TIL Two homosexual lovers, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, assassinated the king of Athens, Hipparchus, and triggered events that would usher in democracy. They became known as the Tyrannicides, the preeminent symbol of democracy to ancient Athenians.
https://ift.tt/2ghRxqa

Submitted April 06, 2020 at 12:38AM by AdamATrain
via reddit https://ift.tt/2V1Sc3r

Gays against tyranny, now and forever.

Saving Seeds

There’s been a lot of talk about the availability of store-bought fruit and vegetable seeds. Some places have stopped selling them altogether. Some are hiking-up prices. In my area, they’re still pretty-well available... for now.

My suggestion to you, whether you plan on using them or not, would be to invest in a good variety of seeds. They’re too cheap not to.

- If you don’t plan on using them this year, store them in a cool, dry place.

- When packaging your seeds, be sure that they’re exposed to as little moisture as possible. Small glass jars or ziploc-type bags work well. Even Tupperware, if you can spare any.

- Even if you don’t use them this season, buying seeds is an investment in your future. Hell, you could use them as currency.

Here’s how many YEARS you can expect your seeds to remain viable, under the right storage conditions:

Asparagus  – 3
Bean  –  3
Beet – 4
Broccoli – 3
Brussels Sprouts – 4
Cabbage – 4
Carrot – 3
Celeriac  –  3
Cauliflower – 4
Celery – 3
Swiss Chard  – 4
Chicory – 4
Chinese Cabbage – 3
Collards – 5
Sweet Corn – 2
Cucumber – 5
Eggplant – 4
Endive – 5
Fennel – 4
Kale –  4
Kohlrabi – 3
Leek – 2
Lettuce – 6
Muskmelon – 5
Mustard – 4
Okra – 2
Onion – 1
Parsley – 1
Parsnip – 1
Pea – 3
Pepper – 2
Pumpkin – 4
Radish – 5
Rutabaga – 4
Salsify – 1
Spinach – 3
Squash – 4
Tomato – 4
Turnip – 4
Watermelon – 4

Inspo?

I need to stockpile plants that grow in the soil around here. Where I'm at, the soil is mostly clay.

Oh, as a side project, I'm doing a lot of research into hydroponics. If anyone has a quick overview of different models for hydroponic systems, please send it my way.

Found one, here's the link if anyone else is interested.

Well, this isn't quite the response I expected, but I'm really happy about how it turned out.

While reading into vertical farming earlier today, I was reminded of one of the main failings of the "market based solutions" model of solving problems. Vertical farming, and many other non-geoponic farming techniques use less land and less water, but because of higher initial investment costs, and the current availability of land, geoponic farming is preferred as a cheaper alternative. As the population grows, land and water will become less available, and food will be in higher demand. People will be forced to start investing in alternative ways of growing crops. This, however, reveals the issue with this system. Land, water and food are essential resources, and many will suffer and die before these shortages are resolved by the market. In a capitalist system, crises will not be prevented, only remedied.

Additionally, I would like to talk about how capitalism actually makes solutions less available. Over the years, research has been done to make more efficient seeds. However, these same corporations (Monsanto being the most well recognized names) are also known for brutal enforcement of their copyrights, preventing these beneficial technologies from spreading.

Finally, we made the jump from "Boring dystopia" to "dreadful futuristic dystopia"!

We've done a really good job making a dystopia without dystopian aesthetics so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they found some way to make this feel like another normal, American thing.