Confessions of a subsistence freelance writer;
The transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer has always fascinated me. The ability to plant, cultivate and harvest crops stands alongside the emergence of self-awareness, control of fire, the wheel, and the development of mathematics and written language as one of humanity’s transformational events. We became something different once we began to farm.
I have found something like that taking place in me. For a variety of reasons – partly financial, partly intellectual – I have approached my land with tools that, for the most part, would have been available in 1014: scythes, sickles and mattocks recognisable from paintings and tapestries of 11th-century farms. How long would I last if thrust back by time machine or a collapse of the sort popular in apocalypse porn?
He eventually drove his poor wife crazy.
He’s very selective. Why does he keep his electricity, running water and car and why not opt for some 11th. century diseases too.
The caption, “Organic” Is The Latin Word For “Starving Humanity” is right.
The productivity of today’s commercial farms almost everywhere in the world is much great than anytime in history. Even in my forty years on the farm here in Saskabush our average crops have almost doubled in yield, and a bonus is that the land because of cropping methods is in better condition.
Robert of Ottawa, exactly. Let kooks experiment and play with this, but mandatory adoption of this style of farming would quickly reduce crop yields with crops succumbing to pests and weeds.
At 75 with no grandchildren I may be untypical but the thought of of a bunch of self righteous smug city dwellers suddenly thrust into seven day a week sunup to sundown subsistence farming makes me laugh till my sides hurt. My grandfather did that and told me all about it.
Ken (Kulak) “Even in my forty years on the farm here in Saskabush our average crops have almost doubled in yield, and a bonus is that the land because of cropping methods is in better condition.”
I remember back in the 1950s and 60s when people bragged about their 30 bushel barley crop. Now 100 bushels is the norm in my chunk of Alberta. All those nasty inorganic things are at fault like better varieties including GM plants, sprays, and fertilizers. Two thirds of humanity wouldn’t exists if not for such nastiness.
11th Century peasants weren’t opposed to getting better crop yields for less work by introducing better equipment and methods, it’s just that they were almost always too busy scraping out the subsistence level they had to do anything about it.
“He eventually drove his poor wife crazy.”
And if I may add…the farmer neighbours that this hippie type is always calling for the tractor help…it doesn’t take long for them to be known as a braindead sonofabitch.
Well just as there is this fringe lunatic on the left, there are also some very weird lunatics on the right. I just encountered two in the other thread that want to ban plastic recycling, because they just like garbage and the more, the better. I think they also want to do away with wastewater treatment plants and just dump raw sewage in agricultural lands.
They really want to give it to the environmentalists by making a mess everywhere they go and not picking up after themselves. Some really fringe people. I think they belong to that weird Freeman group or something.
1014? A good year!
The first thing missing is the high level of violence that our intrepid time traveller would have found. More is known
about 1214 than 1014, but in 13th C England the rural murder rate would have dismayed Al Capone. The farmer’s
favorite tool in 1014 probably would have been a stout knife – useful for everything, not just fighting.
In 1014 the western European population was quite low so the 11th C peasant probably had considerable quantities of
game – small game at any rate. A rabbit might have been welcome 🙂
The mediaeval peasant would have been required to do free labour on his lord’s land, and probably for the Church.
By the later Middle Ages these requirements had become onerous.
It is notable that our dilettante farmer mentions neither knife nor taking of game. A foolish Eloi, who mistakes his
quasi illumination for the real thing.
Victor Hanson mentioned that commercial grape growing methods hadn’t changed greatly between about 1000 BC and
1900 AD. The introduction of modern cultivation methods since then had increased yields by a FACTOR of four or five.
He has offended Gaia and is just doing his penance.
Gaia would be more pleased if was to wear a hair shirt.
The reasons he is a subsistence freelance writer:
1) If he is a freelance writer, nobody wants to buy the material he is trying to sell.
2) He is a subsistence brown thumb because he doesn’t know what he is doing.
3) He has low yields because he does not use modern techniques.
4) He is starving (subsistence) because he is not a hard worker or he would have a job, or a n adequate crop.
5) As long as he grows his food in HIS OWN shit, he harms only himself.
I have a country property. I have the biggest freakin’ lawn mower you ever saw, because otherwise I’d be spending all my time cutting the grass. I also have an industrial grade weed whacker with a metal blade, because scythes are -cr@p- at cutting big weeds. And yes all you purists out there, I learned to scythe and sharpen in my youth. Give me the weed whacker any time.
I have read many times in woodworking magazines of the new devotion to hand tools. The work is somehow holier when performed with a saw, a hand plane and a chisel instead of a joiner, planer, table saw and mortising machine.
I think this is romantic animistic rubbish. If I have to cut ONE (1) mortice, I get the chisel out. Its not worth the time to set up the mortiser. If I have to cut a bunch, I fire up the machine. Because standing there all freakin’ day long doing something by hand that I can knock out in twenty minutes with the machine, and get better results to boot, would be -stupid-.
Now, if one lives in straightened circumstances and does not have access to space and machines, hand tools are lots of fun. But lets not pretend a guy doing the odd chair or side table in a garden shed is a “woodworker” shall we? He’s puttering. Its not an occupation.
