Thank you Safar, for your humble words💜, I am delighted to be here. Keep provide such great content in your substack.
Yes I practice yoga, meditation, and other spiritual things. Tai- chi is also kind of dynamic meditation, so there is no big difference. All the best and keep going through journey:)
"Keep provide such great content in your substack." I will do my best, Vishal!
"Tai- chi is also kind of dynamic meditation". I agree. In fact, I used to practice a specific karate style and loved the kata (sequences of moves) and found them meditative. I left the dojo about 15 years ago, but t'ai chi helped fill the void of not practicing kata anymore.
'Yes, sure Safar, I hope I am able to provide best of my work' thank you for appreciate me🙏
'Yes, Tai- chi is balanced art of soul and body movements, also the very calm. But the Karate style is very dynamic and aggressive, although I don't know much about Kata, but I am surprised that you were practicing Karate 15 years back. And now you found the way of that fill the void. 🌀
Dynamic yes, aggressive, no, I never found it that way. Some aggressive people were attracted to it, but in the face of threat, its training taught me to go into a quite deep state of relaxation. In fact, if you're tensed up and aggressive, you are less effective. I treated it more as art, less as sport.
And of course your daughter - a big hello and welcome to her too!! There are some similar themes throughout the substackers who are here, so I hope in time to join up the threads as we go along. You have me thinking more seriously about legacy and the project I'd like to engage in as part of that. Post for another day! So many posts to write!!!
We took a year off from growing food this past year due to other life pressures. We took advantage of the opportunity to do some serious soil amendment. I'm looking forward to growing more food in 2024!
Good to have you here, John. Your own subject is immensely fascinating and I look forward to reading more closely than I've been able to so far. A close friend was part of a research team into water usage for a more resilient future in the UK.
Interestingly, this year I took a step back and my focus was the same - soil. I also focused more on perennials than annuals. We're thinking more about how we do things as much as what, so it sustainable for older age.
Great post, as always, Safar! Speaking of sustainable plans for aging, this was my question about the video: at what point are those grown kids moving on to new homes? And then who will help? Along with the picture of family homesteading in the video, the sort of extended-community work that you’ve been researching seems important to include all the life stages.
When I lived in a small town in Ireland, and I gave birth to a son, someone said "He is not just your child, he is the town's child." That has always stuck. By extension, you are not alone as an older person, or a person with a disability ... you are OF the community, looked after BY the community. You could go a step further and say FOR the community in that there is a valued role for that individual. Unfortunately, this state of more cooperative town community broke down into smaller and smaller units and those roles were lost.
At the present time, many with projects like the one in the video, particularly if they are keen to have an educative function, labour is often exchanged for learning (and food and possibly accommodation).
I wonder how the grown up kids will look after their dad and take the work he began into their own future?
I recommend looking into permaculture (I did put a link in the Regreening the Desert post), forest gardening and regenerative agriculture. Also Charles Dowding is a leading figure promoting the benefits of no-dig methods of growing food. Let us know if you come across anything particularly good!
In France (where I live) there's a bit of debate about permaculture.. It's also a highly polarized, political debate as well. I live in the countryside & I'm in contact with a lot of farmers, both organic and conventional.
While it may be sufficient to become self-sufficient to feed, say, one small family, it doesn't appear to be sufficiently productive to develop as a means to produce for a larger population.
I'll do some searching and share what I find.
I remember in particular a very interesting experience shared by a YouTuber influencer who decided to "live off the land" with permaculture. He took classes, joined a partnership with a group who was developing the approach, worked very hard on the land with them for a few years... And wasn't able to make a living.
He made a video about his experience. I'll look it up.
Great points, Lorraine. For it to work (and it does, I know permaculturalists who do very well with a holistic approach to land/water/energy management), but to go small rather than large does require major culture change and a will to work available land, like for example in the case of the City of Cleveland. That will IS growing.
My purpose was to throw it out there - that it IS a possibility.
