adonaicole

The first time I heard the word famine, I was about 8 and I had started reading the bible. I read how God had sent Joseph into Egypt to save the world from famine. Famine was a foreign concept to me, surrounded by plenty, I assumed it was something that could only have happened in the olden times before modern farming (I didn't realize then, that it happens in modern times too).

The next time the subject of famine came up was from my Uncle Ray, he had visions of a famine coming to American and he filled a shed with canned goods. He died and we ended up throwing away most of the cans, but that taught me a valuable lesson. Can goods may not guarantee that you can survive a famine, because they expire too quickly.

In the late 70's, I belonged to a church and there were members of the church that were prophesying that a famine was coming to America and we all needed to learn how to store food. I learned alot about food storage and all through my life, made it a habit to stockpile food. This came in handy a couple times when I had a temporary disruption of cash flow. I never had to worry about food, I always had plenty.

The funny thing about my Uncle Ray, is that he lived on a large farm, with fish ponds. It would have been much better to simply stock the ponds, get a few goats and chickens, plant a few trees and grow the four sisters. Four sisters farming is a very efficient way to grow a food supply on very little land. The Indians who practiced it were able to provide for a family of 4 (with a surplus for trading) on an area 100 foot square. They would make hills about 4 feet apart, plant a circle of corn in each hill, with a couple of squash plants in the middle and a couple bean plants next to each stalk of corn. The beans climb the cornstalk and feed it with nitrogen, the squash grows between the hills and keeps down weeds and keeps moisture in. The fourth sister is sunflowers that they would plant on the north side for seeds.

I did an experimental planting of the 4 sisters this year and I am amazed by how well it works. I only planted a 10' x 10' area and I should get 200 lbs of food from it. 40 lbs of corn, 40 lbs of beans, 20 lbs of sunflowers and 100 lbs of squash. The squash is so prolific that it makes a dense jungle and I have to train the squash to run around my small garden like a belt. And then there's the 1/2 sister that I'm growing in another area, it's actually a type of sunflower grown for the roots, Jerusalem Artichoke. You can grow a huge amount in a small area and use them like potatoes. They are very invasive, good for a food crop, plant them in a vacant lot and forget about 'em.

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Love one another, for that is pure, undefiled religion.

Don

Boanerges

What a cool idea.

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“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

Dusty

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NearertoGod

Thank you for this wonderful information, Adona!

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NATURE should be treasured, not destroyed!
It's God's beautiful gift...treat it with respect and it'll respect you.

Hey everyone!
See BIG BROWN at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 in the BREEDER'S CUP CLASSIC!
Let's hope he does a good job!
Team Big Brown
(wish I had a picture...)