a few motivated people who will now cut their ties to centralized systems and contribute towards parallel decentralized systems).
I was worried that my 23 reasons piece might be a bit of an information overload but I often get people making long lists of excuses why they cannot garden so I wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible. Also (as I am sure you can tell) I am very passionate about gardening, seed saving and giving back to the living planet, so once I start writing about it those things they take on a momentum of their own and next thing you know I have written half a book :) Truth be told I could have made it a "30 Reasons You Should Start a Garden in 2023" article but I cut my self off after 23.
Your garden sounds lovely, relatively diverse (offering a range of different forms of nutrition and seasonal crops) and efficient (using the rain run off for irrigation). Have you ever tried planting specific flowers to invite in predatory/parasitic solitary wasps to help manage the herbivore insect populations? I find that they can help a great deal when it comes to caterpillars and worms/grubs.
Do you grow your crops from seed or buy seedlings from a nursery? How do you fertilize/add fertility to the soil?
I can offer a list of shade tolerant crops that I like to incorporate into garden designs for my clients at my day job (landscape design and installation) if you like?
You are most welcome and I look forward to interacting with you more in the comments section of my articles.
Wow, you are thorough, and you really pay attention!
I grow almost everything from seed. I did buy some onion sets and cabbage seedlings last year because I forgot to buy seeds, since remedied, and current cabbages (starting to head up) I grew from seed. It was a real effort since I had to bring them in the garage because it got down to 16 degrees F a couple of nights, but they're back outside and none worse for wear! I think it might be more economical to do onion sets though.
We compost everything we can and the chickens donate. I use fish emulsion when I think things need help. Currently beds not in use are covered with leaves. We're still not sure how to best incorporate the compost since tilling seems not to be not a good thing. Basically, my husband just sort of turns in it. He's got a bad back, so it's becoming more challenging.
Quite apparent I need to become a paid subscriber. I am very interested in help with the bug/worm problem. I did use BT last year; expensive and ineffective... About like the jab!
My chickens free range and they are hell on my flower gardens which was my passion before I got into veggies. I don't dare think about the $$$ involved. I have dozens of day lilies, roses, camellias, expensive peonies, etc. Many of them are fenced off when the damage became more than I could tolerate. I have very little lawn grass, and wish I had less. We do NOT have a riding lawn mower. Shade tolerance is very interesting too.
Enough for now. Will see you on your newsletter. I'm Nancy in NC. I'm so delighted our paths crossed.
That is excellent you grow much of your crops from seed. If you take it a step further and begin getting into the rhythm of saving seed (from the open pollinated heirloom varieties you grow) the savings really start adding up.
I explored the innate value in seed saving (and sharing seeds with friends, family and neighbors) in this article (by comparing planting and saving heirloom seeds as an 'investment in the Earth to a hypothetical investment in a bank). I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on what I came up with https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-best-investment-on-earth-is-earth :)
I wish I my wife was on board with chickens but we have a small yard and she isn't there yet. At our future homestead we will certainly have chickens and other animals that can be our allies in regenerating and building the soil.
Fish emulsion is great but I prefer Kelp Meal or liquid kelp/seaweed when I can get it cheap (as seaweed contains over 70 trace minerals and natural plant growth hormones for encouraging vigorous root development and higher rates of photosynthesis in leaves).
That is so great you leave your beds covered in leaves (it provides a sanctuary for beneficial insects and mimics the forest's erosion preventing and soil nourishing leaf litter layer).
Once you have broken up any tough soil with the initial tilling, all you need to do is all a thin layer of compost on top of the soil each year (perhaps raking it into the top 1-2 inches of loose soil) and the soil organisms will do the rest of the work. You can also plant specific crops (like Daikon radish) that serve the function of being a 'biological tilling mechanism' (via the action of their deep tap rot breaking up the soil without destroying the networks of beneficial critters in the soil). For more info on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ZXwlP58FY
I am sorry to hear about your experience with BT, I can suggest some great companion plants and ways to set up habitat for attracting predator insects that will keep the numbers of worms and caterpillars down in a future post.
Yes the mRNA and viral vector injections are not only ineffective from a medicine stand point, the cost people pay (both in tax money and medical bills down the road) are substantial. I actually lost a friend (healthy guy 35 at the time) to the pfizer injection. His work mandated he take it and a few days after his second one he dropped dead right on the job site (total heart failure, no preexisting conditions). Another friend of mine was in the Armed Forces they mandated it too, now he has myocarditis and pericarditis, can't work, can't go hiking or skiing with his kids. It is tragic and disgusting what our criminal government and their friends in big pharma are doing to people.
I do not currently have the paid subscription option activated on my substack newsletter but there have been a few people that asked me how they can contribute to my work (as they really appreciate the practical info I shared) so I think I shall make becoming a paid subscriber an option when I have time later today.
