Food and Passive Resistance to Bylaws

Something totally different here, away from the major stories and down to survival.

I saw that some places, cities, villages, towns, have problems with people turning the front yards into gardens. What?? The cost of food has gone up, will continue to go up, and people need to find a way to eat. So, I thought on this for a while, then figured out a very old, very easy solution to bypassing those bylaws.

Years ago I joined someone in making raised gardens, and we put those in the front yard. The neighbours had not qualms with this, in fact they liked the way we designed the layout. We grew more vegetables per square foot than we could in any ground level garden, and the pests were less, our backs did not ache, and we actually enjoyed the work! Wow, what a concept!

 So, here I sit, looking at the weird and wonderful bylaws of some places and wonder, would this work in cities that seem to think only lawns, trees and bushes belong in the front yards?  The raised gardens should be one way to get this done, and still get some food on the table without fines or hassles from some overly zealous bylaw officer.

The process is simple, so here is what I did. First year we just dug up the plots, put in some good soil, and had that soil above the level of the grass. Well, it worked, but it was not quite the labour saving we wanted. So, we scavenged some lumber, put that into long boxes, and then put those boxes over the raised beds. We went a bit extravagant with adding in some black ground cover to keep the weeding down, but basically we did it on the cheap.

That allowed use to grow peppers, tomatoes, even potatoes without having to put so much space between plants. So far, so good, but I still had a back ache from bending over to weed. Hmmm ok, add in more soil, and add in some of the kitchen scraps (no meat or bones here, just veggie waste) and the next year we had a bonanza!

Back to the bylaws. I read the article and it said that gardens that took up the space of the front yard got some people fines. Hmmm well, ok, if the city or town had a problem with the lack of a “lawn” then perhaps this would be a way to work with the bylaw and still eat! Yes, it should work, but there is the question of esthetic, which appears to be the root of the complaint. Staining the wood would work, so would putting a decoration on the wood using some stencils, paint or other means. Better yet, ask the neighbours if the design is attractive. A bit of a risk, but less annoying than having to take all the boxes down mid-season.

Maybe make sure you put in some nice flowers, such as nasturtiums, marigolds (which, by the way, keep some bugs away) and perhaps add in some geraniums, just to “justify” these as gardening and enhancing the appearance.

What is the problem here in the first place?? It seems that city dwelling is meant to be such that you must buy all your food, must buy all your necessities and must keep the city looking as sterile and neat as the parking lots. Don’t, for any reason, use land for what it has been used for centuries, to raise food, to eat from! The only people allowed to do that are outside the city, the farmer, the orchard grower. So, plant an apple tree, edible chestnut, almond, orange (if you live where they actually can grow) or even the lowly cherry and make the yard more “esthetic”. The bonus you get? Your house will be cooler in summer, the winds won’t slow down when they go through, and the moisture will actually stay around for a while. Plus, the city will be happy to see the blossoms.

 Food prices are rising, they will continue to rise, and anything you or I can do to make this easier on our own pocketbooks, our own families, our own cities, must be a good thing…. or maybe just a passive way to resist those antiquarian bylaws meant to impose collective boring sameness on all of us, we MUST conform…..

Buying Only American Can Sink America

Loyalty is great, especially to your family and friends. When it comes to a country, loyalty can be good, but sometimes it has a double edge to it.

The drive to use the tax funds to restart, restore, whatever you want to call it, need not be tied to buying only American goods. Why? Well, as a lot of the US citizenry now are finding out, there are things you need to get from other countries. Oil and power are just two.

Blocking the import of goods such as steel, aluminum, and so on can backfire on the jobs the US and President Obama are desperately trying to create, restore and build. Erecting trade barriers also breaches some of the very trade agreements that the US wants to keep!

Like most other things in life, we live by cooperation, and this does mean we have to deal with countries outside our own.

Let’s see if I can simplify this for myself here. I need power to run a factory, but I don’t have enough local supply to do it. I set up a contract, an agreement with someone to buy it. In exchange, they want to buy what I produce. Sounds like a fair deal to start with.

Later, they cannot buy my goods, and because their own financial problems are causing headaches, they want to put that power to use in their own area. So, I can choose to refuse to buy their power, and up go the barriers. My own jobs go, along with the prosperity I was developing for myself.

While I can understand their reasoning, they NEED what I produce as much as I NEED the power.

This can get to be truly childish and petty, but in the real world, it can create huge disasters.

The US NEEDS oil, power, goods etc. from other countries as much as other countries NEED the goods from the US. It is symbiotic, if you like.

There ARE international agreements in place that need to be honoured, need to be kept, and integrity is one of the ingredients in international trade. I know there are some in the US that want to shut the doors, hunker down, and, while I can see the fear, the loyalty and the desire to make sure there ARE jobs coming, I can also see why the trades and the goods NEED to move.

What most people in the US don’t realize is that the supplies of some goods are NOT found within the US, they just are not there. Foods come from outside the country, along with a huge number of other things. Stop that and the US faces some pretty nasty results. Power is not totally generated within the borders of the US either, it is purchased from neighbouring countries, mostly because the private utility companies have NOT invested in creating more power, especially cleaner and more efficient power. The brown-outs in Los Angeles are symptomatic of this problem.

Some rant on about “Buying Amercan” without realizing just how much of the goods and other things come from outside the country.

Right now, the choice is within the bill facing the government, and I hope that someone will really take a hard look at what they are asking for  with the clause to “Buy American” and create international trade barriers.