One reason I did, is I know how much food I managed to grow on a small terrace while renting an apartment for a year in northern Spain. And it was very little work.
Of course we weren't self-sufficient, but it was a good supplement to our diet, and reduced our food bill by about 30 euros a week for about four months. And heck, our food had flavour! For me that was a result. Now with an acre of land, I am working on a longer term vision, but actually yesterday, myself and my partner decided we're going to repurpose the (MUCH) larger terrace we have now and bring the annual intensive work nearer to the house and use a system closer to the original one I tried in Spain.
I'm interested. What are the arguments in the permaculture debate in France?
I'm so please we're debating here, my goal for the substack is to open more in-depth conversation. Thank you Lorraine!
I was extremely nervous putting out my first post, but folk here are so extraordinarily supportive, I say go for it! Looking forward to see what you come up with Lorraine. Thank you for joining us here!
Thank you for connecting all of us here on the Fiertzeside. I enjoyed reading the comments almost as much as the post. What you are writing and how you are writing it is of great need. I'm so glad you're here on Substack.
By whatever method, your math here drives home some important insights! Tara's point in comment about the next generation is a good one. Who will grow our food if we rely on a dying inclination to farm? You show us the importance of scaling down and interconnecting, of growing at home and together in our communities, and that we are interdependent with one another. How we relate with the fact of food says 'all' about how we relate with life and one another.
Thank you Renée! I think there is a resurgence of interest in smaller scale endeavours. But depending on where you live, they're quite significant barriers to getting started. The only farm land available to us in the UK was HUGE plots and the price - oh my gawd!!!! As two professionals with a decent income, there was still no way we could get that small-holding we were after. Where we are in Portugal, the small-holding/croft is still part of the culture, which is how we came to be here!
Your story is fascinating and moving. One of my sons has moved to Portugal. His interests are in line with your own; his reasons to move there very similar to what you share. I wonder if you and he may be near one another. I would love to connect you two. I shared my email address in another comment: reneeeliphd AT gmail.
Ah, yeah it's not big deal. I agree with you, Its good to focus on the things that you inspire to do. I even didn't use social media frequently. But yes substack is enough and Notes is better way to communicate with community and discussions.
Thank you for the mention, I'm so happy and grateful Substack has brought us together. It is not something I take for granted. And this post is a subject I think about, a lot.
I had been dabbling with a blog and writing in the background and it wasn't until my partner told me about an article he'd read about Substack that I'd heard of it. I'm so glad he did! I'm also glad I got over that sick feeling of pushing the publish button for the first time!
For me, I had a letter which was originally sent to family and friends, as a way for them to keep up with my news and adventures, seeing as I wasn't using facebook or instagram any longer. Substack then morphed into a place to talk about my fiction, before recently changing again, into the form it is now. I appreciate how it can do that, and I really appreciate how Notes is bringing people together in a way my own blog and website just could not achieve. Even twitter only brought a few people, back when I used it.
I still get nervous publishing something, and I have shared a LOT of letters and hundreds and thousands of other posts elsewhere!
have been thinking about your 'how much land do we need to feed the planet' article. A very interesting, well researched article, and it is astonishing how it reverses so many assumptions. However, like everything, it is complicated.
Just for discussion, I think the issue of the convenience of processed food needs to be addressed. It is always presented as such a black and white issue. Processed food is bad and home cooked food is best. But home cooked food takes time. Processed food is quick and often cheaper. Women’s emancipation has been hindered by their need to cook for hours, and look after their families.
I am sorry, I don’t have the data to hand, but I remember reading that the fridge and convenience food made the biggest difference to the liberation of women. You may have thought the washing machine would have made the biggest difference, but people just changed clothes less often, and they were dirtier. But everyone has to eat, so food related conveniences made the biggest difference to women's workload.
Of course highly processed and junk food is very unhealthy. However, along with the big changes to how we farm, convenience food should undergo a huge re-invention. People won’t change their eating habits unless you make it easy for them. It must be possible to fast freeze, vacuum pack etc. wholesome, mostly vegetarian, delicious ‘fast’ food, that is healthy for families.
