This is where I am at on it. Most people are very unaware of the unintended consequences of veganism. And I have no problem with being vegan. Not at all. I am against the dishonesty that many hold that since they are against animal suffering, they will eat vegetables and fruits. The reality is that there is a TON of animal suffering involved in producing grains, vegetables, and fruits. It's just popular to ignore that. I live in an agricultural area, I know what is done to produce these products from shooting deer to keep them out of the fields, to trapping gophers, skunks, rabbits, all manner of wildlife and then killing them, to poisons put out to kill wildlife. In Orchards, mass killing of crows and crackles by shooting is normal, and is allowed without a federal permit despite their protected status. In order to replace the calories in humans that come from meat, more of this will have to occur in order to increase production/yield. Almonds require pollinators, insects that are very low in the US, so farmers in California buy/rent bee hives from China. Half of all the bees die during transportation to the US. Animals die in droves, animals suffer in droves for the grains, vegetables, and fruits that humans need to live. Might better methods be developed to decrease this suffering? Very possible. But it is really important that people understand how their food is produced, all of it. On average, 117 animals per hectare or 6 per acres die in plant based food production per season and that is a conservative estimate. More are killed each year in orchards. There has been a huge display of intellectual dishonesty about the plant based diet movement. And I am saying this as someone who has greatly decreased the amount of meat we consume, and increased grains and veggies for health reasons. I also just happen to live in an area that produces a stunning amount of food for humans, rub shoulders regularly with producers, and whose husband has had to take out a few rabbits and ground hogs in my life to prevent extraordinary damage to gardens that at the time were vital to offsetting our grocery bills with four growing kids at the same time Mark's employer did a corporate wide pay cut for all IT workers. I KNOW how many animals are killed or left to die of injuries in order to produce plant based food. Thankfully Mark is an excellent shot so at least our critters never knew what hit them and died instantly. The food chain of mother nature is pretty cruel. Humans can and should and must do better. When you know better, you do better. But for you to live, with current methods, means animals will suffer, will have to die, in order for you to eat even if you are vegan, and this happens in numbers that are very uncomfortable for many folks to acknowledge. In terms of lab meat, we all know that allowing a corporate monopoly on something that is vital to life is a very very bad idea. So centralization to something like this is a major concern. BUT, and I think this is the most important point, it is beyond rare these days for American leadership to make decisions about issues like these that are actually on behalf of their constituents, that put their people's best interest at the heart of the matter. I am inclined to go eat some lab meat while raising my glass to the dingdong that made this decision!

Nailed it on the head!

"A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food." I am also knee deep in "Space Mathematics: Math Problems Based on Space Science". This probably doesn't count as reading in the traditional sense, but I sight read through a new Brahms piece today which is kind of mathematical reading.

Thanks, Rosie! I love the yam daisy, so cool. So the lime is a native citrus. Do any other kinds of citrus grow in your region?

We would love to see a picture of your baby lime! I have no idea what a yam daisy is. None. But I am intrigued. As for broad beans, I think there is room for hope if they are trying to flower again. Internet photos are deceptive. I don't think people actually grow such lush plants. It is AI or artwork or something. 😁

I am so sad you haven't seen bees, and the peach is not well. I have seen to honey bees, and numerous bumblebees. I know I am very lucky, and am grateful for them. Fruit trees seem to just be stinkers for the first year after planting. We put two peaches and two nectarines in the front yard of the Alabama house back in fall, 2022. We were pretty certain they weren't going to make it as of fall 2023. They have baby peaches and nectarines on them now! I swear fruit trees are little narcissists that like to gaslight their owners.

