really old style living?

mardatha

I dono anything about permaculture or peak oil stuff Ceridwen, but all around me I see ruins of what were called "ferm touns" in Scotland. Farm towns. When you think how many were needed to work the land - this would be right up to mid Victorian times - you see the amount of houses that used to be dotted around the countryside and now are gone. A farm near us has a big mound with lots of crumbling stones on it, then two rows of ruined cottages that now hold sick sheep & motherless lambs, and a big round grassy area that goes muddy in the wet.
I know it well and never thought about it until I got talking to an old lady who was brought up there... she said there were 2 rows of stone cottages, each with a veg garden round the back and climbing roses round the door. A pigstye at the end of the garden and the pig ate all the leftover scraps. The ruined building on the mound was the sawmill, they had a blacksmiths and a joiners shop, and (she got very enthusiastic about this bit lol) there were so many people that the minister came to the farm instead of them going to church This farm is maybe a good half hours walk from the village.
Chickens wandered around all over the place & the weedy muddy round bit was a duckpond ! How nice that must have been..
So if that was only one farm...imagine how many others there were and how many people lived off the land. Not saying at all that it was a perfect idyll - I've lived deep in the country for over 30 years and its not all fun. It can be hard and lonely and you have to be tough minded to stick it... but this is how I see life becoming if the oil gets scarce and expensive - but how much land has been built on and is lost forever now

seasalt_2

Oh, THAT K word! Love the stuff myself, even the kids love it although can get sick of it when it's the only thing left standing. Ever tried stir frying it with a bit of onion and a few cumin seeds plus splash of water at the last minute to steam it? Or with chilli, ginger and garlic -yum. You can also make K crisps, coat very lightly with oil and bake in oven until crisp. Sprinkle with seasalt and eat! Oops. someone pass the smelling salts to Mardatha!

mardatha

Fingers in ears and eyes shut ! Lalalalala!!

Imp

mardatha wrote: »

I dono anything about permaculture or peak oil stuff Ceridwen, but all around me I see ruins of what were called "ferm touns" in Scotland. Farm towns. When you think how many were needed to work the land - this would be right up to mid Victorian times - you see the amount of houses that used to be dotted around the countryside and now are gone. A farm near us has a big mound with lots of crumbling stones on it, then two rows of ruined cottages that now hold sick sheep & motherless lambs, and a big round grassy area that goes muddy in the wet.
I know it well and never thought about it until I got talking to an old lady who was brought up there... she said there were 2 rows of stone cottages, each with a veg garden round the back and climbing roses round the door. A pigstye at the end of the garden and the pig ate all the leftover scraps. The ruined building on the mound was the sawmill, they had a blacksmiths and a joiners shop, and (she got very enthusiastic about this bit lol) there were so many people that the minister came to the farm instead of them going to church This farm is maybe a good half hours walk from the village.
Chickens wandered around all over the place & the weedy muddy round bit was a duckpond ! How nice that must have been..
So if that was only one farm...imagine how many others there were and how many people lived off the land. Not saying at all that it was a perfect idyll - I've lived deep in the country for over 30 years and its not all fun. It can be hard and lonely and you have to be tough minded to stick it... but this is how I see life becoming if the oil gets scarce and expensive - but how much land has been built on and is lost forever now

Reference the bit in bold, you have just waxed lyrical about land which has been built on and is being regained by nature. Everything we build is temporary. Roman towns disappeared and now the foundations are occassionally uncovered by archaeologists in the middle of fields. If we all return to the agricultural way of life, our towns and cities will shrink in the manner you have described.

ginnyknit

Hmm kale crisps quite fancy that one, will give it a go!

Well we went and did it today - the dreaded visit to the Dhss doctor to see if Dh is fit for work. It was like a Krpyton factor assault course getting to the office. We parked somewhere sensibly instead of waiting in their car park for a space. To our mind we were about 2 mins walk from the door - Oh no you have to go round the building thru carpark uphill and downhill. At one point I think the wheelchair was pulling me! And the doorways to the offices seem really small? Anyway, the doctor was ok I guess. Asked Dh why he was depressed, hmm wasn't he here for the first part of the interview? Anyway he signed something, input something, turned our file over slammed it on the pile on the desk and said ' ok, goodbye' :mad::mad::mad: When I rule the world.......

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

I dono anything about permaculture or peak oil stuff Ceridwen, but all around me I see ruins of what were called "ferm touns" in Scotland. Farm towns. When you think how many were needed to work the land - this would be right up to mid Victorian times - you see the amount of houses that used to be dotted around the countryside and now are gone. A farm near us has a big mound with lots of crumbling stones on it, then two rows of ruined cottages that now hold sick sheep & motherless lambs, and a big round grassy area that goes muddy in the wet.
I know it well and never thought about it until I got talking to an old lady who was brought up there... she said there were 2 rows of stone cottages, each with a veg garden round the back and climbing roses round the door. A pigstye at the end of the garden and the pig ate all the leftover scraps. The ruined building on the mound was the sawmill, they had a blacksmiths and a joiners shop, and (she got very enthusiastic about this bit lol) there were so many people that the minister came to the farm instead of them going to church This farm is maybe a good half hours walk from the village.
Chickens wandered around all over the place & the weedy muddy round bit was a duckpond ! How nice that must have been..
So if that was only one farm...imagine how many others there were and how many people lived off the land. Not saying at all that it was a perfect idyll - I've lived deep in the country for over 30 years and its not all fun. It can be hard and lonely and you have to be tough minded to stick it... but this is how I see life becoming if the oil gets scarce and expensive - but how much land has been built on and is lost forever now

I DO tear my hair out (metaphorically speaking) when I see farmland being built on (or any countryside at all come to that....). I want to go and "kick butt" and tear them off a strip for being stupid shortsighted fools (thats phrasing it politely....;)).