I will see if I can dig up my old shade tolerant food crops and medicine plants list and share it with you when I find it.
That is beautiful! :)
Yes that is true, the lack of education (and pervasiveness of propaganda) about the detriments of store bought food is widespread. As for the laziness, stagnation and apathy (which I too observe and acknowledge is present in the minds of a pretty sizable chunk of the population there in southern Ontario) some people have to learn the hard way. I offer an open hand to many of them (as our Mother Earth has been at key moments in their lives) but if the invitation to take responsibility for their own lives, health and ability to feed themselves and their loved ones goes unanswered, they will have to learn the hard way when those hyper-centralized systems they depend on to get all the junk they eat implode (and they will).
Yes that is fascinating isn't it, people eating the toxic modern western diet and then being mystified about the skyrocketing instances of degenerative health conditions, cancer, etc. My current approach to help break that cycle is to get to the little ones and help them to know what real food taste like and offer them hands on experience growing, harvesting and enjoying crops before the propaganda of the corporatocracy gets to them (via community gardens we set up and after school programs etc.)
Thank you for being the lovely anomalous and determined person that you are. You give me hope that a select few human beings that are choosing courage, hope, determination and love/respect (for themselves and the living planet) will create enough pockets of regeneration and abundance to weather the storm ahead.
I watch very little tv but Jeopardy is an addiction. It's amazing the number of pharmaceutical and fast food ads shown in a half hour. The irony of that is not lost on me.
I just signed up for your newsletter. Sigh...more to read.😉. You look young in that tiny picture, so that gives me hope, and hope is in short supply these days. I see you live in Canada which is just as totalitarian as the US. We visited Ontario in 2008 and found it beautiful and the micro culture of farming fascinating. I look forward to reading your newsletter, and learning more.
:) Thanks! Yes, unfortunately, Canada's government is descending into totalitarianism quite swiftly now (as was exemplified with the very Caesar/Hitler-esk move of our PM to use a modified version of the War Measures Act to crush peaceful protestors in Ottawa using an army of militarized police in early 2022). I cover more of how Canada is on a slippery slope towards totalitarianism in this article: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/lest-we-forget-war-is-a-racket
While I have found pockets of motivated and courageous people here in Ontario (looking to regenerate abused land and create decentralized food systems) there is also a huge push by government and corporate interests to chop what little is left of our forests down for either GMO corn/soy or massive hydroponic Greenhouse farming ( see: https://archive.org/details/263651027-1022933871888354-1580058608248963347-n for more info).
My wife and I strive to plant the seeds in the youth's minds and hearts here so that they can regenerate the land and provide for themselves but we will eventually be moving northward to get away from the populated areas and GMO farming devastation so we can start a homestead and a school close to the wilderness. We will set up hands on classes (weekend programs and more in depth classes) for cultivating, companion planting, harvesting, seed saving, preserving, herbalism, foraging and food forest design.
Here is a link to my most recent article (which I imagine I will be handing out in printed form to any visitors to our future homestead in some format or another.) : https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/23-reasons-to-start-a-garden-in-2023
I look forward to hearing what you think of my future articles and wish you many bountiful harvests in 2023 :)
I'm certainly glad we visited Canada in 2008, because I wouldn't go there now. I saw how shabby the government treated peaceful resistance and I was appalled.
I got your newsletter, 23 reasons, and was amazed at all the information; too much to digest at once. Obviously, you are devoted to gardening and it's definitely your calling. If my husband and I were younger we would do things differently, but you don't know what you don't know. Our yard doesn't have a lot of sun, but we are using what we have to good advantage. We have a rain gutter garden that is attached to water barrels and grow the majority of our veggies there, plus we have two large waist high boxes that we grow spinach, baby pak choi and other herbs. We have 2 small areas that we planted last year; one had snow peas early and late, with cucumbers in the hot months. We grew okra and onions in the other. Okra did great; onions did not. Our biggest disappointment last year was squash and zucchini; fought a losing battle with vine borers. We don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizer, but the bugs and worms try my patience. Financially, it's a losing proposition, but it's a pleasure to eat fresh, nutritional veggies. I find grocery store produce, even organic, far less satisfying.
Thanks for responding, and I look forward to reading and learning more from your newsletter.
I suppose the one benefit of the Ottawa situation is that our puppet government (and their corporate/central banking cartel bosses) seem to have overplayed their hand when they started freezing protestor's bank accounts. Those people who were paying attention now have a very vivid understanding of what may be coming with the whole CBDC/social credit system (and hopefully woke up quite a few motivated people who will now cut their ties to centralized systems and contribute towards parallel decentralized systems).
