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.

Why we must get rid of pesticides

Posted on July 14, 2019 by

Preface. France is one of the few nations trying to use fewer pesticides. This is the direction we must go to prepare for the end of the fossil age, since pesticides are made out of finite petroleum. Also, we are running … Continue reading →

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Replacing diesel tractors with horses or oxen – what will that be like?

Posted on April 27, 2019 by

Preface. Since fossil fuels are finite, at some point increasing numbers of farmers with diesel vehicles and equipment will want to replace them with horses, which can do the work of six people.  Below is what  energy expert Vaclav Smil … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Life Before Oil, Muscle Power, Peak Food, Vaclav Smil | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of Wrigley’s “Energy and the English Industrial revolution”

Posted on April 12, 2019 by

Preface. I’ve made a strong case in my book “When trucks stop running” and this energyskeptic website that we will eventually return to wood and a 14th century lifestyle after fossil fuels are depleted. So if you’re curious about what … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Energy Books, Farming & Ranching, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

How horses changed native cultures after 1492

Posted on April 2, 2018 by

[ This is a very brief overview of Peter Mitchel’s “Horse Nations”.  As oil and other fossils decline, will we will almost certainly return to using more horse “muscle power” as we did in the past. Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author … Continue reading →

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Plant more prairies to save topsoil and prevent pollution runoff

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

[ A program to plant more prairies to enrich the soil, keep topsoil from blowing and washing away, and provide a bio-diverse habitat for hundreds of species is receiving little funding or farmer participation, even though it would save farmers … Continue reading →

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After the harvest – protecting food from rats, mold, insects, fire, and bacteria

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Preface. It’s hard enough to protect crops before a harvest. In New South Wales, Australia a plague of millions of mice has multiplied after a bumper grain harvest and eating whatever they can find. Mice can produce 500 offspring a … Continue reading →

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Restore wild bison

Posted on September 28, 2016 by

[ Native wild animals have the least impact on ecosystems. While cattle plod along in line with one another, bison dance their own unique steps across the landscape, and don’t develop deep rutted grooves that can erode soil like cattle … Continue reading →

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Stop wasting food

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

[Clearly at the point when food rationing begins due to limited amounts of transportation oil, not wasting food will be important, and composting can expected to be the main way of disposal since garbage trucks will run less frequently. Below … Continue reading →

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Gardening – Grow Your Own Food

Posted on May 23, 2014 by

Best Home or small farm method I’ve taken many gardening and permaculture classes, but by far the best way to grow your own food is explained in John Jeavons’ book “How to grow more vegetables And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains … Continue reading →

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Softer landing if we can keep the Combines going

Posted on April 4, 2014 by

Save it for the Combine August 24, 2010. Jason Bradford Excerpts from this article: The combine performs tasks that replace an enormous amount of labor in a reliable and timely fashion.  It cuts the stalks of seed crops, threshes the … Continue reading →

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