One of the things I read is that literally millions of us will be moving back to the land over the coming years - because agriculture sans chemicals/fueled machinery is going to take a LOT more people. Its astonishing - in fact totally astounding - when one starts reading the figures involved. THIS is where many new jobs will come from in years to come - though we do need to try and work out ways that it wont be quite such hard physical labour as in times past....

I'm sure that - right at this moment in history - it can be downright hard and lonely being out there in the depths of the countryside - and I know I couldnt do it (as a person on my own - no husband and no "community" with me) - but the time WILL come when it will be more possible..

******************

Anyways - as at right now...I'm pleased...I've gotta lotta food in my kitchen that I havent had to pay for:D. I've bartered this I've grown for that they've grown/kept some of my produce I've grown myself/got my mothers latest "contributions to the larder" of what she doesnt want and looks like I've got a possible taker for my old Stockli dehydrator - now that I have a posh new Excalibur one (one of my local Transition Town group promptly said "Oooh...are you looking to rehome your existing one then?" when I said I'd decided to upgrade mine:D I said that I've bought my existing one back - years ago - when I first "realised" how things would be - ??15 years ago???? I think - and had some goes with it, but had mainly bought it for The Future (ie right now).

So - query for MSE'ers - my Stockli 3 tray dehydrator with timer cost me about £110 all those years back and is in good condition. Does £20 sound a fair price to sell it to another TT'er for now? (bearing in mind that their price doesnt seem to have increased much - if at all - in all those years since. So I have to discount the fact that the equivalent 2010 price would be - gawd knows - somewheres between £250-£300 I would think.....and just charge a secondhand price based on the fact that they are still about £110 now).

ceridwen

seasalt wrote: »

Oh, THAT K word! Love the stuff myself, even the kids love it although can get sick of it when it's the only thing left standing. Ever tried stir frying it with a bit of onion and a few cumin seeds plus splash of water at the last minute to steam it? Or with chilli, ginger and garlic -yum. You can also make K crisps, coat very lightly with oil and bake in oven until crisp. Sprinkle with seasalt and eat! Oops. someone pass the smelling salts to Mardatha!

Errr..on the other hand...someone pass some sweeties to Mardatha. She's not fussy - she likes the lot....:rotfl:

ceridwen

Imp wrote: »

Reference the bit in bold, you have just waxed lyrical about land which has been built on and is being regained by nature. Everything we build is temporary. Roman towns disappeared and now the foundations are occassionally uncovered by archaeologists in the middle of fields. If we all return to the agricultural way of life, our towns and cities will shrink in the manner you have described.

Detroit is being "reclaimed by nature" at present. Think it was 2 million people at its height - and now its down to 800,000 - and a lot of the "gaps" are buildings being bulldozed and the residents reclaiming the land for farming:D:T. The thing that worries me is that the number of people is still increasing:eek: - and this is placing demands on land, wherever it is. The population needs (very very urgently) to stabilise and it worries me a lot as to how long it will be before everyone realises that and acts accordingly...(our current Prime Minister has just produced very visible proof that he doesnt "get it" on the one hand and it looks like commitments to try and slow down immigration into Britain are being watered down...yes...that one about immigration is a personal viewpoint I have to add...as other Transitioners would likely agree with me about David Cameron having a 3rd child - but would have different viewpoints about immigration - depending on the reason why...).

Hippeechiq

ginnyknit wrote: »

Hmm kale crisps quite fancy that one, will give it a go!

Well we went and did it today - the dreaded visit to the Dhss doctor to see if Dh is fit for work. It was like a Krpyton factor assault course getting to the office. We parked somewhere sensibly instead of waiting in their car park for a space. To our mind we were about 2 mins walk from the door - Oh no you have to go round the building thru carpark uphill and downhill. At one point I think the wheelchair was pulling me! And the doorways to the offices seem really small? Anyway, the doctor was ok I guess. Asked Dh why he was depressed, hmm wasn't he here for the first part of the interview? Anyway he signed something, input something, turned our file over slammed it on the pile on the desk and said ' ok, goodbye' :mad::mad::mad: When I rule the world.......

Ar*eholes!!!!! And I make no apology for saying so, because that's exactly what they are.

I suppose it's a waiting game for you now then ginny?

ChocClare

Right... gasp... I'm up to page 25...

Still very interesting reading! I may well not have got to it yet but just like to add my two penn'orth about the likelihood of our having a bad winter this year... DH keeps bees and has had to feed them already - really annoying because it meant we didn't get our full August harvest of honey.

We took some 35 jars of honey in May (oil seed rape crop mainly, that's why there was so much, but mainly because the weather was so good). Now they have hardly recouped what we have taken, whereas you'd normally expect the hives to be groaning full again for the winter. DH could only take honey from one hive - and it wasn't much - and then he was having to feed them sugar solution to stop them starving to death. Wasps are already trying to break into the hives and every windfall apple we have is covered in wasps, all desperate for food. Basically it seems (here at least) as if we are a month ahead of our usual season. Which is OK if it means spring comes earlier next year, but not so good if it just means we have a longer - and nastier - winter!

Incidentally, for the jam makers among you, we did astonishing amounts of research on sugar prices (DH has had to feed 54kg of sugar so far this year :eek:) and Bookers were the best price at 52p per kilo.

Funnily enough, urban beekeepers probably don't have the problems we do living in the country - because there is such diversity of planting in the cities (parks, gardens, allotments), bees have a huge source of food, whereas in back of beyondsville (where we are), they have ... fields. Of wheat. And potatoes. Oh, and the site of special scientific interest behind us which clearly has been sadly lacking this year because of the dry weather