Guy McPherson's blog

I don’t know shit

I was in the garden last week, digging a new bed with the aid of the two WWOOFrs, Mike and Karen. We excavated to the usual depth — that is, until exhaustion stopped us — then installed a hardware-cloth “basket” before refilling the bed. When we amended the soil pile of rocks by adding horse [...]

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Preparing for collapse at the mud hut

I've dug trenches (requiring only a strong back and a weak mind, so it's the perfect job for me) in which to install water lines, and even installed a frost-free hydrant near the chicken coop and duck house (I'm a plumber). This morning I laid laid tile atop a counter in the outdoor kitchen (I'm a mason). I've built several awnings for tools and shade, along with a few structures for animals (I'm a rough carpenter). And we're growing considerable food, planted from seed, in our own garden beds and also in a neighbor's field (I'm a sharecropper). My two favorite titles, then, are Professor Emeritus and Sharecropper.

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Investing in durability

Durability has always been a wise investment. Now is the perfect time to make a personal investment in durability, for myriad reasons. For one thing, most sellers still think fiat currency is valuable.

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Adventures at the mud hut: an overdue update

Prophet of Doom is a tough sell, as it always has been. Nobody appreciates a prophet in his own time, I suppose. On the other hand, there's no need for a prophet in these times: the newspapers are filled with far more economic doom than I can keep up with, much less write about. So this post will focus on my personal approach to an economy rigged to fail.

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