Like the guy who invented durian.

Interesting theory, but I am not Jim West.

Interesting hypothesis, but it seems very unlikely. Safely fermenting any calorie-dense plant matter in the tropics without airtight containers or other equipment would be more a matter of luck than anything. It would not be a reliable means of increasing caloric intake for an entire population. A much simpler explanation for human brain expansion? Sweet fruit. No tools, no fire, no difficult digestion. Neuroscientist Tony Wright has researched this possibility extensively.

All good. I don’t think that there is a single correct answer to this.

Now I wonder at what point an old culture can be considered superseded by a new one. If colonisation wipes out the traditions of a culture to the point that no one remembers them, and the people only know the crops introduced during times of colonisation, and the indigenous peoples become united and speak a new language (e.g. English), can that be considered the start of a new culture with new traditions that involve non-native plants?

A thought-provoking topic indeed.

Sure, by the dictionary definition, that is tradition. I don’t deny that the non-native plants can be passed from one generation to the next just like anything else. The lack of distinction between native and non-native plants in the context of “tradition” just seems a bit misleading.

It just seems arbitrary. What about 5 years old? Most cultures on the planet could then claim that smartphones are traditional tools of their culture, even though they were designed somewhere else, manufactured somewhere else, installed with software developed somewhere else… In the context of plants, this seems almost to disregard the historical importance of native species. If a non-native plant was introduced to a culture only 50 or 100 years ago, but the culture has been around for 1000+ years, then the ancestors of those same people, who would by all accounts be considered part of the same culture, would not even recognise it. Which generation gets to decide what constitutes a cultural tradition vs a modern practice?

Some do! Or at least, they give you a choice of OS at different price points. NovaCustom, Eurocom, and AVA Direct come to mind. Of course, there are also plenty of vendors that ONLY offer GNU/Linux pre-installed…

A fairly reliable choice in a wide range of conditions, but unfortunately not very goopy.

Possibly pushing your definition of “cucumber” a bit, but Cucumis anguria comes to mind. Probably not fit for the swamp, but in a container in full sun, it could work.

Ah, so I guess you don’t spend so much time sawing high branches then. Would you let the field reforest itself or just continue to mow it?

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

:)

Are your avocado trees seedlings or grafted? If grafted, you might try to ID them by comparing to the cultivars featured here. Pollination does seem like the most likely issue, but sometimes trees just aren’t strong enough to set fruit. Do they seem just as healthy as before? No strange weather anomalies during flowering?

I’ve never heard of Lemon Meringue mango before, but it sounds interesting! I’ve heard of Lemon Zest which is supposed to be delicious.

Did your Honeycrisp survive?

three sisters

You might consider Fordhook lima beans and Delicata squash. I’ve heard good things. Do you have purslane (Portulaca oleracea) there? If you let it colonise the garden beds, it makes a weed-suppressing moisture-retaining arthropod-sheltering edible ground cover.

Pruning hasn’t been an issue yet, but I will need to more actively manage the raspberries this year.

Yes you will, lest they begin to manage you. I recommend growing them over a fence or some wire or some sort of trellis and then pruning the ends before they can touch the soil and tip-layer themselves. Life is easier that way.

In the future I’m hoping to add lots more edible native shrubs, and maybe more trees if I can find good spots for them.

Some ideas in alphabetical order:

• Amelanchier laevis
• Asimina triloba
• Diospyros virginiana
• Prunus americana (if you don’t have plum blight there)

Last year one bin produced enough to cover about one and a half of my 4x8 ft garden beds

So you cover the surface of your garden beds with compost? That’s the way. Protect the soil from erosion while keeping the nutrients near the surface where the roots can reach them. A generous layer of mulch over the winter is also helpful, especially if the beds will be vacant.

I don’t really expect to get fully self sufficient on compost anytime soon, but I’ll keep producing as much as I’m able.

Do you compost your poop? Mixed with wood shavings, that could make a fair amount of compost.

One consideration is the seasonality of the fruits that you grow. Additional fruit-bearing plants would ideally produce during gaps between the other fruit seasons so that you have a continuous harvest for as much of the year as possible. That’s something that will be specific to your area though, so I can’t really advise.

If you toss in any native plant seeds that you can find and then don’t mow, the lawn will eventually reforest itself. (If you were in North America, I would recommend Robinia pseudoacacia.) Less work than mowing 1-3 times a year. In the beginning, pulling the grass at the edge of the clover can help a lot, and it only takes a few minutes every month or so.

Not Bangladesh?

WAAAAAAAAY too much grass.

Partly because many recently deforested areas (mainly in Mato Grosso) were “legally” reclassified from Amazon to Cerrado. Either way, there is still massive deforestation going on, no matter how anyone manipulates the statistics.

Are you sure that the trees aren’t Dunstan chestnuts?

Well done. Thank you for this detailed analysis.

Let us not forget also the role of grass in enabling the herding culture.

Hamilton added that it’s also unusual for two North Atlantic right whales to stick together unless they’re mother and calf, which Koala and Curlew are not. Researchers have been tracking Koala since her birth in 2009 and Curlew since hers in 2011; the pair have been seen swimming together for the last several months.

The reason for this will probably never be known except to those two whales, but… it’s possible that some whales are gay. And that’s okay.