I am puttering too, for that matter. “Woodworkers” are the guys pounding out kitchen cabinets at a rate of 200 a day. They have computer controlled CNC routers fed by automatic conveyor systems, and dozens of employees running around tending these monstrosities. That’s what a “small custom shop” looks like.
Farms are the same. This goof could have his own tractor and brush hog for not very much money. If he’s trying to support a sick wife by writing, he needs to be WRITING not f-ing around scything weeds with his hand-made bespoke custom scythe.
This type of thing is evidence of mental illness, you ask me. The guy’s depressed and lying about it. Like so much of Liberalism, its craziness dressed up to look spiffy.
It’s easy to ‘go back to the land’ so to speak and to try to please Gaia or Al Goria … whatever… when you can alway ‘go back to the supermarket’ when things don’t work out so well, or when you just need a chocolate bar.
I think the guy thinks he’s emulating Thoreau, who was also a tool-borrower world lived an insular life.
I think the guy thinks he’s emulating Thoreau, who was also a tool-borrower who lived an insular life.
Although I think his choice to live in the 11th century was a poor one, your comment “He eventually drove his poor wife crazy.” was not appropriate.
Until the time of her illness, she was earning money teaching and they had 2 homes.
“As a result of that illness, my wife was unable to continue teaching, and the vagaries of a freelance income couldn’t be counted on to support two homes.”
The article shows how difficult life was, without the technology we take for granted.
And in 1014 he would have been one crop failure from starvation. I also note with some cynicism that most of the crops he is planting – corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squash for starters – originated in the Americas and would not be available for another 500 years.
I had a fun debate with a soon to be ‘phys ed’ instructor regarding the oilsands CO2 AGW etc. She of too much college education/indoctrination was bemoaning the desecration of the earth to which I pointed out without such energy sources we would be reduced to subsistence farming which would preclude the need for ‘phys ed’ instructors. She didn’t like what I said and ended the conversation rather abruptly.
The point this author seems incapable of grasping is that subsistence farmers had large families for a reason. They also had grazing/draught animals for a reason. For him to think he has gone back to the 11th century with a mattock and a scythe while living on peas and blackberries and store bought goodies is just plain silly.
One other thing: As a rule, the more sociable gender (female) does not do well in solitary. Tends to drive them to depression. Not all women by any stretch but a significant number.
Living in Ontario where we cannot dare kill weeds of any kind, our lawns have become weed infestations, we can only hope the weeds stay green to blend in with the ever decreasing blades of grass.
What used to be our garden patches are now weed patches,we’ve got weeds of all types, I may have to consult Suzuki, some may be edible, that is if he’s available, or has a damned clue about anything beyond maggots.
Thank you,Phantom, I couldn’t have said it better.
I saw the article as comedy,as I often do articles written by the “in” crowd when they have had to face some reality.These folks fantasize their entire lives about subjects they know little or nothing about,and when the ugly reality hits,their deer-in-the-headlights followup article is usually hilarious.
I particularly liked this sentence:” I found myself thinking that I could live here and, if need be, live here just like this. Later in the day, I returned to the city”…
When I was young, we spent every Winter, from October to April, in an isolated fishing camp,thirty miles from the nearest town,an Indian Reservation with only a small general store. We had no running water, no electricity, no modern conveniences except for a battery powered AM radio.
As a kid,it was paradise, but for my Mother,who had to do the hard work of looking after five or six kids and cooking and washing for four grown men, it was less than heaven on earth, just plain drudgery.
Mom,and some of the other women who lived the same life, always praised every innovation to the skies, whether it was indoor plumbing, automatic washing machines, electricity,or polio vaccine, all of man’s accomplishments were spoken of with great approval, by people who had had to live without.
I enjoy every accomplishment man has created, feel absolutely no guilt that we have advanced to this comfortable state. Why the artsy-fartsy set decry every achievement has always been a mystery to me.
I usually consider it a form of mental derangement.
I agree. That comment about his wife was totally inappropriate, and nasty.
Yes, lets give a BIG hand to the Monasteries and Abbey’s of the time who worked tirelessly to improve farming animal stock , introduce and import new crops, etc.. etc…
They had the money, the communications and ( frankly speaking) the time and brains to devote to the issues.
“The mediaeval peasant would have been required to do free labour on his lord’s land, and probably for the Church.
By the later Middle Ages these requirements had become onerous.”
But STILL FAR LESS THAN WHAT THE MODERN GOVERNMENT TAKES as a %
“He eventually drove his poor wife crazy.”
Actually, Kate, he didn’t. That comment was uncalled for. The guy is trying to make the best of a bad situation. Cut him a bit of slack. Would have been very easy for him just to stick his hand out and go on the dole like a lot of other Americans are doing these days. Those willing to work insanely hard to keep their heads above water deserve a tip of the hat.
Yes, the writer is a romantic, and romantics notice details that please them but miss the big picture. He’s not practical. His wife has become agoraphobic, while the writer has the makings of a hoarder, pinning himself in with overgrown grass and brambles and seeing beauty in the dwindling space. I feel like knocking some sense into him…:)
Where does it say that he’s working insanely hard?
