5 Best Gardening Tips From 1908: Old Timey Organic Wisdom

There have been many universe-jarring advances in agricultural technology over the past 100 years, but sometimes being more sustainable means going back to the way things used to be. A lot of those advances in technology rely HEAVILY on fossil fuel, a finite resource whose limited supply we are arguably still in the sweet spot of, but which is causing climate change on a scale rarely witnessed in the history of the planet.
In this video, I find some of the best gardening tips from the Biggle Garden Book. This was before the advent of hybrid crops, biotech, and chemical pesticides and fertilizers, so pretty much all this gardening wisdom was considered organic gardening.
But the history of agriculture is not all peaches and cream. Many useful technologies and a lot of useful information about how everything works has been discovered since this book was published. This is back when people were ingesting lead, mercury, and arsenic like it was skittles. But it was also before DDT, agent orange, and glyphosate. In the next Biggle Garden Book video, I'll be talking about the 5 scariest tips.
#OrganicWisdom #GardeningTips
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[@mikeycbaby]

I look forward to your posts. It’s like getting a handwritten letter in the mail. A real treat.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

That's great to hear! It inspires me to want to post more regular videos.

[@marthaleone584]

Thank you 😊 much appreciated 👏👍

[@jennifaison2863]

4:56 he gets around to the ideas mentioned in the title of the video

[@bodilskumsrud520]

Fantastic photos!A very interesting book...a time travel.Thanks!

[@AAHomeGardening]

I love to learn the old ways, thanks for sharing

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

i read a 1907 paper on strawberry cross-breeding, basically hybrids, and the strawberry plant itself is a hybrid from the 1600-1700's

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It's true that a hybrid is just an intentional cross between two plant varieties. But I think of what you are talking about as the artificial selection that has always happened throughout the history of agriculture. In the sense of hybrid in this video I mean the kind where they select for a specific gene by inbreeding a lot and then cross (to produce a unique F1 version) to get expression of the gene and hybrid vigor. If you save the seed of the variety it will not maintain itself in that form or yield generation to generation as will open pollinated varieties. It was this intentional modern hybrid that really increased the potential yield of staple crops. Perhaps I should have called them modern hybrids.

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

it's basically the question of "how did we get here" and the answer is incrementally over time. In the art world there is a specific time frame that is called "modern", and the time after that was called "postmodern", which reveals that Modern does not mean current or new, although it was meant to at the time to separate their current time from the continuous connection to the rest of history, often with the intent of patenting it and claiming it, but the truth is that all of humanity is continuous through all time, and the artificial lines drawn through it are mainly to impose proxy, no more no less.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@NashvilleMonkey1000 Still, the Green Revolution was recognized as a special period in human agricultural development because the specific technologies developed then, among them modern hybrids, were responsible for more than doubling yield of staple food crops. Nothing like it has happened before or since in so short a time in agriculture. I think that's what I'm pointing out. Even biotech hasn't done much for yield. The term modern hybrid is specific to these kinds of hybrid crops and this manner of creating them by inbreeding strains to isolate certain traits and then bringing them together to get hybrid vigor and expression of specific traits. The plants grown from hybrid seed will be genetically identical and uniform in morphology. I'm not trying to be right, but just further explaining the rationale for using the term hybrid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_seed

[@diannerisdon388]

Hey Dan, this was really interesting. It was exciting to see that you posted a new video! Thanks for the little travel into the past.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks Dianne! Yes I have been working on a few videos at once, but also busy with other stuff. Hope to have more posted soon.

[@matejhagara4050]

I really want to recommend the book from like 1940, called Agriculture of tomorrow written by Lily and Eugen Kolisko. They have done unbelievable research. I got it from there soilandhealth.org/copyrighted-book/agriculture-of-tomorrow-2/ I think the most important gardening informations are right at beginning. This is the first research book which I really enjoyed to read. Greetings from Slovakia.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I'll have to look for it

[@donnabrown1518]

The Biggle Garden Book can be found on Amazon!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks!

[@donnabrown1518]

@@HardcoreSustainable my pleasure for being able to share the info!

[@peterwhelan6144]

Dan , as far as the world population goes , I know it’s not that popular but , have faith in God to work things out - he is far smarter than man .

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Well, looking at history there's not a very good track record for god working things out. But I'm sure it will even itself out eventually. It won't be pleasant, but it will get evened out. I'd rather take personal responsibility for the mistakes of humanity.

[@peterwhelan6144]

@@HardcoreSustainable I was suggesting that rather than “ man “ assuming that it is his responsibility to control population growth , it is , in my opinion , God who has provided for whatever the total is at any time - trouble arises when man thinks he knows better than God .

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@peterwhelan6144Well, in countries where there is access to birth control and women have more rights, women are able to decide when they get pregnant. In these countries, the pregnancy rate and population growth are much lower than in countries without these things. So obviously, the rate of population growth is controllable. In countries without birth control access and where women have fewer rights, men force women, or natural lovemaking results in more pregnancies, because there is nothing to interfere with it. If god was in control of this, why would birth control methods work so well to prevent pregnancies? But the true impact of population on the planet is in the consumption rate of those people and the impact they have on the environment. I personally think population reduction needs to happen more in rich countries because these populations have the most impact on the planet. Americans as 5% of the world population consume 20% of the world's resources. Reducing US population, or preventing more births would have a much greater positive impact on the planet than reducing population in a poorer country. But at the same time, those poor countries and populations don't have access to resources to reduce their impact like we do in rich countries. We have sewage treatment, which reduces squalor at the same time as it prevents death from disease. We in rich countries have better health care, which extends our lives and our impact. I'd suggest you take a class in environmental problems and learn how population growth works. You will see that the human population growth rate has never been as high as it is now and that population has never been higher in history. There are not enough resources to support this growth indefinitely and at some point there will be a massive war (caused by humans in the fight for resources), pandemic (viruses thrive in dense and large populations), or famine (because of crop failure from climate change, pests out of control from climate change, or just lack of land to grow enough food) that will cause the deaths of billions. The alternative would be that we find a way to limit growth with birth control and population gradually declines. This is the method of population reduction I hope for, because it means there won't be a need for senseless and horrible death. When there are resources and food, populations of any animal will grow unlimited. But we live in a world of finite food and resources. The human population can continue to grow as it has been since we tapped into fossil fuel and developed new food growing technology. These are all human deeds, and they are noticeably different in the last 100. Technological evolution is dependent on fossil fuel though, and we are running out. If you are a Christian, you should look into the many Christians who believe that humans are supposed to take care of the creation their god gave them. They don't believe the fate of their world is out of their hands, but is their responsibility. If this is out if their hands, then why would any Christian believe in any morality of any kind? Not that I think it's right Christians are always telling other people how to live and what to believe, but why have all the rules if it's all out of your hands?

[@peterwhelan6144]

@@HardcoreSustainable Gosh , from your so well informed response I think I may have stumbled upon God himself . One question , does your birth control vision include abortion ?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@peterwhelan6144Abortion is a simple right that people should have. It's a personal decision, not something for politicians or people who aren't you to decide for you. It's not a form of birth control. Birth control comes in many forms and unfortunately religious extremists want to prevent people having access to birth control as well, which will only lead to more unwanted pregnancies and more abortions. But I don't think you really answered my question.