Brilliant!! I was wondering when someone would pick up on that. Most of food growing, prep and cooking worldwide is done by women. You may have noticed that The Man Who Stopped the Desert and The Man Who Planted Trees (video @Kim Peach shared - in the Chat area) were very traditionally supported by the women in their lives. While out changing the world, the women in the background are the unsung heroes of their story.
Just to throw it into the pot as an example of positive change - on Instagram, I used to follow a multicontributor tag, I forget the exact name, but something like #veganlunch. What I liked about it was that the meals were quick (some healthier than others), and also that the contributors weren't all female.
Years ago when I had a globe trotting (sorry planet) high powered job, I often had a debate with my male colleagues. I did not have a partner at the time, so after an exhausting week I went home to the cooking, cleaning, washing etc. They went home to their stay-at-home wives, to enjoy a family weekend with no chores. Of course, that was not always the case but a high percentage, and it bothered me that they did not see how their wives contributed to their career.
Would it be @veganlunchtoday? They look delicious. Thank you for the recommendation.
Thank you Safar for mentioning here🙏. Great analysis 👍
Hi Vishal,
Thank you for being here! Though not a practitioner of yoga (I do t'ai chi), I love the spirit of your Substack. Good luck with it!
Thank you Safar, for your humble words💜, I am delighted to be here. Keep provide such great content in your substack.
Yes I practice yoga, meditation, and other spiritual things. Tai- chi is also kind of dynamic meditation, so there is no big difference. All the best and keep going through journey:)
"Keep provide such great content in your substack." I will do my best, Vishal!
"Tai- chi is also kind of dynamic meditation". I agree. In fact, I used to practice a specific karate style and loved the kata (sequences of moves) and found them meditative. I left the dojo about 15 years ago, but t'ai chi helped fill the void of not practicing kata anymore.
'Yes, sure Safar, I hope I am able to provide best of my work' thank you for appreciate me🙏
'Yes, Tai- chi is balanced art of soul and body movements, also the very calm. But the Karate style is very dynamic and aggressive, although I don't know much about Kata, but I am surprised that you were practicing Karate 15 years back. And now you found the way of that fill the void. 🌀
Dynamic yes, aggressive, no, I never found it that way. Some aggressive people were attracted to it, but in the face of threat, its training taught me to go into a quite deep state of relaxation. In fact, if you're tensed up and aggressive, you are less effective. I treated it more as art, less as sport.
Yes I got it safar. I mean to say that this is both both offensive and defensive in nature but yes it more than marital art.
Meanwhile I was checking your Instagram link is not working 😀, you can check the link :) Thanks
Thank you for the mention! I look forward to looking at all the pages, it is great to be part of a community and thank you for hosting the gathering.
And of course your daughter - a big hello and welcome to her too!! There are some similar themes throughout the substackers who are here, so I hope in time to join up the threads as we go along. You have me thinking more seriously about legacy and the project I'd like to engage in as part of that. Post for another day! So many posts to write!!!
Thanks for the mention, Safar!
We took a year off from growing food this past year due to other life pressures. We took advantage of the opportunity to do some serious soil amendment. I'm looking forward to growing more food in 2024!
Good to have you here, John. Your own subject is immensely fascinating and I look forward to reading more closely than I've been able to so far. A close friend was part of a research team into water usage for a more resilient future in the UK.
Interestingly, this year I took a step back and my focus was the same - soil. I also focused more on perennials than annuals. We're thinking more about how we do things as much as what, so it sustainable for older age.
Great post, as always, Safar! Speaking of sustainable plans for aging, this was my question about the video: at what point are those grown kids moving on to new homes? And then who will help? Along with the picture of family homesteading in the video, the sort of extended-community work that you’ve been researching seems important to include all the life stages.
That's an important point.
