Sun, Jun-16-19, 06:30
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Senior Member
Posts: 1,978
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Plan: Keto (Atkins Induction)
Stats: 235/175/185
BF:
Progress: 120%
Location: Florida
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A pet peeve of mine, good food production land turned into lawns.
In my 'perfect' world good farmland would be farmed, houses would be smaller, built on difficult to farm land, and lawns would be illegal.
But obviously, my 'perfect' world would be someone else's not-so-perfect world.
When I was young, there was a lot of prairie-land in Florida. We were the number 2 beef producing state in the USA. I've seen huge farms turned into housing developments. These neighborhoods live in poor soil land, perfect for wild grasses. To grow gardens and lawns requires the use of extensive watering, fertilizing, and tending.
And since the manufacture of fertilizer puts 100 times the methane in the atmosphere, they are contributing to the pollution of the atmosphere much more than the cows did, and we don't get any food out of their lawns.
I don't have a 'lawn'. I planted dozens of trees, lots of ferns, and plenty of shrubs on my half acre. I live on a sand dune with a protected wetlands to the west, and a salt-water lagoon/estuary to the east. The dune is comprised of sterile sugar sand. Any fertilizer or herbicide I put on it will find it's way to the wetlands or lagoon so I don't.
The ferns feed the trees naturally, the leaf litter feeds the ferns and the places that need to be mowed, I mow. But since the grasses are natural, they go dormant in the dry season, and I end up mowing about 6 times per year.
I'd like to be able to grow food here, and I've tried some of the hardiest things recommended, and ended up giving up. I plant native species and feed the birds and the bees.
We do have a huge local ranch that has been in a family for generations. The current elder is a conservationist and sells 100% grass-fed beef. Whenever it is available, I buy from that farm. I don't know the rancher personally, but I support his efforts and the beef tastes great.
Bob
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