The nursery and garden center is such a DANGEROUS place! Tally: 12 basil plants 4 nasturtium 1 french thyme 1 italian oregano 1 chocolate mint 16 Amish paste tomato plants 4 more pea plants to add to my 8 because so broke two while transplanting 😢 4 broccoli (I ended up with 8 that I started from seed but we need more) 4 red chili peppers 8 jalapeno 4 banana peppers 1 large cherry tomato to go with the 3 seedlings I started which are doing great, but daughter in law informed she is glad they live close enough for her to raid the cherry tomatoes so I decided one more might be wise 16 petunias 12 marigolds So I need to finish adding compost and banana water fertilizer, and start transplanting tomorrow night and Saturday night. I feel like the plants seem to look perkier when they aren't transplanted during the direct sun part of the day. I have no idea if this is an actual thing, just mere feelings from someone who is trying to tune into the green babies since I used to be a botanical serial murderer. Phew! Good thing this nursery is a bulk place that sells at reasonable prices. Otherwise the check book would be groaning.

This is great!!!

I know it is harvest season and even possibly time to begin winter preparations for our Souther Hemisphere Hive so I am very interested to hear how well your plants performed, and what you are doing as production winds down Here in Michigan, USA we are finally getting lovely weather. Our efforts to use an overhead sprinkler system to preserve our apple blossoms during a late, deep freeze worked. Most folks locally just hope for the best, and lost all of their apple, cherry, peach, and nectarine blossoms. Ours apple trees made it through being insulated by icicles before the temps dropped to 24 degrees overnight, twice. I know some of our Traverse Bay area orchards did have smudge fires and irrigation enough to save part of their orchards, but many producers cannot afford this for 40-100 acres of trees. Buds were at the pink tip stage and couldn't handle those temps. Since this area produces over 80% of all sour pie cherries for the entire country, it should be expected for canned cherry pie filling, cherry cordial, cherry ice cream, and other similar products to be hard to find this coming fall/winter and much higher priced. Apples will be more expensive this fall so since my adult kids- the whole lot of biological and honorary - are hoping for several quarts each of dried apple chips, I am so grateful Mark was able to help me create the overhead sprinkler system. It was easily mounted, and 1 sprinkler was able to cover 2 trees. I would post a photo but can't get it edited small enough to upload. In other news, my pea seedling have been transplanted. Cucumbers go out today along with broccoli. That leaves peppers and cherry tomatoes inside yet for one more week. I am also headed to the nursery for Amish Paste tomatoes and more varieties of peppers plus marigolds, nasturtium, and herbs. Mark and I are trying to figure out where to put a mini greenhouse inside for next winter so I can start more plants. I have just 3 shelves in the East window with grow lights and had them covered with seedlings. However, we want to be able to start so much more next year. I am also sowing carrots, radishes, and scallions this weekend. If I have time, I will till the new spot for sunflowers and sweet corn. But that might have to wait since I have a lot of work to do, and baby quilts to make for the NICU. What is everyone up to, and how are things growing if you are NH or winding down if SH?

😂😂😂.Yes!!!! All the horses! Anyone who judges another for multiple horses is terrible. 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

This is great!

In a lot of ways, this is not different than a multi-generational home in which multiple families pool resources to survive and get ahead. It's a foreign concept to most Americans who have spent he past few generations in single family dwellings. But given the state of wages vs. cost of living, it is going to be necessary for younger folks to get ahead.