When I lived in a small town in Ireland, and I gave birth to a son, someone said "He is not just your child, he is the town's child." That has always stuck. By extension, you are not alone as an older person, or a person with a disability ... you are OF the community, looked after BY the community. You could go a step further and say FOR the community in that there is a valued role for that individual. Unfortunately, this state of more cooperative town community broke down into smaller and smaller units and those roles were lost.
At the present time, many with projects like the one in the video, particularly if they are keen to have an educative function, labour is often exchanged for learning (and food and possibly accommodation).
I wonder how the grown up kids will look after their dad and take the work he began into their own future?
I’m going to share this with my family. Thanks for writing this and for the mention!
Thank you Todd, welcome to the Fiertzeside! Good to have you here, and fingers crossed, your family too 🙏
Thanks for the shoutout!
You're very welcome, Jo! It's super to see you here.
Thanks so much for the mention! Truly honored. I'm enjoying substack while toying with ideas of topics to write about and share...
And your post is very intriguing. I'm going to look up square foot gardening & additional info related to agriculture and land management...
I recommend looking into permaculture (I did put a link in the Regreening the Desert post), forest gardening and regenerative agriculture. Also Charles Dowding is a leading figure promoting the benefits of no-dig methods of growing food. Let us know if you come across anything particularly good!
In France (where I live) there's a bit of debate about permaculture.. It's also a highly polarized, political debate as well. I live in the countryside & I'm in contact with a lot of farmers, both organic and conventional.
While it may be sufficient to become self-sufficient to feed, say, one small family, it doesn't appear to be sufficiently productive to develop as a means to produce for a larger population.
I'll do some searching and share what I find.
I remember in particular a very interesting experience shared by a YouTuber influencer who decided to "live off the land" with permaculture. He took classes, joined a partnership with a group who was developing the approach, worked very hard on the land with them for a few years... And wasn't able to make a living.
He made a video about his experience. I'll look it up.
Great points, Lorraine. For it to work (and it does, I know permaculturalists who do very well with a holistic approach to land/water/energy management), but to go small rather than large does require major culture change and a will to work available land, like for example in the case of the City of Cleveland. That will IS growing.
My purpose was to throw it out there - that it IS a possibility.
One reason I did, is I know how much food I managed to grow on a small terrace while renting an apartment for a year in northern Spain. And it was very little work.
Of course we weren't self-sufficient, but it was a good supplement to our diet, and reduced our food bill by about 30 euros a week for about four months. And heck, our food had flavour! For me that was a result. Now with an acre of land, I am working on a longer term vision, but actually yesterday, myself and my partner decided we're going to repurpose the (MUCH) larger terrace we have now and bring the annual intensive work nearer to the house and use a system closer to the original one I tried in Spain.
I'm interested. What are the arguments in the permaculture debate in France?
I'm so please we're debating here, my goal for the substack is to open more in-depth conversation. Thank you Lorraine!
I was extremely nervous putting out my first post, but folk here are so extraordinarily supportive, I say go for it! Looking forward to see what you come up with Lorraine. Thank you for joining us here!
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Safar!
Safar,
Thank you for connecting all of us here on the Fiertzeside. I enjoyed reading the comments almost as much as the post. What you are writing and how you are writing it is of great need. I'm so glad you're here on Substack.
By whatever method, your math here drives home some important insights! Tara's point in comment about the next generation is a good one. Who will grow our food if we rely on a dying inclination to farm? You show us the importance of scaling down and interconnecting, of growing at home and together in our communities, and that we are interdependent with one another. How we relate with the fact of food says 'all' about how we relate with life and one another.
Thank you Renée! I think there is a resurgence of interest in smaller scale endeavours. But depending on where you live, they're quite significant barriers to getting started. The only farm land available to us in the UK was HUGE plots and the price - oh my gawd!!!! As two professionals with a decent income, there was still no way we could get that small-holding we were after. Where we are in Portugal, the small-holding/croft is still part of the culture, which is how we came to be here!
