Survive Peak Earth: Tiger's Den

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Tiger's Den

Tiger's future home.... Near a big body of fresh water. Away from the big city. South facing - arable land. Geothermal..... http://countryhomebuilding.blogspot.com.

Scenario 1: Nothing happens

Result: We have a nice weekend getaway.

Scenario 2: Catastrophy

Result: An option to get away from the city - close to fresh water - fish - deer. The deer won't last much longer than a season. The fish, maybe 2-3 seasons. Arable land... Farm nearby. Town of a few thousand nearby.

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Growing / Planting Status

Organic True Platinum Sweet Corn: Growing.

Organic Luscious Bicolor Corn: Growing.

Organic Soybeans: Lots of pods w/ soybeans.

"Spicy Salad": Harvested, barely holding on...

Heirloom Riesentraube Tomato: Flowering in aeroponics and soil.

Heirloom Tigerella Tomato: Fruiting.

Tumbling Tom Red Tomato: Aeroponics and soil fruiting.

F1 Sweet Million Tomato: Starting to ripen.

Sweet Genovese Basil: Getting bushy - transplanted to aeroponics, doing well and growing nicely. No real difference in growth rate between aeroponics and soil. Aeroponics guys had root rot - they were harvested and removed - BUT are re-rooting in water!!

Dill: Getting denser and partially harvested.

Organic Sweet Mini-Yellow Peppers: Slowly growing, with buds and peppers.

Organic Habenero Peppers: Budding.

About me

My name is Cadman Chui. I graduated from the University of Waterloo Electrical Engineering program, and went to the Schulich School of Business to earn my MBA. I worked in Product Marketing and Product Management at DataMirror (acquired by IBM) and Cybermation (acquired by CA), and was VP of Marketing at PlateSpin Ltd (acquired by Novell). Co-founded CrispAds.com (acquired by Intela LLC), FigDig.com, and ZipCutPro.com.

My wife and I are currently child-free living in Toronto, Canada. We have a 2 year old Lhasa Apso dog, Tiger, and a 12 year old Parakeet, Num Num. We have a cottage 2 hours from the city that serves as a recreational property and as an escape from temporary emergencies.

My first blog entry explains why I am doing this. Our species is putting an incredible amount of pressure on our planet. I believe my generation (born in the 70's) has lived in the most abundant and prosperous time in mankind's history. We are going down a dark path and need to change course fast. Unfortunately history shows us that humans don't like to change, unless forced to. I fear that when we are forced to, it will be too late. I don't think it will be the end of the world, but I do think that in order to make the transition many will suffer and those that can't adjust will die.

Here's what I'm seeing:

Peak Oil + Peak Grain + Peak Water + Overpopulation + Environmental destruction

Hyperinflation / Economic disaster + Starvation + Disease + Climate instability + Resource wars.

My objective is to document the steps I'm personally taking and to outlast the people who don't see it coming or refuse to see it at all.

I need to develop green thumbs. I suck at growing plants. I kill Aloe Vera (see my one fingered almost dead aloe pic). This is going to be a real challenge, but I'm willing to change, and I'm encouraged by my early results.

Starting 2010 my plan is to:

1. Learn to grow food. (I've never grown anything in my life)

2. Find some waterfront land with abundant fresh water and arable land.

2. Become as energy independent as possible.

The downside is minimal, and the upside way outweighs the downside risk. This attempt costs me next to nothing. But the reward might be our lives. That's a pretty good risk to reward ratio, so why not try.....

Upside:

a) Eat more organic foods, and perhaps be healthier

b) Survive through the coming downturn

c) Avoid starvation and unrest

d) A new fishing spot

e) Good for the environment

Downside:

a) Wasted time (but is learning really a waste of time)

b) Costs related to trying to grow stuff

Many people think I'm crazy. I see it in their eyes when I talk about what I'm doing. If I'm wrong, that's great. But if I'm right, it isn't going to be pretty.

For those that say it's a futile effort, maybe it is. But just remember that I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.

Survive Peak Earth