For a start you need just a few, preferably neighbourly, home growers, each representing one family, but all co-operating. These could have a variety of artefacts, such as greenhouses, plastic tunnels and various kinds of cold frame, some of them with one or two of these only.

The main sharing between them will be where some can afford to pay others for work needing to be done, help with tools and special jobs and, above all, information on new techniques and on the sourcing of products that are required from outside the group. An ideal example of sharing information on new techniques is in how to build and use potatoes boxes and how to use grow bags.

Products sourced outside the group

In the Wexford initiative, these products are mainly general meat, eggs and poultry meat, pig meat and fish. It is a small move for one or more of the group to begin to raise and farm chickens and pigs, but both general meat and fish will require to be sourced from outside. This is not an immediate problem as there are local butchers and town markets for meat and a local (Kilmore Quay) co-operative for fish. A longer term problem would arise in an energy crisis, especially for the fishing fleet, but whatever the length or depth of the energy shortages priority in obtaining fuel would be given to farmers and fishermen.

In general, however, local groups need to identify or establish sources for general meat, eggs and poultry meat, pig meat and fish and to concentrate on producing their own poultry and pigs in the first instance.

Buying hen coops

There are Wexford sources for buying hen coops at Ardcavin

and at Killnick

More here on the Texas initiative

There is no recovery. There is a cover-up.

Watch and listen to Youtube video #1

Watch and listen to Youtube video #2

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