We own two homes. One is for our daughters son in law, and grandsons. There was no way they could afford a home in Huntsville with a decent yard for the kids. The prices were going through the roof, well beyond any pay raises he received, and living in a small apartment with kids was getting very old. We had money we could afford to invest. So we bought a lovely home with a 2 acre yard and fruit trees, a suite for us for when we visit, or if we retire there, and they pay less to us in rent than they were paying for their apartment. Originally, we really did think we would retire to that house. Having experienced more than one summer there, we have decided we certainly would not spend all year in that house! Michigan see bodies don't do 100 and 85%-90% humidity. They just don't. I can hardly breathe. Son in law is also struggling with the heat due to a couple of major health issues he has. So it is entirely possible that in a couple of years, he will begin looking for jobs back up north, and we will sell it. It has gone up a ton in value, so we will walk away with a tidy sum, and can afford to give a nice amount to the kids to help them buy their first house. None of our other children want to own a home. The youngest two live very simply, and do a lot of camping, hiking, nature communing. They do not want this interrupted by maintenance, yard work, and all of the responsibilities of home ownership. They are not into accumulating a lot of stuff. They have a 3 Bedroom apartment, so they have a guest room/office. Our other son and his wife do not want to own a place either not unless they write the great wealth accumulating novel and can hire all the work done. Ds is permanently disabled from our car accident. He is 27 and now 100% dependent on a cane. All home maintenance and repairs would fall totally on our daughter in law. They feel that renting a handicap accessible condo/ground floor apartment is the best option for them. So we are two-home owners. It is kind of common in my family. My parents bought a four room cottage for my brother when he got his high school girlfriend pregnant, and they were forcing him to marry her. (didn't end well) They didn't pay a lot since it needed work, and they made him help do all the work on it. He paid a very small amount of rent each month for he and his family. When he graduated college, they gave him his rent money back, let him sell it and keep the money. This allowed him to buy his first regular house. My aunt and uncle did the very same thing for their son who also had the same circumstance. They had just inherited a house, so they let son and his new family live in their home, they moved to the inherited house, and eventually they gift the rent back and let him sell the other home which gave him enough money to get into a really nice place. As for the judgment of others, it is a thing. The housing market is insanely tight and priced well beyond what most people can afford. The lack of inventory for middle class and low income folks is a crisis. They shouldn't make comments, but people don't think twice about letting the things that should stay in their head come out their mouths.

I think I would be up front with her, just in a diplomatic, graceful way. Something to the effect of, "Since dad died, I have had to deal with a lot of negative feelings about my family situation. That's all on me and not you. But as I am working through this, the best I can offer is that we see each other once in a while for an hour for coffee." You are in a lot of ways being rather kind to continue the relationship given that she came into your childhood rather late, and caused a lot of emotional turmoil. My brother divorced his sons' mother in order to marry his 3rd mistress. His eldest was 16 at the time, the others 11 and 9. Their mother ended up with full custody, so they only had visitation with their step mother. As adults, they do not have any relationship with her, and she would not ever dream of asking to visit them in their homes much less stay over. It is okay to be honest, just try not to be cruel.

So much this....the coffee! Seriously, just don't engage me until after that first cup takes effect.

Awwww, that is sweet of you! But, just so you know, I have kind of grown a little lazy in my retirement. Rach is an endurance kind of composer. Would Debussy, Chopin, and Beethoven work, maybe some Bach? I don't want to have to practice that hard! 😂😂😂 LOL, I don't do much performing anymore. I broke a finger at the joint on my right hand a few years ago and now I have arthritis in it. I had to play Theme from Liebestraum (Liszt) this past summers and I did fine given that it was for a casual, non profit performance, but I sure did notice it, and anyone with a really well trained ear, like Dmetler, would have known it too. It was weak in a few spots. Not noticeable to most people, but man would I hate to be hanging my hat financially on my performIng ability now. That joint is a real issue. Thankfully, I do not have any other injuries or arthritis in my other fingers.

Sorry about this. I forgot to answer SKL's question before leaving the discussion, and so do want to answer that. Apologies. I am one of three. I had 4 children, and my brother had 5. My sister has none, and never wanted to have any. Our 4 children: 2 are married and 1 has had 3 children. Married son and dil do not think they will have children for a whole host of reasons. The other 2 are committed bachelors who believe that it would be very selfish to bring children into the world given what is coming. 1 has had surgery to make that a permanent decision. From my brother's 5: Eldest son and wife do not want children and have taken permanent measures. Middle and youngest sons each have 2 children and also have had surgery to limit their family size. 1 daughter has 3 children. The other daughter, only 22, and her husband have also taken permanent measures to not procreate. My grandparents, paternal, had 5 children. 2 had 2 children each. 2 had 3 children. 1 had 1 child. Of these 11 grandchildren, 4 have chosen not to produce. 2 had only one child. 2 have had 2 children each. 1 had 5. I have 4. 1 has 3. Maternal grandparents had 3 children. My mom had 3. 1 sibling had 2, and the other had none. In the next generation, my mom has 9 grandchildren, but her sister's sons had none. Okay, back to thinking about something else.

