Non-Renewable Resources: Are They Really Finite?

[value-is-what-you-get]

Here's just one example of getting 10X the crop yield on a per square foot basis as compared to standard greenhouses.

 

http://www.omegagarden.com/index.php?content_id=1521

 

This looks like the grow-op of the future :P

 

Does anyone else grow their own vegetables?  We have a small patch in our backyard that I hope to expand into a larger patch over time.  We grow things like tomatoes, cucumber, peas, beans, and zucchini.  We'll probably rotate into root vegetables this year, too.  It makes a lot of sense for us..  the food tastes better, it's cheaper, it's fresher and it's kinda fun (and sometimes frustrating).

 

 

Yes we grow tomatoes (four different types), beans, peas and carrots as well as some apple trees and herbs.  It is a hobby really but what I've noticed is the remarkable flavour over store bought produce.  The only real downside is that veggy-wise everything is ready at once so it's a feast or famine deal.  I don't take it seriously enough to time plantings etc - it's really just the cheapo in me trying to get a little production out of my real estate, reduce mowed area and have an excuse to spend time outdoors!  It's cool to walk around the garden and just pick something and eat it and it's the best tasting one you've had since last year.  I like the indoor garden concept as it can provide a consisitent food source more in line with consumption patterns.  We could also reap much larger financial benefit if we were producing tomatoes in February when the trucked in variety are peaking in price.  The backyard garden produces yields exactly when local commercial farms do so the savings are much less from an outdoor seasonal garden - but the flavour can not be beat!

[libor.plus1]

All we need is a little Dyson Sphere to solve all our energy problems.

 

[rogermunibond]

Soil is renewable.  We seem to think that soil is just dirt, but in reality fertile topsoil is amalgam of dirt plus nutrients plus organisms.  With the proper husbanding, fertile soil can be created.  Terra preta which is soil mixed with charcoal is an example of how pre-Columbian Amazonians created fertile soil where there previously was none.

 

Back in 2008 Charles C. Mann was writing about the potentially enormous problem of soil compaction, erosion, & degradation.  But he said it was a MEGO problem.  (MEGO = my eyes glaze over).

 

 

[tyska]

 

From what I understand, that if North America alone moved from raising cows, pigs and other herd animals to legumes, grains, etc, we would be able to feed the entire world with little difficulty.  The question that arises:  Is there a shortage?  Or like poor management at a corporation...a misallocaton of assets?

 

 

 

Had to lol at the thought of pigs as herd animals. I'm guessing that you  haven't tried to herd a group that were out somewhere.

 

It never fails to amaze me what a bad rep cattle get when they are used by humans in a way they weren't really designed or areas were they don't belong. Right from a pollution stand point when they are crowded in massive feedlots to high quality grains being used to fatten them faster or huge dairies in the middle of desserts using precious water. None of these are the cattle's doing. All of it is supported and encouraged as development by various levels of government.  There is a lot of land that is too fragile for grain production that cattle can turn the low quality forage into high quality protein.In our area there is a lot of land that shouldn't be used for crop production but that doesn't stop them from being worked up and eroding or drained into creeks that then become swollen and flood or erode other areas downstream when all the runoff has to move at once in the spring. It's not happenstance that all these rivers are flooding at higher levels all the time.

[Parsad]

. . . and as an aside I just heard that Boston Pizza is renaming it's chain Vancouver Pizza until the playoffs are over (or should I say until the Canucks beat the Bruins!!)

 

They did the same thing in Montreal when they were playing the Bruins.  And yes, Vancouver will knock over the Bruins.  If the Canucks playoff run is any indication...Chicago in 7, Nashville in 6, San Jose in 5...Bruins will be finished by the Canucks in 4!  Wishful thinking perhaps...but this is the year of the Sanj!  40 years of a Stanley Cup drought will end.

 

Had to lol at the thought of pigs as herd animals. I'm guessing that you  haven't tried to herd a group that were out somewhere.

 

Smart ass Tyska!  ;D  You bloody well knew what I meant.  Cheers!

[Partner24]

People hate change - apparently more than being gouged at the gas pump.  I agree with Munger that it is completely obvious that we must harness the sun's power directly, and we should probably get on with it.

 

The day that the sun will be able to provide nearly all of our energy needs (home, transportation) and that technology will be implemented worldwide, not all, it will be a terrific day.

 

Sorry, just one of my wildest dream  ;)

 

[bargainman]

A lot of very interesting points of view.  We had someone come by our company recently and talk about edible landscaping, and emphasize how much land is just wasted on green lawns!  Apparently edible landscapes are all over the place in europe.  I think this is her book:

http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Landscaping-Rosalind-Creasy/dp/1578051541

 

On another note here is a projection by Oxfam calling for food prices to double by 2030

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43221576/ns/business-consumer_news/?GT1=43001

 

I suspect they mean in real term since doubling by 2030 in dollar terms is probably just matching inflation...