Food and Drug Security

After Maryland decided to legalize medical marijuana, there were 146 applications for grower licenses, while the state plans to grant only 15. These licenses should be approved by the end of this summer. Two applicants are from Calvert County, one North and one South. The degree of planning and definition by these entrepreneurs on how they intend to set up their greenhouse facilities is impressive. There will have to be extraordinary security around the greenhouses. Bob Simpson, the applicant from Solomons, plans on heating his 38,500 sq. ft. greenhouse geothermally. 'twould be a good place to incorporate biochar as a long-term investment.

The reason for all the exuberance over getting licensed to grow marijuana is that there is pent-up demand for the product. Once that demand is given a legal outlet, will it last? Will a greater abundance of marijuana contribute to dissolution leading to breakdown of the rule of law? When the law loses its power, and people grow their own, how can the legal marijuana businesses hope to carry the profits built into their models? This won't progress overnight, but freely growing weed might be a leading indicator in the arc of collapse as we move from financial, to commercial, to political, and then to social breakdown. Yet, we will need marijuana, prescribed or not, for treatment of pain. Excessive casual use, however, could accelerate our demise as a society.

It's great that there will be high-security greenhouses built. Once commercial collapse occurs, the demand for marijuana may be superseded by a demand for food. If the rule of law breaks down, at least some food could be grown securely in these facilities. The greenhouse that I hope to build might eventually be part of the grow your own revolution, since my wife suffers from diabetic neuropathy. I am being careful to invest only as much as will provide a positive net return in a greenhouse, as costs can go quite high if you try to get fancy. The first stage might include a thin, simulated stone, concrete floor and clear polyvinyl sheet over a frame we have that was made for a gazebo tent. Eventually, I'd like to have a sturdy, classy looking greenhouse. Some kits are available that might at least get me to sturdy. Once I get to sturdy, highly secure might be another intermediate attribute to shoot for.

Aquaponyx

Listen to the arguments for vegetarianism and it won't take you long to be convinced that it is a morally superior choice over the typical American diet. I would like to at least stop eating animals raised in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Chickens may be future residents of our homestead, but it may be easier to avoid the complications of homeowner's association rules by setting up an aquaponics operation for obtaining our animal protein. I guess you could call aquaponics a form of CAFO, but I'm not ready yet to concede that fish deserve the same privileges as mammals or birds, especially as Jesus himself was at least an accessory to the consumption of net loads of fish.

+Jonathan Bates, of Paradise Lot fame, gave a presentation at a U.S. Biochar Initiative symposium that I attended explaining how he substituted biochar as the growing medium in his aquaponics system. There, as in a chicken pen, biochar could help grow edible plants and serve as grit for the crops (gizzards) that both fishes' and chickens' digestive systems rely upon.

The first step for us will be a greenhouse, which will require HOA approval, but the aquaponics system inside is not burdened with any regulations, to my knowledge. Bates touts the book, Aquaponic Gardening, in his USBI talk, hoping that the next edition includes information about biochar. In any case, I have biochar in abundance to apply to aquaponics. Bates' talk shows that the bigger chunks are preferred. I will want to charge it first, with fish fertilizer or some other nitrate-dense inoculant, in order to support plant growth.

My guess is that the aquaponics system, i.e. the tank(s), pumps, and connections, will cost less than the chicken farming infrastructure and it will probably yield more food. Sometimes, playing by the rules opens your eyes to better solutions, while keeping you in good stead with the community.