With all the talk about telling people to start planting and growing crops to feed themselves and their communities during this time of crisis, Iām surprised I havenāt seen much about HOW MUCH to plant to feed people. Hereās a good article to serve as a jumping-off point, to give people an idea of when to plant and how much to plant to keep people fed. Keep in mind that unless you live on a fairly sizeable plot of land that has ideal growing conditions, you probably wonāt be able to completely feed a family of four, at least with traditional gardening methods. However, you can still heavily supplement your diet with homegrown food if you plot your garden carefully.
Some things you can do to save space include growing plants in stackable towers rather than flat rows. Not everything can grow this way, but growing herbs or even strawberries or some kinds of tomatoes in them can save a lot of space. Bonus points if you can get some vertical vining plants like beans or tomatoes to grow up the sides of them to maximize the space used.
Hanging planters can also be used for things like tomatoes, herbs, some berries, etc. The people who grew up watching TV in the 2000s may remember ads for the topsy-turvy tomato planter. I canāt vouch for the effectiveness of them, but it may be good inspiration for creative DIY hanging planters.
Many people donāt seem to know this (to be fair, itās not very intuitive), but small melons and gourds can be grown vertically on a trellis. You will need pantyhose or something else that can act like a sling for when the fruit gets large enough, and youāll also want to make sure the trellis is very sturdy. Here is an example of a watermelon growing on a trellis, with squash growing in the background:
Other good options that require a bit more DIY are hydroponics towers and walls. Itās basically just a series of pipes with holes for plants to grow out of. The only downside is they will require very regular fertilization and supplementation with other micronutrients that are essential for plant growth, because the plants are typically grown in either a non-nutritious medium like coconut coir or nothing at all.
Planter walls are the next step down, basically just building shelves with pots in them to fill with soil. Put these on a wall that gets good morning sun and some afternoon sunlight for best results. These and hydroponics both also have the advantage of being able to hook up to your gutters so that rainwater will go towards watering your plants rather than just being wasted.
If you want to get really fancy, aquaponics is the next step up. With aquaponics, you create a system that circulates water between plants and a tank full of fish. The fish waste provides fertilizer for the plants, and the plants help filter out the waste so the water stays cleaner. Iāve heard theyāre a bit tricky to establish, but once you find the right balance, all youāll need to do is feed the fish. This has the added bonus of providing a source of fish for people who canāt eat things like nuts and legumes but need protein. Here is a link to an article explaining what aquaponics is, how it works, and how it differs from hydroponics.
I also want to add that if you donāt have the space or ability to maintain a large garden, there are other options. Find or create a group with access to enough food to supplement or completely fulfill your diet, and offer another service. If you have space for a vermicompost bin or tower, that can still help contribute to the garden. Learning other skills like soap making, cooking, sewing/knitting/crocheting, electrical skills like wiring and soldering, welding, woodworking/carpentry, etc. means you will still have valuable skills to contribute towards the group, and this will set up the basis for a larger mutual aid network within your community.
You can regrow scallions by leaving an inch attached to the roots and place them in a small glass with a little water in a well-lit room.
Garlic
When garlic begins to sprout, you can put them in a glass with a little water and grow garlic sprouts. The sprouts have a mild flavor than garlic and can be added to salads, pasta and other dishes.
Bok Choy
Bok choy can be regrown by placing the root end in water in a well-lit area. In 1-2 weeks , you can transplant it to a pot with soil and grow a full new head.
Carrots
Put carrot tops in a dish with a little water. Set the dish in a well-lit room or a window sill. Ā Youāll have carrot tops to use in salads.Ā
Basil
Put clippings from basil with 3 to 4-inch stems in a glass of water and place it in direct sunlight. When the roots are about 2 inches long, plant them in pots to and in time it will grow a full basil plant.
Celery
Cut off the base of the celery and place it in a saucer or shallow bowl of warm water in the sun. Leaves will begin to thicken and grow in the middle of the base, then transfer the celery to soil.Ā
Romaine Lettuce
Put romaine lettuce stumps in a Ā½ inch of water. Re-water to keep water level at Ā½ inch. After a few days, roots and new leaves will appear and you can transplant it into soil.
Cilantro
The stems of cilantro will grown when placed in a glass of water. Once the roots are long enough, plant them in a pot in a well-lit room. You will have a full plant in a few months.
Get your infinite food exploit out of here you cheater. People like you ruin the survival horror experience.
Iām so pissed that Adobe is hiking the Creative Cloud price (AGAIN) that I did a round-up of FREE ALTERNATIVES to all the major CC programs. Because FUCK Adobe:
IF YOU DRAW OR DESIGN
Instead of PHOTOSHOP, try GIMP
Instead of LIGHTROOM, try PAINT DOT NET
Instead of ILLUSTRATOR, try INKSCAPE
Instead of INDESIGN try CANVA or SCRIBUS
IF YOU MAKE PICTURES MOVE
Instead of PREMIER, try DAVINCI RESOLVE
Instead of ANIMATE/FLASH, try OPENTOONS or BLENDER
Instead of AFTER EFFECTS, try WAX, BLENDER, or FUSION
IF YOU BUILD WEBSITES OR SOFTWARE
Instead of DREAMWEAVER, SPARK, or XD, try WIX, WEEBLY, or WORDPRESS.COM, or WORDPRESS.ORG
IF YOU DO STUFF THAT REQUIRES THESE OTHER PROGRAMS
Instead of AUDITION, try AUDACITY
Instead of ACROBAT PRO try FOXIT READER or PDF ESCAPE
Instead of INCOPY try LOVING YOURSELF AND USING LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE (WHO USES THIS??)