I don't know about most people. I wish I could knit. I have tried. I really have. I know a LOT of knitters, and they try to teach me but it is futile! I can play a Rachmaninoff Concerto, but can't coordinate knitting needles. How is that even a thing? Sigh. Also, it took me 50+ years of life to be able to grow a house plant and not murder it within a month of purchase. Everyone I know could keep a houseplant. Not me. I think I finally conquered that, but it could also be that Mark makes up for my failings when I am not looking! 😂

This is the last I will say and then bow out. Yes, food waste is an issue. Distribution is a massive issue. But the point is crop decimation means there won't be enough food to waste much less to go around especially given how spent the soil is. The science is very clear on this. Dust Bowls are coming. Droughts that make the 20+ year California drought look like a little fret over nothing. Potable water for people to live is going to be a huge issue. This isn't about distributing resources. Yes. That is the issue now. I am talking about the near future, by 2050 and very likely before that. The resources will not be there even IF we manage to unite the globe in some sort of peaceful, share and share alike, United Federation of Planets scenario. The earth simply cannot support the expected 9.5 billion people, not when it has been so badly raped and pillaged. Economies and nations must simply brace for this, and stop trying to incentivize reproduction. Supposedly it costs $237,000 now to raise a child to 18. I have no idea exactly how that number is derived, so it might be too high to be representative of most families. However, I think it is safe to say that the cost of feeding, housing, paying for medical care, school supplies, clothing, personal care, and an extra curricular activity or two over 18 years is well north of $100,000 for sure not to mention licensing them at 16 to drive or helping to launch them into adulthood. If the cost of a minivan is a bridge too far in terms of having another child, then likely one simply cannot afford another one even if the car was not an issue. I will now slink away.

I am more than fine with the safety regulations. Cars today are WAY safer even if they are smaller due to safety features and crumple zones. With so many more millions of cars on the road, it is vital to public safety and children making it through childhood that the car seat laws, seatbelt laws, and engineering remain and continually improve. It really doesn't matter if that causes families to be smaller. Better that two children make it to adulthood given the sheer number of bad car accidents on our roads than creating less safe, large gas guzzlers and seeing more kids killed in traffic. It also isn't really an accurate view. There have always been larger vehicles that can seat many people and multiple car seats. We have never been free of that. Today, besides Siennas and Odysseys there are numerous crossovers that seat 7, and even have unique optional configurations for dealing with multiple car seats and boosters. At any rate, it is disturbing that the concept of having children has been commodified - staring directly at Justice Alito and his "domestic supply of infants" remark! The planet is burning, literally not metaphorically. We do not take care of the ones we already have. Currently 148 million children are starving. 1 in 5 American kids is food insecure. (Unicef statistics) We are going to see a global food crisis unlike anything humans have experienced. The answer is not to see children as something that must be born in order to serve the economy. Build a robot for heaven's sake. Kick capitalism to the curb. Spend money on providing for people not warmongering. The richest 1% produce as much carbon/pollution as the bottom 66% (CNBC, and iea.org) We the little people are not the problem, but we will for darn sure suffer mightily. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/worlds-food-supply-made-insecure-climate-change

I agree with Prairie. I have been doing a lot of research and reading about the effects of climate change on crop collapse, reduced yield, the amount of currently used farm land that will become too arid or too flooded (in many cases both depending on the time of year) to continue to be used for food production. It is frightening and some of it is going to happen in the next 15-20 years. There will be large areas, just vast, that are going to be nearly uninhabitable. Think about last summer, the record highs, the places where touching your car or your door knob resulted in an ER visit. The American Southwest was nothing but misery. It lasted for 31 days in Phoenix. An entire month of being dangerous to be outdoors. Within the next 25 years, Arizona is likely to see 3-4 months a year like this. It is a total waste of water to try to keep up with that. We are also seeing soil collapse in places that are still prime producers due to unsustainable, conventional farming. I am NOT pointing fingers at farmers. They have fed the world. They get paid nothing to do it. This is not on them. But, we have to face facts that a lot of soil is spent. It can no longer produce bumper crop after bumper crop of cereal grains that keep the world from starving. The younger generations know their future has been robbed from them. They aren't inclined to bring more people into the misery. Trying to pay them to have kids through government programs is not the answer. I am staring directly at Alabama here who decided embryos are constitutionally protected humans while also cutting funding for food for children. We cannot continue to promote " have babies" when this is the kind of crap from our leadership. By 2050, it is estimated that 38 trillion dollars will be used each year for the endless recoveries from climate disasters...the annual "500 year" floods, mudslides, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes....That kind of economic woe far outpaces low birthrate woes. Economically the problem won't be lack of humans. The problem will be the planetary wreckage. I also think, for the sake of children, the big drop in teen pregnancies is a very good thing. Again, we shouldn't think of children as economic units.