I was worried that my 23 reasons piece might be a bit of an information overload but I often get people making long lists of excuses why they cannot garden so I wanted it to be as comprehensive as possible. Also (as I am sure you can tell) I am very passionate about gardening, seed saving and giving back to the living planet, so once I start writing about it those things they take on a momentum of their own and next thing you know I have written half a book :) Truth be told I could have made it a "30 Reasons You Should Start a Garden in 2023" article but I cut my self off after 23.
Your garden sounds lovely, relatively diverse (offering a range of different forms of nutrition and seasonal crops) and efficient (using the rain run off for irrigation). Have you ever tried planting specific flowers to invite in predatory/parasitic solitary wasps to help manage the herbivore insect populations? I find that they can help a great deal when it comes to caterpillars and worms/grubs.
Do you grow your crops from seed or buy seedlings from a nursery? How do you fertilize/add fertility to the soil?
I can offer a list of shade tolerant crops that I like to incorporate into garden designs for my clients at my day job (landscape design and installation) if you like?
You are most welcome and I look forward to interacting with you more in the comments section of my articles.
Wow, you are thorough, and you really pay attention!
I grow almost everything from seed. I did buy some onion sets and cabbage seedlings last year because I forgot to buy seeds, since remedied, and current cabbages (starting to head up) I grew from seed. It was a real effort since I had to bring them in the garage because it got down to 16 degrees F a couple of nights, but they're back outside and none worse for wear! I think it might be more economical to do onion sets though.
We compost everything we can and the chickens donate. I use fish emulsion when I think things need help. Currently beds not in use are covered with leaves. We're still not sure how to best incorporate the compost since tilling seems not to be not a good thing. Basically, my husband just sort of turns in it. He's got a bad back, so it's becoming more challenging.
Quite apparent I need to become a paid subscriber. I am very interested in help with the bug/worm problem. I did use BT last year; expensive and ineffective... About like the jab!
My chickens free range and they are hell on my flower gardens which was my passion before I got into veggies. I don't dare think about the $$$ involved. I have dozens of day lilies, roses, camellias, expensive peonies, etc. Many of them are fenced off when the damage became more than I could tolerate. I have very little lawn grass, and wish I had less. We do NOT have a riding lawn mower. Shade tolerance is very interesting too.
Enough for now. Will see you on your newsletter. I'm Nancy in NC. I'm so delighted our paths crossed.
Thanks Nancy :)
That is excellent you grow much of your crops from seed. If you take it a step further and begin getting into the rhythm of saving seed (from the open pollinated heirloom varieties you grow) the savings really start adding up.
I explored the innate value in seed saving (and sharing seeds with friends, family and neighbors) in this article (by comparing planting and saving heirloom seeds as an 'investment in the Earth to a hypothetical investment in a bank). I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on what I came up with https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-best-investment-on-earth-is-earth :)
I wish I my wife was on board with chickens but we have a small yard and she isn't there yet. At our future homestead we will certainly have chickens and other animals that can be our allies in regenerating and building the soil.
Fish emulsion is great but I prefer Kelp Meal or liquid kelp/seaweed when I can get it cheap (as seaweed contains over 70 trace minerals and natural plant growth hormones for encouraging vigorous root development and higher rates of photosynthesis in leaves).
That is so great you leave your beds covered in leaves (it provides a sanctuary for beneficial insects and mimics the forest's erosion preventing and soil nourishing leaf litter layer).
Once you have broken up any tough soil with the initial tilling, all you need to do is all a thin layer of compost on top of the soil each year (perhaps raking it into the top 1-2 inches of loose soil) and the soil organisms will do the rest of the work. You can also plant specific crops (like Daikon radish) that serve the function of being a 'biological tilling mechanism' (via the action of their deep tap rot breaking up the soil without destroying the networks of beneficial critters in the soil). For more info on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ZXwlP58FY
I am sorry to hear about your experience with BT, I can suggest some great companion plants and ways to set up habitat for attracting predator insects that will keep the numbers of worms and caterpillars down in a future post.
Yes the mRNA and viral vector injections are not only ineffective from a medicine stand point, the cost people pay (both in tax money and medical bills down the road) are substantial. I actually lost a friend (healthy guy 35 at the time) to the pfizer injection. His work mandated he take it and a few days after his second one he dropped dead right on the job site (total heart failure, no preexisting conditions). Another friend of mine was in the Armed Forces they mandated it too, now he has myocarditis and pericarditis, can't work, can't go hiking or skiing with his kids. It is tragic and disgusting what our criminal government and their friends in big pharma are doing to people.
I do not currently have the paid subscription option activated on my substack newsletter but there have been a few people that asked me how they can contribute to my work (as they really appreciate the practical info I shared) so I think I shall make becoming a paid subscriber an option when I have time later today.
I will see if I can dig up my old shade tolerant food crops and medicine plants list and share it with you when I find it.
I am glad to make your acquaintance Nancy :)