Your story is fascinating and moving. One of my sons has moved to Portugal. His interests are in line with your own; his reasons to move there very similar to what you share. I wonder if you and he may be near one another. I would love to connect you two. I shared my email address in another comment: reneeeliphd AT gmail.
Would love to. I will drop you a line tomorrow!
Thank you!
Ah, yeah it's not big deal. I agree with you, Its good to focus on the things that you inspire to do. I even didn't use social media frequently. But yes substack is enough and Notes is better way to communicate with community and discussions.
Yes you fix it 😀👍
Thank you for passing it on, @Marple !
Thank you for the mention, I'm so happy and grateful Substack has brought us together. It is not something I take for granted. And this post is a subject I think about, a lot.
I had been dabbling with a blog and writing in the background and it wasn't until my partner told me about an article he'd read about Substack that I'd heard of it. I'm so glad he did! I'm also glad I got over that sick feeling of pushing the publish button for the first time!
For me, I had a letter which was originally sent to family and friends, as a way for them to keep up with my news and adventures, seeing as I wasn't using facebook or instagram any longer. Substack then morphed into a place to talk about my fiction, before recently changing again, into the form it is now. I appreciate how it can do that, and I really appreciate how Notes is bringing people together in a way my own blog and website just could not achieve. Even twitter only brought a few people, back when I used it.
I still get nervous publishing something, and I have shared a LOT of letters and hundreds and thousands of other posts elsewhere!
have been thinking about your 'how much land do we need to feed the planet' article. A very interesting, well researched article, and it is astonishing how it reverses so many assumptions. However, like everything, it is complicated.
Just for discussion, I think the issue of the convenience of processed food needs to be addressed. It is always presented as such a black and white issue. Processed food is bad and home cooked food is best. But home cooked food takes time. Processed food is quick and often cheaper. Women’s emancipation has been hindered by their need to cook for hours, and look after their families.
I am sorry, I don’t have the data to hand, but I remember reading that the fridge and convenience food made the biggest difference to the liberation of women. You may have thought the washing machine would have made the biggest difference, but people just changed clothes less often, and they were dirtier. But everyone has to eat, so food related conveniences made the biggest difference to women's workload.
Of course highly processed and junk food is very unhealthy. However, along with the big changes to how we farm, convenience food should undergo a huge re-invention. People won’t change their eating habits unless you make it easy for them. It must be possible to fast freeze, vacuum pack etc. wholesome, mostly vegetarian, delicious ‘fast’ food, that is healthy for families.
Brilliant!! I was wondering when someone would pick up on that. Most of food growing, prep and cooking worldwide is done by women. You may have noticed that The Man Who Stopped the Desert and The Man Who Planted Trees (video @Kim Peach shared - in the Chat area) were very traditionally supported by the women in their lives. While out changing the world, the women in the background are the unsung heroes of their story.
@Laura Fenton wrote something on this, asking why women do the organising in small spaces. https://laurafenton.substack.com/p/why-is-living-small-womens-work
Just to throw it into the pot as an example of positive change - on Instagram, I used to follow a multicontributor tag, I forget the exact name, but something like #veganlunch. What I liked about it was that the meals were quick (some healthier than others), and also that the contributors weren't all female.
Years ago when I had a globe trotting (sorry planet) high powered job, I often had a debate with my male colleagues. I did not have a partner at the time, so after an exhausting week I went home to the cooking, cleaning, washing etc. They went home to their stay-at-home wives, to enjoy a family weekend with no chores. Of course, that was not always the case but a high percentage, and it bothered me that they did not see how their wives contributed to their career.
Would it be @veganlunchtoday? They look delicious. Thank you for the recommendation.
I experienced that a lot as a working single parent. I used to say, "I need a wife!"
@veganlunchtoday - yes, that's it!
Your globe trotting is partially offset by my taking the bus!
Thank you for taking the bus. I’ve sold my car and I am also taking public transport.