Demographics in the US will change for sure. Gen Alpha is the first generation in which white children are not in the majority. Of the new the many millenials and Gen Z folks that I know, very very few intend on having children. Some of the GenZ males in this group have already had that taken care of permanently. It is hard to tell how GenAlpha will think about child rearing, but given they are a very traumatized generation from pandemic schooling to constant school shootings and bomb threats, my guess is they may be rather against having children to put through more of the same. It seems like leadership only lives in the here and now, and that is definitely the way big business behaves so I don't think any true, long-term planning has occurred. We still have a school district in my county whose high school student body is 52. The graduating class this year is 8. How are they even keeping the doors open and still offering the full Michigan Merit Curriculum. I don't get it. That district borders 3 other districts all of whom have much better educational outcomes. Why hasn't the state divided these students among those districts, and closed up, and saved the huge cost of running the district? Michigan has to give them a startlingly huge amount of money above the per head funding and property taxes in order to keep it going. These are the types of issues that must be addressed going forward.

If Andy Weir is to be believed, robotic nurses will be able to babysit our comas on the way to a new solar system! But I am skeptical. I could see a robot arm that administers shots or hands out pills by dispenser or something. I think things like grave digging and closing (maybe every cemetery will have this robot), ditch maintenance that is autonomous, possible autonomous fruit pickers, that kind of thing. But they will be so expensive up front, that most businesses and retired folk won't be able to own the automated appliances/machinery so there would have to be some way to make them readily available to the masses. I could see some sort of automated mop being used in medical facilities and schools, and sweepers as well thus lowering the number of custodians needed. I think we will run into problems of not having enough people to do certain things long before the tech catches up.

I think wages will go up a lot because with immigration so tight, there aren't all the worker bees that many corporations want. I also believe manufacturing will slow down since there won't be as many people to buy the stuff, and they don't pay the humans being trafficked into their dangerous overseas factories enough money to buy the stuff being produced. So the economy, in terms of never ending growth, is going to stall if not contract. That will mean the status quo is going to change with a lot to negative reaction. I am unsure how that will play out. Schools will consolidate. On the one hand, bad because students will have long commutes. On the positive, running fewer districts and buildings will be more cost effective, and might allow for programs to expand instead of contract bringing back more academic flexibility which is needed. There will be fewer tax payers and more retirees. I think it could force the issue of universal healthcare because as a percentage of GDP it is way less cost, and if the workers have to pay higher taxes, they can't also be paying thousands and thousands out to pocket in premiums and deductibles. It isn't sustainable. Or the opposite effect if the powers that be are particularly evil, and Medicare and social security gets cut to the bone, workers live like paupers, and the elderly die, miserable and unattended. Given the current state of leadership, that isn't far fetched either. We will probably see some LACs and smaller universities close because the well of potential collegians will shrink a good bit. GenZ and Gen Alpha seem to be more into experiences and making memories than stuff. So travel might expand much more than we would expect. That is all I can think of at the moment.

I have no good words of advice. For me, I found that the atypical hours of music studio and performances just became to hard to manage with college kids, aging parents, etc. Mark and I were only in the same room half the time to sleep. But I also would not have tried to move in the middle of all of it too. It is hard. Very hard. Hugs from me to you!