What Katy said. There's nothing empowering about a class so far above one's ability level, so it's not in kiddo's best interest to be taking it either.

Sounds dreadful. I've read about several regenerative farmers who've given up ploughing, which also ruins mycelium networks, so perhaps there are better ways for your area too. There's probably something useful to do with rocks too, once you've extracted enough. Could they be used to build retaining walls for terraces? Could this guy's vids about swales help? https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeedyGarden They've been on my 'to watch' list, and you've just inspired me to get around to watching them. 😄 I know nothing about the mountains of Haiti but making use of what you've got is always cheaper than whatever you have to buy in. It just takes longer. Other than corn, which you've mentioned, what are the standard crops?

The "proper" fertilisers disrupt the mycelium networks and kill off the subterranean life.

Definitely expand your reading into regenerative ag, then. 'For the Love of Soil,’ by Nicole Masters should be a good place to start, but maybe someone's published something more geographically appropriate. Is there anything native that is nice and prickly to build hedgerows out of? Bonus points if it grows something edible.

I've never read anything that focused on the tropics, since I am a temperate zoned person, but the principles are going to be the same. Have you read anything on regenerative agriculture? In my part of the world, getting water to soak in tends to be the first priority. If you're on a mountain, keeping soil from washing down the hill is probably the top priority? Could terracing work? Are they eating native foods? I'd be thinking on how to make agriculture work with their free range animals because changing that is likely to be too hard and it might well be helping limit the amount of disease. It might seem stupid in such an impoverished context, but you'd have to have a thorough understanding of the *advantages* to whatever they do, before you could move forward. Change is effort and these are people who are already using what effort they have, so to make changes, whatever you do will have to feel like less effort and not eliminate the advantages they already have. Better the devil you know, and all that. Huh. When you're done, you can write a book on trauma-informed agriculture. That'd be interesting.

You guessed incorrectly. I'm a traumatised person who has been reading a lot on regenerative agriculture, is all.

Would they? That sounds like a lot more work.

Like how I don't need three texts and an email about a parcel getting delivered? And I especially don't need any of those texts at 7am? I miss the old days when parcels turned up without harassing me.

I have to provide a phone number to buy a train ticket these days. I can't see a good reason for that. It's not like they tell me if the train is being cancelled in favour of a bus that'll come 50 mins later.

Yeah. When I lived with my grandmother, I could tell which of her kids were on the phone by the way she spoke. Dreadful boundaries, all of them. None of them enjoyed the dynamic, but none of them would change it either. Fear, I guess.

Nearly a decade? I wouldn't care enough to bother assuming anything. This isn't the way we treat people we love, so I would conclude I am of no importance and respond appropriately- by tossing their cards into the bin, unopened, like any other junk mail.

My mother pretty much needed to know what her mother knew, who pretty much needed to know what her mother knew. My kid needs to know stuff that I barely know exists, let alone how to use it, and that's before we add in any of my admin related ptsd stuff. The way computer programs limit a phone operator's ability to actually solve problems drives me bonkers too. Everyone can know what the problem is, but that means nothing when the program isn't written to accept the correction. Is anyone even allowed to have initiative any more?

I wonder if people confuse narcissism with depersonalisation disorder. I've got an Aspie mate who has almost certainly developed that from more trauma than they know how to cope with.

Something like this, maybe? I think you'd have to give yourself a mental illness to cope with this level of criminally, abusive, weird creepiness. https://www.carolynspring.com/blog/feeling-unreal-depersonalisation-derealisation-disorder/

Not that I know of...

Glory box as in stuff you'll need when you move out of home. "War chest" is what my aunt told me you're meant to call it if it's for a boy, because it sounds manlier. Semantics. The fact remains that everyone needs a can opener that works properly.

Maybe she'd let you buy something for their glory box/"war" chest. Or commission a local artist to make an original card, explain that their mum doesn't want them to have more junk, but this is an original artwork and art is good for the soul. Or something. Maybe a Lino print or something out of the ordinary to give them something to think about.

Google maps says 13. When I did it, I was the only passenger on the bus, and I slept the whole way coz of jet lag!

Yeah, but travel is a lot quicker on the West coast. You can drive from Perth to Exmouth in a day, if you try.

It's a nice place to drive!

Beware of the sun 🙂 ☀️

I love Coober Pedy. I don't know why.

Well, I'm glad they had enough shame to be weird.

Less brave than Canadians. They have temperatures I can't even believe in.

Stay on the made roads and don't go walking around Uluru after 11am and you'll be fine.