Self-Sufficiency in Style
handling global warming
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Self-Sufficiency in Style handling global warming |
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Without the gulf stream, there could be no green and pleasant land. |
Global warming is of very real concern to the
self-sufficient. Whilst there is still no agreement on whether the process is natural or man-made, there does seem to be a broad agreement that the world is getting warmer. That does not mean that all areas will get warmer, some will actually get colder. Britain is, of course, especially vulnerable to cold, dependant as it is on the Gulf Stream to prevent the glaciers returning. The climate in Britain normally avoids the extremes but has always been prone to wide fluctuations on a year to year basis. Those fluctuations seem to have got more extreme and unpredictable. |
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notable for a very dry winter and spring, culminating in a long spell of
record temperatures in July, then an unusually cold and wet August. As this
is being written, there are again cloudless skies with unusually high day
temperatures and colder nights. The effects on annual variations can be seen most obviously in plants. Two varieties of onions bolted as did some of the celery. The celery is the clue that self-sufficiency is less vulnerable to extreme weather than conventional farming. |
From sun to showers and back again. |
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Celeriac Bolted Celery Good Celery
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Take a look at the humble celery in the
photograph. From left to right, you can see some celeriac, celery that has bolted, and finally a different celery variety that is producing a good crop. The celeriac looks good too - a relative - grown for its large ball shaped root with no bolting. All were sown at the same time. |
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And here is the hint - in the unassuming celery bed It is a clue that has as much relevance to Texas as it does to South Island New Zealand, Manitoba or Wales. The good celery is a different variety than the bolted. Different varieties react differently to different conditions. |
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We knew that all along, of course, but in a world that can't make up its
mind whether any particular place is going to get wetter or drier, warmer
or colder, it matters. The seasonal changes are even more difficult to guess - "Will the last winter frost come earlier or later?" |
Not so cosy a prospect - a shorter growing season is serious. |
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Even the professional commercial nursery - a single climate and controlled conditions. It is no accident that many of the world's most important varieties came from amateurs often operating in a haphazard way. |
The self-sufficient has a major advantage over the commercial farmer. The
big grower, by the very nature of things has to standardise.
The tiny self reliant grower may grow many varieties and keep different species of animals, including different breeds too. He can do better still, by varying the dates of lambing, calving etc and varying the dates of planting. He can change the environment by keeping the cow in later in a cold spring and planting in a greenhouse or tunnel for his fruit and vegetables. He can use shade from the sun, and shelter from the wind, in ways that no commercial grower can emulate. He can pinch out to encourage fruiting and shade the ground during droughts, or grow up sticks to maximise the crop during a damp summer. |
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The self-sufficient will always have something to eat Few natural weather fluctuations will cause more than a little wasted work. |
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It won't matter which variety of celery, reaches the table, and even if
everything goes wrong, there will still be the celeriac for the authentic
taste of the celery family. A real smallholding may have English tomatoes cosseted in a glass house, and real Italians abused in the open. Cherished Hamburgh grapes in the heated conservatory and the best Pinot Noir neglected over the stable. |
Cosseted in the Conservatory |
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More yellow than white, but full of flavour - and resisting every disease and pest. |
Weather brings pests and diseases too,
both to animals and plants. Different weather brings different pests and
diseases. At the time of writing the dreaded "Blue Tongue Disease" has arrived in Northern Europe carried, they think, by midges from sub-Saharan Africa who have managed to survive the cold for the first time. Cattle and sheep are at risk. But no disease ever seems to affect all breeds of animals or varieties equally. Some always have some resistance. The writer's tomatoes always give problems with blights and disease, except a humble white tomato, with a good taste. It is a heritage variety - a tough little fellow that gives an abundant crop when his bigger and showier fellows falter and die. |
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The smallholder, the homesteader and self-sufficient are just as valuable a resource as the mightiest GM company or the biggest selection of rare breeds The self-reliant man or woman can harness the benefits of genetic diversity and individualism in an ever changing world climate. They take little from the world's diminishing resources and can give back more than anyone has ever imagined. |
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The self-sufficient must be seen as a valuable human resource in difficult
times. They should be kept free from the chains of over-regulation. Their often cantankerous self-opinionated views, and life style, are something that the regimented and orthodox must tolerate with good humour, in their own interests. |
Removing the chains of tyranny. |
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If you snuff out the individualist who provides for himself and his family, the world is both poorer and even more vulnerable from global warming. |
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...getting the independent out of the heat - at Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner. September, 2006 |