IF YOU NEED STOCK PHOTOS OR FONTS
Instead of ADOBE STOCK, try PEXELS, UNSPLASH, or PIXABAY
Instead of ADOBE FONTS try GOOGLE FONTS or DAFONT
BONUS: If you need FREE MUSIC OR SOUND EFFECTS try YOUTUBE AUDIO LIBRARY or SOUNDBIBLE
If youāre tired of Adobe Audition and want to do audio editing Iād suggest switching to Reaper. Itās a one-time pay of $60 and you can try it for two months for free before buying.
gotta also recommend Clip Studio Paint for making art, it is cheaper, better, and more versatile than photoshop
and I found like, twelve ebooks Iāve been wanting to read on there, and blasted through like three of them during the course of a boring-ass shift.
Guy there are books on magic on there.
Thereās books on EVERYTHING there!
Wouldnāt this be bad for authors though? or is this like a normal library where they get /some/ money?
Itās like a normal library. Libraries can upload ebooks there and let people check them out through openlibrary if you have an openlibrary account, or it can point you to nearby libraries that have physical copies of the book for you to go and check out. If you check out books via openlibrary it counts towards the count of books checked out from the library that uploaded the ebook, and they can use it in their reporting and funding and stuff.
Thereās like 150 libraries partnered with openlibrary so far.
They also have copies that you can check out if you are print-disabled.
You can also āsponsor a bookā, which means you pay the cost of the ebook you want openlibrary to acquire, and then they can add it to their collection and let people check it out.
That meansā¦one person pays for it once and itās available to everyone.
Yup!
I just found them and I may have to sponser a few books for them.
no, listen, when I say I want to integrate more specific solarpunk stuff in my life, i donāt mean to ask for yet again newĀ āaestheticā clothes that now you have to buy or make to show your support of the movement (screw that iām consuming enough as it is), or more posts about impossible house goals, or whatever, Iām asking you what my options to build a portable and eco friendly phone charger are, im asking you viable tiny-appartment edible plants growing tricks on a budget,Ā im asking tips to slow down when my mind and society tell me im not fast enough, i donāt need more rich art nouveau amateurs aesthetics or pristine but cold venus project, okay, i know i should joins associations where I am tho iām constantly on the move, thanks for that, just, you know, can we get a bit more practical ??? how do I hack my temporary flat into going off the grid for the time iām here
Hello! āļø Here are a few practical suggestions for stuff you can do:Ā
My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.
I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think āWell, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot moreā so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that ā10ā is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said ā6ā because I thought āWell, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.ā
I searched and searched for the post this graphic was from, and the OP deactivated, but I kept the graphic, because my BFF does the same thing, uses her imagination to come up with the worst pain she can imagine and pegs herĀ ā10ā³ there, and so is like, well, Iām conscious, so this must be a 5, and then the doctors donāt take her seriously. (And she then does things like driving herself to the hospital while in the process of giving birth. Probably should have called an ambulance for that one!)
So I found this and sent it to her. Because this is what they want to know: how badly is this pain affecting you? Not on a scale ofĀ ānothingā toĀ āhow Iād imagine itād feel if bears were eating my still-living guts while I was on fireā.Ā
I hate reposting stuff, but Iāll never find that post again and OP is deactivated, so, hereās a repost. I can delete this later, i just wanted to get it to you and I canāt embed images in a chat or an ask.Ā
This is possibly why it took several weeks to diagnose my fractured spine.
Pain Scale transcription:
10 – I am in bed and I canāt move due to my pain. I need someone to take me to the emergency room because of my pain.
9 – My pain is all that I can think about. I can barely move or talk because of my pain.
8 – My pain is so severe that it is difficult to think of anything else. Talking and listening are difficult.
7 – I am in pain all the time. It keeps me from doing most activities.
6 – I think about my pain all of the time. I give up many activities because of my pain.
5 – I think about my pain most of the time. I cannot do some of the activities I need to do each day because of the pain.
4 – I am constantly aware of my pain but can continue most activities.
3 – My pain bothers me but I can ignore it most of the time.
2 – I have a low level of pain. I am aware of my pain only when I pay attention to it.
1 – My pain is hardly noticeable.
0 – I have no pain.
Itās also really important to get this kind of scale to people who have chronic pain, because chronic pain drastically lowers your perception of howĀ ābadā any kind of pain actually is, and yet something like this pain scale is extremely user friendly.Ā
For example, if someone asked me how much pain Iām in at any given time, Iād say hardly any, and yet Iām apparently at a chronic 2.5, and it only goes up from there depending on the day.Ā
1 – Everything is a-okay! There is absolutely nothing wrong. Youāre probably cuddling a fluffy kitten right now. Enjoy!
2 – Youāre a bit frustrated or disappointed, but youāre easily distracted and cheered up with a little effort.
3 – Things are bothering you, but youāre coping. You might be overtired or hungry. The emotional equivalent of a headache.
MODERATE
4 – Today is a bad day (or a few bad days). You still have the skills to get through it, but be gentle with yourself. Use self-care strategies.
5 – Your mental health is starting to impact on your everyday life. Easy things are becoming difficult. You should talk to your doctor.
6 – You canāt do things the way you usually do them due to your mental health. Impulsive and compulsive thoughts may be hard to cope with.
SEVERE
7 – Youāre avoiding things that make you more distressed, but that will make it worse. You should definitely seek help. This is serious.
8 – You canāt hide your struggles any more. You may have issues sleeping, eating, having fun, socialising, and work/study. Your mental health is affecting almost all parts of your life.
9 – Youāre at a critical point. You arenāt functioning any more. You need urgent help. You may be a risk to yourself or others if left untreated.
10 – The worst mental and emotional distress possible. You can no longer care for yourself. You canāt imagine things getting any worse. Contact a crisis line immediately.
ifesbob 