The Self-Sufficient Garden Blog
The Industrial Hidden-Costs Economy of Illusion
The last few years have seen a veritable flood of books, articles, scientific studies, documentaries, and breathless pronouncements by leading food experts on the global food system and food insecurity. All adopt the unquestioning aim of trying to “fix”...
The Ghost of a Snake
It’s high time to post another short piece about odd happenings in the garden.One cool, sunny day last fall—it was October 18—I was strolling down a row of my beloved colored butterbeans, which even at that late date had not yet been hit by a frost....
Russian Gardening – Proof of Concept at Scale
Throughout Ultra-Local, Full Circle Self-Sufficiency you’ve seen me refer to the research of Dr. Leonid Sharashkin, who reported that household gardeners in Russia produce 50% of the country’s food on just 3% of its agricultural land. And how his work...
The Food System in Slow-Motion Freefall
Is the U.S. food system in danger?The answer is yes, but it’s not about to completely collapse overnight—it’s more like a slow cascade. Yet it’s not too early to think about growing your own food, either, just for peace of mind in case...
Diffusion of Innovations II
Rate of adoptionAll successful innovations go through an adoption curve, in which the new technology, practice, or idea reaches a critical mass. After that, it becomes self-sustaining, at least according to theory. But not all innovations are successful. For instance,...
Diffusion of Innovations I
What is Diffusion of Innovations?It’s one thing to say you want to galvanize a self-sufficiency garden food system (GFS), but it’s quite another to imagine just how that would unfold over time. Fortunately, there’s a well-developed theory, “Diffusion of Innovations,”...
The Significance of a Self-Sufficiency Food System
Imagine for a moment that we could ramp up a self-sufficiency garden system enough to provide 50% of the U.S. population with healthy, balanced diets. How would that play out on a national scale, over time? Here we’ll ponder the significance of ten likely...
Yes, But . . . Are Gardens Really Feasible? II
External FactorsMost people won’t be won over to ULFs (ultra-local foods) because they’re nowhere near as cheap, tasty, and convenient as UPFs (ultra-processed foods).On all three counts, this is a story about what we’ve long been conditioned to experience and thus...
Yes, But . . . Are Gardens Really Feasible? – I
In shopping around a self-sufficiency garden food system, it’s perhaps not surprising that I’ve come across doubts that such a drastically different approach would work. That is, provide a feasible alternative to the industrial food system, even though I’ve...