“Actually, Kate, he didn’t.” [drive his wife crazy]
I dunno. The thought of having to live with all the conveniences of the 11th century is quite depressing.
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Argentina vs Germany
FIFA World Cup Championship:
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/07/watch-live-fifa-world-cup-soccer.html
http://www.cbc.ca/thisisthat/blog/2013/09/03/to-ensure-every-child-wins-ontario-athletic-association-removes-ball-from-soccer/
this was a hoax but i wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happened
Jim and Steve, you’re on the wrong thread.
This is not Readers Tips.
People are allowed to be idiots in a free country. When I was 40 years younger I used all hand tools because it felt good doing physical work. Never did figure out how many calories I burned doing the work but I just enjoyed the workout.
Now I’ve got a Stihl weedeater which is less fun than a scythe but far more efficient and am pondering other uses for my 4 HP lawnmower engine.
EXACTLY.
(By the way, even native carvers use electric tools.)
“bespoke custom”….the ‘custom’ is redundant. (I am my mother’s daughter:)
Two thirds of humanity wouldn’t exists if not for such nastiness. Posted by: scar
Feeding people who can’t feed themselves so they can breed more who can’t feed themselves, contributes to the overpopulation problem that drives all the other problems like toxic pollution.
Yeah I wuz thinkin’….he should give up on writing and get a real job….like driving a truck.
Then he could hire the neighbour to bushwhack his estate and primary till his garden. Probably cheaper than owning the hardware. Then again he could actually buy his veggies from the professionals. The proceeds from a real job can finance that sorta stuff.
He’s like a resident of Detroit who avoids the reality of his situation.
Come to think about it he should farm there , since they already live like its 999.
Yeah Kate, you got it wrong. His wife went crazy first, then he did.
I wish I could give the guy credit for trying, but it’s clear that he’s just a dilettante. He’s got 35 acres, most of which apparently is just an overgrown, weed-infested jungle, which he has to pay to have someone mow every year. A dozen sheep and a few weaner pigs would keep that land clear and fertilized and it would be more in keeping with the medieval subsistence farming experience.
When I was growing up my Mom (who did grow up on a subsistence farm) supplied nearly all the food our family of four required (excepting meat, dairy, and grains) off of 1/3rd of an acre. Eggs, vegetables (eaten fresh and frozen for use over the winter, and pickled), fruit (eaten fresh, frozen for use in winter, canned, and jams and jellies), and hazelnuts. If she had had 5 acres, so that she could keep some animals besides the chickens, I don’t doubt that she would have supplied us with 90% of our food requirements with plenty left over. Other than having my Dad rototill the vegetable plot once a year, she did it entirely by hand, and without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers.
So it’s entirely possible to live off the land, comfortably using a minimum of modern technology, but you have to be serious about it and it takes some planning.
Not far from me here in the Ottawa Valley countryside are a lovely, if daffy, couple. They’re big on the eco-thing.
But, no matter how I gently point it out to them, they seem to be entirely in denial over the massive footprint of their organic homestead.
For while they talk the talk, they own: a car, an SUV, a truck, an ATV, two motorcycles, a tractor, a snowmobile, a lawn tractor and a myriad of power equipment besides: generators, chainsaws, log-splitters, gardening tools, etc., etc.
They’re big on the eco-thing.
What does that mean specifically?
Isn’t it their annual fuel use amount, not the number of motors they own, which determines their ‘footprint’?
I might own half a dozen fuel burning engines but I only use them one at a time.
Living in Ontario where we cannot dare kill weeds of any kind…
Posted by: Liz J
All weeds are protected? That sounds preposterous. Got Proof to substantiate that opinion?
Oh, stop your whinging! It’s not like you live in these countries allegedly crowded to the rafters with brown people! Just stay out of it!
Golf Foxtrot Yankee
Yawn.
“Until the time of her illness, she was earning money teaching”
Between teaching and doing all the cooking/cleaning wo hot/cold running water, doing laundry with a tub/washboard, living by the light of candles etc. I would think that such a harsh life would drive one crazy and to illness/the grave early as it did so many 11th century people.
But, who am I to pass judgement on such an slow elaborate form of suicide?
most herbicides are banned for individual use in ontario. golf courses of course can still use many of the banned chemicals. can’t have the polies loose their balls now can we?
That’s not what was stated, is it? “we cannot dare kill weeds of any kind…”
It’s too bad some people can’t think beyond poison for weed control. The chemical brainwashing is effective.
We can lead people to knowledge but we can’t make them think.
We have no responsibility to keep humanity from starving. If people can barter their labor to earn enough to buy our food then good for them. If they can’t, and also can’t feed themselves, then they will die. That’s how it works on this planet. We certainly shouldn’t be feeding those who think their God tells them to kill non-believers.
If we don’t weedwack, mow frequently and use a herbicide – the weeds would take over in no time.
“If we don’t weedwack, mow frequently and use a herbicide – the weeds would take over in no time.”
Actually, here east of the Great Plains, within a few years the land will revert to it’s default position….forest.
In fact much has…..