Category Archives: Farming & Ranching

If you relocate to an area where crops can be grown with rainfall rather than irrigation, you may be able to buy food, but it would be good to plant fruit and nut trees, and grow whatever else you can in your yard, community garden, or renting half an acre from a nearby farm if it can be done.

The Nitrogen Bomb: fossil-fueled fertilizers keep billions of us alive

Posted on August 30, 2021 by

Preface. There are two articles below that explain why natural gas fertilizers are keeping at least 4 billion of us alive today.  If you’re interested in this topic, here are a few more to read: Erisman JW, Sutton MA, Galloway … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Life After Fossil Fuels, Natural Gas, Overpopulation, Peak Food | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Jason Bradford on reforming the current food system

Posted on July 5, 2021 by

Preface. Jason Bradford is amazing: He taught ecology for a few years at Washington University in St. Louis, worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of Fruits of Eden: David Fairchild & Americas Plant Hunters

Posted on June 28, 2021 by

Preface. Botanist David Fairchild is one of the reasons the average grocery store has 39,500 items. Before he came along, most people ate just a few kinds of food day in day out (though that was partly due to a … Continue reading →

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Livestock threatened by toxic invasive species on rangeland

Posted on January 4, 2021 by

Preface.  Will cattle, sheep,goats, and horses have to be raised on feed lots in the future to prevent range land poisoning from invasive plants? Each year poisonous plants adversely affect 3-5% of the cattle, sheep, and horses that graze western … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, BioInvasion, Farming & Ranching, Peak Food | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Nuclear winter could kill 2 to 5 billion people

Posted on August 24, 2020 by

Preface. Carl Sagan introduced the idea of a “nuclear winter”, which helped to end the cold war.  The smoke from fires started by bombs would absorb so much sun the earth wold grow cold, dry, and dark, killing plants on … Continue reading →

Posted in Extinction, Farming & Ranching, Fisheries, Nuclear War, Nuclear Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Can you grow enough fruit and vegetables to be self-sufficient?

Posted on August 18, 2020 by

Preface. If you want to try to feed yourself, buy John Jeavons excellent book “How to Grow More Vegetables, Ninth Edition: (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land with Less Water … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching | Tagged | 4 Comments

Invasion of feral hogs yet another hazard for the future

Posted on April 8, 2020 by

Preface. The Decline category used to be Death By A Thousand Cuts. Feral hogs are yet another cut for anyone who survives peak oil. Not only will climate change be drastically cutting back food production, feral hogs will too, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, BioInvasion, Disease, Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Northeast apple production suffering from Climate Change

Posted on January 26, 2020 by

Preface. Although this article is only about one crop in one area, it portends a darker future for food production in the future, with each region having their own issues (i.e. drought in California). It’s only a matter of time … Continue reading →

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America loves the idea of family farms. That’s unfortunate. By Sarah Taber

Posted on November 13, 2019 by

Preface. As declining fossil fuels force more and more people back into being farmers, eventually 75 to 90% of the population, it would be much better for this to happen with family farms than gigantic mega-farms with workers who are … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

So you want to start a vertical farm?

Posted on July 26, 2019 by

Preface. Vertical farms sound even more impossible than rooftop farms, which at least can use free sunshine. And they use massive amounts of energy to heat, cool, ventilate, light, and so on, not a good direction to go given energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching | Tagged , | 6 Comments