Post Carbon Institute / Jason Bradford / 21 May 2019
Dr. Jason Bradford, a farmer, biologist and board president of Post Carbon Institute, released a report earlier this spring called, The Future Is Rural: Food System Adaptations to the Great Simplification. In the report Dr. Bradford acknowledges that our modern food system is entirely unsustainable. But, he then takes the argument one step further and considers key, commonly overlooked factors that would logistically prevent simply replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy in order to maintain our food system as it is today. Tune in as Jill Buck of Go Green Radio talks with Dr. Bradford about his report and an upcoming event designed to identify and discuss key leverage points where individuals and communities can most effectively shift our food system towards long-term sustainability through greater energy efficiency and localization.
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The Willamette Valley, usually known for it’s darn near perfect summers—dry, breezy, in the eighties with cool nights—has seen two serious heat waves this summer. One came at the end of June, the second at the end of July. Both were problematic for crops, as they came right when many young transplants were settling into the fields. My own small scale fall and winter garden went in about four days before the second heat wave. How could I keep them alive in the blazing afternoon sun when their roots were not reaching deep into the soil? I mulched. First, I worked all of the residual mulch from the early potato crop into the bed. Then I nested each start in a base of straw mulch laid over the ground and soaker hoses. They all came through. Mulch. Straw, leaves, winter cover crops, cardboard or woodshavings … it’s useful stuff. Placed neatly around the base of young plants and later worked into the soil, it has a multitude of benefits.
