Lothlorien- self sufficient community?

[Lyta_Underhill]

Though I still giggle at the Elf-in-overalls mental picture. Can't you just see one playnig the opening bars of "Dueling Banjos"?

They's a lot of people in overalls 'round heah, but very few Elves. Mostly they look like Gimli in a pickup truck or the animated Boromir with bad legs! (You might be able to tell I'm speaking from the Deep South here!)

But seriously now, I wonder at the grains of sand in the box Galadriel gave to Sam (besides the Mallorn seed). "I suspect every grain has a value." Perhaps the Lorien Elves had discovered the secret of fertilizer and crop engineering. Maybe they had advanced arts of agriculture that would make them more likely to be self-sufficient, or maybe it's just the magic of Nenya! Whatever it is, it's deep down...

Cheers,
Lyta