From a practical standpoint, in the physical dark age hovel, I started digging compost pits on April 21, as noted here. I covered the material with soil, hoping to maintain more of the decomposition products in the soil. The processes seem to move faster than what I was used to in colder climates and, much to my surprise, the soil in the first pit seemed fertile and ready to plant by mid July. I was anticipating a minimum of one year.
So after doing some testing indoors with hard red wheat, I planted one tomato plant late July and another a week later as a further test. Right now in Central Texas we are at 100 degrees this afternoon with an anticipated 103 degree high after several days of temperatures around 100 degrees. The plants are holding up well and the first one is flowering in several places. It's unlikely it will set fruit in this heat. The fact that it is flowering, while still growing rapidly, is promising.
I'll be surprised if my first efforts don't result in failures.
While the periphery breaks down rather slowly at first, the capital cities of the hegemon should collapse suddenly and violently.
