Exactly, Chiron! [Part 2]

Given the nutrients needed, the human body (any animal body) works wonders.

The big question is, of course, where to find nutrients.

I suggest we do what our ancestors did.

Once upon a time, individuals and groups came to a spot that provided all they needed. There they settled down, and stayed until a needed element ran out. (Maybe they had more babies than the land could nourish.)

Then they moved on.

Today we are fixing ourselves in towns and cities, bringing our alleged needs in from far and wide. We no longer know what we need.

And we don't know what we are getting.

Further, we don't 'move on' for appropriate reasons.

We don't know what to do. We don't know that there are wonderful things we can put into our own backyards that would provide us with all the nutrition we need, forever.

... Volcanic ash, that sits in moving water.

... Conserved rain and ground water.

... Composting materials from the wild, particularly from oceans and lakes where the water is loaded with dissolved nutrients. (That's why we love a swim.)

... Weeds; wonderful weeds that draw up nutrient-loaded water from far below. If we want food plants to last longer through dry spells, all we need to do is surround them with hardy plants that reach deep into the ground, like dandelions and alfalfa.

The next most valuable thing to put in our backyards is effort.

If we don't have energy to invest, then we should seek out 'organic' gardeners who do. Move in next door, and/or offer them the free use of our backyards.

Anyone can do this - young, old, educated or not, even the busiest person could spend one hour a day cultivating a half-wild plot, before bedtime.

And, did you know, chickweed will continue to grow under snow...all by itself?

Then there is Eliot Coleman's winter greenhouse method. And root cellars.

And, food trees!

And sprouting jars on our kitchen counters. And seaweed.

No one needs to be poor...or poorly, in my opinion.

My best,

fledgling