The Ideal Eco food
There is one plant that is ideal for restoration
of the ecology. It produces food without the need
for extra water or fertilizer. It is pest free
in most areas and the food is considered nutritionally
better than rice, potatoes, or wheat. Once planted
it produces crops for up to a hundred years.
This plant can be grown just about anywhere in the
sun or shade and survives in almost any type of
soil. It can withstand long periods without rain.
It will grow a wide variety of climates.
Around 1900 France was producing 400,000 tons of food
from this source. By 1960 it had dropped to 45,000.
In 1970 production had dropped to 27,000. Today
production is probably around 20,000.
The same thing happened throughout Europe and North
America. That is when the chestnut blight hit.
What has not happenned is replanting with disease
resistant chestnuts.
The disadvantages of chestnuts are in the harvesting and
the need for a plot of ground. They do require room to
grow and produce heavy shade. The harvesting and processing
also requires a little work. This may be an advantage for
the small eco orchard owner. It turns out that chestnuts are
one of the most energy efficient crops and can be handled
by a single person.
At present many/most farm crops require more energy to grow
than they produce. This works OK today because we have all
this oil which is cheaper than water in some places. Society
has learned to use the energy in oil to produce food. So, we
make fertilizers, pump water, plow fields, spray crops, and
use lots of energy.
I've got 20 pages of notes (text) taken from various web
sites on chestnut growing if anyone is interested. Yell, and
i'll email it. I've also got a file full of literature and
recipes. Anyone interested in a summary?
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
