[TheForge] going on OT

[Mike Spencer]

> At least we don't have to haul kelp to grow something 
> in, we have real soil plants actually like.

The year is, oh, say, 1895 and the motor car is still 20 or 30 years
in the future for rural Nova Scotia.

A farmer is driving 'long in his wagon when he comes to a rabbit
sitting by the side of the the road crying his heart out.  Farmer
stops the horses, re-lights his pipe and the following ensues:

F: Say there, Rabbit.

R: [sniffle]

F: Things can't be all *that* bad, Rabbit.

R: [sniffle...snerk]

F:  Well, say, Rabbit, is there anything a feller could do to
    help you?

R: Well, sir, [sniffle] my Daddy just died and left me a hundred acres
   of this prime Nova Scotia farm land and I got to get my living off
   it.

F: [pause...] Plain to see, Rabbit, there's not a thing anybody can do
   to help you.

And he gee-ups and drives on.

Now we do have topsoil, a whole 4 or even sometimes 6 inches of it.
But if you plant potatoes in it, well then, you know,  you got to *dig*
the new ones *up*, not to mention that you have to wash the dirt off of
them to boot.  If you just throw the seed potatoes on the sod and
cover them with seaweed [1], all you have to do is rake off the
seaweed and there're your new potatoes for the picking up. They might
have a few grains of beach sand on but they're just as clean as can
be.

You *must* have seaweed in Alaska, don't you?


Well, I guess that uses up *my* OT alloment for the season....

- Mike


[1] Ptilota, desmarestia or eel grass.  Rock weed is good, too, if you're
    willing to go to the trouble of cutting it off the rocks.  I've seen
    old photos of ox teams with wagons down on the shingle where guys are
    collecting rockweed with sickles.  Too much back-killing stoop labor
    when I can just fork storm-wrack ptilota into my truck.  Kelp is
    non-optimal.

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^