New McKibben book disappoints

I just read Bill McKibben's latest book, Eaarth (New York: Times Books, 2010). How could I not? Barbara Kingsolver said that "nothing could be more important." Having just been roundly disappointed by James Lovelock's The Revenge of Gaia, I was expecting more from McKibben. Perhaps too much. But, after all, wasn't he behind 350.org? And wasn't he, unlike Lovelock, actually a writer?

I had borrowed both books from the library as part of a spate of reading I've done over the last few years. I'm looking for answers, and I suspect that I'm not alone. So many of us are way past the point of needing to be told that something is wrong, that climate change is real. We want someone to show us the way out of this mess. Especially after the excitement and inspiration of 350.org, followed by the dismal failure of Copenhagen, we want someone to tell us what to do.

McKibben does have a very important message in Eaarth. His message is that we are not talking about, as politicians aver, problems that our grandchildren will face, or even our children. We are talking about problems that we will face—are facing—right now.

The 39-blackberry challenge

First, a note on my last post, about what there is to eat. It is indicative of how far out of whack things have gotten in our culture that I ever feel deprived at all. I mean, look at the list of things we’ve been eating: that’s good food! It’s not as if we’re eating cornmeal mush every night, or (a more modern rendition) ramen noodles. Another note: the potatoes buried in buckets didn’t make it through the deep freezes of January. They looked okay till I cut them open and discovered their black interiors. I haven’t checked on the remaining cabbage bucket recently, feeling rather overwhelmed by the four feet of snow I’d have to dig through. Once we finish off the sauerkraut I may be motivated. But a root cellar is clearly a need and not just a desire.

My notebooks are filling with ideas, plans, and “to-dos” for the coming growing/grazing season. These include
> the possibility of getting pigs and using them to till up new planting areas until they reach slaughter weight;
> choosing a likely hen to hatch and brood chicks for us this spring;
> a scheme for raising pastured broiler chickens that can be harvested weekly for six months, providing enough meat for ourselves and our dogs through the warm season without requiring a freezer.
More on all of these plans in future posts.

My most pressing questions right now have to do with the 39 bare-root blackberry transplants and 400 asparagus crowns I ordered last September. My original plan was to establish a couple of small, specific cash-crop plantings to continue multiplying and diversifying our small income streams. So I started sketching out blackberry and asparagus beds for our north slope, which has fertile soil, faces roughly south, and receives full sun.

Focusing first on the blackberries, I read through as much blackberry production information as I could find. Here is what I found out.