[GSBN] a very new take on straw

[Dave Howorth]

On Sun, 19 Dec 2021 10:40:08 -0800
Bob Theis <bob at bobtheis.net> wrote:

> Decades ago I spent a wonderful afternoon with an English thatcher
> who described farms in eastern Europe where they grow the traditional
> forms of wheat that produce the best thatching straw. The grain, he
> said,  is a by-product. 

Given that reeds are said to be better for thatch I'd be surprised if
the techniques didn't originate using reeds rather than grain straw.

> Bob
> 
> > On Dec 18, 2021, at 5:17 PM, Bruce EBNet
> > <bruce at ecobuildnetwork.org> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Baleheads -
> > 
> > I’ve been reading and enjoying The Dawn of Everything (highly
> > recommended!) which upends the mythic narratives we all grew up
> > with about early humanity and the dawn of agriculture and
> > civilization.
> > 
> > The passage quoted below jumped out at me bigly, hope you enjoy,
> > too.
> > 
> > warm solstice greetings in grave times,
> > 
> > Bruce King
> > (415) 987-7271
> > Reducing emissions is essential
> > Reversing emissions is even better:
> > The New Carbon Architecture
> > <https://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/projects/new-carbon-architecture>
> > 
> > NOTES FROM
> > 
> > The Dawn of Everything
> > 
> > David Graeber & David Wengrow
> > 
> > The revolution that never happened: how Neolithic peoples avoided
> > agriculture Today we consider straw a by-product of cereal-farming,
> > the primary purpose being to produce food. But archaeological
> > evidence suggests things started the other way round. Human
> > populations in the Middle East began settling in permanent villages
> > long before cereals became a major component of their diets. In
> > doing so, they found new uses for the stalks of wild grasses; these
> > included fuel for lighting fires, and the temper that transformed
> > mud and clay from so much friable matter into a vital tectonic
> > resource, used to build houses, ovens, storage bins and other fixed
> > structures. Straw could also be used to make baskets, clothing,
> > matting and thatch.
> > 
> > Excerpt From
> > 
> > David Graeber & David Wengrow. “The Dawn of Everything.” Farrar,
> > Straus and Giroux. Apple Books. This material may be protected by
> > copyright.
> > 
> > Available in Apple Books
> > <https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-dawn-of-everything/id1548292642>
> > 
> > Sent from my pad thing
> > -- 
> > GSBN mailing list
> > GSBN at lists.sustainablesources.com
> > http://lists.sustainablesources.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gsbn  
>