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Feb 6 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
Most interesting thing on twitter last month was a tweet from @ploughmansfolly suggesting that 1 in 10 Americans might be better* employed in market gardening, raising a furor similar to what we get when talking parking.

*For reasons of economy, health, soil, animal rights, &c.
The furor was to be expected of course, but it shone a light on the familiar blue-tick disconnect. @ploughmansfolly based his argument on vegetables/chicken. Let's look at chickens. Already 13% of Americans keep chicken. So his argument was low-balling it: just get a bigger coop.
Second argument: grow your own vegetables. This is easy, since the largest crop by area already is lawn turf. 63,000miles² (the State of Georgia is 59,425miles²). Just convert 3-4% of it to greenhouses and cabbage fields. Several farms/gardeners are already doing that.
Many pointed out that cities aren't the best places for "one in ten Americans to grow rhubarbs." I agree. Luckily two in ten Americans live in rural areas. So again, @ploughmansfolly was really low-balling it. Remember we are still just talking about possibilities. "Imagine if."
Others pointed out that market gardening is serious business and people don't have time for it, with jobs and all. Again yes, I agree: running a vegetable farm on the side would cut into TV time. Luckily, on average, Americans spend more time with their TV than at work.
Spending more time poking around the ecosystem would obviously also have a large positive cascading effect on such things as reducing the use of pesticides, improving mental and physical health, reducing food waste, energy and water use etc. So, let's imagine if "one in ten".
Anyway, if you worry about the downstream impacts on employment and economy, don't. Not a single person would have to quit their job if one in ten Americans took up market gardening and kept 35 chickens in their backyard. The American labor reserve is immense (to use the lingo).
So do follow @ploughmansfolly if you feel like having your feathers lovingly ruffled and don't mind a little dirt under the fingernails. Even if you hate the One in Ten Americans idea it wouldn't hurt an ounce as bad as the pain of battery chicken, poisoned fish, insects, etc.

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More from @wrathofgnon

Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 6
The Batdam ( 밭담 ) dry stone walls (no mortar) of Jeju Island have been likened to black dragons crawling over the landscape: 21,108km of volcanic field stone dug up by hand and built gradually over the last 1,000 years: without these most agriculture here would be impossible.
The walls protect the little soil there is from wind erosion, they keep livestock out and create a better microclimate at ground level, and provide habitats for wildflowers, insects, animals, and effectively mark family properties.
Due to the rough surface of the volcanic stone and the built in gaps winds can't blow them over. The walls make mechanization difficult preserving and actually contribute to building soil over the centuries which means more and more of the island can be farmed each generation.
Read 5 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Feb 3
"Rice Paddy Dam" is a concept for river basin flood control that originated in northern Japan around the turn of the century. It uses agricultural land as a sort of reservoir to protect downstream urban areas from flood damage and excessive water, the fields used to store water.
When bad rains are anticipated fields can be emptied prematurely and filled up again in a controlled manner that prevents overflow, erosion and scouring using a system of weirs and channels. Depending on the size of the system it can hold vast amounts of water, millions of tons.
As a bonus, after installation it becomes easier to regulate water in the rice paddies with hugely beneficial effects on flora and fauna. The system is voluntary but many cities are now paying farmers to compensate for any damages to crops and for maintaining the system.
Read 4 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Jan 27
Map of Toyama City's (pop 419k) resiliency project by city densification and public transport improvement: development in red zones* get subsidized (think ca. 1/3 of cost of new build). Target: 45% of pop. bef 2045.

*500m from train/tram.
*300m from high freq. bus (>60 per day).
In 2003 Toyama City was facing skyrocketing infrastructure and social services costs: the population was aging, city trams were losing money, health levels were dropping, young ppl. had little hope for the future. Car dependency was increasing at over 70% but fewer could drive...
...so the mayor decided to promote programs to move people into the city, lessen car dependency, improve public transport & promote healthier more active elderly, lower cost of establishing family.
1. The city center zoning laws were relaxed.
2. New home construction subsidies.
Read 4 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Jan 24
Every building technology is ultimately a compromise. Hundreds of factors weigh in. Faced with similar situations, vastly different cultures will reach the same conclusions: take the thatched roofs of the N. Atlantic Hebrides and those of Jeju Island in the Korea Strait for ex.
Both areas are characterized mostly by strong winds and relatively meager soils. Hence roofs were thatched (which grows amply on poor soils) and built with a low angle (nearly flat) with an oblong shape weighed or tied down with a net of rope to minimize the effect of winds.
Normally the primary purpose of a roof is to shed water but here that job had to take second place: longevity is sacrificed in order to ensure that roofs can survived hurricane or typhoon strength winds. Rain permeates the thatch so in the case of Jeju, they only last 1-2 years.
Read 9 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Jan 16
Went to look at a possible source of thatching materials. This stand was last harvested by a village about a century ago. Unfortunately the soil here is poor in minerals and having been left to grown wild for so long the material is of quite low quality: not worth the effort. Image
There used to be a village here, growing rice and herbs and vegetables and foraging for food and materials in the mountains. Today all that remains are some old stone foundations and pieces of pottery. This piece comes from a tea cup ca. 17th-19th century. Unearthed by moles. Image
Another sign of the village that once were: there was a stand of windmill palms nearby. These trees were used to make the rope that thatchers and carpenters needed to build the mostly round timber roofs. Quick and easy the rope lasts for centuries and can be composted at the end. ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Wrath Of Gnon Profile picture
Jan 13
Cobble-streets perform an invaluable service during flood events. Studies measured them to have a steady infiltration rate of 65mm/h: this means that an average city slope of asphalt (0mm/h) is a rapid river after 30min of heavy rain while a cobble-street would suck it all up.
However, natural forest soils are incredible sponges and can store unbelievable amounts of water during storm events. But run these soils over with heavy forest machinery for a decade or so and the soils gets so compacted it isn't much more impermeable than a city cobble-street.
Some desert soils are so compacted by millennia of grazing animals, wind and rain that they aren't much more permeable than tarmac. Unless you see it for yourself you have no idea how hard desert soil can get.
Read 7 tweets

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